Synergist - December 2010

Labor Department Renews National
Safety and Health Advisory Commit-
tee Charter

In October, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis renewed the charter of the OSHA National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH).

NACOSH advises, consults with, and makes recommendations to secretaries of labor and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on issues concerning the OSH Act and improvements to workplace health and safety protections.

“Since OSHA’s inception, NACOSH has
played an important role in advising the
secretaries of labor and HHS on worker
safety issues such as hazard communica-
tion, the whistleblower program and
providing ideas and input on ways to re-
duce worker deaths, injuries and ill-
nesses,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor
David Michaels in an OSHA press re-
lease. “The members’ advice and recom-
mendations are extremely valuable
because they have a wealth of knowl-
edge and real-world experience on a
wide range of worker health and safety
matters.”
The NACOSH charter expires in 2012.
The OSHA press release is available at
www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show
_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES
&p_id=18609.

OSHA Cites U.S. Army Garrison for
Potential Chlorine Exposure
OSHA issued notices of unsafe and un-
healthy working conditions to the U.S.
Army garrison at Fort
Riley, Kan., on Oct. 15
after an inspection
found that workers at
the garrison’s water
treatment plant were
consistently exposed
to hazards that in-
volved a potentially
dangerous release of

chlorine, said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA Regional Administrator, Kansas City, Mo., in an agency press release.

OSHA claims the garrison willfully violated procedures by supplying workers who were changing chlorine cylinders with five-minute emergency escape breathing devices. OSHA procedures for working with hazardous chemicals require self-contained breathing apparatus or supplied-air respirators.

The garrison can comply with the notice, request an informal meeting with the OSHA director in Wichita, Kan., or ask for a hearing with the regional administrator in Kansas City.

The OSHA press release is available at http://bit.ly/cVut3W.

Nonfatal Workplace Injuries and
Illnesses in Private Sector Down in
2009, BLS Reports

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 2009 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among workers in private industry decreased to 3. 6 cases per 100 equivalent full-time employees in 2009—a decline from 3. 9 cases in 2008. Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses dropped from 3. 7 million cases in 2008 to 3. 3 million cases in 2009. In addition, the number of private industry injury and illness cases reported nationwide in 2009 that resulted in the need for time off from work, job transfer, or restriction fell from 2.0 cases per 100 workers in 2008 to 1.8 cases in 2009.

The manufacturing industry reported a 23 percent drop in cases from 2008 to 2009—the largest year-to-year decrease in injuries and illnesses since the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was first published in 2003. The construction industry also saw a significant decline in 2009 with its incidence rate dropping to 22 percent. The combined decrease in cases reported in these sectors make up 56 percent of the total private industry decline in 2009 injury and illnesses.