OSHA Inspection: HIGH & HIGH INC.

Issued

Dec 21, 2006

Abate by

Feb 9, 2007

Penalty

Initial $1,400

General-duty citation text

North Carolina General Statute 95-129(1) of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act of North Carolina:  The
employer did not furnish each of his employees conditions of employment
and a place of employment free from
recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious
physical harm to employees in that
employees were exposed to heat stressors without adequate provisions to
protect them:
a)site - employer failed to provide a heat stress management program for
sawmill employees
exposed to high heat and humidity from June 21, 2006 through August 16,
2006.
Examples of these feasible and acceptable abatement methods include, but
are not limited to:
implementation of a heat stress management program which incorporates
guidelines from a
recognized authority such as the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Heath (NIOSH)
or the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).
A minimum
program would include, but not be limited to: 1. Acclimatization of
employees beginning work
in a hot environment or those returning from absent periods of three or
more days. 2.
Developing appropriate work/rest regimens based on temperature indexes and
metabolic rate. 3.
Providing cool water and encouraging employees to drink 5 to 7 ounces of
fluid every 15 to 20
minutes. 4. Providing for a cool area for rest or first aid. 5. Providing
motivational training for
employees regarding the health effects associated with heat stress,
individual risk factors,
symptoms of heat-induced illnesses, methods of preventing such illnesses,
methods of first aid
and summoning emergency medical attention. 6. Maintaining means to provide
first aid,
emergency cooling and prompt transport to a physician or other licensed
health care
professional.
REFERENCE: US Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health,
Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Hot
Environments
(Revised
Criteria 1986) DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No 86!113. Accessed 30 Nov 2006 at
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/86-113.html
American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists, 2006 Threshold
Limit Values for
Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices,
ACGIH Signature
Publications, Cincinnati, OH.cinnati,