8.1: Activities - Safety Leadership and Planning
Reflection: Firearms in the workplace - Whose Rights?
Every worker is guaranteed a safe workplace. Share how you would address competing interests concerning safety in the workplace. For example how do you balance the right to carry a concealed fire-arm with someone else's right to feel safe and secure in their workspace considering the many active shooter events in the US every year.
Flash Cards: Key Terms and Definitions, Standards
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Draft an FPP and EAP
Reference the standards for Fire Prevention and Emergency Planning and craft a simple FPP and EAP for work at a construction site. The businesses may be electrical contractors, welding contractors, carpenters, plumbers, hvac, flooring, painters. Consider how a declaration of a pandemic would affect the work and workplace and where it might fall in the emergency plan or planning process. Discuss and consider all emergencies that should be addressed in the plan. Provide a one to two paragraph summary of the typical work done daily at a jobsite and then address the following:
1910.39(a)
Application. An employer must have a fire prevention plan when an OSHA standard in this part requires one. The requirements in this section apply to each such fire prevention plan.
Written and oral fire prevention plans. A fire prevention plan must be in writing, be kept in the workplace, and be made available to employees for review. However, an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally to employees.
1910.39(c)
Minimum elements of a fire prevention plan. A fire prevention plan must include:
1910.39(c)(1)
A list of all major fire hazards, proper handling and storage procedures for hazardous materials, potential ignition sources and their control, and the type of fire protection equipment necessary to control each major hazard;
1910.39(c)(2)
Procedures to control accumulations of flammable and combustible waste materials;
1910.39(c)(3)
Procedures for regular maintenance of safeguards installed on heat-producing equipment to prevent the accidental ignition of combustible materials;
1910.39(c)(4)
The name or job title of employees responsible for maintaining equipment to prevent or control sources of ignition or fires; and
1910.39(c)(5)
The name or job title of employees responsible for the control of fuel source hazards.
1910.39(d)
Employee information. An employer must inform employees upon initial assignment to a job of the fire hazards to which they are exposed. An employer must also review with each employee those parts of the fire prevention plan necessary for self-protection.
Application. An employer must have an emergency action plan whenever an OSHA standard in this part requires one. The requirements in this section apply to each such emergency action plan.
Written and oral emergency action plans. An emergency action plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review. However, an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally to employees.
Minimum elements of an emergency action plan. An emergency action plan must include at a minimum:
1910.38(c)(1)
Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency;
1910.38(c)(2)
Procedures for emergency evacuation, including type of evacuation and exit route assignments;
Procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate;
1910.38(c)(4)
Procedures to account for all employees after evacuation;
1910.38(c)(5)
Procedures to be followed by employees performing rescue or medical duties; and
1910.38(c)(6)
The name or job title of every employee who may be contacted by employees who need more information about the plan or an explanation of their duties under the plan.
Employee alarm system. An employer must have and maintain an employee alarm system. The employee alarm system must use a distinctive signal for each purpose and comply with the requirements in § 1910.165.
Training. An employer must designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation of other employees.
Case Study - Fatality
Working in your discussion groups, review the case below and two of the eight recommendations. What specific standards from the Fire Prevention standard 1926 Subpart F were not followed. What section of the SDS would address the hazards.
- Use wood floor finishing products that are less flammable (products with flash points greater than 100° F) for indoor applications
- Develop, implement, and enforce a written hazard communication program that includes training employees about the chemicals they work with and the associated hazards and controls of these chemicals.
Massachusetts Case Report: 05-MA-044
Release Date: March 31, 2006
Summary
On July 2, 2005, a 43-year-old floor sander (the victim) was fatally injured when the one story single family house he was working in caught fire. The victim and a co-worker had just finished installing hardwood floors and were finishing them. The incident occurred when the flammable lacquer floor sealer that they were applying ignited, causing the house to catch fire. Calls were placed to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and the fire department. Within minutes, EMS and fire department personnel arrived at the site to attend to the victim and control the fire. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The co-worker was able to exit the house without injuries.
Investigation
The company was hired to install and finish hard wood floors in the living room and hallway of a one-story single family house. The incident occurred on a Saturday, the victim and the co-worker’s first day on-site for this job. They arrived at the house at 7:30 a.m. to start the job. The owners of the house were not home at this time. The living room and the connecting hallway were the two locations where the hardwood floors were being installed. A closet, which housed a gas hot water heater and gas furnace, was located off the living room. A bathroom was located off the hallway.
One of the first tasks they performed on-site was removing the wall to wall carpet in the living room and the hallway. The carpet was rolled up and removed from the house. The victim and co-worker then started installing the unfinished wood floors. At approximately 3:30 p.m. the wood floor installation was complete. The home owner had stopped by the house and was informed that the wood floors were installed and that the next task was to sand and apply a lacquer sealer and that by 6:00 p.m. the lacquer sealer would be dry enough to walk on the floors. The home owner left and the victim and the co-worker started sanding the floors. The sanding creates a smooth surface and prepares the wood floor for the application of the finishing products. The wood floor sanding was completed a little before 5:00 p.m. and the wood dust was cleaned from the area.
The first product applied to the wood floors was a lacquer sealer. A five gallon container of the lacquer sealer was brought inside the house from the work van. According to the manufacturer’s material safety data sheet, the lacquer sealer being used contained, but was not limited to, acetone, toluene, xylene and keytones and had the following physical characteristics:
- Hazardous Material Identification System (HMIS) ratings of: health (2), flammability (3), and instability (0). HMIS is a numerical rating system ranging from zero to four: minimal hazard (0), slight hazard (1), moderate hazard (2), serious hazard (3), and severe hazard (4) ( Figure 1 ).
- Vapor density rating greater than one (this lacquer sealer is heavier than air).
- Percent volatile (the percentage of a liquid or solid that will evaporate at an ambient temperature of 70° Fahrenheit (F)) rating of 72% – 84%.
- Flash point (lowest temperature at which a chemical’s vapors are concentrated enough to ignite) rating of 9° F.
- Flammability classification rating of 1B (flash point below 73° F and boiling point at or above 100° F).
The victim and co-worker started to apply the lacquer sealer. During the lacquer sealer application the front door to the house was open and the house’s windows were closed. No other ventilation was used throughout the project. The gas pilot lights for both the hot water heater and the gas furnace, both located in the closet off the living room, had not been extinguished. Prior to the incident, the co-worker had been using a brush to apply the lacquer sealer in hard to reach areas in the hallway near the bathroom. The victim had been applying the lacquer sealer in the living room with an applicator. The five gallon container of lacquer sealer was located in the living room near the victim.
When the vapors from the lacquer sealer ignited it caused an explosion blowing out several of the house’s windows resulting in the house catching fire. The victim yelled “fire” and both the victim and the co-worker ran for the front door. The co-worker made it out of the house uninjured, but the victim did not make it out of the burning house.