“Understanding the offence

An organisation will be guilty of the new offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of a duty of care to the deceased.

Penalties

An organisation guilty of the offence will be liable to an unlimited fine. The Act also provides for courts to impose a publicity order, requiring the organisation to publicise details of its conviction and fine. This will be commenced at a later date when sentencing guidelines are available (expected in autumn 2008). Courts may also require an organisation to take steps to address the failures behind the death (a remedial order).

Who is covered by the new offence?

The offence applies to all companies and other corporate bodies, operating in the UK, in the private, public and third sectors. It also applies to partnerships (and to trade unions and employers’ associations) if they are an employer, as well as to Government departments and police forces.

Can directors, senior managers or other individuals be prosecuted for the offence?

No. The offence is aimed at cases where management failures lie across an organisation and it is the organisation itself that will face prosecution.
However, individuals can already be prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter/culpable homicide and for health and safety offences. The Act does not change this and prosecutions against individuals will continue to be taken where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to do so”

Frustration had mounted in the UK with the lack of prosecutions of company leaders relating to workplace fatalities.  This law tries to hold an organization, not just one person, accountable.  I think the penalties are what makes this law intriguing, especially the publicity order.  A court can order a company to publicize their prosecution in a manor determined by the court.  Would you choose to still buy a product from a company who is publicizing they killed someone in their workplace due to their gross breach of a duty of care?  I know I would be looking at a competitor who provides a safe and healthful workplace.

More Information if you are interested.

Hope you enjoyed this 3 Part Series discussing OSHA and legislation.

Let me reiterate my belief – In my opinion and through my experience companies with safety as a value do not have a problem with a strong OSHA.  In fact companies with safety as a value partner with OSHA, share best practices, mentor other facilities, and join OSHA in the mission to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women.

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Before we discuss this further, I want to make one thing clear.  In my opinion and through my experience, companies with safety as a value do not have a problem with a strong OSHA.  In fact companies with safety as a value partner with OSHA, share best practices, mentor other facilities, and join OSHA in the mission to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women.

Now on to how do we have a strong OSHA.  With the change of administration in the White House, OSHA leadership changes, political initiatives change; the question is will the results remain the same?

Meet the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Leadership

The two highlights of leadership change within OSHA from the new administration have been the additions of Dr. David Michaels (Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health) and Jordan Barab (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health).

Meet Dr. Michaels

David Michaels, Ph.D., M.P.H. – Biography from osha.gov

“David Michaels, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and a nationally recognized leader in the scientific community’s efforts to protect the integrity of the science on which public health and environmental policies and regulation are based. Before coming to OSHA on December 9, 2009, he was Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, directing the department’s Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy.

From 1998 to 2001, Dr. Michaels served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety and Health. In that position, he was the chief architect of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, the historic initiative to compensate nuclear weapons workers who contracted occupational illnesses as a result of exposure to radiation, beryllium and other hazards. The program has provided more than $5 billion in payments to sick workers and the families of deceased workers.

In 2006, Dr. Michaels was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, and, in 2009, the John P. McGovern Science and Society Award given by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, for his work in scientific integrity and for gaining compensation for nuclear weapons workers.

Dr. Michaels is the author of many scientific and policy publications, including Doubt is Their Product: How Industry’s War on Science Threatens Your Health (Oxford University Press, 2008). He is a graduate of the City College of New York, and holds a Master in Public Health and PhD from Columbia University.”

Meet Jordan Barab

Jordan Barab – Biography from osha.gov

“Jordan Barab joined OSHA as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health on April 13, 2009.
He previously served as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA from 1998 to 2001, when he helped the Agency to promulgate the ergonomics workplace safety and health standard that was repealed by Congress in March 2001.

For the House Education and Labor Committee, he was Senior Labor Policy Advisor for health and safety from 2007 to April 2009.

Mr. Barab worked on workplace safety issues for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board from 2002 to 2007; he was a Health and Safety Specialist for the AFL-CIO from 2001 to 2002; and he directed the safety and health program for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees from 1982 to 1998.

He also created and wrote the award-winning weblog, Confined Space, from 2003 to 2007.

He holds a master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University and an undergraduate degree from Claremont McKenna College.”

