Compliance Solution LLC
What is New?

 

Federal OSHA has been doing general industry inspections in Hawaii for some time now.  So far, OSHA is giving out more citations as well as higher penalties.  Because of the difference in HIOSH and OSHA inspection procedures, some employers that were recently inspected by OSHA were very confused. 

 

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Federal OSHA is going to take over some of HIOSH responsibilities starting Oct 2012.  In Hawaii, federal OSHA will enforce general industries standards except transportation and warehousing industries.  HIOSH inspectors will mainly focus on construction industries.   In the meantime, HIOSH inspectors will undergo more training, both formal and informal.  For example, a new HIOSH inspector may go out with a federal OSHA inspector on an inspection.  In other words, once HIOSH inspectors finish their training, they will be going out and conduct inspections on their own shortly. 

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The debate is finally over after years of heated discussions.  Random inspections improve workplace safety.   A study from Harvard Business school showed that injuries dropped 9% for companies with random inspections.   The cost of injuries dropped 26%.  The random inspections from OSHA did not have any adverse effects on employment, earning, or the survival of the companies. 

For more information, see http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/05/its-official-random-inspections-.html

 

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HIOSH administrator Ms Jennifer Shishido finally retired after over three decades of civil services.    The new administrator is Ms. Daiantha Goo who recently retired from federal OSHA Hawaii office.   Compliance officers will be conducting more inspections under the new administrator. 

 

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HIOSH is going to fill up 12 vacancies.  Those 12 vacancies include 4 inspectors  in safety branch, 4 inspectors in health branch, 1 manager in safety branch, 1 manager in consultation and training branch, 1 administrator, and 1 manager in administration and technical service branch. 

Given the poorly staffed situation and performance, OSHA is not happy about HIOSH performance.  It is possible for OSHA to step in and take over some of HIOSH's functions.  More to come.

 

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Our research paper "A Water Damaged Home and Health of Occupants: A Case Study"  on mold was recently published.  It all started from a very unusual mold inspection in a single family house.  The family dog acted funny during the inspection.  The unborn baby (at the time of inspection) was adversely affected too. 

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The recent jurisdiction change in HIOSH and OSHA may affect your operations.  If you are working as a private contractor on a military base, then you now fall under OSHA regulations now, not HIOSH regulations anymore.  OSHA and HIOSH regulations are almost identical, but not exactly the same.  For example, OSHA allows up to 15 business days to contest the citations.  On the contrary, HIOSH allows 20 calendar days.  By the way, the change is in effect. 

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OSHA is going to improve Whistleblower protection program.  The idea of the program is to protect employees who exercise their legal rights without fear of retaliation.  The improvement includes some major approaches.  First, the program will be placed under the assistant secretary office directly.  Translation: direct and close supervision. 

Secondly, more training will be provided to the investigators as well as solicitors.  Translation:  Were they trained properly in the beginning?

Thirdly, the investigation manual will be updated.  The last update was back in 2003.  A revision is way overdue.  Translation:  Should the manual be updated or at least reviewed regularly like the Lockout/Tagout program?

Lastly, the data collection system and audit program have been revised to ensure complaints are processed timely.  Based on professional experience, we saw some cases that were so delayed that employees lost the right to file the complaints. 

 

A report can be viewed at

http://www.whistleblowers.gov/report_summary_page.html

 

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In May, OSHA opened public record on proposed record-keeping rule to add work-related musculoskeletal disorders column.  Translation:  ergonomic standards may come back alive again.  Few years ago, OSHA once tried to enforce ergonomic standard, enforcement guidelines were out, and compliance officers were going through training, but OSHA later cancelled it.   It will be interesting to see how far ergonomic standards will go this time!

 

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Ms. Jennifer Shishido has become the administrator again for HIOSH.   Since she has been in charge, HIOSH has been issuing more serious citations with higher penalties.   She was put on special assignment when Linda Lingle was the governor.   During that period, HIOSH reported to the labor department director directly.   Serious citations were few, then. 

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HIOSH does not have enough inspectors to conduct inspections.  OSHA threatens to take over the state plan.  See the news below.

Safety gaps worry feds - Hawaii News - Staradvertiser.com

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