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The American Industrial Hygiene Association
Hawaii Section

Our 2012 Hawaii Section Officers :

Past President

Jennifer Shishido, CIH

Bart Ashley, CIH, CSP

President-elect

Joaquin Diaz, CSP

Secretary

Buddy Morris, CIH

Treasurer

Tavia Shiroma

Director

Erwin Soria

Director

Jim Peck

Director

Hans Neilsen

Webmaster

Jim Newberry

Visit our Calendar page for the latest posting
of meetings and Local Section events

Next: General Meeting - 1/2 day Ethics Seminar.
Where: Ft. Shafter, Hale Ikena Club House
When: February 23rd - 7:30 am to 12:30 pm
check the Calendar for details - Flyer

54^th Annual Science and Engineering Fair Winners!

We had a terrific seminar on Lead and Asbestos in Construction thanks to Joaquin, Mark, Tom, Bart and Jenny. Here are the Powerpoint Presentations which we hope you find useful to you in keeping up with these issues:
1) Occupational Asbestos Exposures
2) Occupational Lead Exposures . .
3) Asbestos and Lead Management

Protecting America’s Workers Act Proposed by Congress
AIHA Comments on Protecting America's Workers Act
The Construction Institute Endorses the Protecting America's Worker Act

111th Congress Session - Senate Bill 1580 To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage under the Act, to increase protections for whistleblowers, to increase penalties for certain violators, and for other purposes.

Protecting America’s Workers Act

The Protecting America’s Workers Act – is a bill that would reform several areas within OSHA. Introduction of this bill was expected and upon first review was what we expected. The full version of the bill is not yet available; however I am providing some information from the press release which is a summary of the new bill – HR 2067:

Specifically, the Protecting America’s Workers Act:

Protects More Workers Expands OSHA coverage to include state and local public employees and federal government workers.

Expands coverage to millions of other workers inadequately covered such as airline and railroad employees, and Department of Energy contractors

Strengthens Health and Safety Penalties Raises civil penalties and indexes those penalties to inflation.

Establishes mandatory minimum penalties for violations involving worker deaths.

Allows felony prosecutions against employers who commit willful violations that result in death or serious bodily injury, and extends such penalties to responsible corporate officers.

Requires OSHA to investigate all cases of death and serious injuries (i.e. incidents that result in the hospitalization of 2 or more employees).

Improves Whistleblower Protections

Codifies regulations that give workers the right to refuse to do hazardous work.

Clarifies that employees cannot be discriminated against for reporting injuries, illnesses or unsafe conditions, and brings the procedures for investigating and adjudicating discrimination complaints into line with other safety and health and whistleblower laws

Allows Workers and Their Families to Hold Dangerous Employers Accountable

Provides workers and employee representatives the right to contest OSHA’s failure to issue citations, classification of its citations, and proposed penalties.

Gives injured workers, their families and families of workers who died in work-related incidents the right to meet with investigators, receive copies of citations, and to have an opportunity to make a statement before any settlement negotiations.

Clarifies that the time spent by an employee accompanying an OSHA inspector during an investigation is considered time worked, for which a worker must be compensated.

Prohibits OSHA from designating a citation as an “unclassified citation” where an employer can avoid the potential consequences of a “willful” violation, the most serious violation.

Allows any worker or their representative to object to a modification or withdrawal of a citation, and entitles them to a hearing before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Hawaii Bill - Hazardous Substance Reporting Requirements
Enacted

SUMMARY: (Governor's Bill Package) Relates to facilities that store, use, or manufacture hazardous substances; makes technical corrections to provisions of law related to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and reporting requirements for hazardous and extremely hazardous substances < click for a list; provides a date by which reports must be submitted each year.

Hawaii Rules on Meth Lab Cleanup

Ergonomic Standard Submitted to ANSI - truncated article By Katherine Torres

The voluntary consensus standard Reduction of Musculoskeletal Problems in Construction (ANSI/ASSE A10.40-200x) – aimed at reducing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among construction workers – has been submitted to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for final review.

“These consensus guidelines could help reduce these workplace injuries,” said ASSE Council on Practices and Standards Vice President James Smith. “Our members work with employers and employees daily to increase workplace safety by developing and implementing effective ergonomic solutions – solutions that can remove barriers to quality, productivity and human performance by fitting products, tasks and environments to people, which in turn can save millions of dollars.”

