Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recently released an updated National Emphasis Program (NEP) to focus on amputation hazards in the manufacturing industry. This is aimed at industrial and manufacturing facilities where workers are injured by unguarded or improperly guarded equipment. This emphasis program will continue until March 10, 2020, which will consist of education, injury prevention outreach, and response to complaints, referrals, hospitalizations, and fatalities. The NEP does not create new obligation for employers, but it does concentrate enforcement activity.
Here are a few important updates included in the new NEP:
- Revises targeting methodology to include data from amputation reporting requirements;
- Revises coding requirements for amputation inspections in the OSHA Information System; and
- Adds new appendices on amputations targeting methodology and North American Industry Classification System codes.
Under OSHA’s Machine Guarding standard, employers are responsible for ensuring workplace safety by identifying hazards, training their workforce, and following procedures to correctly guard machines.
The Spencer-SHE team can assist with program evaluation, hazard analysis, employee training, agency representation, and more. Contact us today.