Deep Excavation Mistake #1. You get 4′ for free. OSHA tricked us. It’s really not our fault. Everywhere I go, in every deep excavation I visit, most contractors think they get 4 feet for free? Right? Don’t we? Unfortunately, no. Where did this get started? I believe it’s from the OSHA benching sketch. It sure…
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Silica Enforcement in the Construction Industry We should consider the OSHA’s new silica law a good thing. The permissible exposure limit for silica has been cut from 250 ug/m3 to 50 ug/m3 – a five fold decrease. We depend on our crew members. The stakes are high. Silica causes silicosis – lung disease, kidney disease,…
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Silica Exposure Control Programs in the Drilling Industry We are all gaining familiarity with “Table 1. SPECIFIED EXPOSURE CONTROL METHODS WHEN WORKING WITH MATERIALS CONTAINING CRYSTALLINE SILICA” of OSHA’s Crystalline Silica Rule for Construction – a title that kind of rolls right off the tongue. Table 1 was OSHA’s attempt to guide contractors in reducing…
Read MoreI am sharing an email from one of our industry safety leaders: All, This is yet another unfortunate reminder of how dangerous / deadly our work can be. While the exact details are not known as yet, it is thought that some type of entanglement incident occurred between an employee and the rotating drill string…
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