It’s February. Holiday decorations and the family parties are behind us. The old yule log can be forgotten and soon winter will turn to spring. Seasons come and go, as do many rules of business. In the safety business, it’s time to get focused on some new regulations for injury recording. How we kept records in 2014 has changed as they apply to the OSHA log. Since 2003, the recording of injuries was unchanged. Now, in 2015, we must deal with something new and different and, dare I say, not everyone will like it.
Call the feds
In previous years, OSHA was to be called within eight hours for any fatality or for three or more hospitalizations. Today, the reason for that call has expanded to include an amputation, loss of an eye or a single hospitalization. The reason for this change is to focus on the prevention of serious injuries. It seems like most of the old rules focus on four causes that still create the most injuries: falls, electrocutions, those who are struck by objects or those who are caught between objects.
In a recent seminar, a contractor’s safety director was questioning the new OSHA regulations and their importance. He said it is a shame the government is getting in our business. I do not agree nor do I see it his way. In a private discussion, I asked how his company was doing in safety and he told me that, with “inventive” case management, his company was doing OK. Of course, that got my attention! As he spoke, I found he might not be alone in his version of recordkeeping.
What about medications?
The safety director went on to say his company allowed safety managers to “red line” certain types of injuries. One, in particular, was when a post injury substance test came back positive for illegal drugs. He said, since that type of injury is uncontrollable, they don’t count them unless a customer finds out about it. His argument was ludicrous. The company position was every employee could not be drug tested every day and if drug use were known regarding any worker, company management would certainly not allow that worker to work. Therefore, since the situation cannot be controlled, they don’t record injuries resulting from substance abuse. Wow! That’s a first for me. Not only is the company violating OSHA recordability rules but also they are not helping their company by not con-fronting or by ignoring the issues at hand.
Held hostage
The guy went on to say his company is being held hostage. How so, I inquired? He said his company has chosen not to work for any owner or customer that has a stringent drug testing policy. (Of course, those places to work are limited in the Gulf Coast area.) He went on to say, “We are hostages.” Again his logic was suspect. He said, “For our company to get contract work, we have to provide a drug-free workforce and to do that we must keep a weak substance abuse policy and give liberal discipline to abusers. We know we have drug users, but some of them are our very best craftsmen and operators and, if we get hard on them, our company could soon be out of business.” He told me for some plant work you have to be hair follicle tested. This type of test result will show if a person has done drugs for a period of four to six months prior to the test. As a result, his company first shops to see what drug testing the customer requires and then they decide if they will bid the work. To me, that’s all backward! It is not helping the substance problem and leaves employees vulnerable to being harmed by at-risk drug users. This leaves safety results to pure luck.
Prevention
Part of injury prevention is about safety planning, safely executing work and controlling the workforce. All are the employer’s obligation and, if those processes cannot be done, bad things are almost assured to happen. When an employer gets results by luck, it will be short lived. Until you reach zero injuries you must be good at case management, but case management does not mean fudging the records. As for 2015 recordkeeping, fudging just got harder.
For more information, contact HASC Customer Relations at (281) 476-9900, Ext. 310 or visit www.hasc.com.