COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING:
A COURSE FROM JOHNS HOPKINS

The COVID-19 crisis has created an unprecedented need for contact tracing across the country, requiring thousands of people to learn key skills quickly. A free, six-hour Coursera class developed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies is now available to train contact tracers about how to do this work effectively—and help cities and states across the nation undertake these critical efforts.

See the course information here.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued a compliance directive designed to ensure uniformity in inspection and enforcement procedures when addressing respirable crystalline silica exposures in general industry, maritime, and construction. Read the full version here.

From OSHA/DOL:

As we’re gearing up for Safe + Sound Week, we wanted to highlight resources that can help you protect your workers and continuously improve your safety and health program. Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs The Recommended Practices present a step-by-step approach to implementing an effective safety and health program. These recommended practices note the importance of finding and fixing hazards in the workplace before they cause injuries, illnesses, and deaths in addition to the suffering and financial hardship these events can cause for workers, their families, and employers. Using Leading Indicators to Improve Safety and Health Outcomes Leading indicators are proactive and preventative measures that can help determine whether your safety and health activities are effective at preventing incidents or whether there are potential problems with your safety and health program. Leading indicators play an important role in preventing worker fatalities, injuries and illnesses, and strengthening other safety and health outcomes in the workplace.

The Three Core Elements   All safety and health programs should incorporate elements of: Management Leadership Worker ParticipationSystematic Approach for Finding and Fixing Hazards Implementing a meaningful safety and health program takes dedicated planning, but even incremental improvements are valuable. The resources on the three core elements provide simple, concrete ways for you to develop your safety and health program. FEATURED RESOURCE Download Now Save the Date Don’t forget! Safe + Sound Week will take place from August 10-16, 2020. Download your save the date and share it on social media using #SafeAndSoundAtWork.

Safe + Sound is a year round campaign to encourage every workplace to have a safety and health program.  Sign up on the Safe + Sound website. www.osha.gov/safeandsound

The March SAFER meeting is March 4, 2020 from 8-10AM at the New England Institute of Technology, 2480 Post Road, Warwick, RI in the Hall of Fame room. See below for the meeting outline. Also, please take a few minutes to complete the surveys. Sponsor is Digregorio Corporation.

MARCH 2020 – SAFER Agenda:

Introductions.

Topic: RISP FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and Cell Phone Use. 

Presenter: RISP Trooper Sean Pasley

Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Presenter: Ed Conway, OSHA CAS.

Topic: Anchor Insulation Lesson Learned.

Presenter: Chris King, Director of Safety, Anchor Insulation.

Sponsor: Coffee and Calories provided by DiGregorio Construction.

Surveys:

RI Dept. of Health Construction Industry Respirator Usage and COVID-19 Impact of Supply Chain – 3-Question Survey RIDOH Request for Information-Respirators .

CCRI Workplace Technology in Construction – 3-Question Survey CCRI Solicitation-Take the Survey to Support the FREE Program

OSHA Providence Area Office Half-Day Summer 2020 Safety Intern Event – 3-Question Survey OSHA Invitation-2020 Summer Intern Event

What: OSHA PAO half-day (or so) summer intern event.   

Who: Interns working at RI construction companies during the summer of 2020, and Keene State OSH students interning in RI.

Where: OSHA Providence Area Office; 380 Westminster St., Room 543; Providence, RI. Note: All visitors will be screened by security in the building lobby. 

When: Date TBD    

Draft Agenda: Briefing on the what, where, why, how of OSHA’s mission Current enforcement focus areas. Discussion of a casefile from start to finish. Importance of employer documentation. Elements of a citation. Employer abatement of hazards. Industrial hygiene monitoring. Emerging hazards/5(a)(1)s. Open Q & A.  

Each topic will be addressed from a 10,000 foot view (or so, maybe even higher) in quick 30 minute or less sessions using, whenever possible, participatory and hands on instructional methods.   

This session you can lunch and learn from Massachusetts Laborers’ Health & Welfare Fund and their steps to meet the problem head on and pro-actively. Reserve your spot by seeing flyer attached.

Opioids and the Workplace training materials from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (includes ins: https://tools.niehs.nih.gov/wetp/index.cfm?id=2587  

Workplace suicide prevention plan: https://workplacesuicideprevention.com/  

CPRW toolbox talks on the hazards of nanomaterials (also available in Spanish): https://www.cpwr.com/sites/default/files/publications/TT_Prevent_Exposure_Nano.pdf https://www.cpwr.com/sites/default/files/publications/Nano-Wood-Coatings-StainTBT_1.pdf https://www.cpwr.com/sites/default/files/publications/Nano-Cement-Dust-Titanium-Dioxide-TBT_3.pdf  

Thank you to Anchor Insulation for assisting the CDC by participating in the NIOSH Flame Retardants Study.

From Chris King, M.S. OSH, Director of Safety, Anchor Insulation

All, below is a link for a paper titled, Worker exposure to flame retardants in manufacturing, construction and service industries just published by NIOSH/CDC. Anchor Insulation participated in this study, particular to Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation installation. Although not stated in paper, informal discussion with the authors indicate that the PPE currently utilized by Anchor’s Spray Foam workers consisting of non-permeable tyvec (with booties and hoodies), nitrile gloves, and supplied air respirators are effective in protecting workers against flame retardant components used in SPF. Another reason to engage in industry best practices as identified by the Spray Polyurethane Foam Association.

Link to the paper is here.

From Bob Kunz:

Team SAFER,

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoyed the unseasonably warm January.  And, to only have to handle 4 inches of snow was a real pleasure.  We have a fantastic lineup for our February meeting, as follows: 

Tom Wojick, founder and President of The Renewal Group, will be presenting ”Think – Feel – Act Your Way to a Safer Organization”.  This presentation is certain to move you in so many ways.

This month’s meeting is sponsored by the RIAGC.

We look forward to spending tome with you.  Remember to bring a friend and story….