At this point if change was ever going to happen at OSHA these two individuals are the right people for the job.  Both individuals have been leaders in the protection of the worker.  If change doesn’t happen at OSHA with Dr. Michaels and Mr. Barab at the helm it may never.  Questions however remain – will it be the right change, will the Congress give OSHA more authority, will the new leadership’s “new sheriff in town” attitude do further damage to an already poor OSHA image?

What is happening in Congress?

On April 23, 2009 a bill was introduced to the House, H.R. 2067: Protecting America’s Workers Act.   The stated reason for H.R. 2067 is “To amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to expand coverage under the Act, to increase protections for whistleblowers, to increase penalties for certain violators, and for other purposes.”

In a press release from the bills co-sponsor and Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor George Miller (D-Calif), the four main aspects of the bill include the following:

• Protect More Workers
• Strengthen Health and Safety Penalties
• Improve Whistleblower Protection
• Allow Workers and Their Families to Hold Dangerous Employers Accountable

So why would the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 need to be updated?  The American Society of Safety Engineers’ Council on Practices and Standards explained in a report titled International Corporate Criminal Liability in the Workplace the following after reviewing U.S. laws in addition to several other countries.   “As of yet, the U.S. has not enacted a comprehensive system of laws specifically designed to hold corporations and other organizations criminally liable for management decisions that result in criminal offenses.” This was also highlighted in a famous Frontline Report, A Dangerous Business, in the section Toothless in Washington? there is a listing of criminal prosecutions of workplace fatalities.  Although this information is from 2003, it is no less relevant today.  This report states “Since the creation of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 32 years ago, there have been more than 200,000 workplace-related deaths. However, OSHA has referred only 151 cases to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution — and the maximum penalty companies face for a “willful violation” of OSHA laws is a misdemeanor. Federal prosecutors have declined to pursue two-thirds of these cases, and only eight of them have resulted in prison sentences for company officials.”

Would OSHA become stronger by being able to levy larger penalties and have company officials face real prison time for negligent actions?  I think the answer is yes.  Would I have concerns being an EHS Professional?  No, as I stated in the intro – In my opinion and through my experience companies with safety as a value do not have a problem with a strong OSHA.  In fact companies with safety as a value partner with OSHA, share best practices, mentor other facilities, and join OSHA in the mission to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women.

The UK recently went through similar political discussions culminating with the implementation of the the The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 which became effective April 6, 2008.  In Part 3 we will look at this legislation and the debate that lead to its passage.

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“Like the rest of our current government, OSHA has been taken over by an academic elitist who, unlike real world practitioners cannot relate to everyday challenges to overcome resistance to working safely. Excess Fines are a testimonial to two things – the current effort at redistributing wealth (socialism) and the failure of OSHA to work effectively with safety professionals in the field in an effective collaborative manner.
Why should government work hard at anything when you can simply penalize people into submission – just tell everyone it for their own good and they will certainly all believe it. OSHA is now just another repressive arm of the government takeover of the economy – currently at 51% and growing. Safety – yeh , right.”

“Good ideas. But do you really think that a government agency will implement anything that makes sense?  OSHA will take decades to change.  Now they just make a lot of noise and beat their chest about all the fines and violations they have issued. And make threats.”

I think these comments bring up two very important points.

1. OSHA will always be viewed in the context of the current political climate (which makes a lot of sense because the current administration appoints several key individuals within OSHA).
2. OSHA has an image problem.

The first point is very eloquently explained by David Weil in an essay he wrote called “OSHA: Beyond the Politics”.  Here is his explanation.

“From its inception in 1971, few government agencies have been as maligned as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Critics on the political right have regarded it as the embodiment of onerous government, the promulgator and enforcer of expensive and ineffective standards, an agency with a deep reach that mercilessly wields a penalty bludgeon needlessly sending many small businesses to bankruptcy court. At the same time, critics on the political left have often chastised OSHA for failing to fulfill its mission. They argue that the agency is stymied by too few inspectors and too small a budget to carry the weight of its legislative mandate: “[to] assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions.” They claim that OSHA is either the victim of Democratic administrations too timid, or Republican administrations too ideologically opposed, to exercise its authority to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities.”

The second point I think is exacerbated through politics.  However, it can be addressed through action.  Maybe those actions will not always be viewed favorably, but for there to be the impression that OSHA “ just makes a lot of noise and beat their chest about all the fines and violations they have issued. And make threats” as the commenter stated does not bode well for workplace safety.

