Skew,
I'm sorry to hear about your OSHA visit.
I'm curious about what the fines were. For the individual offenses. This would be very interesting.
Thanks for sharing your unpleasant experience.
I have heard it's almost impossible to survive an Osha visit without some type of fine.
These large orgaizations in government that are created for "our own good" become a business of their own and often go overboard in time. The inspectors for such organizations usually have a power attitude and love to push their weight around. It seems that most health inspectors, osha inspectors, IRS personel and so forth have that same attitude problem. It's because they know they have so much power and control over you and can make your small business life a living hell. Those organizations need those fines to support their large number of employees, so the more strict and detailed rules of safty they make up, the more rules they can catch you breaking.
Why does TCIA put out a book called "Surviving an Osha Inspection"? Have you read it, it's scary. It's because no reasonable operation can survive an inspection. If they want, they will find something you are doing unsafe. What's the one thing TCIA says to do first if you know you are being watched, SHUT DOWN THE OPERATION IMMEDIATELY. Now what does that tell ya.
I've been in business for myself for over 10 years now and have never had an employee hurt any more that a smashed finger or minor cut. My groundmen use chaps when cutting and we always use hardhats and eye and ear protection. Chaps have saved 2 groundmen in all that time from severve leg injury/amputation from a saw, and they were both experienced saw users.
A note about those stretch saw pants: They cost SO much; which is why it makes sense that it sounds like you guys just use one pair. But...... How in the world do you keep wearing one pair of pants EVERY DAY. I don't know what you guys do during a day of your work, but my pants are filthy, filthy at the end of a day, there is NO WAY I could wear the same pair of pants a second day (they would stink and look aweful!).
I personally hate chaps, but do try to wear them on the ground to set a good example. I would HATE to wear them in the tree climbing. I use the frontal chaps on the ground and all they have done for me is cause me a bit of harm and irritation.-Sometimes when I run to do something my toe somehow catches on the other chap leg and trips me, this has happened several times. I started using saws when I was 15, and used them for 7 yrs working for others without using chaps at all. Then the first 5 years of my own business I probably didn't use them either. To this day I have never had a cut or slight scratch from a running saw (I have cut my finger sharpening before). I do it to show a good example and to be Osha compliant, but I do honestly hate it. But I do want my groundmen to always wear them, especially since MY injured workers insurance policy would be taking care of their medical bills if they did have an accident. I on the other hand am excluded from my policy and my medical bill payment would come out of my own pocket, so I would not effect anyone but myself, SO I should be able to decide how "dangerously" I want to live my life. Maybe I would be excluded? I don't know? Do you?
What about BASE jumpers and all those dangerous activities in the world? Maybe we should force them to live safer lives as well. No one is resposible for their own actions anymore, we need government and society to tell us how safe we should live our lives. -I don't like this.
If a groundperson is educated on chaps and other ppe and doesn't want to use them, and if the boss also agrees to let him have a choice (which I would NOT), then they should be able to sign a waiver and be responsible for their own loss of limb or death or what have you.
Well, that's enough blabbing for now, and it's too much to read over for mistakes, so hope it's understandable.
I really started this response to ask Skew what those fines were. That would be very interesting.
Thank you,
