Ask Alice H…
1
Ask Alice H... Dear Alice—I have several contractors about to come on site and they are asking me a number of questions related to a HASP? What is this? Why do they need the information? What am I supposed to do? Is this a new kind of wasp that I don’t know about? Dear—Don’t know what it is, No, a HASP is not some new kind of wasp. HASP stands for health and safety plan. Health and safety plans are required by OHSA and MSHA prior to conducting work at a specific site. Typically, businesses and facilities have health and safety plans but these are not gen- erally referred to by the acronym. You will start to hear about these when you have contractors as they need to prepare a HASP prior to con- ducting work. HASPs contain important information relating to emergency procedures and specific hazards related to the work being preformed. They generally contain evacuation routes, routes to the hospital, designation of the health and safety officer, job safety analyses, and other hazard information. If you are working with a contractor, you might want to look over the HASP to ensure that they have captured the particular hazards for your site or for the job that you rare requesting to be completed. The HASP is a tool for everyone working on the job and should be reviewed by all involved. Dear Alice—I understand that you worked on a book related to the ‘‘Dangerous Trades’’. In the early 1900s I would imagine that the trades listed as dangerous were different than what we might think of today. What are con- sidered the most dangerous trades today? Just Wondering Dear—Just Wondering. According to the National Safety Council (http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statfaq.aspx#Ques- tion5) based upon the most recent statistics– the mining industry topped death rate, fol- lowed by agricultural, construction, manufac- turing, and transportation and public utilities. While this may be disconcerting, there is some very good news. Between 1912 and today the number of unintentional work deaths per 100,000 has decreased by over 90%. Dear Alice — Help! I just have been assigned to help develop my facility’s laboratory chemi- cal hygiene plan. My task is to focus on hazard recognition. What are some good resources? Looking for hazards — in the right places. Dear — Looking for Hazards, The first place to start on your resource search is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Laboratories Hazard Recog- nition page (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/ laboratories/recognition.html). This page is filled with useful resources including links to Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. Master Index of Occupational Health Guidelines for Chemical Hazards. AIHA Laboratory Health & Safety Commit- tee. Hazardous Substances Data Bank. Permissible Exposure Limits Ventilation. There are also links to resources for the evaluation of exposures, including chemical sampling information, and the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods. Dear Alice — We have had a number of hand injuries at our facility of late. Most of them have been puncture wounds. Of course the first action has been to clean and wash the wound and ask the question about when the person received their last tetanus shot — what is the recommended first aid treatment for these wounds? Poking around for answers. Dear — Poking around, According to the Mayo Clinic (http:// www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-punc- ture-wounds/FA00014), here is the recom- mended first aid treatment: (1) Stop the bleeding. (2) Clean the wound. (3) Apply an antibiotic. (4) Cover the wound. (5) Change the dressing regularly. (6) Watch for signs of infection. A tetanus shot is recommended if you have not had one within the last 5 years. A couple of things to keep in mind when dealing with puncture wounds: If the wound is the result of an animal bite, special consideration should be made to deter- mine if there is a potential rabies exposure. If the wound is the result of impalement (nails, wire, spikes, etc.) and the object is still embedded, the recommended practice is to leave the object in place and seek medical atten- tion. 1871-5532/$32.00 ß Division of Chemical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society 41 doi:10.1016/j.jchas.2008.09.004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Transcript of Ask Alice H…
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1871-5532/$32.00
doi:10.1016/j.jchas.2008.09.004
sk Alice H. . .
tion.
Dear Alice—I have several contractors about tocome on site and they are asking me a numberof questions related to a HASP? What is this?Why do they need the information? What am Isupposed to do?
Is this a new kind of wasp that I don’t knowabout?
Dear—Don’t know what it is,
No, a HASP is not some new kind of wasp.HASP stands for health and safety plan. Healthand safety plans are required by OHSA andMSHA prior to conducting work at a specificsite. Typically, businesses and facilities havehealth and safety plans but these are not gen-erally referred to by the acronym. You will startto hear about these when you have contractorsas they need to prepare a HASP prior to con-ducting work.
HASPs contain important informationrelating to emergency procedures and specifichazards related to the work being preformed.They generally contain evacuation routes,routes to the hospital, designation of the healthand safety officer, job safety analyses, andother hazard information. If you are workingwith a contractor, you might want to look overthe HASP to ensure that they have capturedthe particular hazards for your site or for thejob that you rare requesting to be completed.The HASP is a tool for everyone workingon the job and should be reviewed by allinvolved.
Dear Alice—I understand that you workedon a book related to the ‘‘Dangerous Trades’’.In the early 1900s I would imagine that thetrades listed as dangerous were different thanwhat we might think of today. What are con-sidered the most dangerous trades today?
Just Wondering
Dear—Just Wondering.
According to the National Safety Council(http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statfaq.aspx#Ques-tion5) based upon the most recent statistics–the mining industry topped death rate, fol-lowed by agricultural, construction, manufac-turing, and transportation and public utilities.While this may be disconcerting, there is somevery good news. Between 1912 and today thenumber of unintentional work deaths per100,000 has decreased by over 90%.
Dear Alice — Help! I just have been assignedto help develop my facility’s laboratory chemi-cal hygiene plan. My task is to focus on hazardrecognition. What are some good resources?Looking for hazards — in the right places.
� Division of Che
Dear — Looking for Hazards,The first place to start on your resource
search is the Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration’s Laboratories Hazard Recog-nition page (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/laboratories/recognition.html). This page isfilled with useful resources including links to
� Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards.� Master Index of Occupational Health
Guidelines for Chemical Hazards.� AIHA Laboratory Health & Safety Commit-
tee.� Hazardous Substances Data Bank.� Permissible Exposure Limits� Ventilation.
There are also links to resources for theevaluation of exposures, including chemicalsampling information, and the NIOSH Manualof Analytical Methods.
Dear Alice — We have had a number of handinjuries at our facility of late. Most of them havebeen puncture wounds. Of course the firstaction has been to clean and wash the woundand ask the question about when the personreceived their last tetanus shot — what is therecommended first aid treatment for thesewounds?
Poking around for answers.
Dear — Poking around,
According to the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-punc-ture-wounds/FA00014), here is the recom-mended first aid treatment:
(1) Stop the bleeding.(2) Clean the wound.(3) Apply an antibiotic.(4) Cover the wound.(5) Change the dressing regularly.(6) Watch for signs of infection.
A tetanus shot is recommended if you havenot had one within the last 5 years.
A couple of things to keep in mind whendealing with puncture wounds:
If the wound is the result of an animal bite,special consideration should be made to deter-mine if there is a potential rabies exposure.
If the wound is the result of impalement(nails, wire, spikes, etc.) and the object is stillembedded, the recommended practice is toleave the object in place and seek medical atten-
mical Health and Safety of the American Chemical Society 41Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