So, do we need OSHA?

Many EHS Professionals deal with issues relating to management commitment.  As you all know with the tough economic conditions we have experienced, many companies have made tough choices with expenditures and staffing and the Environmental, Health, and Safety budgets were not immune to cuts.  I am not implying that throwing money at workplace safety will solve all problems, but many times in business you can tell a company’s commitment to safety by looking at the capital and expense spending budgets.   My point, unfortunately I do not believe we are to the point where workplace safety is viewed as a Value (as discussed in the video) in every company.  The actions of leaders in organizations when faced with looking at the bottom line do not reflect an “integration of safety into all we do” mentality.  Thus, as an EHS Professional working in industry I believe until safety is viewed as a Value and integrated into how companies operate, it is necessary to have a strong OSHA.

So how do we have a strong OSHA?

In Part 2 I will discuss the current political initiatives and the changes in leadership at OSHA with the additions of Dr. David Michaels (Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health) and Jordan Barab (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health).

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Here are link to article on the Massey Energy Tragedy -

Mines fight safety violations, fines go unpaid - AP News Article

W.Va. mine owner accused of putting safety second – AP News Article

WV Mine Explosion Site had 57 Safety Violations Last Month – Raw Story

Mine had string of safety lapses before explosion – USA Today

Videos on the Massey Energy Tragedy -

Mine Operator has Spotty Safety Record – USA Today

Mining Safety Reexamined After Another Deadly Disaster in W.Va. – PBS

‘Take Generations to Forget’ Mining Disaster – AP

After W.Va. Mine Disaster, Shock Turns to Grief – AP

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Here are some links to news articles, video and an editorial about this explosion.

Zero tolerance after the Tesoro disaster - Seattle Times Editorial

‘Firewall’ engulfed Washington state refinery crew - AP News Article

CORRECTED – UPDATE 5-Three dead in Tesoro Anacortes refinery fire – Reuters News Article

5 dead, 2 hurt in blast, fire at Wash. refinery - AP News Article

Four Dead After Blast at Washington Refinery – AP Video

Here is a link to a thought provoking blog post from John Astad about the state of safety in the US Refinery Industry.

Blame Game: Oil Refinery Explosions and Fires – From safetycommunity.com

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Understanding ergonomics at work and the benefits that go along with it.

Reduce accidents and ill health and increase productivity by fitting the task to the worker.

You may have heard of the term ‘ergonomics’. This is sometimes referred to as ‘human factors’. Not everyone really understands what ergonomics is, what it does, or how it affects people. This leaflet will help to answer these questions and to explain how understanding ergonomics can improve health and safety in your workplace.

It is aimed at anyone who has a duty to maintain and improve health and safety and who wants to gain insight into ergonomics. It gives some examples of ergonomics problems and simple, effective advice on what can be done to solve them.

What is ergonomics?

Ergonomics is a science concerned with the ‘fit’ between people and their work. It puts people first, taking account of their capabilities and limitations. Ergonomics aims to make sure that tasks, equipment, information and the environment suit each worker.

To assess the fit between a person and their work, ergonomists have to consider many aspects. These include:

• the job being done and the demands on the worker;
• the equipment used (its size, shape, and how appropriate it is for the task);
• the information used (how it is presented, accessed, and changed);
• the physical environment (temperature, humidity, lighting, noise, vibration); and
• the social environment (such as teamwork and supportive management).

Ergonomists consider all the physical aspects of a person, such as:

• body size and shape;
• fitness and strength;
• posture;
• the senses, especially vision, hearing and touch; and
• the stresses and strains on muscles, joints, nerves.

Ergonomists also consider the psychological aspects of a person, such as:

• mental abilities;
• personality;
• knowledge; and
• experience.

By assessing these aspects of people, their jobs, equipment, and working environment and the interaction between them, ergonomists are able to design safe, effective and productive work systems.

How can ergonomics improve health and safety?

Applying ergonomics to the workplace:

• reduces the potential for accidents;
• reduces the potential for injury and ill health; and
• improves performance and productivity.

