tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32296656657132250602024-03-05T02:26:23.622-05:00OSHA AbovegroundA (hopefully thoughtful and thought provoking) view of OSHA from the inside.Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-52183935578113702082010-09-30T17:00:00.000-04:002010-09-30T17:00:08.299-04:00CranesI got a request to start a new thread on the Crane standard, but since I'm an IH and don't have much crane experience (and no experience yet with the new standard) I'm posting the request here in the hopes that others can bring about a discussion:
I have a suggestion for a new blog thread. Why has OSHA adopted new technology for insulated links for use with cranes without doing sufficient Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-13874794378964546952010-09-29T17:27:00.000-04:002010-09-29T17:27:50.897-04:00OSHA PELsSo this morning I had a radical idea on how to deal with our PELs. Everyone on the planet knows our PELS are horribly out of date, they're from 1968 or 1970 (general industry vs construction) and many don't take into account health effects that may occur at lower exposures. So here's the idea:
Withdraw the standards, both 1910.1000 and 1926.55.Totally insane isn't it? When it Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-42001362134206313232010-08-19T15:51:00.000-04:002010-08-19T15:51:24.810-04:00New PollThe last poll is closed and a new one has been opened: Should OSHA Exist?
The last poll was close, 68 to shut 'er down, 67 to keep trudging on. Since the poll was really about finding out if people are still reading, I'm keeping the blog. Keep the comments coming, even those that disagree with me, just be respectful of me and others reading and commenting (you'll notice that 4 Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-60594302506716160572010-07-23T17:19:00.001-04:002010-07-23T17:20:03.890-04:00Top 10 Things Young CSHOs Need to KnowBelow are my Top 10 Things Every Young CSHO Needs to Know Before They are Let Loose on the World.
Never Lie. Beyond the moral and ethical aspects of honesty is a practical one, if you get caught lying during deposition or as a witness, you are done professionally. You probably won’t be fired, but every opposing attorney in the area will know what you’ve done and your contest rate willAbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-25901441742587611912010-07-12T12:57:00.000-04:002010-07-12T12:57:42.057-04:00Your Chance to ContributeThis is one of the comments from my previous post:
"The problem with the slow exchange of thoughts and ideas is just that, it's slow. I think most people would like a larger volume of subject matter at a faster pace with some bad ideas (and even some disrespectful material) versus a limited volume at a slower pace."
The commenter makes a fair point, the problem is I'm not willing to Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-44317592377616750562010-07-07T13:54:00.000-04:002010-07-07T13:54:25.435-04:00New PollPlease note the new poll. Since I changed the look of the blog my Google Analytics are gone so I can't tell if anyone is even reading any more.Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-24670562294045608322010-06-27T19:46:00.003-04:002010-06-27T20:18:41.748-04:00PAWAPAWA, aka Protecting America's Workers Act, aka H. R. 2067. I finally had a chance to read through PAWA today and what I read was both good and bad. The bill has some 20 plus sections, of which I thought 10 were significant. One part, Section 203, I didn't bother reading, it has to do with discrimination, which is something I don't know much about (for those who may not know, OSHA uses Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-22640631523274824282010-06-20T16:57:00.002-04:002010-06-20T17:23:49.517-04:00Safety and Health at BPWhat must it be like to be an industrial hygienist or safety specialist for BP right now?You probably thought by the headline that I was going to bash BP on their safety record like everyone else, didn't you? Well I'm not going to do that, enough people are doing that already. Nor am I going to try defend the indefensible, but what of the honest people who work for BP?I realize that no body Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-62564100748705005482010-06-20T15:34:00.002-04:002010-06-20T15:39:00.972-04:00SighPeople constantly disappoint me. I have left the comment section open so anyone could post a comment without my interference, but I did so with the hope that people would be respectful, but the Trolls have proven that civility is beyond their capability, so I have closed the comments down. For those who choose to participate and agree to be respectful I'll post your comments when I can. Keep Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-39347697921956123692010-05-12T10:39:00.002-04:002010-05-12T11:27:38.534-04:00Bad IdeasEvery day OSHA sends it's staff an e-mail with a list of S&H/OSHA related links to articles gathered from the Internet. One of the article today really got my attention: UMW, Upper Big Branch victims' relatives sue MSHA.It's not that MSHA is being sued, that happens all the time to both MSHA and OSHA, it's just part of the job. The part that makes me uncomfortable is that UMW is asking a Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-33101271967302845022010-04-06T11:56:00.003-04:002010-04-07T14:05:38.808-04:00OSHA Impact... Yes, Again.People drive me crazy. They complicate things that don't need to be complicated and simplify things that can't be simplified. The graph I referred to in my last post was from an article by Charles C. Johnson at Andrew Breitbart's Big Government website. Hmmmm, imagine that, an anti-government website saying bad things about a government agency, I'm shocked. I'm also not going to get into Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com110tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-68326787862689396782010-04-06T11:28:00.003-04:002010-04-06T11:55:46.600-04:00ErrataSorry for the long absence, busy. I know, I've already used that excuse, and I've said I would try to do better, but I have been busy and I will try to do better.In my last post I said I wanted to have a S&H contest, but I can't seem to find the right show on TV. I thought it would be best if we could use a show/video that is posted on the internet instead of having to record something. SoAbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-7086823130738118052010-02-22T13:28:00.002-05:002010-02-22T16:07:20.274-05:00Those TV ShowsNo, I haven't abandoned the blog, I've been very busy, those newbies can't train themselves. Actually, I'm not sure I can train them either. The kids right out of school think they know everything and can't seem to comprehend that they're actually pretty stupid. Those who came from consultation or private industry spend half their time complaining about the amount of documentation needed for Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-67871159915078632122010-01-14T10:39:00.002-05:002010-01-14T10:44:09.823-05:00Please, I'm Begging YouPlease people, I'm begging you, stop with the political commentary, this isn't the place for it. All anti-government, conservative vs liberal, Democrat vs Republican rhetoric will be deleted!Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-49046426704401592392010-01-06T10:22:00.002-05:002010-01-06T12:20:34.043-05:00Did I Miss the Memo?Any one who follows OSHA's press releases has probably noticed a recent jump in the number of sig-cases (a sig or significant case is any OSHA case where the proposed penalty exceeds $100,000). I've certainly noticed a jump, although I don't have the numbers to back it up.The left-wing politicos will, of course, claim it's the current administration doing what the previous one failed to do. AndAbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-64698642845653159942009-12-14T11:30:00.002-05:002009-12-14T14:12:23.391-05:00Dr. MichaelsAs anyone who follows OSHA knows by now, Dr. David Michaels was nominated and confirmed as the new Assistant Secretary for OSHA. Someone recently posted a comment asking me what I thought of Dr. Michaels, and in one of the strangest moments in my life, I realized I have no real opinion!I had never heard of Dr. Michaels before his nomination, but I guess my sense is that he is a good selection. Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-18254236629981878462009-11-10T14:04:00.002-05:002009-11-10T14:36:42.436-05:00Things Have Gotten InterestingSome of you have been asking what happened to the OSHA Underground, and I think I've figured out why that site went down. I got this e-mail from Google, the owners of Blogger:Hello,Google has received a subpoena for information related to anonymous comments posted on your blog. The case is entitled Secretary of Labor v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., United States Occupational Safety and Health Review Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-86287155753983982522009-10-30T16:56:00.002-04:002009-10-30T17:17:27.733-04:00BPThe Houston South Area Office issued BP a record citation today: $87,000,000. That's right 87 million dollars!Some people who support the current administration are going to jump up and down and say "See, I told you!" But I would note one thing, this case was built on the 2005 case (actually the settlement agreement from that case), whcih was conducted under the previous administration. The Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-45223074612465727372009-10-28T15:46:00.002-04:002009-10-28T17:44:38.629-04:00DrivingFirst let me add my congratulations to the OSHA Underground for being named to the LexisNexis Top 25 List of Workplace related blogs. It's great that they got that recognition!Next, from a commenter:"Thanks for posting again! I was hoping my comment would elicit a post by you....how about distracted driving as a topic? Apparently it is the #1 killer in the workplace- The US DOT had a summit 2 Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-41331881171578452942009-10-16T14:57:00.003-04:002009-10-16T17:36:25.949-04:00No I Haven't Given UpAnonymous said:"This has nothing to do with the post, but Abel, where are you? You have not posted in a month! We miss you...."Thanks, since I've never had an employer open up his arms and say "Glad to see you," it's kind of nice to be missed by at least one person who reads the blog.You know how fraternities and sororities have Hell Week? CSHOs have Hell Month. And it's not a one time event,Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-29404588674383933582009-09-14T17:05:00.003-04:002009-09-14T18:33:45.432-04:00Health Care ReformI have a question: What happens to workplace safety and health if health care reform actually goes through? Has anyone thought about it?Please don't jump in and leave comments about how health care reform is good or bad for the country, I'll just delete those posts. My question is not whether or not we should have health care reform, my question is what happens to safety and health if it comesAbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-11506738228518894462009-09-13T07:41:00.002-04:002009-09-13T07:59:36.284-04:00The ForumYesterday, after noticing that the last post has generated 34 comments, I decided that maybe we need to have a better way to discuss things than on the back pages of a blog, so I've set up a forum, the OSHA Above Forum. The web site is http://oshaabove.freeforums.org/.There are a couple of downsides to this new forum, first, because it's free, there will be ads. If enough people use the forum Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-1440083708211213822009-09-01T18:15:00.002-04:002009-09-01T18:39:31.073-04:00Poll ResultsThe poll results are in, and I have to admit I'm a little surprised by them. Not the "Is Abel a Shill?" poll, I kind of expected that, although I find it somewhat counterintuitive that someone would view me that way and still read the blog. If I though someone was shilling, I wouldn't read their blog.For me the surprise was what standard people thought OSHA should work on next, the results are Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-45646830953530497232009-08-24T01:57:00.001-04:002009-08-24T01:59:17.215-04:00Why?I got this comment last week, and the commenter asks a great question:"Now we are getting somewhere! OSHA has actually had some great ideas over the last 30 something years, which even othre agencies have adopted and implemented. However, OSHA has often failed to benefit from its own insights. Why?"Any ideas?Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3229665665713225060.post-34325445624475180672009-08-12T11:24:00.004-04:002009-08-12T13:44:13.553-04:00Abel the ShillFrom a commenter:AbelYou sound like a schill for OSHA. You point out OSHA problems but you defend OSHA always in the end. You are biased and have no creditability. You can delete this post since it is to you, but you have been revealed. You are 100% bureaucrat and apparently can't help it. You probably think HR 3200 would be a great health plan since the government would run things.Amusing. Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14667692714141701019noreply@blogger.com12