Safety Nets

An accident at the Leo Journagan Construction Co. quarry Sept. 16 took the life of 73-year-old Shelby Hill, of Clever. The incident involving Hill, who was hit by a front-end loader, resulted in the 14th workplace death this year in Missouri reported by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Workplace safety is the goal, but for 4,045 U.S. workers in 2013, showing up to work cost them their lives.

Under the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA oversees workplace safety and keeps protection and awareness front-of-mind for employees and business owners through hundreds of rules and regulations.

However, when safety takes a back seat, it often leads to accidents and, currently, it seems tragedy must strike three times before being reported to OSHA. But taking effect Jan. 1, that will change as OSHA expands its most high-profile rule.

Under the revised rule, employers are required to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours and within 24 hours for work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations or eye losses. Previously, OSHA’s regulations required an employer to report only work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations of three or more employees.

“Hospitalizations and amputations are sentinel events, indicating that serious hazards are likely to be present at a workplace and that an intervention is warranted to protect the other workers,” said Dr. David Michaels, OSHA’s assistant secretary of labor, in a news release. “Workplace injuries and fatalities are absolutely preventable, and these new requirements will help OSHA focus its resources and hold employers accountable for preventing them.”

Springfield Business Journal’s requests for an interview with an OSHA Region 7 representative were not returned.

Dan Snyder, owner and CEO of Nixa-based safety educator Span International Training LLC, said every industry needs a safety leader, not just employees working heavy equipment.

“There is potential for hazards in all walks of life,” Snyder said. “Even more important than OSHA rules and regulations are management practices. The best safety starts with the manager.”

That’s something Danielle Brunelli knows all too well. As human resources manager at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. LLC, Brunelli deals with a range of working conditions each day, from gardens to packing machines on the company’s 167 acres in Mansfield.

Two years into her position, Brunelli is developing the seed company’s first safety manual, and the efforts already are paying dividends.

When a glue nozzle on a packing machine exploded two months ago, Baker Creek employees were spared painful glue burns because they wore goggles and gloves – something they hadn’t done just a few months earlier.

“Glue in the eye isn’t something to mess with,” Brunelli said. “Even the guy who resisted was grateful for those goggles that day.”

New to the field, Brunelli contacted OSHA a year ago asking for a training session.

Following a visit and facility tour by an OSHA representative, changes are bettering the lives of Baker Creek’s 44 employees.

“I took him around to every nook and cranny of this place, and he gave me ideas and suggestions for improvement,” Brunelli said. “We have grown and changed so much since then, we are due for another training. There is still so much more we can learn.”

She points to an individual who has the tough task of sorting the company’s hot pepper seeds.

“Before, he manned up and sorted them. I think he felt that was just his job,” she said. “I told him it didn’t have to be that way. I gave him a respirator. He was apprehensive at first.

Now, his eyes and throat don’t burn while he works.

“That was simple. It was easy. And it worked. That’s the goal of my safety manual project.”

Brunelli said her goal is to work smarter, not harder, saying she doesn’t have a problem with OSHA’s rules, as long as they increase safety for her workers. However, not everybody is on board with the new reporting procedures. Industry leaders, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, contend the new rules will burden businesses without doing anything to help workers, essentially bogging down the system with excessive paperwork on both ends.

With so many rules already on the books, Snyder said there is no doubt new rules mean more paperwork.

“Any time you deal with the government, of course, that is going to require resources, staff and extra time,” he said. “Employers may not necessarily have been reporting the loss of an eye before, but they should have been following other good safety practices by documenting the incident, investigating it and taking a corrective action to prevent it from happening again.

“Filing a report with the government is just another paper step in something they should have been doing already.”

Snyder said no matter the industry, accidents are bound to happen. Statistically speaking, there are 12 fatal injuries each day at work nationwide, a number that is improving, according to OSHA.

“Safety is a people thing,” Snyder said. “Front-line leadership is the most important tool. You can’t replace it.”

As Brunelli works to be the eyes and ears of safety at Baker Creek, she knows there always is more work to do. She’s invited OSHA back to the company for a second session in the hopes of furthering her goals.

“When this company started, it was a mom-and-pop shop, but it’s not anymore, and we need to expand our thinking,” she said. “This new manual isn’t just good for employee safety, but I think for morale as well.

It shows them the company cares about them and their well-being.”

Wading though thousands of safety rules isn’t easy, but Brunelli said she is determined.

“It’s challenging and sometimes quite overwhelming to develop a manual like this,” she said. “This is where our workers will look to keep them safe.

“I can’t fail at that when it’s my job to protect them.”