SWC Working Conditions & Social Impact KPI
SWC Credit: OSHA Compliant Practices and Safe Vehicle Processes
(2 Points, Reciprocal)
Credit Summary
This credit ensures that municipalities and industries are committed to high safety standards that protect their current and future employees. Safety and equipment training programs and OSHA audits prevent workplace disasters, improve worker knowledge of risk abatement, and lower costs associated with violations and accidents. Both municipalities and industries have successfully improved workplace safety in implementing the aforementioned practices.
Impact Summary
OSHA compliant practices and safe vehicle processes provide many benefits to the workplace. First and foremost, these safety measures reduce fatalities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, solid waste collection is considered the fifth most dangerous job in the United States due to the sheer number of fatalities that occur from it every year. OSHA inspections can help identify potential issues and fix them before they become worse and cause deaths. OSHA audits can also find where safety programs need to improve to ensure a safer workplace for all employees. Many fatalities have occurred due to employees not being sufficiently trained to recognize potential risks from working with collection vehicles, so improved safety programs are imperative. Furthermore, companies that excel in safety can be exempt from OSHA inspections and can avoid paying fees for complaints about violations. Municipalities and industries can also reduce workers’ compensation costs by getting rid of unsafe conditions in the first place. With fewer injuries and a more safe workplace, productivity can be increased.
Submittal Summary
To meet the requirements, local governments and industries must create an ongoing safety and equipment usage training program that is compliant with all Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Vehicle and Driver safety requirements, including applicable drug and alcohol testing. During times wherein no accidents occur, these safety programs can be discontinued temporarily. Furthermore, a qualified auditor must complete an OSHA-Level audit, and all OSHA incidents reported must be abated. Lastly, to prevent collection vehicle accidents, local governments and industries should hold safety meetings, create policies regarding distracted driving, use vehicle monitoring devices in order to detect safety violations, install side-guards on trucks to prevent pedestrian/cyclist accidents, and make sure that collection vehicles do not cross traffic to pick up waste.
Case Study and Benefits
Around the United States, local governments and companies are implementing more stringent standards of safety in order to lower the dangers associated with high-risk jobs related to vehicular use. In creating new safety programs or policies and complying with OSHA requirements, these stakeholders have significantly reduced workplace violations and injuries and have lowered accident costs.
Supporting Materials
Additional resources
Sources:
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/safetyfirst/federal-motor-carrier-safety-administration
https://www.fdrsafety.com/10-benefits-including-mock-osha-audits-safety-program/
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/97-110/default.html#Background
Intent and Requirements
Intent
To reduce collection vehicle accidents and worker injuries.
Local Government & Industry Requirements
Implement an ongoing safety and equipment usage training program that demonstrates compliance with all Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Vehicle and Driver safety requirements, including applicable drug and alcohol testing.
Disconnect safety incentive programs from “accident-free” periods.
Conduct an OSHA-Level audit by a qualified auditor
Qualified auditors include:
- Federal or State OSHA inspector;
- A Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) certified insurance inspector;
- A union CIH or equivalent safety official
Full abatement of all OSHA incidents reported
Collection vehicle accident prevention:
- Hold pre-dispatch safety meetings “Safety tailgates” and pre-trip safety checklist review
- Paid shift hours and schedules should accommodate these safety reviews.
- Develop and implement a policy on distracted driving, including limitations on Smartphones or other handheld devices for drivers.
- Utilize vehicle monitoring devices to analyze Safety Leading Indicators
- The first offense shall result in training, unless there was extreme disregard for the law and taught safety practices. The second offense shall result in discipline.
- No employee driver shall be discharged if such discharge is based solely upon information received from GPS, telematics, or any successor system that similarly tracks or surveils a driver’s movements unless he/she engages in dishonesty (any intentional act or omission by an employee where he/she intends to defraud the Company) or extreme disregard for the law or safety practices, as set by the employee led safety committees.
- Truck maintenance requirements as set forth in ANSI Z245.
- Equip trucks with side-guards to prevent pedestrian/bicyclist run overs.
- Ensure that pick-up occurs on the side of the street with the prevailing flow of traffic for the lane.
- No vehicle or personnel crosses traffic to pick up waste.
