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2007: Minnesota OSHA’s year in review
Compiled by Shelly Techar, MNOSHA Management Analyst, and Kelly Taylor, MNOSHA Program Analyst
443 Lafayette Road N. • St. Paul, MN 55155 • (651) 284-5050 • 1-800-342-5354 • www.doli.state.mn.us/mnosha.html
I-35W bridge rebuild partnership
By Ryan Nosan, Principal Safety Investigator
With the removal complete, Mn/DOT selected Flatiron/Manson, A Joint Venture, to build the I-35W
replacement bridge. Following the selection, a new partnership was developed to again ensure hazardous
conditions are identified and injuries are eliminated. The partners include MNOSHA, Mn/DOT,
Flatiron/Manson, other subcontractors, and other state and federal agencies. The partnership is focused on
the safety and health of all employees throughout the bridge-building project.
MNOSHA has dedicated two compliance-assistance positions to work with the safety and health
representatives of Mn/DOT, Flatiron/Manson and other subcontractors to help them identify hazardous
conditions and determine potential abatement solutions. With zero injuries being the ultimate goal of the
project, a strategy has been developed that includes conducting a daily job-hazard analysis prior to any
work being conducted, which will be communicated with all employees involved. Additionally, daily safety
inspections will be conducted by on-site safety
personnel, as well as weekly safety inspections
conducted by the partners. All inspections will be
conducted to identify hazardous conditions and ensure
such conditions are abated immediately. Additional
goals include increasing the level of safety and health
training for all employees at the worksite and assisting
with the implementation of an effective A Workplace
Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) program for
all contractors and subcontractors.
It is very important that the employers who received 2007 survey packets in
January, begin to respond to the survey. The first task is to complete
preliminary OSHA recordkeeping for the 2007 injuries and illnesses. Cases
involving injured workers who are still away from work or on work
restrictions will need to have estimates entered for the respective durations.
Then the log totals are transferred to the log summary sheet and those totals
are also entered on the SOII form.
Completing the survey takes very little time if the OSHA recordkeeping
requirements have been followed. Those with questions about how to
complete the OSHA log or the log summary sheet can review this
publication's Recordkeeping 101 series at www.doli.state.mn.us/
recordkeeping.html.
The DLI survey team can answer questions about the survey itself and how
to transfer the OSHA log information to the survey forms. The team can be
reached by calling (651) 284-5428. Questions about submitting the survey
online should be directed to BLS at idc.helpdesk@bls.gov.
In December 2007, another set of 5,000 employers received notice that they
are participating in the 2008 SOII. Some employers are participating in both
the 2007 and 2008 surveys. It is very important to keep the material for the
two years separate. Only employers that received the 2007 SOII packet
should submit 2007 OSHA log data. Employers that are participating only in
the 2008 SOII need to make sure staff members assigned to recording
occupational injuries and illnesses are properly trained about recordkeeping.
The entire course can be completed in three to five hours. There are suggestions throughout the manual
about ways to shorten the course if necessary. The curriculum package, PowerPoint presentation and
video are all available on the NIOSH Web site at www.cdc.gov/niosh/talkingsafety/states/mn.
Note: As of Dec. 11, 2007, some of the legal information on pages 61-65 of the booklet is incorrect.
• The Minnesota state minimum-wage is $6.15 for large employers and $5.25 for small employers on
the basis of volume of sales made or business done.
• In Minnesota, “work permits” are called “employment certificates” and are not required for teens age
16 and older.
• Workers younger than 18 years of age are not permitted to work on construction or building projects.
See the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry's Labor Standards information online at
www.doli.state.mn.us/laborlaw.html for more information about the state's minimum-wage and child labor laws.
The award was named for former Minnesota Safety Council Member Arthur E.
McCauley Jr., whose work as a safety professional encompassed the attributes of
this award. McCauley was regarded for his work as a member of the Minnesota
Safety Council and the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Advisory
Arthur E. McCauley, Jr. Council. He was known for his dedication and tireless efforts to improve the safety
and health of Minnesota's workplaces.
the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, 443 Lafayette Road N., St. Paul, MN. Directions and
parking maps are on the department's Web site at www.doli.state.mn.us/direct.html.
