Final rule reflects advances in shipyard practices and technology

A new rule is aimed at preventing more than 300 injuries annually in shipyards. OSHA said the final rule covers all employers with employees engaged in shipbuilding, ship repair, or shipbreaking and will apply on vessels, vessel sections, and at landside operations.

The rule updates and clarifies provisions in the shipyard employment standards that have been essentially unchanged since they were adopted in 1972. Among the 14 workplace safety and health categories addressed are new provisions for the control of hazardous energy and motor vehicle safety.

The control of hazardous energy, generally called lockout/tagout can cause machinery or equipment to start unexpectedly or it can be released during servicing or maintenance operations, according to OSHA. Such incidents can lead to serious injuries or deaths.

Transportation accounts for nearly 20 percent of all shipyard fatalities, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new rule seeks to reduce those incidents by requiring the use of seat belts when operating a motor vehicle in a shipyard -- even in New Hampshire, which does not have a seat belt law. The rule also prohibits employees from riding in the back of pickup trucks.

Other issues covered under the rule include eliminating slippery conditions and the accidents that result, establishing minimum lighting for certain work sites, accounting for employees working alone at the end of job tasks or work shifts, adding uniform criteria to ensure shipyards have an adequate number of appropriately trained first aid providers, and implementing proper sanitation requirements.

The estimated cost of the rule is $4.2 million with benefits expected to be $33.8 million per year, for a net benefit of $29.6 million annually. The rule takes effect Aug. 1, except for the provisions covering control of hazardous energy, which go into effect Oct. 31.

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Connecticut initiates final wave of federal pilot program

Connecticut initiates final wave of federal pilot program

The fourth and final enforcement wave was announced this month to crackdown on drivers using cell phones in the Hartford, Conn., area.

The number of drivers seen holding phones to their ears dropped from 6.8 percent to 3.1 percent after the first two elements of a distracted driving program.

About 5,500 people die and another 450,000 are injured each year in accidents involving distracted driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A federal pilot program begun in Hartford and Syracuse, N.Y., is aimed at curbing the use of cell phones by drivers.

The Hartford program, dubbed Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other, has resulted in nearly 7,000 citations for talking on cell phones and 348 for texting. Connecticut law makes it illegal to use cell phones without hands-free devices while driving with fines of $100 for the first offense, $150 for the second, and $200 for subsequent violations.

The pilot programs in Hartford and Syracuse are designed to measure whether enforcement drives up compliance and drives down distracted-type crashes. Federal officials plan to create a national program to discourage distracted driving.

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Volunteer firefighter's final act parallels duties but lacks official summon

Volunteer firefighters in Iowa are acting in the course of employment when they are summoned to duty by the fire department or some other official channel.

Case name: Andover Volunteer Fire Department v. Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co., No. 08-1628 (Iowa 08/13/10).

Ruling: The Iowa Supreme Court held that under Iowa law, volunteer firefighters cannot be summoned to duty by circumstances but can only be summoned by the fire department or some other official channel. The court remanded the case for further proceedings.

What it means: Volunteer firefighters in Iowa are acting in the course of employment when they are summoned to duty by the fire department or some other official channel.

Summary: A farmhand, who was also a volunteer firefighter, was working with the farm owner cleaning a manure pit. The owner climbed into the pit and was overcome by methane fumes. The farmhand ran to the farmhouse to call for help and returned to try to remove the owner from the pit. The farmhand was also overcome by methane gas. Volunteer firefighters were paged after a 911 call was received. The farmhand died, and the farm's insurer paid workers' compensation benefits for his injuries and death. The insurer sought contribution or indemnity from the volunteer fire department's carrier, claiming that the farmhand was acting as a volunteer firefighter at the time of his death. The Iowa Supreme Court held that volunteer firefighters can only be summoned to duty by official means. The court remanded the case for further proceedings to decide whether the farmhand's injuries arose in the course of his employment.

Iowa law states that injuries sustained by a volunteer firefighter arise in the course of employment if the injuries are sustained after the volunteer is summoned to duty. The court stated that the phrase "summoned to duty" was ambiguous. Nothing in the law indicated that the legislature "wanted the forces that motivate a good Samaritan to render aid" in an emergency to begin the course of employment for a volunteer firefighter who happens to witness an accident.

The court stated that absurd results could occur if the statute were interpreted not to require receipt of the summons.

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