OSHA

[BigRedBuster]

OK, I have a question for you?

 

Let me start by saying that I am not a typical conservative that says we need to do away with OSHA...bla bla bla....They have their place in the world and I want American workers to be safe.

 

But, let me point out one example of how absolutely idiotic this organization can be.

We just had an OSHA inspection. Everything went fine and no major issues. However, one issue that they pointed out was that we have air nozzles next to every production line. You know the kind. You push a button and air comes out to blow things off. We need these to maintain the production line on a daily basis and in our packaging process.

 

Well, it was pointed out that these nozzles are not allowed to have more than 30 lbs of pressure coming out. So, we ordered a bunch of nozzles that regulate that pressure to 30 lbs. Production and maintenance have flat out said that this will not work for what we need. We need more pressure for it to accomplish what the reason is for the air hose to begin with.

 

We have had these air nozzles in place for decades and not once has any worker ever been injured or complained about them. They are the typical nozzle that is in any shop in the country.

 

So, what is a company supposed to do? What is required by OSHA flat out is unusable in the real world. BUT, if we do what we need to do, we get fined.

 

Sometimes you just have to bang your head against the wall.

[MLB 51]

OK, I have a question for you?

 

Let me start by saying that I am not a typical conservative that says we need to do away with OSHA...bla bla bla....They have their place in the world and I want American workers to be safe.

 

But, let me point out one example of how absolutely idiotic this organization can be.

We just had an OSHA inspection. Everything went fine and no major issues. However, one issue that they pointed out was that we have air nozzles next to every production line. You know the kind. You push a button and air comes out to blow things off. We need these to maintain the production line on a daily basis and in our packaging process.

 

Well, it was pointed out that these nozzles are not allowed to have more than 30 lbs of pressure coming out. So, we ordered a bunch of nozzles that regulate that pressure to 30 lbs. Production and maintenance have flat out said that this will not work for what we need. We need more pressure for it to accomplish what the reason is for the air hose to begin with.

 

We have had these air nozzles in place for decades and not once has any worker ever been injured or complained about them. They are the typical nozzle that is in any shop in the country.

 

So, what is a company supposed to do? What is required by OSHA flat out is unusable in the real world. BUT, if we do what we need to do, we get fined.

 

Sometimes you just have to bang your head against the wall.

Simple. Change them out before the inspection.

[carlfense]

Simple. Change them out before the inspection.

 

I'd be placing calls to local politicians as well.

[BigRedBuster]

 

Simple. Change them out before the inspection.

 

Believe me, that thought has crossed my mind. However, I like playing by the rules. I asked our safety manager if we can talk to the guy and explain our problem to get ideas. His answer was...."They don't give a sh#t".

 

Also, with the politician issue. I know you have to be sort of careful with that. You piss off the local inspector and your going to have one hell of a lot more inspections.

[BigRedBuster]

Another issue with the idea of "changing them before the inspection" is what message does that send to the workers? Does that then mean they don't have to pay attention to other rules? Next time someone gets hurt, will the person just say..."Hey, they don't care about OSHA rules....look what they told us to do with the air nozzles."

[Conga3]

Place a horse head in his bed.

 

That usually works.

[carlfense]

What type of volume are you looking at? Are they used for each part or just at the beginning and end of shifts, etc? If they are used relatively infrequently could you skirt it with portable bubbles?

 

Do you know what specific OSHA reg is at issue? Hard to think of ideas without seeing the specific rule.

[BigRedBuster]

I honestly don't know the answers to those questions. I know it's a lot more than 30 lbs because that doesn't' come anywhere close to what they claim they need. We have several guys working on the problem that work with OSHA regulations all the time and they are just shaking their heads in confusion on what they are going to do.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

The thing about OSHA is, in my opinion, I think they are necessary. Now before you go off and stop reading what I'm typing, let me explain to what I think should be done with them. OSHA is trying to make the work place as safe as possible, which is a good thing--it's been proven that those who work under stressful conditions experience more job burnout, and have higher rates of turnover as a result. It costs a lot of money to replace workers, and companies can't afford to constantly replace workers. So making the work environment safe is a must.

 

However, there are other ways to make the work place, especially work places where real harm could be done, safer. Proper training comes to mind.

 

Right now, we don't have all the technology that can "safely" perform the same quality of job that our current technology can not. And we're not going to wait for the safer technology to come along, because that is going to severly hamper production. So instead of being concerned with what our technology needs to do to perform safely, maybe OSHA should be concerned with the training of the workers to use the technology safely.

[Count 'Bility]

Yes, OSHA has it's place in the world. Yes, OSHA is completely out of control. These restrictions and regulations are what's holding our economy back more than anything. Not taxes. Not Obama care. Regulations. Plain and simple. Open sh#t up and get it rolling. Use common sense. Managing a wholesale warehouse, I could go on and on about the stupid, idiotic, no common sense BS that these yayhoos come up with. In fact, I dont even know where to start.

[knapplc]

OK, so the inspector came out and did his thing, and everyone's confused. Not surprising - it's the government.

 

I called OSHA and talked to a couple of people for you. This may be stuff you already know, but if not, hope it helps.

 

OSHA provides consultation services that are similar to an actual factual inspection, but they don't carry the weight of penalty if they find something out of compliance. You can download their consultation brochure HERE

 

The website for this service is HERE

 

OSHA has a website specifically for small business owners HERE

 

The guy I talked to said that the inspector who came out likely didn't give you a written notice of infraction(s), which is weird, but that's apparently what they do. They tell you what's out of compliance and it's your job to fix it. He also told me that you're likely to get a fine if the inspector found something out of compliance, which seems harsh and stupid, but again - it's the government.

