1. Explain safety and health training requirements specified by standard setting organizations.
Read the case below, complete the table below, use the OSHA publication as a guide, save all of your work to this document, and submit it in Blackboard for grading.
Background on Carter’s Material Handling Equipment Manufacturing Company
Carter’s Materials Handling Equipment Company is a small business that employs between 38 and 55 employees throughout any given year. This firm manufactures materials handling equipment that includes small cantilever racks, hand trucks, and various dollies commonly used in the manufacturing sector. The facility was built in 1958 and is roughly 80,000 square feet. The firm receives raw materials in the form of round metal tubing, sheet metal, square tubing, and cold and hot rolled metal rods.
Raw materials are removed from flatbed trailers using a large, LP-gas-powered forklift with the assistance of smaller, LP-gas-powered forklifts. These materials are stored in racks in the receiving/shipping department. From there, raw materials are moved via forklift and various heavy duty carts to the fabrication department. This department cuts, punches, bends, copes, and shears the various materials into parts used to make the final product.
The metal fabrication department includes two 70-ton, part revolution mechanical power punch presses, three 250-ton, part revolution press brakes, a 300-ton hydraulic press, two pipe benders, a twelve-foot shear, a 10-foot shear, a mill for milling a bevel on hand truck toe plates, several off-hand grinders, and two large drill presses. The fabrication department can get quite noisy for days at a time (>85 dB), especially when making cantilever racks. The department includes maintenance workers to keep the machines running.
After being cut, punched, bent, and formed, fabricated parts go to the welding department or the Work in Process (WIP) crib. WIP includes a mezzanine and an area populated with pallet racks for storage.
In the welding department, there are 12 MIG welding machines that are used by welders to assemble the parts into the pre-finished items manufactured by the firm. The welders also use an assortment of hand-held grinders and an oxyacetylene torch. Once welded, items either go in their pre-finished condition into inventory, or are further processed by the painting department. Pre-finished items that are inventoried are taken to one of two mezzanines or placed in storage racks. In the painting department, items are wiped down with various solvents and hung on an overhead hook conveyor. Items go into the paint booth where they are painted using various enamels. Xylenes and Toluene are common solvents used in this operation. The paints also contain these solvents.
After painting, axles and wheels are applied, and the completed products are boxed up in the shipping/receiving department or, depending on their size, loaded directly on trucks with no packaging. Larger items, such as racks, are loaded onto flatbeds using an unmanned overhead crane controlled by a pendant control. Smaller items are typically loaded onto standard semi-trailers using battery-powered forklifts or pallet jacks.
Carter’s OSHA Form 300 log of injuries and illnesses for the past year reveals that eight employees experienced minor injuries (cuts) from handling metal parts, one employee lost 15 workdays after getting debris in his eye while grinding, six employees lost two days each due to back strains, and four welders were treated for minor burns.
The human resources manager provided you with this additional information about the departments and their employees:
• Shipping/Receiving Department: 60% male, 40% female. Age range 18-62. 80% have completed high school; some attend junior college. Temporary employees are added when production is high, usually in summer
• Metal Fabrication Department: 80% male, 20% female. Age range 30-45. All have completed high school and some have junior college technical training.
• Welding Department: 50% male, 50% female. Age range 25-50. All have completed high school and all have completed junior college technical training.
• Painting Department: 30% male, 60% female. Most have completed high school. Some are attending college, pursuing bachelor’s degrees.
While all employees understand and speak English, several employees in the Shipping/Receiving Department use Spanish as their primary language. All employees work 7 AM – 4PM with a one-hour lunch break, Monday through Friday. On Saturday, overtime is worked at peak production times, usually in the summer. The shop is not unionized, and employee relations are good. The annual employee turnover is 5%. The average employee has worked for Carter for 6.5 years. Some employees have worked for Carter for more than 15 years.
You have been hired by Carter to develop an effective safety training program for his employees. Carter is concerned about being in compliance with regulations and standards, so your first task is to identify 10 training requirements from the OSHA standards that apply to Carter’s operations. Carter’s operation will be required to meet more than 10 OSHA standards; however, your job is to identify what you feel are the 10 most important. List the 10 requirements in the order in which they should be developed and specify which department(s) should receive the training. Then, provide a brief justification (rationale) for each training requirement identified—why is it one of the most important?