Ergonomics can reduce the likelihood of an accident. For example, in the design of control panels, consider:

• the location of switches and buttons – switches that could be accidentally knocked on or off might start the wrong sequence of events that could lead to an accident;
• expectations of signals and controls – most people interpret green to indicate a safe condition. If a green light is used to indicate a ‘warning or dangerous state’ it may be ignored or overlooked;
• information overload – if a worker is given too much information they may become confused, make mistakes, or panic. In hazardous industries, incorrect decisions or mistaken actions have had catastrophic results.

Ergonomics can also reduce the potential for ill health at work, such as aches and pains of the wrists, shoulders and back. Consider the layout of controls and equipment; these should be positioned in relation to how they are used. Those used most often should be placed where they are easy to reach without the need for stooping, stretching or hunching.

Failure to observe ergonomic principles may have serious repercussions, not only for individuals, but whole organizations. Many well-known accidents might have been prevented if ergonomics had been considered in designing the jobs people did and the systems within which they worked.

What kind of workplace problems can ergonomics solve?

Ergonomics is typically known for solving physical problems. For example, ensuring that work surfaces are high enough to allow adequate clearance for a worker’s legs. However, ergonomics also deals with psychological and social aspects of the person and their work. For example, a workload that is too high or too low, unclear tasks, time pressures, inadequate training, and poor social support can all have negative effects on the person and the work they do.

The following examples highlight some ‘typical’ ergonomic problems found in the workplace:

Display screen equipment

• The screen is poorly positioned – it is too high/low/close/far from the worker, or is offset to one side.
• The mouse is placed too far away and requires stretching to use.
• Chairs are not properly adjusted to fit the person, forcing awkward and uncomfortable postures.
• There is glare on the screen from overhead lights or windows, increasing the risk of eyestrain.
• Hardware and/or software are not suitable for the task or the person using it, causing frustration and distress.
• Not enough breaks or changes of activity.

These problems may result in mistakes and poor productivity, stress, eye strain, headaches and other aches or pains.

Manual handling

• The load is too heavy and/or bulky, placing unreasonable demands on the person.
• The load has to be lifted from the floor and/or above the shoulders.
• The task involves frequent repetitive lifting.
• The task requires awkward postures, such as bending or twisting.
• The load cannot be gripped properly.
• The task is performed on uneven, wet, or sloping floor surfaces.
• The task is performed under time pressures and incorporates too few rest breaks.

These problems may result in physical injuries such as low back pain or injury to the arms, hands, or fingers. The problems may also contribute to the risk of slips, trips, and falls.

Work-related stress

• Work demands are too high or too low.
• The employee has little say in how they organize their work.
• Poor support from management and/or colleagues.
• Conflicting demands, eg high productivity and quality.
• Poor control of the risks causing work-related stress could lead to ill health and reduced performance and productivity.

Managing the working day

• Insufficient recovery time between shifts.
• Poor scheduling of shifts.
• Juggling shifts with domestic responsibilities.
• Employees working excessive overtime.
• These problems may lead to tiredness or exhaustion, which can increase the likelihood of accidents and ill health.

How do I identify ergonomic problems?

There are many ways in which ergonomic problems can be identified. These can range from general observations and checklists to quantitative risk assessment tools.

Ideally, several approaches should be used:

• talking to employees and seeking their views. Employees have importantknowledge of the work they do, any problems they have, and their impact on health, safety, and performance;

• assessing the work system by asking questions such as:

- Is the person in a comfortable position?

- Does the person experience discomfort, including aches, pain, fatigue, or stress?

- Is the equipment appropriate, easy to use and well maintained?

- Is the person satisfied with their working arrangements?

- Are there frequent errors?

- Are there signs of poor or inadequate equipment design, such as plasters on workers’ fingers or ‘home-made’ protective pads made of tissue or foam?

• examining the circumstances surrounding frequent errors and incidents where mistakes have occurred and people have been injured. Use accident reports to identify details of incidents and their possible causes;
• recording and looking at sickness absence and staff turnover levels. High numbers may result from the problems listed earlier and/or dissatisfaction at work.

What can I do if I think I have identified an ergonomic problem?

• Look for likely causes and consider possible solutions. A minor alteration may be all that is necessary to make a task easier and safer to perform. For example:

- provide height-adjustable chairs so individual operators can work at their preferred work height;

- remove obstacles from under desks to create sufficient leg room;

- arrange items stored on shelving so those used most frequently and those that are the heaviest are between waist and shoulder height;

- raise platforms to help operators reach badly located controls;

- change shift work patterns; and

- introduce job rotation between different tasks to reduce physical and mental fatigue.

