Idaho Occupational Safety and Health Consultation Program

National Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week, 2023

The National Stand Up 4 Grain Safety week is presented each year by the Alliance, a collaboration of agricultural industry groups. This year, it is being held March 27-31.  Grain Safety Week includes a series of free, live virtual presentations. 2023 topics include powered industrial trucks, preventive maintenance, heat and extreme weather, and anhydrous ammonia and fumigation. Some sessions will be presented in English and Spanish.

For more information, and to register, visit the Stand Up 4 Grain Safety website.

Registration for Boise Safety Fest 2023 is Open

The 17th Annual Safety Fest of the Great Northwest Boise is being held January 24-26 at the Boise State University Student Union building. A variety of free safety and health-related classes are available.  Registration is via the Safety Fest website.

Idaho OSHCon staff will conduct the OSHA Ten-Hour General Industry training January 25-26.

September 5-9, 2022 is Construction Suicide Prevention Week

The construction industry has one of the highest rates of suicides among all occupations, four times higher than in the general population. September 5-9 is Construction Suicide Prevention Week, when events will be held nationwide to raise awareness about the unique challenges faced by construction workers, and what we can do to help safeguard their mental health, and lives. Register your participation online, sign up for a free September 8 webinar, and visit OSHA’s Preventing Suicides webpage for more resources.

ESI Hosts Safety Stand Down May 4, 2022, in Meridian

Each year in the U.S., nearly 400 construction workers are killed, and over 10,000 are seriously injured by falls. The National Fall Prevention Safety Stand‐Down is a voluntary opportunity for employers to stop work and provide training to employees on fall hazards, protective methods, and an employer’s safety policies, goals, and expectations.

The National Stand Down Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction is a joint effort by government, labor, and management to address the top cause of construction industry fatalities.

ESI is hosting the National Stand Down in Boise by conducting a training event on May 4, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Eagle View Landing, located at 936 West Silverstone Way, Meridian. ESI will stop work at the Eagle View Landing project and several other projects in the area to conduct a one‐hour fall protection training. Representatives from the Boise OSHA office and the BSU OSHA Consultation office will be present.

Please plan for all your workers to attend. A free lunch will be provided.

For more information visit the OSHA Stand Down website , or the Safety Stand Down website.

OSHA Starts Enforcement Program for Injury and Illness Data Submission

OSHA is initiating an enforcement program that identifies employers who failed to submit Form 300A data through the agency’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA). Annual electronic submissions are required by establishments with 250 or more employees currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records, and establishments with 20-249 employees classified in specific industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.

The program matches newly opened inspections against a list of potential non-responders to OSHA’s collection of Form 300A data through the ITA and reports all matches to the appropriate OSHA area office. If the area office determines that the establishment on the list is the same establishment where the inspection was opened, OSHA will issue citations for failure to submit OSHA Form 300A Summary data.

In addition to identifying non-responders at the establishment level, the agency is also reviewing the 2021 submitted data to identify non-responders at a corporate-wide level. This corporate level review is being conducted for the nation’s largest employers.

OSHA developed the program in response to recommendations from the Government Accountability Office to improve reporting of summary injury and illness data.  The initiative will begin in early April.

“OSHA believes that it is vital for the public to have access to illness and injury information that employers provide in their annual submissions,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker. “We are committed to enforcing this important requirement and will continue to look for strategies to reach full compliance.”

The agency is also posting ITA data as part of its electronic recordkeeping requirements for certain employers. By mid-March, 289,849 establishments had submitted their OSHA Form 300A information.

Public access to injury and illness data for industries, companies and establishments allows employers, workers, potential employees, and others to better understand workplace safety and health outcomes at an employer or industry, allowing them to make valuable insights and informed decisions. Employers of all sizes can use this data to benchmark with others in their industry or compare results across their operations. This accessibility will help identify and mitigate workplace hazards, and ultimately result in the reduction of occupational injuries and illnesses.

Learn more about OSHA’s injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Registration for 2022 Stand up 4 Grain Safety Week Opens

Registration for Stand Up 4 Grain Safety is now open. Topics for this year’s event include heat/cold stress and personal protective equipment. Registration is free. The event is virtual.

For more information, visit Stand Up 4 Grain Safety.

2022 Northwest Safety & Health Summit Comes to Boise

The 2022 Northwest Safety & Health Summit , presented by the Region X Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA) is being held in Boise on May 10-12.

This summit is designed for all industries and worksites, even if they are not in the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). All safety managers/coordinators and safety committee members can benefit from this workplace safety training and networking.

Further information, including a link to register and the conference program, can be found  on the VPPPA’s website.

OSHA Withdraws COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard

OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) issued on Nov. 5, 2021, to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers with 100 or more employees from workplace exposure to coronavirus. The withdrawal is effective January 26, 2022.

Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule. The agency is prioritizing its resources to focus on finalizing a permanent COVID-19 Healthcare Standard.

For more information, please refer to OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS webpage and Federal Register Notice.

Injury and Illness Data Collection for 2021 is Underway

OSHA is reminding employers that the agency began collecting calendar year 2021 Form 300A data on Jan. 2, 2022. Employers must submit the form electronically by March 2, 2022.

Electronic submissions are required by establishments with 250 or more employees currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records, and establishments with 20-249 employees classified in specific industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.

Visit the Injury Tracking Application Electronic Submission of Injury and Illness Records to OSHA for more information and a link to the Injury Tracking Application.