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10/16/2019 1 The Pennsylvania OSHA Consultation Program 25,000 Clients Can't Be Wrong Overview • Background • Services • Process • SHARP • Common Myths • Client’s Perspective
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The Pennsylvania OSHA Consultation Program
25,000 Clients Can't Be Wrong
Overview•Background
•Services
•Process
•SHARP
•Common Myths
•Client’s Perspective
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Federal Mandate• Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
• Pushback from small business (lack of resources & knowledge)
• Through Congressman William Steiger’s efforts in 1975, the House adopted an amendment authorizing the “consultation services program”
• DOL agreed to fund 90% of cost in states without approved state plans
• PA is currently funded by: • Federal OSHA ‐ 90%
• PA Department of Labor & Industry ‐ 10%
• 1 of 12 university based programs
• 2nd largest in US
Primary ObjectivesAssist PA employers with:
• Preventing occupational injuries and illnesses
• Reducing workers compensation costs and third party liability exposures
• Complying with the OSHA regulations
• Avoiding OSHA penalties, fines and criminal prosecutions
• Minimizing property damage and costs associated with accidents
• Attaining and sustaining business viability
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History at IUP’s Safety Sciences •Housed at IUP since 1983
•Closely affiliated with the IUP “world‐class”Safety Sciences program
• IUP Safety Sciences offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in occupational safety and health
•Routine national recognition as an exemplary Consultation Program by OSHA
•Rated as outstanding by Pennsylvania employers consistently
•Operational model for other states
Consultant Staffing
•All consultants are “faculty” members of the Safety Sciences Department at IUP
•Board certified safety professionals (CSP) and industrial hygienists (CIH)
•Average over 20 years of professional occupational safety and health experience in manufacturing, OSH consulting, construction, and research
• Strategically located across Pennsylvania
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Designed for Smaller Businesses•PA OSHA Consultation is designed specifically for small to medium‐size businesses
• 250 employees at a single site, or
• 500 corporate wide
•Large business requests honored as well but due to limited resources assistance is limited scope
•Priority given to:• employers in high‐hazard industries
• involved in hazardous operations
OSH Services Performed•FREE, on‐site:Physical hazard evaluations Industrial hygiene exposure monitoring
Regulatory required program assessment and development assistance
Regulatory required training assessment and delivery
Post OSHA inspection compliance assistance
Safety and health management program development assistance
•FREE, offsite:Daily telephone, email compliance assistance
Interventions, presentations, webinars, and seminars
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Process Overview•Requests received and assigned to consultants regionally.
•Employers may request:
• Full service safety;• Full service health;• Full service safety & health;• Comprehensive safety & health / program assistance
• Train & Education• Onsite Follow up
Process Overview• Onsite visit overview:
• Opening conference• Review of employer obligations, regulatory program, training
and recordkeeping requirements
• Walkthrough of facility• Physical hazards evaluation
• Industrial hygiene assessments for air and noise
• Closing conference• Define abatement dates for all serious hazards
• Report defining OSHA violations, correction recommendations and completion timelines
• Correction assistance provided by the consultant
• Potential follow‐up visits• Correction verification• Formal training & Education
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No Citations, No Penalties• Separate from OSHA enforcement
• Citations for violations are not issued
• Penalties for violations are not imposed
* The worksite is exempt from “programmed” OSHA inspections while in “open consultation”
• The “catch”…
• Employer must agree to correct any “serious or imminent danger” hazards identified
• PA OSHA Consultation program manager must refer to OSHA Enforcement if employer refuses to correct hazards…very rare!
• The employer establishes the scope of the visit
100% Confidential•PA OSHA Consultation must:
• Maintain total employer confidentiality
• Not divulge any information to:
• OSHA Enforcement
• lawyers pursuing liability cases
• reports are protected from subpoenas
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Impact on PA Employers• Consultants have conducted over 25,000 visits to PA
worksites
• Helped employers correct over 150,000 serious and other‐than‐serious hazards
• Saved employers over $1 billion in potential OSHA fines since 1983
• Assisted employers in preventing countless worker injuries / illnesses and deaths
Costs and Savings•Free of charge to eligible employers
•Onsite visits result in:
• Avoided OSHA penalty and litigation costs
• Reduced workers compensation costs
• Minimized equipment damage and product losses
•Additional cost savings …Safety and Health Consultants can cost employers $250+/hour
•Based on past performance, each consultant identifies an average of 7 regulatory violations per visit, SAVING the employer potentially $92,000 in OSHA fines
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Other Business Benefits Lowered Injury and Illness rates
Reduced Workers Compensation ‐ Experience Modification Rates (EMR)
Enhanced worker morale
Increased productivity
Better product or service quality
Improved competitive position
Business sustainability
Two Other Important Reasons to Engage Us…
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OSHA’s Penalty Structure
In November 2015, US Congress authorized federal OSHA to raise penalties every year to account for inflation. These amounts will increase every year going forward.
Type of Violation Penalty (Year 2019)
Serious / Other‐Than‐Serious
$13,260 per violation
Failure to Abate$13,260 per day beyond the abatement date
Willful or Repeated $132,598 per violation
OSHA & Department of Justice Partnering
• In 2016, the DOJ began pursuing federal Title 18 offenses
• Providing false statements,
• obstruction of justice, • tampering with witnesses or evidence,
• conspiracy, • environmental or worker endangerment crimes.
