Posts Tagged ‘aging-workers’

FAQ: What’s Coming in 2016 Workplace Safety?

by Julianne Bass

WorkplaceSafety2016Trends

Silica, recordkeeping, GHS, skills gap, OSHA fines: who can keep track of all the workplace safety news rumblings happening at any given time. When it comes to the matter of what is fact and what is fiction sometimes it is a little difficult to tell. While all of these topics are important let’s focus on the information you need to know for 2016.

Will the Aging Workforce Issue Continue to Have A Greater Impact?

The difference between having workers and having skilled workers is night and day. Someone who has been working on a machine for 30 years is clearly going to be able to offer a lot more expertise on how to best maintain it than those with just a few months or even years under their belt. The skills gap has been a major buzzword in the manufacturing industry for awhile now and all signs point to it only gaining more steam in the years to come. According to the manufacturing institute over the next decade 3.5 million jobs will likely need filling of which 2 million we go unfilled due to the growing skills gap. While some ignore the skills gap all together others are figuring out ways to retain their older workers for longer through ergonomics and new “advisory” positions.

Is OSHA Really Increasing Their Fines by Increase 80%?

Yes indeed they are, as a result of the passing of the new budget signed by President Obama, OSHA fines will be increasing by 80% all at once, to catch up with inflation adjustments dating back to 1990.  This will raise max penalties for willful violations from $70,000 to $127,000 and max serious violation fines from $7,000 to $12,477. Adjustments will occur before August 1, 2016.

I Thought All of the GHS Deadlines Passed Already, Why Are We Still Talking About It?

GHS deadlines began back in 2013 starting with employers being responsible for training their employees on the impending changes to chemical labeling and SDS formatting. Since then, manufacturers, importers, distributors and employers have been required to stop shipping all products labeled using old formatting. Unfortunately when upstream suppliers missed their deadlines this made it more difficult to others to continue to meet their requirements.  As of June 1, 2016 all companies are required to be fully transitioned over to the new system, No Matter What.

What is the Latest with the Silica Regulation, Will Changes Happen in 2016?

Since OSHA started talking about making changes to the silica standard, it has had a difficult time every step of the way. Silica is really “just the tip of the iceberg”. This topic of discussion opens up broader concerns about permissible exposure limits on all harmful chemicals, many of which haven’t been updated in 10, 20, or 30 years! Then, there is also the concern that OSHA drastically underestimated what it would cost the construction industry to implement the changes necessary under the new rule, by as much as a whopping $4.5 BILLION a year. Needless to say this rule faces much opposition but OSHA is hoping to push it through sometime within the next year or year and a half. Stay tuned for what is sure to be, more to come on this issue.

Is OSHA Going to Make it so Companies Have to Electronically Update a Public Injury and Illness Database?

OSHA has had a lot of traction, in the realm of recordkeeping, with the new implementation of rules at the beginning of 2015 around injury and illness reporting what needs to be reported and under what timeframe. In hopes of keeping that positive momentum going they now focus their attention on two other recordkeeping rules; they will require many companies to regularly report their documentation for public record and clarify an employers’ responsibility for an injury in their workplace and eliminating OSHA’s 6 month statute of limitation on citing them. OSHA hopes to get these rules wrapped up by this time next year.

An Untapped Resource: Women in Manufacturing

by Julianne Bass

women in manufacturing

The talent challenges that U.S. manufacturers are facing are long from over and are projected to continue to worsen in upcoming years, Women may be that untapped resource employers are looking for to change course and move production forward in the right direction.

In some instances the pressure to fill vacant positions with a lack of qualified applicants leads to the hiring of ill-equipped workers, and potentially hazardous injuries or fatal accidents. While women make up half of the U.S. workforce, less than a quarter of manufacturing jobs are held by women, trying to attract qualified women into these open positions may go a long way in helping to fill them with knowledgeable workers.

One of the issues many manufacturers are having is actually attracting female applicants. The industry image is currently that of a male dominated environment. Recent survey data from the Manufacturing Institute reports that women in manufacturing are much less likely to recommend manufacturing careers to their children—particularly daughters. Through changing perceptions, breaking stereotypes and educating young workers about all of the opportunities in the manufacturing field what emerges may be a deeper more qualified applicant pool, and a better, safer working environment for everyone.

It’s a war for talent,” John Faraci, CEO of International Paper and advocate for hiring more women into manufacturing roles said in a recent interview.“If we can only compete for half the people that are on the planet, how are we going to get the best? You want to compete for everybody.”

If companies are looking to improve their workforce the answer may be right in front of their faces. Recruiting top candidates across the board is good for business, but only being able to reach half of the population puts the manufacturing industry at a great disadvantage. Bringing more visibility to the industry and the women achieving milestones and building successful careers like those honored at the recent STEP awards on March 26th is an example of a great way to start the conversation and inspire the next generation or even this generation of female leaders. The first step is being aware, what is the environment in your workplace like?