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OSHA Safety Regulations - Ignorance is Not Bliss

The United States, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), primarily sets requirements for OSHA training and enforces work place safety regulations, at over seven million organizations. Moreover, OSHA policies and standards basically govern all the activities of the employer. The 'employer' in question can either be the co-corporation, the individual or the partnership. In accordance to the current situation, 23 territories and states have their own occupational safety and regulatory programs that apply to both the private and the public sectors. While some adopt the basic OSHA rules, other agencies have stronger penalties and stricter requirements. Unfortunately, many organizations often claim that OSHA's safety rules and health standards are overtly complex and extremely difficult to understand. But, the truth is that many small and large companies have come to the realization that ignorance is not bliss. What you do not know about, will eventually hurt you.

OSHA Standards – Who really makes them

We have been told so many times that if we do not follow or comply with the OSHA standards, we will be fined or slapped with penalties. But, do we know who really makes these standards? Let’s look into how the agency got started and how the standards came into existence. The main goal of OSHA is to ensure men and women in America are exposed to a safe and healthy working environment. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA holds the responsibility to set occupational safety and health standards. Why the standards came into existence can be traced back to 1960’s. During this period, work injuries and illnesses were in an alarming growth with fatalities and injuries increasing each year. The industrial accident situation and records were deteriorating and rather than improving the situation seems to spiral down. This resulted in a dire need for occupational safety and health legislation. The safety and health legislation bill was passed on December 29, 1970 was then Pr

What are the OSHA regulations for Employers

Most people think that the OSHA regulations are only aimed at the workers. However, this is not true. Many of the OSHA regulations are designed to ensure that employers take an interest in protecting their workers from any hazardous situations and ensure that they are working under safe conditions. These regulations can cover a wide variety of topics ranging from reporting, recordkeeping and posting, etc. Many of the OSHA standards are pertaining to topics that include protection of individual privacy, access to records, disclosure of information, inspections, citations, penalties, recordkeeping, reporting, documentation and adherence to safety standards. These regulations help in ensuring a safe working environment and helps employers avoid penalties and citations. This way, you can save a lot of money that would otherwise be used up in the treatment of injuries and in the replacement of equipments. It ensures that your employees give in a 100% effort and increases the productivity. T

Safety Means of Egress Approved by OSHA

The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is an organization that lays down guidelines for ensuring safety at the work places. Safety means of egress is one of the issues tackled by OSHA. This applies to the doorways that are used for entering and leaving the building as well as the emergency exits. OSHA focuses on the design and construction of buildings in terms of exit routes. The basic requirement of all the exit means is that they should be permanent. Also, all the exits have to be separated from all the other sections of the building by fire resistant materials. For exits that connect three stories or less, these materials should have a one hour fire resistance rating. Buildings that have more than three stories should have materials that are resistant to fire for two hours. Adequate number of exits should be decided depending on the design and the structure of the building. OSHA approved 30 hour general industry courses teach the importance of safety means of

How to Choose an OSHA Training Course

Today, many states haves started making it mandatory for workers and employees to be OSHA certified, thus increasing the demand for these courses. If you belong to those ranks of people who are on the look out for a good OSHA safety training course, but don't know how to go about choosing one, then you have come to just the right place. You need to first find out what your requirements are. Do you need the OSHA 30 Hour Certifications, or do you need the 10 hour courses? Today, 7 states have now adopted the OSHA laws pertaining to workers, contractors and employers. States that have regular OSHA course enrollments include, California, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Ohio and Georgia. Ask yourself whether you belong to the General Industry or the Construction Industry. General Industry courses deal with topics like Personal Protective Equipment, Bloodborne Pathogens, Walking and Working Surfaces and other such issues. Generally, most employees either need an OSHA 30 Hour certification o

The Importance of Identifying Excavation Site Hazards

Firstly, excavations can be defined as any cavity, depression, man-made cut or trench in the earth's surface, that's been formed by earth removal. An OSHA construction safety course will tell you that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, does not make any distinction, when it comes to the depth of the excavation site. Trenches on the other hand, may be defined as, narrow excavations, that are made below the surface of the ground. In other words, the depth of a trench is greater than its width. The OSHA construction course, helps workers, employees and employers understand that every organization or company ought to comply with the OSHA standards, that are related to excavations, particularly, standard 1926.650. Excavation site hazards can only be identified when the following steps are followed: 1.Prior to Excavation or Trenching: The Departmental supervisors firstly, need to identify any buried utilities. They then need to safeguard all surface encumbrances that

