Each year I compile a pdf of all the fatalities into mnm and coal pdfs. (Starting with 2019 both will be in the same document since MSHA is combining them). I just completed the 2018 metal/nonmetal one. You can move from fatality to fatality with bookmarks that are built in or just search a word like “loader” and find all the references to that in all fatalities for the year. It is also posted in the Resources tab above where I’ll add some past years as I get time or requests.
Participate in the National Utility Contractors Association’s Trench Safety Stand Down Week or get all the great training materials that are provided at: https://www.nuca.com/tssd and use them whenever you have your Trench Safety training.
As someone who used the old system often I’ll hold judgement on the new until I’ve used it awhile or at least until it works. That’s assuming it’s not doing what it’s supposed to now because when I enter my own ID I get someone else’s information or none at all depending on what report I ask for. Either way, if you use this information you may want to study the manual, yes unlike most software that you just intuitively click on what you’d like to see, you better study this one. It’s here.
I’m continually surprised by how many workers in my class don’t know the GHS pictograms. Why is that an issue?
National Safety Council has an interactive game to test their knowledge. You can have them play it online. You can see their score. Even though the program gets complimentary of any decent score, 100% is the only one that actually counts. You can refresh the page and do it over and over. Try it out here.
Whether you are involved in construction or another industry you can use the materials that OSHA has available to focus on fall prevention this week (and beyond of course). The OSHA page is here and features publications, posters, and more.
I rarely if ever have used this platform to express an opinon, preferring to have the site just report facts, but I have a fact to report that I definitely have an opinion on and so, here it is.
MSHA is changing how it counts fatalities. It’s seemingly part of what the Assistant Secretary said at TRAM last October about his desire to “Blur” the lines between Metal-Nonmetal and Coal. As a trainer who does his best to satisfy MSHA by providing relevent material it’s not only helpful but necessary to divide the two. The rules are different and miners most often are going into just one type of mine, not both.
The announcement appears on the MSHA web page that fatalities not be seperated and indeed fatalities number one and two occured in coal mines and three and four were in metal-nonmetal mines. Without a careful counting as the year goes on it will be difficult to compare to previous years or tell how the very different industries are doing. Other helpful training materials that MSHA has provided in the past to help us understand where we are even within the various industries of metal-nonmetal have disappeared. Secretary Zatezalo rightly said last October that as we approach zero fatalities we have to change our approach to continue to make advances, but blurring lines and failing to interpret and publish data isn’t a change in the right direction. If anything these changes will simply make it more difficult to understand where we are and if we don’t know that we certainly can’t tell where we’re going.
We will continue to seperate the industries here even in the title to fatalities, referencing them both by MSHA’s fatality number and numbering them by Metal Nonmetal and Coal. You can also select the Categories and click on tags on the right side of the page to further select industries. I started this page to assist in my own training material design. If there’s any way I can help in yours by interpreting data here let me know. MSHA doesn’t seem to be doing it much anymore.
-Randy
Planning ahead is key to preventing most accidents. Here’s your chance to plan ahead to participate in OSHA’s National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls May 6 – 10. It’s never too soon to start planning. Materials are available here.
Click on the graphic to go to a page of free materials.
A miner was trying to determine why clay was not flowing properly by examining a chute that discharged into a screw conveyor. Instead of using a ladder to look inside, he stood on top of the metal screw conveyor cover his foot slipped and he fell approximately three feet to the grating floor hitting his head and suffered serious injuries.
BEST PRACTICES
Download MSHA Alert HERE.