Signature project

Maryland OSHA finished writing its crane regulations, a project involving construction-industry manufacturers, contractors, crane rental companies, labor, and certifying organizations. The project was headed by Commissioner of Labor and Industry, J. Ronald DeJuliis, a former crane operator. The regulations took effect in April 2009.

Enforcement

Tower cranes: In April, 2008, MOSH investigated a fatality involving three workers who were dismantling a Peiner SK 405 Tower Crane. In preparation for being lowered to the ground, the jib section was suspended by a mobile lattice boom crane and some of the counterweights had already been removed. An employee released a pin holding the crane’s A-frame, which struck and killed him. The fatality, which happened as MOSH was writing its crane regulations, helped ensure that compliance with the new crane regulations will prevent similar accidents in the future.

Unguarded chain and spocket assembly that caused servere infuries to an employee at a poultry processing company in May 2008.

Poultry processing: In May 2008, MOSH investigated an accident at a poultry processing company involving an employee placing product labels on crates of chicken in the stack-off area. The victim stepped backwards away from a pallet of chicken to allow a powered hand truck to pass between him and the pallet. His smock got caught in an unguarded chain-and-sprocket assembly, wrapped around the unguarded square shaft between the sprockets, and pulled him in. He suffered a laceration that started under his armpit, continued down his side and across his abdomen. He lost muscle tissue and skin approximately four inches by six inches on his abdomen, the bicep was torn from the bone, and a laceration above the knee caused permanent nerve damage. The investigation expanded to a comprehensive inspection resulting in 64 violations and $159,000 in penalties.

Outreach

Training and education: MOSH held 131 public education seminars and speaking engagements – more than 16,000 hours of free training for employers and employees. New classes included:

• Industrial hygiene update on hexavalent chromium and lead
• Introduction to industrial hygiene for construction
• Roofing and framing fall protection, English and Spanish
• Crane safety awareness
• Construction equipment awareness
• Topics in OSHA recordkeeping

Partnerships

Signing cermony for the 47th Cooperative Compliance Partnership.

Cooperative Compliance Partnership: The Cooperative Compliance Partnership unit signed 10 partnerships in 2008 totaling more than $1.1 billion in new construction under contract. The sites are some of the largest and most dangerous in our state; more than 200 employers participate in site inspections covering more than 3,000 employees.

Statistics

Maryland had an all time low Total Recordable Cases (TRC) rate of 3.7 in 2007, a drop of nearly 66 percent from 1972. The TRC rate for the construction industry fell from 5.5 in 2006 to 4.6 in 2007 (a 16 percent decrease) and Signing cermony for the 47th the lowest on record for Maryland.