The A10.40 standard has been sent to the ANSI Board of Standards Review. The review can take anywhere from 30 to 90 days, and appeals still can be filed during this time.
Standard to Provide Strategies for MSD Reduction
Some of the potential solutions in the standard aimed at reducing the incidence of MSDs include risk elimination, substitution, use of engineering controls, administrative changes, training, use of protective equipment and assessment of individuals’ physical capabilities.

The standard also notes that construction workers and supervisors should be trained to recognize risk factors and ways to reduce the risk of MSDs through proper work techniques. Employee participation and an injury management program are discussed in the standard.

In addition, the standard includes a risk assessment guide, a construction MSD problem reduction checklist, a return-to-work checklist, a list of resources, key terms and definitions and a list of non-occupational risk factors associated with work-related MSDs such as age, strength and gender.

Past President Shelley Wheeling-Park was elected to the AIHA National Board ~ March 2007

1-29-07 ~ Shelley has been selected as the 2007 recipient of the Kusnetz Award. This award was established in 1987 and is named for its donors, Florence Kusnetz and AIHA past president Howard Kusnetz. This award was founded to honor a certified industrial hygienist who is under 40 years old, is employed in the private sector, and provides the highest standards of health and safety protection for employees by exhibiting high ethical standards and technical abilities.

Shelley Wheeling-Park - Article in the Synergist ~ December 2006

HIOSH Advisory Committee
Meeting Time: 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Location:
Princess Ruth Keelikolani Building
HIOSH Training Room 427
830 Punchbowl Street

2011 Meeting Dates - Third Thur. of the month:

February 17th
May 19th
August 18th
November 17th

Our very own Joaquin Diaz is the 2011Chair and both he and Vice Chair Chuck Breneke encourage you to come these quarterly meetings, all are welcome to attend.

New HIOSH Website < update your link

To help with your compliance needs,
here   are   links   to the   online   HIOSH   standards
HIOSH Standards, Most Cite HIOSH Standards,
The majority of Title 12 Safety & Health standards are being replaced
by 1910 and 1926 CFR, stay   tuned   with the changes taking place at
http://hawaii.gov/ labor/hiosh/ pdf/standards/ amend/ Standard%20final.pdf
and at the HIOSH website links above.

A list of our Membership and the HIOSH Advisory Committee WebPage
HIOSH Advisory Committee ~ Mission & Operating Guidelines
Minutes of our meetings http://hawaii.gov/labor/hiosh/hiosh-quick-links/adv_comm_minutes.shtml

Establishment Search Page - OSHA/HIOSH Citations

HIOSH Proposed Rules

A special "Editor's Note" article in the Winter 2006 Diplomat

Note from an esteemed college: Subject: AIHA Comments on Immigration/OSHA Issue

If you recall, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Bureau conducted a “sting” to target illegal immigrant workers. The sting was conducted under the false pretense of holding a meeting to discuss health and safety, supposedly requested by OSHA personnel. Following this sting, the Dept. of Labor and OSHA both stated their opposition to falsely claiming OSHA had any part in this.

AIHA national was asked to comment on this issue. At the time, we decided not to comment because OSHA, the Dept. of Labor and even Homeland Security seemed to indicate that this would not happen again. AIHA also decided that should something like this occur again we would immediately provide a statement in opposition.

It now seems that ICE has changed their mind and will continue to target illegal workers using the front of being OSHA personnel.

While we have been unable to confirm whether or not this is true, AIHA decided to move forward with a letter of opposition. This letter can be viewed by >clicking here<.

UPDATE

Subject: Immigration Enforcement and OSHA-LS

On February 16, AIHA sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security opposing word that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau would continue posing as OSHA personnel to conduct immigrant workforce enforcement. AIHA’s letter went on to say that while we understood the need for illegal immigrant enforcement, using OSHA personnel to conduct “sting” operations was not the way to go, and would undoubtedly result in making it much more difficult to improve the health and safety of immigrant workers.

Last week, AIHA received a letter from the Director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Marcy Forman. Ms Forman stated “Effective immediately, the use of ruses involving health and safety programs administered by a private entity or a federal, state, or local government agency (such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) for the purpose of immigration worksite enforcement, will be discontinued by ICE”.