Are OSHA Fines Shifting the Focus from Health to Safety in Workplaces?

[00:00:00] You might not realize it, but we are exposed to dozens of hazards every day. Can any of these hazards negatively impact your health?

[00:00:09] Definitely this is the Exposure Scientist podcast. My name is Alex LeBeau and here we answer your questions and concerns on what you may be exposed to every day. Welcome to the Exposure Scientist podcast.

[00:00:26] The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or management. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered health advice. It is recommended that you consult the Exposure Scientist to discuss the particulars of your exposure scenario.

[00:00:41] Hi and welcome to today's episode of the Exposure Scientist podcast. One thing I'd like to discuss, and there has been a recent change in OSHA fine amounts. The penalties have been increased depending on the different types of fine.

[00:00:56] But there has been legal and federal justification for increasing the amount of fines throughout SHIP. One thing I find interesting, and this is going to be some anecdotal information in some observation of other materials,

[00:01:10] There have been increases in the amount of incidents and unfortunately deaths at the work sites. We have an article out that discusses the increases over the past couple years, the trend for those injuries at workplaces.

[00:01:25] But a lot of what I am hearing, I'll say from colleagues out in the field and what I'm seeing is that there is a lack of OSHA.

[00:01:37] I'll say, fight to it. A lot of what I'm hearing about them, what I'm seeing is OSHA's occupational safe and health administration. OSHA, we are certified duster hygienist, we are exposure scientists, we are health and safety professionals.

[00:01:53] But a lot of what I'm hearing these days has been a transition of where maybe things were 15 or 20 years ago, and shifting from the health aspect or health side of this to more of the safety side. That's an interesting dynamic that we're facing.

[00:02:10] Some people have thought that maybe there has been less of a fight from the OSHA side into the health aspect of things. What I'm talking about health, I'm talking about exposures to chemicals, physical stressors, biological agents, bacteria, fungi, what have you.

[00:02:32] What I'm hearing a lot now is that there has been a focus on going after us, it's safe to really the stuff. It could be blocked emergency exits, which of course are important to not block.

[00:02:45] But that is a safety feature, going after the forklift safety issues or something safety related at workplaces as opposed to the potential health impacts. That may be those workplaces.

[00:03:02] There's been lots of speculation about it. I'm not saying this even OSHA, but there are states that have their own OSHA programs and the state programs. There has been a lot of focus that, again, anecdotally that I've heard on the safety aspect.

[00:03:19] So I'd like to explore that. I'd like to understand that are we sacrificing the health aspect from exposure before the safety aspect. There has been a lot of individuals that are new and up and coming in this world of health and safety.

[00:03:39] There's been a lot of retirement systems, the typically health things go in different professions. Are we lacking some, I'll say, mentoring at the top or the health aspects that we're looking for as opposed to the safety that people all say feel more comfortable with it.

[00:03:58] And do they feel like there's it's easier to go after those safety aspects as easier to visually see take a picture of, oh well this is a block safety exit or this ladder is improperly being used or something is improperly being stored versus hey you don't have the appropriate local exhaust ventilation the appropriate controls here you have not demonstrated that these

[00:04:26] particular control mechanisms are actually efficient and functioning. Now that takes a lot of data generation when you're looking at the health aspect of it you have to understand what the health consequences are.

[00:04:40] You have to understand that what the controls are understand that there has been some kind of verification of validation of those controls and look at the data on those.

[00:04:50] Are you looking at the flow dynamics and property of those using some kind of a manometer or something that is going to determine the air capture velocity.

[00:05:01] To ensure that there's going to be reduced exposure within that area of work that takes a lot more than going around and saying, well, there's there's something here that's safety related you're not doing things you know you don't have this easily accessible.

[00:05:18] So I'm wondering what other people are seeing what other people are encountering because again, I've talked to actually people that are from the east coast and Orlando, I'm on the east coast, I've talked to people that are in middle America and even on the west coast and I'm kind of hearing similar stories that.

[00:05:36] Whether it's retailers, whether it's manufacturers or what have you that a lot of things are more safety related these days than they are health related exposure science covers a broad subject area including tax ecology and industrial hygiene and risk assessment from occupational community or environmental exposure exposure scientists apply scientific methodologies to understand exposure risks and apply controls when necessary.

[00:06:05] We at exposure assessment consulting have this expertise. Please reach out to us info at exposureconsulting.com for a free 15 minute consultation to discuss the specifics of your exposure scenario.

[00:06:20] So I'd like to, you know, I want to explore that more, you know, if someone from any regulatory agency wants to come on here and discuss it,

[00:06:29] I've reached out to some of the people that I have known at OSHA. Sounds like they've all retired, sounds like again there's a new crop people in there again, you know, there may be lots of factors that play here whether it's a lack of mentoring

[00:06:43] Of those younger individuals, maybe those younger individuals are new early career individuals don't feel comfortable regulating against that health stuff and using the safety is the way to do it.

[00:06:55] You know, there's lots of different ways that we can I'll say balance this but if you go look at OSHA safety inspections which you can go search.

[00:07:05] You know, a lot of them, you know when they're looking at it when you look at the ones that say health or safety, I'd say majority of them say safety for close safety.

[00:07:14] Very few of them are impacts from let's say some kind of amputation or health related or even a complaint. A lot of them are I was just say random kind of inspections but even for large, I'll say national retailers if they've seen this once at one place they can know they can easily go somewhere else.

[00:07:40] You have to evaluate data, you don't have to do sample collection to do also say safety related visual assessment so I'd like to understand from people that they're practicing out the field.

[00:07:53] I'd love to have you give me your feedback or come in on the podcast on the guess and give you your experience.

[00:07:59] I'd like to say that you have to evaluate a state or federal that would like to have a discussion with me on this because I'm interested to see if there has been a shift or a change on how places are being regulated now some places are doing great they're still obviously protecting against that health but they don't.

[00:08:18] I can't totally from what I hear and see they aren't getting those questions let me see your all say health and safety plans for the health aspect or have you done any employee monitoring that you can provide me data for. And maybe it's an overloading of the regulators.

[00:08:34] They have one day to go in there and one day to get out. Maybe years ago where you had like an ocean spectrum, there's a whole meeting that you went through in all this process and everything. Maybe they're just interested in getting in

[00:08:45] and not the doors fast as they can because they are overwhelmed and overloaded. There may be lots of factors here at play. But I'd like to get your feedback is this more of a safety culture that we're shifting to and there's nothing wrong with the safety.

[00:09:02] But it is putting health aspect into the back seat when we're looking at exposures to heavy metals, you know, volatools, what have you? I'm I love to get your feedback. Please feel free to reach out to me. If you found this topic interesting,

[00:09:21] please let me know reach out. I love to hear from everyone on this because I want to get feedback and this is a reflection point or an inflection point. I'd like to see what we can do about it. Make sure that employers know that health

[00:09:39] is still paramount, that we still have to focus on the health aspect of what we're doing in addition to the safety. And that shouldn't take a back seat to what we're doing. Thanks so much for joining today's exposure scientist podcast. Look forward to it.

[00:09:53] Speaking with you in the next one. Thank you. Thank you for listening to the exposure scientist podcast. You can connect with us at our website, explore your consulting.com where you can book a private consultation and send in any questions regarding any episodes or our guests.

[00:10:10] See you on the next episode.