The U.S. Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA) recently released revised data for the top 10 OSHA violations for the 2019 fiscal year. For the ninth consecutive year, Standard Number 1926.501: General Requirements for Fall Protection lands at number one with 7,014 violations. This article will help you avoid violating this important standard ... or better yet, avoid an employee injury.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) developed this COVID-19 planning guidance based on traditional infection prevention and industrial hygiene practices. It focuses on the need for employers to implement engineering, administrative, and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as considerations for doing so.

While there have not been many changes to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements over the past year, it is important to review some of the recent changes and remind you of some upcoming compliance obligations.

• OSHA 300 Recordkeeping & Reporting
• OSHA Reportable Incidents
• Silica & Beryllium Standards
• Hazardous Materials - Tier II Report

Over the last few months, “5+1 S” has served as a small but powerful acronym to describe the removal and continued avoidance of waste in all our business practices. Currents readers have had the opportunity to learn about the five “S” goals of sort, straighten, shine, standardize and sustain in previous articles focusing on lean service. In each of those articles, there has always been a reference to the additional “+1 S” focus on safety.

In late 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new rule called the “Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule.” In the U.S. over the past 18 months, many states that members do business in have adopted new rules which now affect the management of hazardous waste. Some are beneficial and some could create additional legal exposure to your business.

This is the third in the “5+1 S Series” of articles written by EASA’s Management Services Committee to provide “lean service” resources to members.

As anyone who is familiar with insurance inspectors, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other regulatory bodies knows, there are rather unique dangers in the electromechanical repair industry. Balancing machines and test panels are high on the list. Both require easy access – and both pose significant risk to personnel. In most circumstances, unguarded rotating machinery and temporary electrical connections are cause for great concern.

Como cualquiera que esté familiarizado con inspectores de seguridad, la Administración de Salud y Seguridad Ocupacional de los Estados Unidos (OSHA) y otros entes reguladores conocidos, existen peligros únicos en la industria de reparación electro-mecánica. Las máquinas balanceadoras y los tableros de prueba ocupan un lugar destacado dentro de la lista.

Ambos requieren fácil acceso e implican un riesgo importante para el personal. En la mayoría de los casos, la maquinaria rotativa sin guardas de protección y las conexiones eléctricas temporales son motivo de gran preocupación.

Two case histories point out the need for caution when working with metal sprayed shafts:

• Example 1: When measuring the bearing fit shaft size, the micrometer didn’t feel right; mushy, not solid, although the journal was very close to the specified size. After using two micrometers to experiment with one of these frosted fits, it was discovered that the measurement on one micrometer changed when tightening down the other micrometer and vice versa.
• Example 2: The bearing journals on a large armature began to fail while the armature was coming up to speed in balance stand.

En mi centro de servicio hemos visto problemas en ejes previamente reparados que fueron metalizados. En estos casos recibimos motores para revisión. Después de la inspección y de medir los ajustes de los rodamientos en el eje, encontramos algo que simplemente no se “sentía” bien. Podríamos decir por la apariencia que los ejes habían sido reparados antes de la revisión actual.