SM_Hoist & Crane Basics

Certain coating removers containing methylene chloride are widely used in the bathtub refinishing industry to prepare tubs for a new finish.  Since 2006 there have been three deaths in Michigan in this industry involving methylene chloride.  This week the Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (MIFACE) program released a investigative report about this hazardous practice that we want to share with you.

MIFACE program identifies industries and work.  The program determines the underlying causes of the work-related fatalities, and formulates and disseminates prevention strategies to reduce them.  MIOSHA’s goal is to help prevent workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities and to ensure that effective tools and training are available to employers and employees. The mutual cooperation between MIOSHA and MIFACE in identifying occupational fatalities allows us to get timely safety and health information to Michigan employers and employees.

The MIOSHA Consultation Education and Training (CET) Division has consultants available to provide assistance with evaluating methylene chloride exposure.  The assistance provided by CET is at no cost to the employer and will not result in the issuance of any citations or penalties.  Companies can call the CET Division at (517) 322-1809 or visit online at www.michigan.gov/cet.

As a service to your colleagues and/or employees, you may want to discuss this information at your next safety and health meeting, post the MIFACE fact sheet on a bulletin board, or include it in a newsletter and/or website.  Your support and interest in the safety and health of Michigan employees is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Douglas J. Kalinowski,

Employees at Mountaire Farms chicken processing plant in Millsboro, DE, filed a lawsuit to be paid for the time spent donning and doffing protective gear during the workday.

All production employees are required to wear ear plugs, bump caps, smocks, hair and beard nets, and steel-toed rubber boots. Some production employees are also required to wear gloves, aprons and safety glasses. These are requirements of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and OSHA.

Employees also take off their protective gear for their unpaid lunch break and then have to put it back on to return to work. The employees and the company each provided their own witnesses to show how long it takes for the employees to put on and take off their PPE each day. The two times; about 21 minutes a day vs the companies 10 minutes.

In this case the court noted that previous federal decisions said employees must be paid for their time spent performing a “principal activity” for their jobs if the task it required by law, company policy or by the nature of the work performed. With this in mind employees should be paid for their time at the start or end of shifts. However, federal courts had ruled previously that workers don’t have to be paid for this time before and after a lunch break. This case will follow that pattern.

(Perez v. Mountaire Farms, U.S. Circuit Crt. 4, No. 09-1917, 6/7/2011)