Put Safety Regulators on Your Map

By Kevin M. Padden

A bumper sticker I saw on the back of a car hit the nail on the head (and, presumably, with safety glasses): If you think OSHA & EPA are small towns in Northern Wisconsin – YOU’RE IN BIG TROUBLE!
This really drives home the point that we as stone fabricators have to (or will) accept as a reality. OSHA and EPA are watching all of us, and we need to be prepared and be compliant with all of their regulations.
I also remember talking with a good friend of mine with a passion for flying his Cessna Turbo whenever the work schedule permits. I asked him why he bought a plane with “fixed” wheels, and he told me this analogy about aircraft with retractable landing gear and the pilots who fly them: “There’s them that have, and them that will.”
He was referring to pilots who make an approach for landing and forget that they’re flying an aircraft with its wheels retracted; this momentary brain freeze can make for a very embarrassing (and costly) landing experience, not to mention the potential permanent out-of-body experience. My friend’s wisdom in selecting and flying a plane that won’t put him in a higher risk-factor speaks volumes.
This same little analogy is true for those of us who have (or will) experience the dreaded “knock on the front door” of our shop and receive the first “survey” by a governmental inspection team. When it comes to stone fabricators getting OSHA/EPA surprise inspections, remember that wise pilot’s axiom: “There’s them that have, and them that will”.
The key to surviving an OSHA and EPA evaluation is to be like the Boy Scouts of America’s motto: “Be Prepared.” I advocate being in compliance with the laws and regulations that have been written for our (and our employees & the environment’s) protection.
I’m sure that a lot of people have a problem with someone showing up and saying, “Hi there, I’m from the federal government, and I’m here to help you.” The hard, cold facts, however, are– like it or not – we must adhere to OSHA regulations and EPA requirements mapped out for our industry. Or, we suffer the consequences, with fines amounting to several-thousand dollars and being shut down.
So how do you keep a happy balance in toeing the line with the government and staying in business to make a buck (and, hopefully, more than one)? There are a number of ways that you, as a stone fabricator, can get into compliance with both the EPA and OSHA without going crazy in the process.
The first step is research and education in the system. You have to know the laws that apply to your operation, and then evaluate if you fall into compliance or you’re lacking. You also need to know the areas where OSHA and EPA will draw a bead.
For starters, let’s look at training. Do you have a forklift? Every swing’n person that operates it will need to be trained and OSHA-certified. Do you have an overhead crane or jib-cranes? Same answer: Anybody touching them needs to be trained and certified. Hard hats for all overhead hazards are must.
How about the people that work in the shop all day long holding a grinder, polisher, or operating a big piece of equipment? They all need to have their hearing tested (for residual hearing loss level), documented, and retested annually. They also need to be wearing eye protection (goggles or glasses), hearing protection (ear plugs or ear muffs) and dust protection (dust mask or respirator). This goes for anyone that ventures into your shop – such as office personnel, vendors or customers that you are taking on the nickel tour of your facility. If you want to really go “full boat,” you can have everybody that goes into the shop wear hard hats as well. (I’ll stop short of talking about steel-toed shoes or boots.)
Right now, you’re probably thinking “is this guy NUTS?”…. Doesn’t he know it’s not easy to polish a piece of stone and wear goggles that don’t have windshield wipers on them? Doesn’t he know that sometimes you have to hear the sound of the tool in order to tell if it’s working properly? Doesn’t he know that wet polishing stone doesn’t really generate a whole-lotta dust ….”
As an active fabricator, I know all about these issues and their relevance to daily operations. Being in the shop without wearing eye, ear and dust protection can be dangerous to your employees and guests; and, to make matters worse, if OSHA sees anyone without this gear on, you could be at risk of getting fined or shut down.
And, here’s another area to get “dialed in”– MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) and HAZCOM (Hazardous Communication) seminars sheets.