•Criminal Prosecution
• Felony convictions for employers
• 5 – 20 years in jail
• significant financial penalties
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SHARP•The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP)
• must have an exemplary and sustainable safety and health management system
• must have OSHA rates better than their industry average (North American Industrial Code, or NAICS)
•Potential for OSHA programmed inspection deferral for up to 3 years!
Pre-SHARP and Inspection DeferralPre‐SHARP designed to assist small employers who:
•Can’t meet all SHARP eligibility criteria
•Committed to meeting SHARP requirements
•Potential for OSHA programmed inspection deferral up to 18 months
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Common Myths #1
•Engaging OSHA Consultation will increase my potential for an “enforcement” inspection.
• FALSE• There is no “hit list”
• OSHA doesn’t monitor our “caller ID”
• Enforcement does not have access to OSHA Consultation’s employer contact information, requests, written reports, etc.
• Conversely, engaging OSHA Consultation would signal to “Enforcement” the business being proactive and may result in reduced fines should an inspection occur.
Common Myths #2
• If we disagree with the consultant’s recommendations we’ll be turned over to enforcement.
• FALSE• Each recommendation for a “serious” hazard has an associated “agreed upon” correction due date.
• Extensions are available for correction delays beyond the employer’s control.
• The employer maintains control of the scope of the visit.
• OSHA referral has been made just twice in the past 5,000 visits.
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Common Myths #3
•OSHA Compliance Officers may also conduct my OSHA Consultation visit. I don’t want to bring my “concerns” to their attention.
• FALSE
• In PA, compliance officers (federal employees) and consultation employees (state employees) are completely separate.
• Each Area OSHA Office has a compliance safety & health specialist, but these are not OSHA Consultation employees.
Common Myths #4
•We’re so small that OSHA doesn’t apply to us.
• FALSE
• Many employers think that if they have 10 or fewer employees they aren’t required to comply with the OSH Act.
• Actually many of our requests come from businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
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Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
•voestalpine
• HQ‐Linz, Austria
•Roll Forming Corporation (RFC)
• HQ‐Shelbyville, Kentucky
•RFC Sharon
• Farrell, Pennsylvania
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Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
•Our Markets
• Material Handling
• Transportation
• Construction
• Consumer Goods
•Our History
• Sharon Custom Metal Forming founded in 1997
• Purchased by voestalpine‐Roll Forming Corp. in 2008
Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Our Safety Legacy
• In 2009, after being purchased by RFC, a total of $250,000 was invested in light curtains on the roll lines over the subsequent 6 years.
• In 2011, the Sharon plant received the Governor’s Award for Safety Excellence after 5 years without a lost‐time injury.
• In January 2015, OSHA Enforcement arrived at the Sharon plant for a random site inspection. This inspection resulted in a citation for Serious Violation for the Lock‐Out/Tag‐Out energy control procedures.
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Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Our SHARP path
• RFC’s Safety Manager learned of SHARP in 2009 at an OSHA sponsored safety and health conference. RFC had been struggling with accidents and high incident rates, and OSHA made a presentation on partnership programs.
• After significant investment of time and money, and with a close relationship with a SHARP Partnership Administrator, SHARP certification was achieved in the Shelbyville, KY, facility in 2011.
Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Our SHARP path
• In 2015, RFC contacted OSHA in Pennsylvania in pursuit of achieving SHARP certification for the Sharon facility. The process involved a minimum of three audits, the first of which occurred in November 2015 and was to identify hazards and was conducted by David Yanoschick, PA OSHA Consultant. David had 13 findings during his audit in 10 different categories that needed correction.
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Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Our SHARP path
• The second audit was a Safety and Health Program Assessment that occurred in February 2016 and revealed seven findings in four categories.
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Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Our SHARP path
• The third audit, encompassing our complete Safety and Health program, was conducted in June 2016 and resulted in an additional six findings.
Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Our SHARP path
• For each of the identified shortcomings, RFC was required to spell out a corrective action taken as well as action taken to prevent recurrence. A correction due date was given by our consultant (subject to negotiation depending on the amount of effort and involvement required to rectify).
• Three additional follow‐up/certification audits were conducted in October and December 2017.
• Upon verification of satisfactory corrective action, RFC‐Sharon attained SHARP certification in February 2018.
• Original certification was for 1 year. Subsequent re‐certifications are valid for 3 years.
• The recertification audit was conducted in October 2018 with additional opportunities for improvement identified in the area of hazardous labeling.
• SHARP recertification was granted to us in February 2019 for 3 years.
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Client’s Perspective-voestalpine-RFC Sharon
Benefits from being SHARP certified
• Additional eyes on safety program found many opportunities for improvement
• Informal training conducted during the audits
• New equipment audits, at our invitation
• Attraction as a customer, considering a current trend among manufacturers to include safety as a criterion for potential vendors
• Attraction as an employer, which is beneficial in a time of low unemployment
• Exempt from random OSHA inspections
Conclusion•PA OSHA Consultation is a FREE service
•Provides a great service and compliance resource for Pennsylvania employers
•We often hear “this is OSHA’s best kept secret”
•Significant backlog of requests (average of 300) which is nearly ½ year of consultative onsite visits for entire staff
•Repeat business and 55 SHARP employers across Pennsylvania tells the story
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Requesting Assistance•Phone: 800‐382‐1241
•Website: http://www.iup.edu/pa‐oshaconsultation
Pennsylvania Training for Safety & Health(PATHS)
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Questions?
