Outdoor Heat Stress WA Administrative Code (WAC 296-62-09510) states that “The requirements of WAC 296-62-095 through 296-62-09560 apply to outdoor work environments from May 1 through Sept 30, annually, only when employees are exposed to outdoor heat at or above an applicable temperature listed in Table 1.“

Not sure if you need an Outdoor Heat Exposure Program?

WAC 296-62-09510(3)

WAC 296-62-095 through 296-62-09560 does not apply to incidental exposure which exists when an employee is not requreid to perform a work activity outdoors for more than fifteen minutes in any sixty-minute period.  This exception may be applied every hour during the work shift.

Still not sure?

Contact ICM today and we can assist in figuring out if this program is required for your business.  As always if you are visited by an L&I inspector and are cited feel free to contact ICM as we are happy to help go through any information and make necessary corrections.  ICM also offers the option to review citations to see if there is any option for appealing and relief from the citation issued.  Regardless, employers want to be sure they are offering the correct standard of safety attention that is required with regard to outdoor heat exposure.

So don’t wait!  Welcome May gladly by reviewing your company’s outdoor heat exposure policies today!

Want the most up to date content of what’s going on in WA’s workers’ compensation?  Follow ICM on Facebook and Twitter today!

© 2013 Jupiterimages

By Carrie Hannigan, M.S.

Having taught composition and technical writing courses for over eight years, I feel I have a pretty good grasp on grammar and mechanics, though I freely admit that commas will throw me from time to time.  As a first-year writing instructor, I have seen the English language morph into a one-eyed ogre or a butterfly, and sometimes in the same piece of writing. Writing my PhD proposal, though, has brought new “good writing” concerns to light, as seen in this brief dialogue with the poor soul I cajoled into reading my draft.

Poor soul: “You have really long sentences.”

Me: “Yes, but grammatically correct.”

Poor soul: “But, I forget what you started talking about when I get to the end of the sentence.”

Me: “They aren’t run-on sentences. I use a semicolon appropriately. The ideas are related.”

Poor soul: “Just use a period, and pick up where you left off.”

Me: “But, the sentence is grammatically correct the way it is.”

Poor soul: “Okay.”

Although the reviewer seemed to relent, she opted to put large question marks next to offending sentences, which is much like an instructor putting “awkward” in a student’s essay. When I pressed her for an explanation, she said she was confused…..in other words, it was grammatically correct, but still didn’t effectively express the message.

Upon reflection, I began to wonder how I address similar issues with students’ writings. Do I just focus on grammar? If I lose my way in the middle of a sentence, how do I convey that to the student?  Sadly, I suspect that if it is grammatically correct, I let the sentence exist as a hippogriff with appropriate punctuation, as it is better than a one-eyed ogre.  Realistically, though, it takes more than grammar to get your point across to readers.

There are too many hippogriffs in my writing, and not enough butterflies. I suspect students would also prefer more butterflies in their own writings. It then comes down to two choices…bully our readers into accepting grammatically correct, but overly complicated sentences, or limit ourselves to how many semicolons we can use in one paragraph.

Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference
Teams Joining: Pittsburgh and Syracuse will be coming to the ACC in 2013 after being a part of the Big East (now known as the American Athletic Conference).
Teams Leaving: No teams will be leaving but in 2014 Maryland will be joining the Big Ten.
Teams: Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Maryland, Boston College, North Carolina, Miami (FL), Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Duke, Virginia and now Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Florida State

Conference: American Athletic Conference (formerly known as the Big East)
Teams Joining: Houston, Memphis, SMU and UCF will be coming from the CUSA in 2013 with East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa following them in 2014 and then the addition of Navy in 2015. We will see how that holds up and if any other teams decide to join.
Teams Leaving: Pittsburgh and Syracuse will be going to the ACC, Louisville will follow them in 2014 and Rutgers will be joining the Big Ten as well in 2014.
Teams: Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers, Temple, Connecticut, South Florida, Houston, Memphis, SMU and UCF.
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Shared by Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers and Syracuse but Louisville got the BCS bid.