EVERY item that you touch in your business is required to have an MSDS sheet, and you’re required to maintain a file with an MSDS sheet for every item (liquid, gas and solid) in your operation. Yes, even the granite and marble slabs you fabricate into countertops need to have an MSDS for every separate color or species. (I always thought that if the item was too big to fit up your nose, you were OK and didn’t need an MSDS file – wrong).
Many company protocols are also including weekly “HAZCOM Topics.” Example: When the checks are passed out on Fridays, your entire shop crew gets to hear something like, “this week’s HAZCOM Topic is about safety with electrical plugs – and what a shocking experience they can be.” to satisfy the weekly HAZCOM educational requirement. The people who attend the HAZCOM topic sign a sheet showing they were there, you file it in your log, and you’re good to go.
In all of my years of working in the natural stone business, I have always remembered that you can never know everything, and you’re always on the learning curve. This is never so true as with OSHA & EPA. There is nothing wrong with the realization that you can’t know every little regulation or law. This shouldn’t be cause for alarm, as there are a number of optional avenues that can assist you in coming into compliance with OSHA & EPA requirements for your operation.
One of these involves attendance at an OSHA/EPA informational seminar. There are many of these that are put on all across the country by various firms; costs vary, but it’s usually $80 to $200 per person for a seminar lasting the better part of a day
The goal here is getting a clear idea of what you need to do in order to make the first steps at coming into compliance with OSHA and EPA regulations. Remember, just because you attend a seminar does not make you an authority on the subject – the key words here are first steps. (I’m planning to present a seminar on “OSHA / EPA Compliance” at StonExpo 2003 in Atlanta this December, and at Surfaces in Las Vegas and Coverings in Orlando next year.)
A second option that’s open to you at no charge is to invite OSHA and EPA representatives into your facility for a “courtesy” inspection. This, in my humble opinion, can be a double-edged sword (preferably, to keep the inspectors happy, with safety guard).
When the agencies do a courtesy inspection of your facility, they’ll identify the areas you need to address to come into compliance. The downside to this is akin to letting the genie out of the bottle; OSHA and EPA will be “nice” to you on the first visit, but – as I’ve heard from more than one source – once they know your shortcomings, they won’t be so kind the next time they come back.
If you’re like most fabricators, you really don’t have the time to spend getting educated in every aspect of OSHA and EPA regulations, and how those rules affect you. This makes a nice segue into the third avenue you can take:
Hire a pro.
By having a professional consultant specializing in OSHA / EPA regulations come to your facility and do an initial survey, you’ll be in the best position to start to comply. You’ll have a reliable source of knowledge that you can go back to year after year.
The secret to getting a good person or company to do this is to check their credentials, and talk to some of their current clients – especially the ones that have a big bull’s-eye target on their backs, placed there by OSHA & EPA. You want to quiz the guy that’s had his financial interests saved by working with the prospective OSHA / EPA consulting firm. The fees will vary again by firm, but the investment for peace of mind and compliance with the rules is priceless.
One thing you’ll want to look for in a credentials search of the individual doing the survey is that they have a degree in environmental- and occupational-safety engineering. They’ve studied for this, and weren’t out selling used cars two weeks ago, selling copiers a year ago, and managing a hamburger joint two years ago.
And, sure, there’s one other way to deal with OSHA/EPA concerns, and it’s certainly NOT the path I recommend: the “just-ignore-it” approach.
This isn’t a good career choice for you and your company’s future. Most stone fabricators that have tried this plan are now selling used cars or copiers, or managing hamburger joints. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those pursuits; it’s just that they’re not fabricators in the stone industry anymore.
We fabricators have to “get with the program” if we’re going to have a future in this industry – and, above all else, realize that you’re not going to find OSHA and EPA on a map of northern Wisconsin hunting lodges. Otherwise, you’ll find them to be less than happy destinations … especially if you come upon them by accident.
Happy Fabricating!
Kevin M. Padden operates KMPadden Consulting in Phoenix.

This article first appeared in the June 2003 print edition of Stone Business. ©2003 Western Business Media Inc.