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OSHA’s “Focus 4” Safety Hazards

According to OSHA, 90% of all fatalities, 85% of all citations and 90% of dollars applied as fines are related to hazards of the Focus 4 - falls, caught-in or between, struck-by hazards, and electrocution.

OSHA’s “Focus 4” Safety Hazards
90% of all fatalities, 85% of all citations and 90% of dollars applied as fines are related to hazards of the Focus 4.

According to Joe Keenan, Mississippi and Alabama Area Director of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and OSHA General Industry and Construction 10/30-Hour Authorized Outreach Trainer, abating the “Focus 4” safety hazards – which have the potential to seriously hurt or kill employees - will not only help with compliance, but liability and legal issues as well as worker’s compensation.

Keenan presented “OSHA's ‘Focus 4’ Safety Hazards: Falls, Caught-In or Between, Struck-By Hazards and Electrocution” webinar, and said that it is important to consider a safety and health management system that contain the following elements: Management commitment and employee involvement; work site analysis; hazard prevention and control; and safety and health training.

Keenan said that “management commitment and employee involvement are complimentary, they go together. Management commitment provides the motivating force and resources for organizing and controlling activities within an organization, and employee involvement, call it the heartbeat of safety, provides the means through which workers develop and express their own commitment.”

Work site analysis involves a variety of examinations to identify not only existing hazards, but also conditions and operations where changes might occur to create hazards. Keenan said that effective management actively analyzes the work and the work site for all hazards to anticipate and prevent harmful occurrences, and it's critical that all hazards, not just the Focus 4, are identified and corrected before an injury can occur.

Another key component of any safety program is an ‘effective management of change procedure,’ or MOC. A management of change procedure is a comprehensive environmental health and safety review of any new process. Keenan mentions the mantra "Find it, fix it." A very simple approach - if the safety hazard is found, it's fixed immediately, or if it can't be fixed immediately, the machine or the piece of equipment, is taken out of service, or tagged out of service and not allowed to be run until it can be fixed properly.

The OSHA Focus 4:

According to OSHA, falls account for nearly one quarter of all seriously disabling work injuries - over 300 000 each year in the United States, and are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. Most fatalities occur when employees fall from open sided floors, and through floor openings. Keenan suggests a comprehensive ‘Fall Protection Hazard Analysis,’ which should be reviewed at least annually with hourly employee and management participation.

Keenan said there are two types of falls: falls-to and from the same level or slips and trips. Both can have serious consequences and need to be taken into account when conducting a job hazard fall analysis. Slips can be caused by slippery surfaces and poor housekeeping such as clutter and debris in aisle ways, etc. In addition to good housekeeping, which is critical, it is very critical too to make sure employees have adequate safety footwear.

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