Training and Development

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Summary Report of OSHA Forms 301:

Injury and Illness Incident Report

The following information is a summary of the Injury and Illness Incident Reports filed following three workplace accidents at your company. Also included are observations of unsafe practices made by an OSHA inspector after visiting the work site where the three serious accidents occurred. This information may provide insight for the planning and implementation of safety training for roofing supervisors and the improved orientation program for construction laborers. (For more details on the following subjects, visit the recommended links found in the web links section of the task.)

Construction is one of the most hazardous (and often the most hazardous) occupation in the world. This is because unpredictable or unexpected hazards are commonplace at construction work sites. Leading safety hazards include falls from dangerous heights, being struck by falling objects, motor vehicle crashes, electrocution, excavation accidents, machine-related injuries, and exposure to noise and hazardous materials. Employers in the construction industry are required to provide and install safety protection devices and systems and instruct workers on the proper selection, use, and maintenance of those systems. Several unsafe practices and hazards were observed at the work sites visited:

Use of Safety Equipment

· Fall protection systems used in roofing installation, including guardrail systems, warning line systems, and personal fall arrest systems (safety harnesses and ropes) were not in use.

· Protective headgear (i.e., hard hats) was not in use.

· Eye protection (i.e., safety glasses) was not worn by all employees.

· Hearing protection (i.e., ear muffs, ear plugs) was not in use despite excessive levels of noise from power tools and gasoline-powered generators.

· A blade guard was missing from a radial arm saw in use on-site; workers could not explain why the guard was missing or the hazards posed by this condition.

· Walking/working surfaces were covered with used nails and roofing debris.

· Braces and stabilizers were not used to steady ladders.

Availability of Safety Equipment

· Inadequate supply of personal fall arrest systems available at the work site; supervisor explained that “a few extra workers were needed today,” and the necessary equipment was left behind at the company warehouse.

· Inadequate supply of protective headgear available at the work site.

· Inadequate supply of protective eyewear available at the work site.

· First aid kit was incomplete, and several items were past expiration dates.

Maintenance of Occupational Injury and Illness Records

Organizations are required by OSHA to keep accurate workplace injury and illness records, including a Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, a Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses, and OSHA’s Form 301: Injury and Illness Incident Report. The incident report for all qualifying injuries and illnesses must be completed and submitted to OSHA officials within seven calendar days of the incident.

· OSHA Form 301 for an incident in which an employee was injured by a misfiring nail gun was not submitted to the local OSHA office until 10 days after it occurred.

· The Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses maintained by roofing supervisors lacked required details, such as “Number of Days Not Worked” by the employee who was injured.

· Logs of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses maintained by roofing supervisors were not uniformly current and complete; one supervisor admitted, “We get behind in our paperwork when things get really busy and there are a lot of roofing jobs to complete.” Logs were backdated in several cases.

· One roofing supervisor was unable to locate all of the required occupational injury and illness records, explaining that “they must have gone missing.”