Some simple Fire Prevention Strategies

A number of common fire hazards are identified almost everyday in most workplaces. Today, we will discuss about some key fire prevention strategies that can make your workplace safe and fireproof. Some basic workplace fire preventive strategies are: 1.Inspect all workplace areas regularly – Pay more attention to those areas where fires are most likely to occur. Industrial fires mostly occur in work areas and in the storage areas. 2.Educate and train employees about fire hazards – A safety training is a must for every employee. The OSHA safety training program provides detailed information and training about fire hazards and the preventive measures. Employees should update their training whenever necessary. 3.Fire Extinguishers – In every place there should be a fire extinguisher but remember to select the right kind and keep it well maintained. According to OSHA, employees need to be trained to use the fire extinguishers effectively. 4.Check ventilation systems – The ventilation system

Everything you need to know about OSHA Personal Fall Protection Equipment

Many types of personal fall protection equipment and systems exist. To use them, a person requires rigorous training and of course, a professional charge. The OSHA focus four hazards strain on the use of the fall-protection systems. Personal fall protection equipment includes: Work Restraint Systems: These equipment types consist of a cord that should be arranged at a fixed length. This helps the user to prevent himself from going to the place that houses potential hazard. These places include the edge of a roof a person is working on or even a delicate and fragile surface that is likely to give in. Work positioning systems: This type of equipment helps the user to work in a suspended position. If the user is working on something midair, this equipment either prevents the fall or limits it. But it also requires a back-up in case the main system fails. Rope access systems: These systems have two kinds of ropes. One is called the safety rope and the other is the working rope. Both of the

Online OSHA Focus Four – Identify, Prevent and Eliminate work Hazards

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has identified 4 construction hazards that are primarily responsible for the majority of physical, financial and emotional accidents in this industry. Hence, it is vital that workers at various construction sites must be trained to identify, prevent and eliminate these hazards. This in turn would make construction sites a safer place to work in. The online OSHA Focus Four program is mainly designed to educate workers on 4 construction-related hazards. They are, electrical safety, fall protection, struck by’s and caught in between's. Some of its learning objectives are: Identify the incidents that cause struck by and caught in between injuries. Discuss work practices and engineering controls that can help reduce struck by and caught in between injuries. Highlighting the need for power tools. Discussing and Identifying electrical hazards. Understanding how electricity works. Identifying systems for fall protection. Demonstrating the p

Importance of OSHA 30 Hour Courses

A safe work environment enables workers to experience a sense of well being and comfort when they work. An effective OSHA 30 hour training course maximizes safety and well being of the workers in the construction and general industry. OSHA 30 hour training courses are parted into two parts: OSHA 30 Hour Construction Course and OSHA 30 Hour General Industry Course. OSHA 30 Hour Construction Course: This course is designed for workers in the construction industry. The course provides construction industry safety and health and comprehensive information on OSHA compliance issues. OSHA 30 hour construction course is designed for foremen, safety directors, and field supervisors. OSHA 30 Hour General Industry Course: This course is designed for workers in the general industry. This OSHA 30 hour general industry course provides necessary information on OSHA compliance issues. This course is designed for safety directors and field supervisors. After successful completion of this 30 hour gen

osha 30 hour certification courses

Do you need safety measures at working place? You can sure get the safety measures along with better understanding of OSHA regulations. OSHA 30 hour certification courses have been divided into two different parts. They are : 1.OSHA 30 Hour Construction Course and 2.OSHA 30 Hour General Industry Course These two OSHA safety training courses provide the most necessary safety measures, effective skills to skip danger and knowledge about the things that they use at working place. Both classroom and online OSHA 30 hour certification courses are available and you can feel comfortable with the online courses as there are many advantages. With online OSHA training certification you can get the courses at any time you want and also from anywhere. You can experience the comfort of doing the courses from also. Another advantage is you can log in and out as many times you and if there is internet problem you can complete the course taking more time. The information you get in online OSHA t

The Effectiveness of OSHA 30 Hour Course Online

OSHA 30- hour construction outreach training program attempts to recognize OSHA’s standards corresponding with specific hazardous conditions and practices, enforce preventive measures for accidents in workplace, describe the different types of personal protective equipments, identify common electrical hazards, identify the type of rigging equipments for the protection of employees, welding and cutting hazards, protection of workers and equipments from dangerous falls, concrete and masonry jobs, requirements for fire protection, importance of scaffolding, protecti0n from explosive and blasting agents also from the hazards that are associated with confined spaces. OSHA 30 hour General Industry Training program also gives complete information on the compliance issues. OSHA 30 hour safety training can be taken both onsite and online. Though, the latter one definitely has some advantage over the other one. With online 30 hour safety training you have the ability to consolidate education and