The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration
recently issued an updated National Emphasis Program on Amputations. The National Emphasis
Program was created in 2006 to help protect employees in industries with high numbers and rates
of amputations. In this updated version, OSHA has used more current enforcement data and
Bureau of Labor Statistics injury data to assist in site selection targeting. This is the same
methodology previously used by OSHA. The statistics have shown more than 2,000 workers
suffered amputations in 2013 in the manufacturing industry. This created an amputation rate of
1.7 per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry, which is more than twice the average of
all private industry (0.7 per 10,000 employees).
“Workers injured from unguarded machinery and equipment can suffer permanent disability or
lose their lives,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David
Michaels. “This directive will help ensure that employers identify and eliminate serious
workplace hazards and provide safe workplaces for all workers.”
So if you own a company in the manufacturing industry, it is important to ensure your machine
guarding and lockout tagout policies and procedures are being followed. And if you have any
concerns about the efficacy of your policies and procedures, it is important to properly update
them, either in-house or with the assistance of a qualified third party occupational safety and
health auditing firm.
If you have any questions about how this updated program impacts your company or if you have
any questions about your current occupational safety and health policies and procedures, please
contact us. If you have anything to add about the updated National Emphasis Program on
Amputations, please leave a comment.
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