 

You do have the right to an informal settlement agreement, which can mitigate your damages if you're actually going to be fined.

 

The guy at the local office I called said your first step should be to contact the compliance officer who came out on-site and showed his credentials. Call him, find out what he said, what's going in his report, and try to work with him first on what you need to do, or what you can do, to make this work for all parties. The guy mentioned having your workers wear aprons, shields, safety glasses, etc. as a mitigating measure, but he also said that may not get you out from under the requirement of 30lbs/sq. inch. He said higher air pressure could cause blood clots and death, which is probably a standard answer to every issue. Improperly closed staples could cause a puncture that would give you gangrene and lead to death, yadda yadda yadda. It's a dangerous world.

 

Anyway, start by calling the local OSHA office in charge of Nebraska at 402-553-0171. Ask to speak to the officer who came to your business. If that person isn't available or isn't helpful, call back and ask to speak to Bonita Winningham, the Area Director, or if she's not available, ask for Darwin Craig, the Asst. Area Director.

 

Ask for an informal settlement agreement, and see if they'll work with you on this.

 

Good luck, BRB.

[BigRedBuster]

Get this.....

 

I asked my safety guy what OSHA thinks is harmful about this. I have gone through our shop and had dust on me and taken one of these and blown off dust right off my bare skin and it didn't even hurt.

 

He said, "If you take more than 30 lbs and blow it into an orifice of your body it can do harm.

 

REALLY???? So, what friggen idiot took one of these and some point in time and stuck it up their azz and was injured then turned around and sued their company which in turn ended up making a new OSHA rule?

[BigRedBuster]

OK, so the inspector came out and did his thing, and everyone's confused. Not surprising - it's the government.

 

I called OSHA and talked to a couple of people for you. This may be stuff you already know, but if not, hope it helps.

 

OSHA provides consultation services that are similar to an actual factual inspection, but they don't carry the weight of penalty if they find something out of compliance. You can download their consultation brochure HERE

 

The website for this service is HERE

 

OSHA has a website specifically for small business owners HERE

 

The guy I talked to said that the inspector who came out likely didn't give you a written notice of infraction(s), which is weird, but that's apparently what they do. They tell you what's out of compliance and it's your job to fix it. He also told me that you're likely to get a fine if the inspector found something out of compliance, which seems harsh and stupid, but again - it's the government.

 

You do have the right to an informal settlement agreement, which can mitigate your damages if you're actually going to be fined.

 

The guy at the local office I called said your first step should be to contact the compliance officer who came out on-site and showed his credentials. Call him, find out what he said, what's going in his report, and try to work with him first on what you need to do, or what you can do, to make this work for all parties. The guy mentioned having your workers wear aprons, shields, safety glasses, etc. as a mitigating measure, but he also said that may not get you out from under the requirement of 30lbs/sq. inch. He said higher air pressure could cause blood clots and death, which is probably a standard answer to every issue. Improperly closed staples could cause a puncture that would give you gangrene and lead to death, yadda yadda yadda. It's a dangerous world.

 

Anyway, start by calling the local OSHA office in charge of Nebraska at 402-553-0171. Ask to speak to the officer who came to your business. If that person isn't available or isn't helpful, call back and ask to speak to Bonita Winningham, the Area Director, or if she's not available, ask for Darwin Craig, the Asst. Area Director.

 

Ask for an informal settlement agreement, and see if they'll work with you on this.

 

Good luck, BRB.

 

 

Thanks Knapp.

 

Sounds like everything we have basically done before. The issue with the "consultation" services is that they won't tell us how we can use the proper air pressure for what we need. They will simply walk through and point out what is wrong (too high of pressure) and tell us what we need to do to fix it before a real inspector comes out.

 

So, in other words, they basically do a dry run through telling us what is wrong before we have a chance of being fined.

Usually how this works is they give you one warning on something like this and document that they found it. If they then come back and find the same issue, then you get fined.

[knapplc]

The guy on the phone basically said the same thing about the danger of this as your safety guy said.

 

So you're telling me that if I stick a very high-pressure air hose up against my skin it could tear my skin? Or stick it in my eye, it could damage my eye? Or stick it in an "orifice," it could cause tearing/damage? NO WAY. I would never have figured that out.

 

I get the need for OSHA. And I get that this could be an "unsafe business practice." But for pete's sake. It's an air hose. A car is more dangerous, and they're not banning cars.

[QMany]

Get this.....

 

I asked my safety guy what OSHA thinks is harmful about this. I have gone through our shop and had dust on me and taken one of these and blown off dust right off my bare skin and it didn't even hurt.

 

He said, "If you take more than 30 lbs and blow it into an orifice of your body it can do harm.

 

REALLY???? So, what friggen idiot took one of these and some point in time and stuck it up their azz and was injured then turned around and sued their company which in turn ended up making a new OSHA rule?

 

Rather than think of sticking it up your ass and post nonsense, I would think of other bodily orifices that could REALISTICALLY be exposed to 30+ lbs of air pressure and what it could damage:

• The nostrils; breathing and the associated sense of smell.
  
• The eyes; sight.
  
• The mouth; eating; breathing, and vocalizations such as speech.
  
• The ear canals; hearing.
  

As far as the OP, I hope you get it figured out.

 

Some rules are misguided; this one might not be in some instances.