Dec 2, 2013

The federal work-safety overseer, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, recently proposed a new rule designed to improve workplaces’ injury and illness tracking, one of the most common causes of OSHA citations. This new proposed rule will supplement the requirements currently in place for tracking workplace injuries and illnesses on the OSHA Log 300 form.  

Safety professionals, human resource managers and small business owners can learn how to complete the OSHA Log 300 and apply the proposed new rule to their businesses at three free seminars at the Gulf Coast Safety Institute of College of the Mainland, 320 Delany Rd. in La Marque.

At a Small Business Lunch and Learn Dec. 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., director of the Gulf Coast Safety Institute Cindy Lewis will highlight reporting timelines and deadlines for all small businesses. Small businesses must keep illness and injury records if they have 10 or more employees.

On Jan. 10 and Jan. 24 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the class “OSHA Recordkeeping – It's Not Just The 300 Log” will detail OSHA’s proposed rule and how to track injuries and illnesses on the job.

Lewis will conduct both January training sessions. With more than 18 years of experience in safety and industrial hygiene, Lewis previously served as industrial hygienist for KBR Inc. and as a safety and health manager for Cooper Energy Services.

The class will differentiate between illnesses (harm developed over a period of time) and injuries (generally a one-time occurrence). The class will also explain which ones are necessary to record and how to document them.

“A lot of companies over-record because they are not sure what to record, but that drives up their injury rates,” said Lewis.

The class will also incorporate case studies and scenarios throughout the day so participants will leave confident in how to apply OSHA regulations to any incident on their job site.

RSVP for the Dec. 12 lunch and learn by Dec. 10 to Guinndolyn Sharpe at 409-933-8338 or gsharpe@com.edu.

Register for “OSHA Recordkeeping – It's Not Just The 300 Log” class on Jan. 10 or 24 by contacting SeAlice Hemphill at 409-933-8365 or shemphill@com.edu.

The Gulf Coast Safety Institute is located at College of the Mainland. Established in 2007, the institute focuses on providing safety and health education, training and outreach. For more information on the institute, contact Lewis at 409-933-8495 or clewis1@com.eduor visit www.com.edu/gcsi.