• Talk to employees and get them to suggest ideas and discuss possible solutions. Involve employees from the start of the process – this will help all parties to accept any proposed changes.

• Always make sure that any alterations are properly evaluated by the people who do the job. Be careful that a change introduced to solve one problem does not create difficulties elsewhere.

• You don’t always need to consult ergonomics professionals, and the expense of making changes can often be kept low. However, you may need to ask a qualified ergonomist if you are unable to find a straightforward solution or if a problem is complex.

• Good ergonomics sense makes good economic sense. Ergonomics input does not necessarily involve high costs, and can save money in the long term by reducing injuries and absence from work.

An understanding of ergonomics in your workplace can improve your daily work routine. It is possible to eliminate aches, pains, and stresses at work and improve job satisfaction. Ergonomic solutions can be simple and straightforward to make – even small changes such as altering the height of a chair can make a considerable difference.

Case Study 1

Eddie works on an engine assembly line. In his job he has to use a hand held impact wrench to fit a temporary adapter to an engine. The assembly line makes up to 2400 engines a day and it takes approximately 3 seconds to tighten each adapter.

As well as the risk from using a vibrating tool, Eddie often had to adopt poor postures to reach some parts of the engine. He had to repeatedly stretch out his arm and constrain his posture while tightening the adapter. After some time on the job, Eddie found he was leaving work with shoulder and neck pain. One tea break, Eddie’s line manager saw him rubbing his neck and shoulder and recognized the pain could be due to the type of work Eddie was doing. The line manager told the company health and safety representative about what she had seen.

The company responded by making the following modifications:

• They replaced the impact wrench with a smoother running device and suspended it to support the weight. As a result, very little vibration would be passed to the operator.
• They modified the workplace layout and allowed workers better access to all sides of the engine, so they didn’t need to adopt poor working postures.
• They implemented a job rotation scheme whereby the five workers on the line were moved around a number of different tasks. Some of these tasks still required the use of vibrating tools, but the overall exposure was halved.

As a result of the modifications there was:

• a reduction in vibration exposure;
• no need to adopt poor and constrained postures;
• reduced boredom and fatigue for Eddie’s team; and
• improved productivity.

Case study 2

Dominique is a receptionist in a large financial company. Much of her work involves using a telephone to take messages and redirect calls to appropriate departments. Dominique regularly uses a computer (display screen equipment or DSE) to make appointments, record messages and respond to e-mails.

After working at the front desk for eight months, Dominique found she was leaving work with an aching shoulder and neck, and with sore eyes and a headache. Dominique asked her manager for a risk assessment to identify possible problems with her working arrangements and to determine where improvements could be made.

The risk assessment identified the following areas for improvement:

• Dominique would often hold the telephone between her shoulder and ear while talking on the phone and  typing a message on the computer. She  regularly adopted this awkward, static, strained posture during her working day.

During the summer Dominique’s computer screen was difficult to read because of glare and reflections from light through the window. This meant she struggled to avoid making mistakes and would repeatedly adjust her posture to view the screen.

The assessment led to the introduction of simple, cost-effective measures to reduce the risks:

• A hands-free telephone headset was provided, which helped to eliminate Dominique’s neck and shoulder problems.
• An eye test to establish if Dominique had any problems with her vision.
• With the help of her manager, Dominique rearranged her workstation so her screen was no longer facing the window, to remove the glare caused by daylight.
• Dominique’s manager arranged for periodical DSE training sessions for all staff, so they were aware of the health problems associated with computer use and how to prevent them by adjusting their chairs, arranging their workstation appropriately, and taking regular breaks from keyboard work. Dominique was much happier in her work, her health problems diminished, and productivity was increased.

An ergonomics program can be a great tool to reduce physical and emotional stress in the workplace. By addressing the environment in which we work can reduce physical strain and allow workers to focus more on the task at hand. Ergonomic Evolution is your source that can improve your workers health while reducing stress thus providing happy and more productive employees. Contact us today to find out how.

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Links from this video -

Pepsi Refresh Project

OSHA Listens Event

OSHA Listens to me? – Article on Today in EHS

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So here are my commitments to you.

