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As
with preacquisition environmental investigations, the conduction of a
health and safety evaluation is also imperative for today’s business
purchasers. All too often,
this important evaluation is not conducted.
As such, the purchaser may realize tremendous cost at a later time.
These may include workers’ compensation cost for prior exposures
to chemical, physical, ergonomic or biological hazards.
Hazards that may cause accumulative effects, many of which may not
be exhibited until later. There
may be processes in which equipment or machines produce hazards that will
eventually lead to health effects or more immediate safety problems.
Many of these existing problems may be as a result of regulatory
noncompliance for which the new owner may also be held responsible. Such noncompliance could involve hundreds of thousands of
dollars in penalties as well as significant cost in order to become
compliant. Health
Investigations
The American population
is aging with the becoming of age of the post World War Two “baby
boomers”. This segment of
the population makes up 1/3
of the population and over ˝ the workforce.
This generation has been at work for approximately 15-35 years.
As such, the potential that they have experienced exposures to
workplace hazards must be considered.
Examples include potential overexposures to noise, chemicals,
radiation and ergonomic hazards. These and other hazards may have effects that are not evident
in the present but through analysis of the workplace can be predicted in
the future. Examples of problems that
the acquisitionist could experience include: Hazardous Waste
Generation problems
A thorough investigation
of the following records is needed to access the health of the workforce
the purchaser is acquiring: -
Worker Injury/Illness Statistical Analysis Worker
Injury/Illness Cause and Effects Analysis Worker
Injury/Illness Frequency and Severity Rates Accident
Frequency and Severity Rates Average
comparison for the Industry -
Workers’ compensation records Current
Cases Outstanding
Cases Direct
and Indirect Cost Analysis -
Industrial hygiene air sampling reports -
Audiometric testing reports -
Noise sampling results -
Safety inspections -
Accident investigation reports -
OSHA citations -
Safety committee meeting minutes -
Purchase orders for safety equipment -
Safety training records -
Environmental program reports -
Regulatory permits -
Hazardous materials acquisitions -
Hazardous waste generation -
Medical clearances -
EPA citations -
Safety and health memorandums -
Interviews Safety
Investigations
Regulatory agencies such
as the Occupational Safety and Health and the Environmental Protection
Agency have specific requirements to protect workers, the public and the
environment. Though a facility being purchased may have sufficient and
efficient equipment/machines from a production perspective, these same
pieces of equipment and machines may not meet safety compliance standards.
Examples include machine guarding, electrical standards, etc.
Other examples may involve proper chemical handling and storage. Some of these include, paint booths, chemical storage rooms
and ventilation systems. All
of which, to correct can involve hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost.
Some particular issues to be evaluated include: -
A review of findings during previous inspections will be reviewed
to determine whether any discrepancies have been found, and if so, whether
they were corrected. -
Personnel making inspections note whether workers are suitably
equipped with hard hats, safety shoes, safety glasses, or other protective
equipment prescribed for the areas visited. -
The inspectors review
all safety related records including, audits, air sampling, training
records, reports of injuries/illnesses, written policies and procedures. -
Inspection includes an
assessment of the egresses and exists and their markings required by OSHA
standards and local codes and if they are properly maintained. -
Do electrical systems, especially for hazardous locations, comply
with the provisions of the National Electrical Code and other designated
codes? -
Are pressure vessels designed according to the provisions of the
America Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code?
The vessels should be stress-tested prior to use and at required
designated intervals.
-
Is
fire-fighting equipment installed and maintained as required. -
Is newly purchased equipment or equipment manufactured in-house installed
properly and will they meet prescribed OSHA and local standards. -
Does the greatest
distance possible to prevent damage to other equipment in the event of a
violent failure separate high-energy process vessels. -
Are fire lanes and other routes to locations where other
emergencies could occur provided, marked, and maintained so passages are
not impeded or blocked. -
Is emergency equipment
and locations for their emplacements or storage provided in readily
accessible locations and checked periodically? -
Is proper ventilating
equipment installed and kept clean. Are hoods, ducts, blowers, filters, and scrubbers provided
and adequate to remove air contaminants from the plant and to keep them
from contaminating the environment? -
Are adequate
workspaces provided between pieces of equipment so employees can have free
passage and so there will be no physical interference to create errors and
cause accidents? -
Are hazardous
operations isolated so they do not constitute dangers to other personnel
or activities? Are welding
shops located close to paint spray activities, fuel locations, or where
personnel can be affected by welding arc radiation? Investigation
Process
The Safety, Health,
Training, Engineering, Business and Industrial Hygiene staff of
Occupational and Environmental Health Consultants, Inc. can assist with
the conduction of a preacquistion Health and Safety Investigation.
The purpose of the evaluation is to identify problem areas, which
the purchaser may need to be aware of.
Areas, which can be used as a part of the negotiation process.
The investigation is both quantitative and qualitative.
In our efforts to support our clients and other businesses we recently
conducted several surveys, some of which you may have been asked to
participate in. As a result of the surveys, which sampled over 1000
industries, OEHC is proud to introduce several new programs. |
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