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Q&A: Employers have a place to turn for safety advice

By CHRISTINA REXRODE, Times Staff Writer
Published August 10, 2007

Job safety for Florida workers like Luis Alonzo, shown here in Valrico in February, is improving. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction was responsible for more workplace deaths than any other industry — 1,226 in 2006.
	[Carrie Pratt | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT Charlene Vespi helps businesses follow OSHA's regulations.

Workplace deaths are on the decline in Florida, which is encouraging news for Charlene Vespi.

Vespi is the program director of USF SafetyFlorida. It's a free, confidential adviser for small businesses in state who want to keep their workers safe and make sure they're in line with OSHA regulations.

OSHA, or the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is required to have such a consultation arm in every state.

Vespi talked this week with the St. Petersburg Times. Here are excerpts:

So, how does USF SafetyFlorida work? A company contacts you because it thinks it's not safe?
"The employer has to invite us in. Sometimes they're just looking to understand OSHA rules. If they want us to walk around their facility, or look at a certain job practice, we would do that. One of the commitments the employer is making is (to correct) what we do find that is not in compliance with OSHA."

But you don't enforce OSHA rules?
"Everything we do in our program is confidential from OSHA enforcement. ... We're not the enforcement people; we're the friendly, very health-and-safety-oriented people."

What do you offer besides the on-site consultations?
"We try to create tools (on our Web site) that are user friendly. We just created a hurricane planner for small businesses. We have a SafetyWriter program that anybody in the whole state of Florida can use; what it does is help compile what they would need to have a safety plan. We have an AccidentTracker program so businesses can establish their trends."

What are the trends in workplace safety here?
"We've had a trend here in Florida with fatalities in construction -- scaffolding falls, electrocutions, ladder falls. Even though residential (construction) has slowed down, commercial has increased, and we're still seeing the same numbers of falls."

(According to OSHA, construction accounted for 111 deaths in Florida in 2005, or more than one-fourth of the state's workplace fatalities.)

The U.S. Department of Labor says that the deadliest occupation of 2005 was fisherman (118.4 deaths per 100,000 workers, compared with an all-industry average that year of four deaths per 100,000 workers), followed by logger, aircraft pilot, iron and steel worker, and waste collector. Do you ever advise people to not pursue certain careers, like the ones I just mentioned?
"No, I stay away from that. Any accident can be prevented. Any job has some type of risk factor."

You said any job has a risk factor. Even sitting in an office?
"Sitting in an office all day long, you have stress. You have the ergonomic issues: (For example,) if you're answering the phone, you have the repetitive motion."

How would you compare the state of workplace safety now to 10 years ago?
"Businesses are really beginning to see a profit in safety, where in the past there was always a lot of talk that safety was an added expense. They see the reduction in workers' comp costs ... and (in) lost time of the employees."

But employees can't just call you with their concerns? It's up to employers?
"If an employee does call us, if they are concerned about their safety, then we will advise them to talk to their employer. And if they say to us, 'Well, we really can't do that because our employer won't listen to us,' OSHA has a service called 'phone and fax,' but that's only for private businesses. We do spend a lot of time counseling and talking to the employee and trying to provide them with some guidance so they don't feel like they're vulnerable."

FAST FACTS: USF SafetyFlorida
What it is: The state's consultation arm of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. Every state has one.
What it does: It works confidentially and free of charge with small businesses to help them comply with OSHA rules. It hosts seminars and will visit companies for consultations. Companies can also use planning tools on SafetyFlorida's Web site. SafetyFlorida does not enforce OSHA rules. Charlene Vespi, the program director, estimates that the 12 SafetyFlorida consultants visit more than 1,000 businesses per year.
What companies get out of it: Safer workplaces and, theoretically, lower workers' comp premiums as a result. Companies can also qualify for the OSHA SHARP, or Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program, which will exempt them from OSHA inspections for several years.
Who pays for it: Most of SafetyFlorida's funding comes from the federal government.
Why it's at USF: SafetyFlorida used to be part of the state Department of Labor's Division of Safety. When that division was sunseted in 2000, then-Gov. Jeb Bush moved SafetyFlorida (which was not sunseted because it is federally funded) to Tampa. Vespi worries for public sector employees, who have no corresponding program now that the division has closed.
On the Web: www.usfsafetyflorida.com

Problem areas
OSHA's most frequently cited areas of violation in fiscal year 2006:

1. Scaffolding
2. Fall protection
3. Hazard communication
4. Respiratory protection
5. Control of hazardous energy
6. Powered industrial trucks
7. Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment
8. Machines
9. Ladders
10. Electrical systems design

Source: OSHA

[Last modified August 9, 2007, 22:57:21]