• Fresh content daily Monday through Friday (I need the weekends to spend time with my family, do research, write articles, and film videos)
• Videos! Yes, next week I will start posting videos.  My goal is to ask the question of the week, do product reviews, tell stories, and hopefully conduct interviews all through video.  I’d really rather just talk than write…
• Ideas, insights, and stories you can use, steal, whatever – I love to tell stories from my life and give them practical applications in our large group safety meetings – I cannot wait to share these stories here.  I think I will start with the peeing in the pool story.
• No annoying banner ads

What I need from you.

• If something interests you, leave a comment, please.
• If you have an insight or idea into something in the EHS world, send it to me and I will post it.  My personal goal in building this site is to improve as an EHS Professional so I want to steal as many ideas from others as I can!
• If you know someone who wrote an interesting blog post or article, have them get in touch with me and I will post it here.
• If you like this site, tell another EHS Professional about Today in EHS.

So if you are wondering how to get in touch with me, here you go.

Email – sam@todayinehs.com

Twitter – @TodayinEHS

I’m also on safetycommunity.com, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

I look forward to the conversation.

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Today in Part 3 of the 3 Part series on the Top iPhone Apps for the EHS Professional, we will be looking at the Top 8 iPhone Safety Apps for the EHS Professional.  Again, please note that I do not make any money off the links.

Here they are in Alphabetically Order

1.  Title: Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations – Labor

Price: $19.99

The Scoop: Safety Standards on the go.

iTunes Rating: 5

Reviewers Feedback: Expensive but a great amount of information, also has email functionality.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/title-29-code-federal-regulations/id325718582?mt=8&uo=6

2.  Title: Emergency Response Guidebook

Price: $0.99

The Scoop: This app is derived from the Department of Transportation Emergency Response Guidebook.

iTunes Rating: 3

Reviewers Feedback: Good information, but a few bugs to be worked out.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/emergency-response-guidebook/id317261848?mt=8&uo=6

3.  Title: HazRef 2008

Price: $3.99

The Scoop: In addition to material transportation information, HazRef 2008 also provides easy access to all 61 emergency response guides found in the US government’s “Emergency Response Guide 2008″ manual as well as a visual database of common DOT placards organized by hazard class, a glossary of hazardous material terms and other useful features.

iTunes Rating: 4.5

Reviewers Feedback: Reviewers say this is a must have for First Responders.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hazref-2008/id306654573?mt=8&uo=6

4.  Title: NFPA 1600

Price: FREE

The Scoop: The 2007 edition of NFPA 1600: Standard for Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs.

iTunes Rating: 3.5

Reviewers Feedback: Good information and resource guide, and people want more NFPA documents.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nfpa-1600/id321307306?mt=8&uo=6

5.  Title: OSHA Compliance Checklist

Price: $0.99

The Scoop: A checklist of topics to address as an EHS Professional.  Please note the checklists are not detailed workplace evaluations on each topic.

iTunes Rating: 1 (One review the best I can tell)

Reviewers Feedback: The individual was disappointed that the app did not included detailed inpection checklists for each topic. (I still think there is some value here)

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/osha-compliance-checklist/id359420068?mt=8&uo=6

6.  Title: Safety 101

Price: $3.99

The Scoop: Safety 101 is a technical dictionary for academics, students and practitioners in the fields of safety, health and risk.

iTunes Rating: No Ratings

Reviewers Feedback: None yet – I find this interesting in that this app tries to further the discussion on terms in the world of EHS.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/safety-101/id348530760?mt=8&uo=6

7.  Title: St. John Ambulance First Aid

Price: $3.99

The Scoop: The best First Aid app – (note – after hours of research and testing – this is the first aid app I recommend )

iTunes Rating: 5

Reviewers Feedback: Very helpful and well done first aid app, includes illustrations as well.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/st-john-ambulance-first-aid/id347574230?mt=8&uo=6

8.  Title: USW Safety

Price: FREE

The Scoop: MSDSs and an electronic flip through NIOSH Pocket Guide of Chemical Hazards

iTunes Rating: 3

Reviewers Feedback: Great free information!

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/usw-safety/id327458795?mt=8&uo=6

So there they are, the Top iPhone Apps for the EHS Professional.  Please let me know what your boss says with this undeniable information proving you need an iPhone.

Click here to read Part 1 and Part 2

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