The Safetypro Podcast - Helping You Manage Workplace Safety One Episode At A Time!

In this episode, I was back with Wesley Carter, CCPSC on the Amplify Your Process Safety Podcast for another collaboration where we talk about both occupational safety and process safety, and this time we cover contractor management. We talk about what OSHA says about contractor management for the general industry, and what's required for PSM-covered facilities, how contractor management relates to both occupational and process safety, and why you should care. Find OSHA's Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs, Communication and Coordination for Host Employers, Contractors, and Staffing Agencies, here. * CORRECTION: While we regularly recommend videos from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and think they make excellent training material, in this episode we mistakenly said that there was a CSB animation video for the Phillips disaster of 1989 in Pasadena, TX. No such video exists, but you may learn more about the incident on its Wikipedia page, on Youtube, or from ABC13 Houston. Join the disc

  In this episode, I share some great resources for businesses considering reopening during the current COVID-19 Pandemic from our friends at Mighty Line Tape. Mighty Line even got a shout-out from Mr. Wonderful himself, check it out here. The plan to reopen must be carefully considered and planned in order to protect workers and their families. Listen to this episode for some great tips and links to resources you will need to reopen safely. Join the discussion on LinkedIn. Just be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

  We've teamed up with the Amplify folks once again to bring you an episode on emergency planning and response. Wesley Carter will cover the general industry requirements, what PSM says, and a bit about RMP's requirements. If you work at a PSM-covered facility, or in an industry where safety is essential, you don't want to miss this episode. CCPS Process Safety Beacon - Emergency Preparation - The Titanic Disaster (July 2012) Join the discussion on LinkedIn. Just be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

  In this very special episode, process safety and occupational safety worlds collide as Wesley teams up with Blaine Hoffmann from The SafetyPro Podcast to discuss incident investigation. You'll learn what OSHA's PSM standard says about incident investigations, as well as OSHA's requirements for the general industry, why an incident investigation is important, why root cause analysis matters, and more. Check out the Amplify Your Process Safety Podcast page! Mentioned in this episode: OSHA Recordkeeping Policies and Procedure Manual OSHA/EPA Root Cause Analysis Fact Sheet The SafetyPro Podcast, 082: SMS Pt 3 - What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Join the discussion on LinkedIn. Just be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

  As more states are taking steps to reopen their economies and workers are returning to their workplaces, OSHA is receiving complaints from affected workers in non-essential businesses. As a result, they have a new interim enforcement guideline. Click HERE for the interim guideline. OSHA also has new guidance with respect to the recording of occupational illnesses, specifically cases of COVID-19. Click HERE for the Revised Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Check out the podcast episode for more detailed information. Join the discussion on LinkedIn. Just be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

  Do valves on respirators impact their effectiveness? The purpose of a respirator’s exhalation valve is to reduce the breathing resistance during exhale; it does not impact a respirator’s ability to provide respiratory protection. The valve is designed to open during exhalation to allow exhaled air to exit the respirator and then close tightly during inhalation, so inhaled air is not permitted to enter the respirator through the valve. While a valve does not change a respirator’s ability to help reduce a wearer’s exposure to bioaerosols, a person who is exhibiting symptoms of illness should not wear a valved respirator, because exhaled particles may leave the respirator via the valve and enter the surrounding environment, potentially exposing other people. Check out the CDC FAQ on this topic here. Take a look at the LinkedIn post that started it all here. Check out the podcast episode for more detailed information. Join the discussion on LinkedIn. Just be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The Safe

Powered by iReportSource More than three weeks into the pandemic-driven cascade of cancelations, closings, and social distancing, U.S. workplaces are experiencing unprecedented disruption -- and it's measurable. Here's what has changed in a stunningly short period of time (comparing Gallup Panel surveys conducted March 13-16 vs. March 27-29): The percentage of full-time employees who say COVID-19 has disrupted their life "a great deal" or "a fair amount" has jumped from 58% to 81%. 40% of U.S. employees say their employer has frozen hiring, and 33% say their employer has reduced hours or shifts because of COVID-19 -- up from 33% and 27%, respectively. The percentage of full-time employees working from home because of COVID-19 closures has increased from 33% to 61%. The percentage of parents working full time who have kept their kids home from school because of COVID-19 has increased from less than half (44%) to everyone(100%). The combined effects of frightening uncertainty about physical and financial he

