25 Industries Can Expect OSHA Inspectors Soon
Slaughterhouses, courier services, hog farms, amusement parks, milk and cheese processors, and wholesalers of alcoholic beverages will soon be seeing OSHA inspectors, after OSHA released details Friday of the 4,150 high-hazard work sites on its primary list for "unannounced, comprehensive inspections" for 2007. Those industries are among 25 lists as having a DART rate of 6.6 to 13.2 by BLS in 2005 -- the beet sugar manufacturing industry had this 13.2 rate, according to OSHA's plan.
"Over the past nine years, OSHA has used a site-specific targeting inspection program based on injury and illness data," said OSHA chief Edwin G. Foulke Jr. "This approach allows us to focus our enforcement efforts on those workplaces with the highest numbers of injuries and illnesses." OSHA said the program will initially cover sites on the primary list that reported 11 or more injuries or illnesses resulting in days away from work, restricted work activity, or job transfer for every 100 full-time employees, which is the DART rate.
The plan directs enforcement personnel to inspect nursing homes and personal care facilities, but OSHA said only the highest 50 percent of rated establishments will be included on the primary list. "Inspections will focus primarily on ergonomic hazards relating to resident handling; exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials; exposure to tuberculosis; and slips, trips, and falls," the agency said. And the primary list also includes sites that did not respond to the 2006 data survey.