NewsWorthy

OSHA Settles On Ergonomics Solution

To the relief of business, voluntary standards instituted in place of laws

Last month, labor secretary Elaine Chao announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will “pursue a four-pronged plan for the purpose of reducing work-related ergonomic injuries” — musculoskeletal disorders caused by repetitive motion.

The plan seeks to prevent ergonomic injuries by focusing on the following: guidelines, enforcement, education/outreach and research.

When the Bush administration took office in November 2000, it overturned last-minute legislation by then-President Clinton which, according to opponents, was too broad to effectively prevent ergonomic injuries.

• Guidelines: OSHA’s newly released plan uses voluntary guidelines rather than concrete laws to ensure safety in U.S. industries.

“Clinton tried to solve the problem by making a law — a regulation rather than a guideline,” says Bill Balek, legislative director for the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA). “You can’t apply a one-size-fits-all law for all industries in the United States. The fact that OSHA is now creating guidelines rather than making laws makes for a really big difference,” he says.

OSHA administrator John Henshaw says the agency will immediately begin work on developing industry and task-specific guidelines to reduce and prevent ergonomic injuries. He expects guidelines to be released for selected industries this year. Businesses and industries are encouraged to develop their own guidelines as well.

Furthermore, the new guidelines will take into account guidelines that already exist for specific industries, such as OSHA’s 1990 guidelines for the meatpacking industry.

• Enforcement: The guidelines give employers the latitude to adapt injury-prevention systems unique to the needs of their workplace, Balek says.

Certain industries are more apt to be targets for enforcement. “OSHA has already tipped its hand that it will probably be going after the nursing industry, because there have been a lot of ergonomic injuries there,” says Balek. The agency has vowed to “crack down on bad actors” by focusing on industries with high ergonomic injury rates. OSHA must be able to prove “a recognized hazard” exists that is likely to cause death or serious physical harm. OSHA must also show that there is a feasible means of abating that hazard.

•Education/outreach: Under the education/outreach category, OSHA will provide specialized training and information on guidelines to employers. It will administer targeted training grants and is creating a recognition program to highlight successful ergonomic injury reduction efforts.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Labor has made a cross-agency commitment to protecting immigrant workers, especially those with limited English proficiency. Part of OSHA’s education/outreach focus will include a specialized push to help Hispanic and other immigrant workers perform their jobs safely.

• Research: An OSHA national advisory committee has been formed to seek out opportunities to work with employers in researching injury causes. “Thousands of employers are already working to reduce ergonomic risks without government mandates,” says Henshaw.

The jan/san industry doesn’t have a high rate of ergonomic injuries, according to Balek, but distributors should be aware of the physical demands placed upon employees. Repetitive actions that may cause injury, such as heavy lifting, should be moderated.

OSHA’s approach to preventing ergonomic injuries is on the right track, says Balek, and in the end, the guidelines help employers keep their employees safe and healthy.

“Most, if not all, employers realize that their most valuable assets are their employees,” says Balek.

Ecolab Van Involved in Fatal Accident

Five people were killed instantly March 26 when an Ecolab Inc. van collided with a bus carrying retirement home residents near Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the van swerved into oncoming traffic, causing the head-on collision. Newspaper accounts said the fire that ensued was fueled by the van’s contents — cleaning chemicals.

Contrary to reports, the van was not a delivery van and was carrying only minimal amounts of cleaning chemicals, said Lois West Duffy, public relations director for Ecolab, St. Paul, Minn. The van’s driver, Michael McNally, 35, a sales and service representative for Ecolab was one of those killed in the crash.

“On this day, [McNally] was following a new territory manager to a job to help him install a new dishwashing machine,” says Duffy. “He was not delivering cleaning products, and any small amount of cleaning products he may have carried would not have been the source of any fire as news accounts have speculated.”

EPA Cracks Down on N.Y. Dry Cleaner

White-Sun Cleaners Corp., Long Island City, N.Y., will pay a $10,800 cash penalty in a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The company and its owner, Insun Yun, were charged with mismanaging hazardous waste which contained the dry cleaning chemical perchloreothylene (“perc”).

According to EPA regional administrator Jane Kenny, Yun must also make improvements at the dry cleaning facility that will benefit the environment. The improvements will cost the company approximately $60,000 over three years. In August 2000, the agency first started investigating White-Sun and found many violations of federal and state hazardous waste regulations, including 19 improperly labeled containers with perc waste.

News Makers

The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), is featured in the May issue of Good Housekeeping magazine in its “Savvy Consumer” department. The magazine points to the IICRC as a good resource for consumers who want referrals and advice about carpet cleaners.

UPMA Labs, LLC, Cheshire, Conn., was recently created as an international pest management supply company. Dr. Mohamed Rachadi, UPMA Labs founder, says that the company will focus on developing, producing and marketing environmentally responsible solutions.

Cascades Inc., Kingsey Falls, Quebec, has announced that Rolland Inc., Perkins Papers Ltd. and Paperboard Industries International Inc. have adopted the Cascades corporate name. These different entities are now Cascades Fine Papers Group Inc.; Cascades Tissue Group Inc. and Cascades Boxboard Group, respectively.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its e-commerce 2000 “e-stats” report. It tracks e-commerce sales for manufacturing, wholesale distribution, retail and certain service sectors. Wholesalers achieved e-commerce sales of $213 billion in 2000, which is equal to 7.7 percent of total wholesaler-distributor sales.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Spruce Industries, Garwood, N.J., recently announced the merger of Essential Supplies, Highstown, N.J., into the company. Hank Josephs, president of Spruce Industries, said the merger will enable the company to better serve end users in the state of New Jersey.

Nilfisk-Advance, Minneapolis, has announced that it has joined forces with Penguin Wax, Tokyo, to sell cleaning equipment into the contract cleaning sector of Japan. Penguin Wax is a nationwide distributor and manufacturer of cleaning chemicals in Japan and will be the sole distributor for Nilfisk in the Japanese market.

Cascades Inc., Kingsey Falls, Canada, has acquired 33 converting lines and agreed to purchase a tissue paper mill from American Tissue Inc., Hauppauge, N.Y., for $35 million.