E-mail Julie Klejewski at julie.klejewski@state.mn.us or call her at (651) 284-5113 for further
information about the Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Council meetings.
www.doli.state.mn.us/mnosha.html
osha
DEPARTMENTOFLABORANDINDUSTRY
As part of its continual effort to improve customer service and provide needed information to employers and employees,
Minnesota OSHA (MNOSHA) answers the most frequently asked questions from the previous quarter.
Q Is there a minimum indoor workroom temperature that must be maintained for employees?
A Minnesota Rules 5205.0110 Indoor Workroom Ventilation and Temperature requires the
minimum air temperature be at least 60 degrees F where work of a strenuous nature is performed
– such as pulling, pushing or lifting heavy loads, or walking at a fast pace – and 65 degrees F in
all other indoor workrooms, unless prohibited by process requirements – such as refrigeration.
Another area of concern is recirculated process air, where air from an exhaust system
containing hazardous substances is vented back into the workplace, usually after some sort of
filtering, scrubbing or other process. Such a system containing any materials listed in CFR
1910 Subpart Z: Toxic or Hazardous Substances is not to be implemented without written
permission from Minnesota OSHA.
The power press (i.e. punch press) standard, 29 CFR 1910.217(g), also has a notification
requirement. If an employee is injured by a punch press, the employer must notify MNOSHA
in writing within 30 days, as specified in the standard.
Q What weight restrictions are there for employees who lift, push or pull?
A Minnesota OSHA does not have an ergonomics standard at this time. However, this does not
eliminate an employer's responsibility under the General Duty Clause (i.e. the requirement that
an employer provide a safe and healthy work environment for the employees). MNOSHA can
and has issued citations for poor ergonomic conditions using the General Duty Clause or the A
Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) Act.
Ask MNOSHA
Do you have a question for Minnesota OSHA? To get an answer, call (651) 284-5050 or send
an e-mail message to osha.compliance@state.mn.us. We may feature your question here.
Job transfer and work restriction are two related types of events and both are recorded using the same
OSHA log columns. The OSHA log requires employers to enter information about cases with job
transfer or restricted work in log column I and information about days with job transfer or restricted
work in log column L. However, the OSHA recordkeeping packet provides very little information to
help decide how and when to use these columns. The purpose of this article is to provide enough
information for employers to be able to correctly identify job transfer or restricted work cases and to
count days of job transfer or restricted work.
Job transfer, as the phrase implies, involves assigning an injured or ill employee to a job other than his
or her regular job for all or part of the workday. Job transfers are often the result of work restrictions
leading to a temporary change in an injured worker’s routine job functions. If the employer assigns, or a
physician or other licensed health care professional recommends the employer assigns, an injured
worker to work part of the day at his or her routine job functions and to another job for the rest of the
day, the injury or illness involves a job transfer.
Job transfer is a temporary work situation. If the employer permanently assigns the injured or ill
employee to a job that has been modified or permanently changed in a manner that eliminates the routine
functions the employee is restricted from performing, the employer must stop the day count. All job
transfer or work restriction cases must have at least one day counted in log column L.
Recordkeeping 201: Part 3, continues ...
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Recordkeeping 201: Part 3, continued ...
A partial day of work is recorded as a day of job transfer or restriction for recordkeeping purposes, except
for the day on which the injury occurred or the illness began. However, it is not a work restriction if the
injured or ill worker remains at his or her regular job but works at a slower pace or produces fewer goods
or services than he or she would have produced prior to the injury or illness. Likewise, if a physician or
other licensed health care professional tells the worker to “take it easy for the next few days,” but the
worker is allowed to do all of his or her routine job functions and work all of his or her normally assigned
work hours, then the case does not involve a work restriction and does not have to be recorded as such.
As a final note about recording cases, employers are not to record a case as a job transfer or restricted
work case if the only day the job transfer or job restriction applies is the day of injury or onset of illness.
Counting the number of days of job transfer or restricted work begins on the day after the day of injury
or onset of illness. More information about counting days is available in Recordkeeping 101: Part 3, The
days of our cases at www.doli.state.mn.us/pdf/safetylin-sum05-rcd3.pdf.
Both women say they value their experiences, are grateful to be home and appreciated all the e-mail, letters and packages sent.
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