Using OSHA Citations As Electrical Safety Training Tools
Reading through OSHA citation received by others might help you avoid receiving one.OSHA Citations As Educational Tools
Introduction
This video discusses how an OSHA citation can be used as a training tool.
The Press Release
A large OSHA citation is often accompanied by a press release which includes some of the details and your company name and location. CEOs, board members and plant managers should take note as this is the worst kind of publicity. The old saying that any publicity is good publicity does not apply here.The most damning part of the press release is how this fatality could have been prevented. The press release will include a link to the citation.
The Citation
Explained in the citation, in great detail, is exactly what happened and where the company fell short. The citation used in the video included violations by the company such as not having a written lockout tagout procedure, the worker doing live electrical work was not qualified, PPE was not provided, the worker was required to change a fluorescent ballast while the circuit was live and several other issues. All of which would have been prevented if the employer had used the electrical safe work practices spelled out in NFPA 70E and OSHA 1910 Subpart S.
Educational Tool
This video is making the point that you can use the press release and the citation as training tools for your company. You can learn from the tragic events that occurred to others in hopes of preventing a very preventable death from occurring at your facility.
Ask Yourself
It is important to read through the citation and then ask yourself, could this happen to us? Are we currently doing the same things this company did? Are we in compliance, do we follow 70E are we immune from this? Look closely at each violation in the citation and make sure you are not in violation.
Conclusion
This information is available to everyone at OSHA.gov. I strongly encourage you to use these as a training tool to make you facility a safer place to work. Never do these things to avoid an OSHA citation, do them to avoid people getting hurt.