Conference: Big Ten Conference
Teams Joining: In 2014 Maryland will be joining from the ACC and Rutgers will also join that same year coming from the American Athletic Conference (formerly known as the Big East).
Teams Leaving: None as far as we know. They will be re-aligning their divisions based on geography to help with the new teams joining and their travel.
Teams: Nebraska, Michigan, Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Wisconsin defeated Nebraska 70-31. Why is that so unreal? Because there were two teams (Ohio State and Penn State) in front of Wisconsin in the conference rankings but because Ohio State and Penn State were facing post season sanctions they were not eligible for the conference championship game.

Conference: Big 12
Teams Joining: None
Teams Leaving: No changes as some of the changes came within the last couple of years.
Teams: Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU, West Virginia, Iowa State, and Kansas.
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Kansas State

Conference: C-USA
Teams Joining: FAU, FIU, Middle Tennessee and North Texas from the Sun Belt and Louisiana Tech and UTSA from the now defunct WAC in 2013. In 2014 UNC-Charlotte and Old Dominion will join the NCAA FBS from the FCS and will work into the C-USA by 2015.
Teams Leaving: Houston, Memphis, SMU, and UCF will be going to the American Athletic Conference in 2013, then in 2014 East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa will be going to the American Athletic Conference.
Teams: East Carolina, Marshall, UAB, Southern Miss, Tulsa, Rice, UTEP, Tulane, FAU, FIU, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Louisiana Tech and UTSA.
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Tulsa

Conference: Independents
Teams Joining: With the WAC over Idaho and New Mexico State become Independents.
Teams Leaving: Idaho and New Mexico State will be heading to the Sun Belt in 2014 and Navy will be going to the American Athletic Conference in 2015.
Teams: Notre Dame, Brigham Young, Navy, Army, Idaho and New Mexico State

Conference: Mid-American Conference
Teams Joining: None
Teams Leaving: None
Teams: Kent State, Bowling Green, Ohio, Buffalo, Miami (OH), Massachusetts, Akron, Northern Illinois, Ball State, Toledo, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, and Eastern Michigan.
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Northern Illinois defeated Kent State 44-37 in a double overtime Championship.

Conference: Mountain West
Teams Joining: San Jose State and Utah State will be coming from the WAC
Teams Leaving: None
Teams: Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Air Force, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado State, UNLV, New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah State, and San Jose State.
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Boise State, Fresno State, and San Diego State

Conference: PAC-12
Teams Joining: None
Teams Leaving: None
Teams: Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, California, Washington State, UCLA, USC, Arizona State, Arizona, Utah and Colorado
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Stanford

Conference: Southeastern Conference
Teams Joining: None
Teams Leaving: None
Teams: Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Alabama

Conference: Sun Belt
Teams Joining: Georgia State and UT-Arlington will be joining in 2013 from the FCS, and Texas State will be coming over from the WAC. In 2014 Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Idaho, and New Mexico State will join in 2014.
Teams Leaving: FAU, FIU, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas are going to the C-USA.
Teams: Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee, Louisiana-Monroe, Western Kentucky, Troy, North Texas, Florida International, Florida Atlantic and South Alabama.
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Arkansas State

Conference: WAC
Teams Joining: None
Teams Leaving: All of them
Teams: None
2012-2013 Conference Champion: Utah State

Least Improved:

I believe the defunct WAC is the least improved. The conference still around that is the least improved would have to be the Mid-American Conference. Yeah, them! They didn’t lose any teams but they didn’t gain any teams. They had Northern Illinois get into a big bowl game, they had Kent State at 11-3.

In a world of re-alignment, you have to start stockpiling, if Northern Illinois or Kent State have another descent season I look for other conference to come in and end the Mid-American conference or at least start to rip it apart for talent.

Most Improved:

Out of the movement that has happened I believe the most improved conference will have to go to the American Athletic Conference or “The Conference formerly known as the Big East”. With Pittsburgh and Syracuse leaving the Big East/AAC to go to the ACC, some wouldv’e said that the ACC were the big winners.

In the age of teams going to other conferences at the flip of a dime, the ACC gets an 8-5 Syracuse and a 6-7 Pittsburgh team. Where the American Athletic Conference gets 4 teams from a not always weak C-USA, Houston, Memphis, UCF, and SMU. Houston was a pretty good team before being 5-7 last year. UCF went 10-4 and SMU went 7-6. They are getting 4 teams that could potentially be better in 2013.

