Tag Archives: inspection management

OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting (SST) Directive: Full Inspections Only in Cases of Elevated Injury and Illness Experience

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Updated OSHA Inspection Program

With the end-goal of utilizing limited enforcement resources to target workplaces with elevated injury and illness incidents, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced updates to its site-specific targeting program. The Site-Specific Targeting (SST) Directive takes the place of Site-Specific Targeting 2016, and focuses on non-construction organizations with a minimum of 20 employees.

The changes to the inspection program are as follows:

  1. The creation of a new targeting category for establishments indicating consistent injury and illness rate increases over the three-year data collection period, and
  2. Permits records-only inspections to be carried out when a compliance officer discovers that an organization was included in the program due to error. In these instances, a complete inspection will only be carried out when it has been determined that the reported number of injury and illnesses have increased.

With this in mind, it is important for organizations to focus on developing a … Read more...

U.S. Mine Fatality Trends Prompt 2015 Updates to Outreach and Enforcement

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In 2014, the U.S. coal mining industry reported the lowest number of coal mining deaths in recorded history; this follows a steady decline in coal fatalities over recent years. Yet the overall fatality count for the U.S. mining industry in 2014 was just the fourth-lowest annual total on record.

The explanation? A spike in fatalities in the metal/nonmetal (MNM) mining sector. This sector reported their own record low fatality numbers back in 2011 and 2012, with 16 deaths each year. However, MNM fatalities rose to over 20 in 2013, and reported another increase in 2014 with a total of 25 deaths in the sector.

“Unacceptable” according to MSHA chief Joe Main, who has announced an increased focus in 2015 on combating fatal incidents, serious injuries and their root causes, particularly in light of the increasing fatality numbers in the metal and nonmetal mining sector.

Increasing Enforcement Efforts

MSHA’s “Rules … Read more...