Occupational Health Safety - Essay Example

Plan of Action: Occupational Health Safety The essay aims to address a two-fold objective to wit to develop a plan of action on how to conduct investigation in the work areas; and (2) to discuss OSHA standards and recommendations for the identified source(s) of problem. Plan of Action: Occupational Health Safety Investigation Fatal injury rate among warehouses are higher than those in other industries such as agricultural and mining industry and can cause a wide variety of potential hazards to the workers involved in the operations of the warehouse (OSHA, 2004, p. 1). Different factors may contribute to the occurrence of an accident in the work areas and these factors are determined by conducting an accident investigation. In the scenario presented, a call was received to report dizziness and feeling of sickness of workers from a refrigeration warehouse, specifically workers from the refrigerated section. As the safety and occupational health professional in the city health department, it is my responsibility to conduct an investigation in the identified refrigeration warehouse. Oregon OSHA (n.d.) identified six steps in conducting an accident investigation, among of which are the following: securing the accident scene, collecting accident facts, developing sequence of events, determining causes, recommending improvements, and writing a report (p. 3). Initially, assessment of the refrigerated warehouse is deemed necessary as this will give clues on what really cause the problem. In addition, it will also determine preventive evacuation if situation requires. The safety and occupational health professional must first provide medical aid to affected workers, and then, the refrigerated section of the warehouse must be secured because this is where complaints of dizziness and feeling of sickness were identified. The second part is the collection of accident facts. Investigators will determine the direct cause of injury, systems weakness, and predisposing hazardous environments. During the collection of data, the investigator found out that the temperature inside the warehouse is 40°F, the workers blister packing products, the presence of two railroad car lines that end directly inside the warehouse which is proximal to the production area, and the absence of sensors and environmental monitors. As the investigator, assumptions related to gas powered forklifts are put also under investigation as refrigerated warehouses often used ammonia which is considered as a hazardous chemical by the OSHA (Chaturvedi, 2006, p. 78). Aside from the cooperative warehouse manager, data must also be obtained from witnesses and workers in the refrigerated warehouse. After all the data have been collected, the investigator will analyze gathered facts by sequencing the events and determining the cause of accident. Based on the data presented, causes of the accident are: (1) transportation fault, (2) absence of alarm system and monitors, and (3) cold stress. Since railroad car lines end directly to the production area, improper unloading of gas powered forklifts cause the leakage of ammonia needed in refrigeration warehouse. In addition, because the refrigeration warehouse lacks alarming sensors and monitors, increasing level of ammonia were not identified earlier. Ammonia has pungent and suffocating odor (Chaturvedi, 2006, p. 77) and has low odor thresholds. Odor was discerned in the forklift because of the concentration of gas powered ammonia used in refrigeration. However, during the incident, no sensors had warned workers of the increasing level of ammonia leading to feeling of sickness and dizziness of the two workers. In addition, cold stress is another cause that precipitates dizziness and feeling of sickness of the two workers as they were exposed in extreme of temperature that had resulted in early symptoms of hypothermia (Berry, 2011, p. 14). The last two steps which are recommendation for improvements and writing a report focus on the correction of the identified cause(s) of the incident by restructuring engineering, management, and barrier controls (Oregon OSHA, n.d., p. 13). Sources of the Problem Based upon the investigation, personnel training and environmental hazards are the sources or causes of the problem. Under problems in personnel training include possibility of inappropriate forklift operations and lack of knowledge in emergency or first aid interventions. Improper handling and transport of gas powered forklifts such as ammonia may cause leakages that can harm the cerebral and respiratory status of workers (Chaturvedi, 2006, p. 78). Lack of knowledge about first aid interventions also refer to personnel problems as workers not apply any interventions when the incident happened and only wait for the action of the safety and occupational health professional. The second probable cause is environmental hazards that include extreme of temperature, forklift condition, position of the railroad car lines, and absence of alarming sensors and monitors. If OSHA standards were strictly followed, possibility of ammonia leakage or any predisposing factors that would put workers’ health and life at risk may be avoided. Occupational Health Safety Standards The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) developed standards for general safety of workers in the warehousing industry. In comparison with the case study presented, OSHA stated that exposed or open loading dock doors should be chained off, roped off, or blocked (OSHA, 2004, p. 11). OSHA also emphasized general ergonomics training, task specific training, and work instructions in cold environment (OSHA, 2004, p. 11). Employers must ensure that warehouse is properly ventilated and lockout/tagout procedures in the facility are embodied. All hazardous materials container must be properly labeled with manufacture’s name and address, cautions, and name of the chemical. OSHA (2004) stated also that forklifts used in warehouse facilities must have designs and constructions requirements approved by the American National Standard for Powered Industrial Trucks (p. 14). Recommendations In line with the incident presentation and identified causes of problems, the following recommendations are made: Forklifts. Forklifts operators must be trained, evaluated, and certified to ensure safe transport of powerful gases. Test first the condition of the forklift before operations and follow safe procedures for picking up, putting down, stacking loads, and driving only to maximum level of 5 mph. Anyone under 18 years old must not be allowed to operate a forklift (OSHA, 2004, p. 4). First-Aid Measures. Workers should be taught of medical emergency procedures such as hypothermia when working in a refrigeration warehouse. When early signs of hypothermia occur such as dizziness and feeling of sickness, workers should notify the emergency help hotline 911 to ask for assistance. While waiting, workers must be taught of interventions to keep the victim warm by removing any wet clothing and replacing with dry ones, giving warm and sweet drinks when alert, and moving the arms and legs to create muscle heat (Berry, 2011, p. 15). Environmental Hazards. Working in extreme cold temperature recommends workers to use personal protective equipment. Use face shield, safety glasses, or splash goggles to protect the eye from leakages of ammonia; boots and gloves from the danger of hypothermia or frostbite brought by extreme cold (Chaturvedi, 2006, p. 86). Alarm sensors and monitors must also be installed to prevent worsening of the incident and act immediately on the identified problem as well as to monitor the level of hazardous gases such as ammonia that may cause critical damage to the lives of the workers. References Berry, C. (2011). A Guide to Preventing Heat Stress and Cold Stress (p. 1-22). North Carolina: N.C. Department of Labor. Chaturvedi, P. (2006). Safety and Hazards in Ammonia Handling, Storage, and Transportation. Challenges of Occupational Safety and Health (p. 77-88). New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. Oregon OSHA. (n.d.). Conducting an Accident Investigation: Root Causes (p. 1-34). Oregon: Department of Consumer and Business Services. OSHA. (2004). Worker Safety Series: Warehousing (p. 1-25). Washington: U.S. Department of Labor. Read More