OSHA ANNOUNCES NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTING SEVERE INJURIES

Effective January 1, 2015

OSHA Recently announced a final rule, now requiring employers to notify OSHA of all work-related in-patient hospitalizations, amputations or losses of an eye within 24 hours. The new rule, which also updates the list of employers partially exempt from OSHA record keeping requirements, becomes effective for all workplaces under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

PSI Industrial Solutions

Corporate Office

499 Pine Street

Coshocton, OH 43812

(740) 622-9795

Fax: (740) 622-9707

e-mail:

[email protected]

Canton Branch

4605 Navarre Road, SW

Canton, OH 44706

(330) 477-9680

Fax: (740) 622-9707

e-mail:

[email protected]

Be sure and check out our website at:

www.psi-industrialsolutions.com

JANUARY 2015

Forcing Employers to Re-evaluate Wages

Retaining a qualified employee in today's economic environment seems to be a challenge for many Eastern Ohio companies. The shale oil & gas industry has become a powerful economic force in this part of the state, hiring many qualified employees away from local companies.

A tremendous amount of job and wealth creation in the shale industry has occurred. But, it has been increasingly difficult for the industrial, manufacturing, and service contractors to retain the qualified workforce they and their customers have known, and even more difficult to find experienced, skilled employees with the right work ethic.

Companies have been forced to re-evaluate wages and are paying more to hire qualified employees, especially CDL drivers. In turn, increased costs must be passed along to the customer in the form of price increases, as margins are already running thin.

PSI Successfully Executes All Facets of Decommissioning Project

Challenge: Following the announcement of a plant closure at a Northeastern chemical production complex, PSI was contacted to identify potential hazards and establish a project scope to decommission the facility. Environmental challenges presented safely handling and dismantling Organic Peroxide process lines and tanks, and disposing of hundreds of waste drums.

Tanks and process lines were to be completely cleaned and dismantled. All tanks were to be RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) compliant and inspected prior to being transported off-site. EPA required the facility to identify and properly label all hazardous and non-hazardous wastes contained in the drums, and transfer them off-site to disposal facilities. The owner needed a contractor that could execute all facets of decommissioning and prepare the facility for final disposition.

Solution: PSI began by providing an operation plan, as well as a site health and safety plan to establish the project scope to clean and dismantle a total of 8 tanks and vessels, utilizing a hot pressure washer capable of 5,000 psi pressure and a wet vacuum truck. PSI Crews had to ensure mobile equipment and ancillary equipment utilized was non-reactive, and properly grounded due to a highly flammable nature.

Safety measures were put in place by identifying the hazards and necessary PPE. Customized funnels and Polypropylene hose was incorporated to drum the waste stream directly from the vacuum truck, being careful not to cross contaminate. Intrinsically safe reciprocating saws with non-sparking motors were utilized to dismantle process lines, fiberglass, carbon steel and stainless steel tanks.

PSI provided waste analytical profiles for over 300 drums and located approved disposal facilities. Crews loaded drums on to pallets where fork lifts off-loaded to a semi-tractor with a box-trailer to haul off-site.

End Result: PSI fulfilled the need for technical expertise, dealing with complex chemical environments, and a commitment to safety. As a result, EPA signed-off on all closure cleanings for the tanks and lines. PSI was responsible for managing all resources during various stages of this project on time and within budget. All dismantled metals tanks and lines were brokered for hauling.