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Showing posts with label lead abatement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lead abatement. Show all posts

Friday, April 15, 2022

PACNY's 2022 25th Annual Environmental Conference Reestablishes Itself! Part One.

 On Thursday, March 3, 2022, the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PACNY's) 25th Annual Environmental Conference opened after a one-year hiatus.  The conference was held at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York, and the hotel and casino didn't seem to change much, however, the Lodge had a new bar that was beautiful and was very peaceful.  As usual, the service at the hotel/casino and the TS Steakhouse was personable and professional!

John from TS Steakhouse making the Gotham

The conference began with opening remarks and a conference welcome from Craig Kaputa, PACNY's President, Kevin Hutton, PACNY's Vice President, and Deb Sanscrainte, of Aramsco, Inc., PACNY's Conference Chair.  The first presentation, "Tribute to Past President - Chuck Kirch", was by Joe Cantone, Colden Corporation, it achieved the right balance of somber, respectful, and funny.  Chuck Kirch passed away in November 2021.  Brent Kynoch from the Environmental Information Association (EIA)  invited us to become members of the EIA and then updated us on what's happening at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) regarding asbestos and the "Draft Risk Evaluation of Asbestos - Part 2".  The last presenter before the break was Mark Gonzales, of Cornerstone Training Institute, speaking about "Cannabis in the Workplace".  Since the New York State Cannabis Law does not define the term "specific articulable symptoms."  Mr. Gonzales discussed the difficulties with assessing employee impairment from cannabis use, however, it is evident that an employer can act against an employee unable to perform their job duties or who poses a safety hazard due to their use of cannabis.  The break was to let the attendees go see the vendors in the exhibit hall and get some refreshments.  

Refreshments with the Vendors in the Exhibit Hall

After the break, the presentations began again with a virtual presentation by Tom Laubenthal, of  AirQuest Environmental, Inc., on "Lead-Based Paint; EPA & Housing and Urban Development (HUD), A Review and Updates of Recent Changes in Rules".   Mr. Laubenthal's presentation went through a host of lead regulations from EPA, HUD, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding Target Housing, Child-Occupied Facilities (both are based on pre-1978 construction), certifications, real estate transactions, and the different numbers and procedures for handling lead-based paint.  The amazing part was that Mr. Laubenthal was able to fit his whole presentation within 45 minutes.  Angelo Garcia, III, Future Environment Designs, Inc., was the last presentation before the lunch break.  Mr. Garcia's presentation was on the "Trials & Tribulations of Training During a Pandemic" to see the presentation click on the link, which will take you to our dropbox folder on conference presentations (our presentation is in the 2022 PACNY Presentations folder).  We discussed how the pandemic has affected our company and the training industry with supporting data from Ms. Karen Cummings, M.P.H., Director of the New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH's) Asbestos Safety Training Program, and Mr. Chek Beng Ng, P.E., Professional Engineer, of the New York State Department of Labor's (NYSDOL's) Engineering Services Unit (A Big Thank You to the both of you!).   A buffet lunch was served in the Oneida Room.  In our next post, we will discuss the presentations after lunch!  Until then!


Thank you to Lynn Burlingham, of Cornerstone Training Institute, for taking the video and to Joe Cantone, Colden Corporation for taking the photo!

Wednesday, January 09, 2019

Most Frequently Cited OSHA Standards in Fiscal Year 2018

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) annually publishes the top ten most frequently cited OSHA standards violated in the previous fiscal year.  OSHA has published the stats for the fiscal year (FY) 2018 (which runs from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018).  Here is the list of most frequently cited OSHA standards:

  1. Fall Protection, construction (1926.501)
  2. Hazard Communication Standard, general industry (1910.1200)
  3. Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (1926.451)
  4. Respiratory Protection (1910.134)
  5. Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (1910.147)
  6. Ladders, construction (1926.1053)
  7. Powered Industrial Trucks, general industry (1910.178)
  8. Fall Protection - training requirements, construction (1926.503)
  9. Machinery & Machine Guarding, general requirements, general industry (1910.212)
  10. Eye and Face Protection (1926.102)
OSHA performed a total of 32,020 inspections in FY 2018.  In 2017, there were 971 fatalities in the construction industry which were 20.7% of total private industry fatalities.  The fatal four (falls, struck by, electrocution, & caught-in/between) were responsible for 59.9% of construction worker deaths in 2017.

The top 10 violations in the Remediation Servies Industry (which includes asbestos abatement, lead abatement, crime scene cleanups, oil spill cleanup, mold remediation, and hazardous materials remediation companies) were:
  1. Asbestos (1926.1101)
  2. Respiratory Protection (1910.134)
  3. Lead (1926.62)
  4. Hazard Communication (1910.1200)
  5. Permit-required Confined Spaces (1910.146)
  6. Inorganic arsenic (1910.1018)
  7. Duty to have Fall Protection (1926.501)
  8. Electronic Submission of Injury and Illness Records to OSHA (1904.41)
  9. Scaffolding, general requirements (1926.451)
  10. Ladders (1926.1053)
Interesting how the top four violations in the remediation industry should be the industry's specialty.


Since the silica standard has been in effect since September 23, 2017, we looked to see how many citations were issued in FY 2018.  OSHA performed 202 inspections in reference to the silica standard (1926.1153) and issued 556 citations for total penalties of $815,426.  The top 10 industries cited were:
  1. Masonry Contractors
  2. Poured Concrete Foundation and Structure Contractors
  3. Commercial & Institutional Building Construction
  4. Water & Sewer Line & Related Structures Construction
  5. Highway, Street, & Bridge Construction
  6. Site Preparation Contractors
  7. Residential Building Contractors
  8. Flooring Contractors
  9. All Other Specialty Trade Contractors
  10. Siding Contractors

As you can see OSHA is still performing inspections and still issuing citations.  Though silica standard is fairly new OSHA conducted almost triple the inspections than it did regarding asbestos.  However, OSHA's focus is definitely on falls, struck by, electrocutions, and caught-in/between. 

That Time of Year! Conferences, Posting Requirements, and OSHA Violations Increased!

It's that time of year again. We're between conferences.  February 15-16, 2024 was the Professional Abatement Contractors of New Yor...