Potential Strategies:
- Automated arms to reduce injuries
- Install lighting and strobes; one standard wheeled tote of limited size
Why We Care
OSHA compliant practices and safe vehicle processes provide many benefits to the workplace. First and foremost, these safety measures reduce fatalities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, solid waste collection is considered the fifth most dangerous job in the United States due to the sheer number of fatalities that occur from it every year. OSHA inspections can help identify potential issues and fix them before they become worse and cause deaths. OSHA audits can also find where safety programs need to improve to ensure a safer workplace for all employees. Many fatalities have occurred due to employees not being sufficiently trained to recognize potential risks from working with collection vehicles, so improved safety programs are imperative. Furthermore, companies that excel in safety can be exempt from OSHA inspections and can avoid paying fees for complaints about violations. Municipalities and industries can also reduce workers’ compensation costs by getting rid of unsafe conditions in the first place. With fewer injuries and a more safe workplace, productivity can be increased.
How to Meet the Requirements
Provide documentation verifying that you have implemented an ongoing safety and equipment usage training program that demonstrates compliance with all FMCSA Vehicle Driver safety requirements, including applicable drug and alcohol testing.
Required Documentation
Safety and equipment usage training program documentation verifying that the program is implemented and that safety training if provided on an ongoing basis.
Case Studies
Pike Industries, Barre, Vermont
Pike Industries is a highway contractor company located in Vermont. As of 2003, they have had 280 vehicles in their fleet. They have a safety program that obligates new drivers to attend training classes compliant with federal vehicle requirements. From 2001, before the training program was implemented, to 2003, the company’s workers’ compensation claims for vehicular accidents dropped from 73% of total losses to 2%. In 2003, there were no critical vehicular accidents reported, such as fatalities, due to the safety classes.
Spruce Park Auto Body Inc., Anchorage, Alaska
Spruce Park Auto Body, Inc. decided to work with Alaska Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) consultants in order to change their safety program to identify potential workplace hazards before they occur and mitigate the risk of occurrence. They applied to be a part of OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP), which identifies small businesses that use OSHA Consultation Services to improve safety policies in a way that goes beyond that which is normally required. After being admitted to the program, Spruce Park Auto Body’s injury and illness rates have remained at zero since 2011. The company has stated that without the program, they would not have recognized all the dangers that exist in their facilities in time to correct them.
Definitions
ANSI Z245
SWANA List of ANSI Z245 standards (there are several different safety requirements and you must buy them to read the whole thing)
Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH)
ABIH Definition: A Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) is an individual who has met the minimum requirements for education and experience, and through examination, has demonstrated a minimum level of knowledge and skills in the following rubric (subject matter) areas:
- Air Sampling & Instrumentation
- Analytical Chemistry
- Basic Science
- Biohazards
- Biostatistics & Epidemiology
- Community Exposure
- Engineering Controls/Ventilation
- Ergonomics
- Health Risk Analysis & Hazard Communication
- IH Program Management
- Noise
- Non-Engineering Controls
- Radiation – Ionizing and Non-ionizing
- Thermal Stressors
- Toxicology
- Work Environments & Industrial Processes
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP)
Certified Safety Professionals (CSP) are persons who perform at least 50% of professional level safety duties, including making worksite assessments to determine risks, assessing potential hazards and controls, evaluating risks and hazard control measures, investigating incidents, maintaining and evaluating incident and loss records, and preparing emergency response plans.
Distracted Driving
NHTSA Definition: Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system — anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
Federal Register Definition: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s primary mission is to prevent commercial motor vehicle-related fatalities and injuries. Activities of the Administration contribute to ensuring safety in motor carrier operations through strong enforcement of safety regulations, targeting high-risk carriers and commercial motor vehicle drivers; improving safety information systems and commercial motor vehicle technologies; strengthening commercial motor vehicle equipment and operating standards; and increasing safety awareness.
Safety Leading Indicators
OSHA Definition: Leading indicators are proactive, preventive, and predictive measures that provide information about the effective performance of your safety and health activities. They measure events leading up to injuries, illnesses, and other incidents and reveal potential problems in your safety and health program.
“Safety Tailgates”
SDGE Definition: Safety tailgate talks are short informational meetings held with employees to discuss a work-site related safety. The purpose of a tailgate is to inform employees of specific hazards associated to a task and the safe way to do a job. Tailgate talks also serve as a reminder to employees of what they already know while establishing the supervisor’s credibility and conscientiousness about his oversight role.
Side-Guards
Takler Definition: Truck side guards are vehicle-based safety devices designed to keep pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists from being run over by a large truck’s rear wheels in a side-impact collision.
Vehicle Monitoring Devices
Teletrac Definition: An in-vehicle monitoring system – or IVMS – consists of an electronic device or number of devices installed in a vehicle to monitor driver activities and help identify behaviors such as excessive speed, harsh braking, rapid acceleration or drowsy driving.
Wheeled Tote
A large, rollable container with wheels made for transporting heavy items with high maneuverability.