Personal protective equipment corrective actions

A chemical spill is probably the most common accident in the laboratory, and in most cases can be cleaned up by laboratory personnel with minimal effort or risk. According to the requirements of the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, laboratory personnel are required to be trained in the risks associated with the chemicals with which they are working and should know when it is safe to clean up a minor spill. Workers should be especially sure to be familiar with the risks and the corrective actions to be taken in an emergency for chemicals labeled on the container DANGER or WARNING. If personal protective equipment is needed, personnel required to wear it must receive appropriate training in how to use and maintain the equipment. 

When the citation permits an extended time for abatement, you must ensure that employees are adequately protected during this time. For example, the citation may require the immediate use of personal protective equipment by employees while engineering controls are being installed. When this is the case and is indicated on the citation, you must also provide OSHA with an abatement plan (steps you will take to protect employees and correct the hazards) and periodic progress reports on your actions. 

Maintenance, Repair, and Cleaning There needs to be a maintenance and repair program. Personal protective equipment that is not in good condition or not properly adjusted for fit needs corrective action. Filters in respirators need regular replacement. Protective eye wear needs regular cleaning. Some items need disinfecting. Some need decontamination. 

Conduct weekly inspections with emphasis on good housekeeping, proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), condition of critical parts of equipment, and preventive maintenance Determine the root cause analysis of any incident in 24 hours Create a written system for documenting all incidents and near misses (loss-producing events) and all subsequent investigations and corrective actions... 

Action covers how a timeiy response is carried out. Key aspects include the availability of a reliable means of communicating with other plant opaators the time needed to locate and operate a control (close a valve, stop a pump) the need to put on personal protective equipment (PPE) the ease of operating the control while wearing PPE and how feedback is given to operators that the control has operated correctly. Occasionally there may be circumstances where operators may hesitate if shutting down an operation might lead to later criticism. 

Apply systems solutions. Traditionally, the corrective action following an incident is not only designed narrowly, it is also applied narrowly. A safety leader presents a report to management, and then the recommended solution to eliminating the "root cause" is implemented in the work area where the incident occurred. An equipment guard might be replaced, more comfortable personal protection equipment ordered, or a certain employee might be "retrained" or even punished (incorrectly referred to as "discipline" in the safety literature). 

The most effective safety celebration I ever observed featured a series of brief presentations by teams of hourly workers. These employees shared numerous safety ideas they had put in place to prevent workplace injuries. Some showed off new personal protective equipment, some discussed their procedures for encouraging near-hit analyses and corrective actions, and others displayed graphs of data obtained from audits of behaviors and environmental conditions. One team presented an ergonomic analysis and redesign of a work station. 

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