Worst Conference:

The Sun Belt would be my pick of the worst conference. This conference is pretty much a FCS conference in the FBS division. It is showing as it is bringing in a bunch of FCS teams within the next two years. Hopefully the teams add to the quality and not just the quantity of teams in the conference.

Best Conference:

As the saying goes “to be the man, you gotta beat the man”. The man the last decade has pretty much been the SEC. I don’t see them being de-throaned as national powerhouse. There really isn’t much I have to say about this conference. They are always filled with great teams and great athletes. The South is the breeding ground of football eat, sleep, and eat more football. They will be at the top of all conferences this year.

This was a look at some of the changes that have occurred in the last 5+ years, football has taken a different shape. The conferences are becoming more and more important in football and with the creation of “Power or Super Conferences” starting to take shape we are starting to see more and more teams to switch conferences and I look for the next 5+ years to not be any difference. The one thing that this is starting to hurt is conference traditions

As the season draws closer, I am hoping to be able to at least write weekly about the football season and throughout the next 3 months look for my conference by conference preview for the 2013-2014 season. This is Nick’s Night In! look for more to come in the upcoming days and weeks.  

One way employers are working to make their safety meetings the most valuable use of that designated time is to use real examples from your workplace either through picture or other.  Pictures are great ways to emphasize hazards and safety procedures.  Below is one such example from one of our clients!

Go ahead an take a look at the picture below before moving to our analysis.  Try to find what is done right and what could have been done better or differently.  Going through this exercise is part of improving critical thinking about safety and on the job hazards.

What do you see?

*Picture compliments of valued ICM customer.  To send us your picture to be on a feature blog email it to contact@icmoly.com today!

Analysis

There are always different angles to any good analysis.  This image is great because it shows many different perspectives that should be discussed.  You may find images or situations like this at your work place and we encourage you to apply the same critical thinking to them as we will do here.

The Sign

The first thing that is obvious to me is the yellow caution sign.  What I love about this sign is that it is for Wet Floors but in this case there is no apparent wet floor but we can quickly see that it is really acting to notify folks there is a hazard.  This is great!  Anytime there is a hazard we want to make sure people that may come into contact with it are aware and alert so as to be extra careful or can avoid the hazard altogether.  Overall, the use of this sign is brilliant and in general shows a creative way to draw attention to a hazard.

Is the sign enough?  What you’ll find out later is that in and of itself and according to WA Code regarding the actual hazard, while the sign is an overall great way to draw attention to a hazard, it does not meet the written code for safety and this hazard.  (See below under The Cord).

The Mat

In our daily lives most of us have seen extension cords either underneath a rug or taped down with tape of some sort.  Most who do this are likely trying to reduce the likelihood of a trip and fall occurring due to the extension cord.  However, the majority of us would be surprised to find out that this inadvertently creates another safety hazard and thus, is not the recommended course of corrective action to avoid this hazard.  The reason for this is simply due to the fact that covering an extension cord incorrectly (there are in fact proper ways to cover an extension cord) can increase the likelihood of rubbing of fibers within the cord and/or a heat build up from the covering and/or walking over the cord which is a very dangerous hazard.  This needs to be avoided and thus, covering would not be a good solution.

The Extension Cord

The extension cord itself is brightly colored which is also great to draw attention to it.  Imagine if this cord were black or even brown it would not stand out nearly as much as this orange color does.  Similar to the sign in color it draws attention in hopes that it will be noticed and thus, not cause any injury.

With that said, even though there is a sign, possibility to cover the cord with a mat, and the extension cord is brightly colored, WA State safety code does not allow it to be plugged in through an interior outlet and fed through a doorway.  (WAC 296-800-28030(3))

Because of this a solution would be to instead of using an interior outlet to use an exterior outlet.  If there is no exterior outlet then one should be installed.  Although this may seem like an extreme solution to a simple task and temporary hazard we want you to be aware of the code and what any inspector from LNI could count as a violation.

Summary

In short, what may seem like a quick fix might help but also does not necessarily meet WA State safety code and thus you are exposed to not only a hazard but potential citation if inspected by LNI.   If you are every unsure about a situation and how to make it safe enough to pass an LNI inspection we encourage you to contact ICM today.  Our safety experts are on staff here and we are waiting to help make your work place and employees as safe as possible.

Looking for Safety Products?

ICM makes recommendations for you to browse through so check it out today on the ICM website!