February’s Meeting Announcement

Team SAFER,

The next SAFER meeting is February 1, 2017 at the New England Institute for Technology (NEIT), 2490 Post Road, Warwick, RI Room CT 332.

This month’s topic is Sexual Harassment and Hostile Workplace (and if time, OSHA Anti-Retaliation Rules).

In 1997, the Health and Safety of Women in Construction (HASWIC) workgroup, a workgroup established by OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety & Health (ACCSH) concludes:

  • Nearly 60% of women 16 years or older participate in the workplace
  • Only 2.3% in construction
  • 41% suffered from gender harassment, and
  • 88% experienced sexual harassment

“….The workgroup believes that with education about, and attention to, these issues, OSHA and all stakeholders can play a role in helping to bring about safe, healthy, and equitable conditions for all workers…”

This topic will include:

  • Definitions
  • Legal Responsibilities
  • Case Studies
  • Prevention
  • Corrective Action

The meeting will be sponsored by Peter Brewer of Ocean State Risk Management.

Please RSVP to bkunz@dimeo.com.

January’s Meeting Announcement

From Bob Kunz – “Team SAFER,

The next meeting is January 4, 2017 7:30 am – 10:00 am at NEIT’s 2nd Floor -Hall of Fame Room, 2480 Post Road, Warwick, RI.

Save the date – get the new year off on the right (or left) foot by celebrating with your colleagues.  There is lots to speak about, including:

  • The CPWR Foundations for Safety Leadership program
    • OSHA 500/502 trainers will now be trained to deliver this wonderful program, effective January 1, 2017.
    • Safety leadership is not an innate trait, but rather a trained set of skills
    • This “free” program will provide your organization with the opportunity for improvement that you strive for…..
    • Visit CPWR.com for more information.
  • The CPWR Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CAT)
  • OSHA Recordkeeping

Wishing you a happy, healthy and safe Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and New Year”.

December’s Meeting Announcement

The next meeting is December 7,  2016 from 7:30 am – 10:00 am in room CT245 at the New England Institute for Technology (NEIT) 2500 Post Road, Warwick, RI. From Bob Kunz:

“Team SAFER,

This month our topic is “the well-being of the worker”.  To stimulate the discussion, we have arranged for two guest speakers to join us, as follows:

David Brown, Sr. Site Safety Manager (Sgt. First Class, US Army Special Forces retired) for Dimeo Construction Company will be introducing Situational Awareness – see several resources below:

Construction Context:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/lwit/assets/downloads/situational-awareness.pdf

Personal Context:

http://feinet.com/sites/default/files/Situational%20Awareness%20WP_formatted.pdf

General Industry Contact:

http://www.airbus.com/fileadmin/media_gallery/files/safety_library_items/AirbusSafetyLib_-FLT_OPS-HUM_PER-SEQ06.pdf

Is situational awareness an innate sense? Or, is it something else?  Could we eliminate incidents (including near misses), If we (the construction industry) committed to improving the situational awareness of management personnel and workers?

On September 13, 2016, OSHA Region 1 held a “Cut-It-Out” Stand Down is response to “….local accidents involving Cut-Off Saws resulting in severe injuries, including amputations and in at least one case a fatality”.  This stand-down was posted on our website www.buildingSAFERinRI.org.  Despite this effort to raise awareness, the local construction industry experienced another fatality involving the use of a cut-off saw – see link:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/11/19/construction-worker-killed-duxbury-work-site/5xXtOZbqfF8qH3WFPI8NTO/story.html .

While the incident remains under investigation, it is clear that we must raise the level of (contractor and worker situational) awareness to a higher point.  To that end, we have prepared a lesson learned, which will take a retrospective look at past incidents (from OSHA’s website), as well as cut-off saw manufacturer’s promotional material and safety guides, and material manufacturer “suggestions”.  The lesson learned will be followed by a presentation by Husqvarna Construction Products, which will discuss cut-off tool use and an alternative chain saw for cutting ductile iron pipe, for example.  Husqvarna is sponsored by Matt Particelli from Pro Equipment Rental.

Please RSVP to bkunz@dimeo.com with SAFER in subject line.