NOTICE: Published April 22, 2020 - The information in this post/episode is subject to change. Powered by iReportSource The new CDC face-covering recommendations do not change the MASK guidance. So what is new? What is the same? Let's talk about that in this episode. Essentially, the CDC recommends anyone going out in public wear a face-covering. These can be homemade cloth-type coverings. What is the intended purpose? Will they offer you protection? What protection do they offer others?  Also, I decided to add a healthy dose of "rant" for safety professionals that are commenting on others' LinkedIn posts celebrating efforts to stay safe during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In short; stop looking for problems! Curious? Listen to the whole episode to get my thoughts. What do you think? Masks or no masks? I will post an update on this topic as well as take all of your comments to heart! Join the discussion on LinkedIn. Just be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also fi

Powered by iReportSource 100 Episodes! Thanks to all the listeners that helped make this happen - you are the reason I continue to produce this podcast. Here's to the next 100 episodes!

NOTICE: Published April 1, 2020 - The information in this post/episode is subject to change. Powered by iReportSource All of the discussions about surgical masks got me thinking; what do we know about viruses (CVID-19 or others), and what are the EXPERTS saying? I wanted to explore this topic and share my thoughts. As of April 1, 2020, the WHO, CDC, OSHA guidance on wearing masks (if you are HEALTHY) is the same; you do NOT need to wear a mask except for specific circumstances. Let's read what they have to say. NOTICE: Published April 1, 2020 - The information in this post/episode has changed. World Health Organization On the Questions and Answers page: Should I wear a mask to protect myself? Only wear a mask if you are ill with COVID-19 symptoms (especially coughing) or looking after someone who may have COVID-19. A disposable face mask can only be used once. If you are not ill or looking after someone who is sick, then you are wasting a mask. There is a worldwide shortage of masks, so the WHO urges people

Powered by iReportSource UPDATE: The CDC has made changes to workplace guidance as of March 21, 2020, which may make some of the information on this post obsolete: Updated cleaning and disinfection guidance Updated best practices for conducting social distancing Updated strategies and recommendations that can be implemented now to respond to COVID-19 We are currently in the throws of the 2020 Corona Virus pandemic, or COVID-19. Much information is being disseminated - from how far apart we should stand from one another to how to wash our hands properly. I have even seen videos on how to properly wash hands using ink to illustrate how to achieve full coverage of soap. Because hygiene is critical, many disinfecting products are harder to find now as a result of panic buyers hoarding supplies of items that they believe will make them safer. The truth is, many of these disinfectants are just not necessary according to all currently available information. Think about it, to prevent the spread of illness, we mus

Powered by iReportSource COVID-19 Resources for Businesses and Employers from the CDC Let me know what you are doing to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 at work on LinkedIn - be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  

Interview with Drew Hinton, CSP, CHMM, SHRM-CP Powered by iReportSource If you don't currently have a safety committee at your workplace, adding one can seem like a daunting task. Listen to this episode with Drew Hinton, CSP, CHMM, SHRM-CP to get ten tips that are sure to help you create and sustain a successful safety committee! If you don't currently have a safety committee at your workplace, adding one can seem like a daunting task. While there are no federal regulations that require a safety committee, your state may be one of the 15+ states that require one under certain situations. For example, Alabama state code requires that "any employer subject to worker's compensation rules must establish a safety committee upon the written require of any employee." Connecticut states that "all employers with 25 or more employees, and employers whose rate of injury or illness exceeds the average OSHA recordable injury and illness rates of all industries in the state, must establish safety committees." However, eve

Powered by iReportSource Confined Space Rescue Teams save lives! They are a critical component of permit-required confined space operations. In this interview with a fellow SafetyPro, Drew Hinton, CSP, CHMM, EMT we will explore what it takes to set up a successful rescue team and some things to look out for when doing so. If your organization has a team or is thinking about establishing a team - this is the episode for you! Drew has been in the safety profession full-time time since 2013 and has traveled across the country, teaching over 100+ confined space rescue courses as a safety consultant. He is currently President of Arrow Safety, an EHS consulting company based out of Glasgow, KY. In the past, Drew has been the Corporate Manager for Industrial Service Solutions, Global EHS&S Manager for Dallas Group of America, and spent ten years as career firefighter/EMT in the metro Louisville, Kentucky area. He was also a member of Jefferson County Special Operations Command (JSOC) - specifically, on the conf

Podcasting from the 2020 ACI/OSHA Safety Day. Powered by iReportSource Listen as I talk with Paula Burleson, OSHA Onsite Consultant with the OhioBWC as she explains what OSHA Onsite services can do for small businesses. Let me know what you think of this episode on LinkedIn if you have used this app at all - be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Podcasting from the 2020 ACI/OSHA Safety Day. Listen as I talk with Eric Lee Buschard as he explains his evolution as a safety pro. He shared his take on "Speaking Safety" to workers at a breakout session during the event. Let me know what you think of this episode on LinkedIn if you have used this app at all - be sure to @ mention Blaine J. Hoffmann or The SafetyPro Podcast LinkedIn page. You can also find the podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Powered by iReportSource One of the often-overlooked aspects of EHS is that middle word - health. I mean, we understand the parts related to chemical exposure and substance exposure; silica, asbestos, lead, stuff like that - which are all important. But I want to talk about health in another context - that is the overall health and wellbeing of our workers and how the workplace can be contributing to it (both positively and negatively), thus making this an important aspect of our workplace safety and health efforts.  Cardiovascular disease (CVD) currently kills more Americans each year and costs more than any other disease, including Alzheimer's and diabetes. Over the next decade, the situation will only get worse: By 2030, the prevalence of CVD among those aged 20 and older is projected to top 40%, and direct medical costs are expected to triple to more than $800 billion. A study published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - based on data drawn from Gallup surveys of more

Join the Community of Safety Pros today! Why do employees sometimes remain silent when they should speak up? Do they fear consequences or repercussions? Do they feel like new ideas won't be considered without an onslaught of criticism about its inherent risks, a barrage of demands for a detailed project plan, or an insistence on immediate proof of an overinflated ROI? To be blunt, why do workers stay silent when they see things are being done improperly, or in an unsafe manner? Maybe because it's not safe to engage in such conversations, the benefit of saying nothing tends to outweigh the benefit of speaking up. Employees fear their feedback will be rejected, or that managers or even co-workers will go so far as to penalize them. So, they keep their heads down and their mouths shut. Think about cases where speaking up was stifled or just non-existent; the NASA shuttle disaster or workers at Volkswagen who failed to speak up about fake emissions numbers? Gallup's data reveal that only three in ten U.S. worker

In this podcast episode, I take a break from the technical topics to which my readers and podcast listeners are accustomed. I wanted to interview someone from outside normal safety circles, someone that can bring a unique perspective on the values we want to hold as safety professionals: integrity, honesty, teamwork, never-quit attitude. Please be sure to listen to the interview as it is not transcribed here. Please read more about Kris below. Kris Paronto Kris Paronto - “Tanto” as he is affectionately known in security contracting circles - is a former Army Ranger from 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment and a private security contractor who has deployed throughout South America, Central America, the Middle East, and North Africa. He also worked with the US Government’s Global Response Staff conducting low profile security in high threat environments throughout the world. Mr. Paronto was part of the CIA annex security team that responded to the terrorist attack on the US Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, S

Powered by iReportSource OSHA has a decent list of regulatory agenda items. While I don't want to go through them all, I do want to highlight five that I think are particularly impactful. Safety professionals always need to be looking ahead at what is coming so we can prepare our employers, update any programs, which includes employee training and certifications that may be required.  1. Lock-Out/Tag-Out Update - Pre-Rule Stage Recent technological advancements that employ computer-based controls of hazardous energy (e.g., mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, chemical, and radiation) conflict with OSHA's existing lock-out/tag-out standard. The use of these computer-based controls has become more prevalent as equipment manufacturers modernize their designs.  Additionally, there are national consensus standards and international standards harmonization that govern the design and use of computer-based controls. This approach of controlling hazardous energy is accepted in other nations, which raises issues of need