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From the Staffing Experts

ResponsAble Safety Staffing From the Staffing Experts blog archives.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Working in Confined Spaces

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confined spaces

What is a Confined Space?

A confined work space is just large enough for an employee to enter and perform the assigned responsibilities. These areas usually have limited exit options. Thousands of workers safely perform critical tasks daily in confined spaces.  It’s important to have a full understanding of what this dangerous and crucial job entails. 

How to determine if a workspace is a confined space? 

In order for a work area to be defined as a confined space it must meet all three of the following criteria:

  • Limited Openings for Entry and Exit. 
    • An example would be a tank with a single opening. There is one way in and one way out. 
  • The Space is not Intended for Continuous Human Occupancy. 
    • For example, a tank, chimney, silos or manhole is not intended for a human to spend a continuous amount of time. 
  • The Space is Large Enough for You to Enter and Conduct Work.
    • If you can get in, you can get out. 

What are the risks of working in confined spaces?  

According to Amerisafe, 1.6 million Americans work in confined spaces each year. Individuals who work in confined spaces must be aware of risks involved and know how to prevent them. Potential risks include:

  • Explosions
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Drowning 
  • Asphyxiation 
  • Low oxygen levels

When possible, you should avoid entering or working in a confined space altogether. If entry is unavoidable, you must follow proper safety measures. 

What does OSHA say about Working in a Confined Space?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses the words “permit-required confined space” to describe a specific confined space meeting one or more of the following characteristics:

  • Hazardous (or potentially hazardous) atmosphere
  • Potential to engulf worker
  • Walls that converge inward
  • Floors that slope downward and taper into an area that could entrap or suffocate entrant
  • Contains any other recognized safety/health hazard (i.e. exposed live wires or heat stress)

Those of you a part of that 1.6 million mentioned at the beginning of this blog recognize that working in a confined space is not without risk.

Whether you’re working in a tank, vessel, tunnel or manhole, there are certain things to keep in mind.

Confined Spaces: What to Do

  • DO Know the Dangers – Make sure that you are well-informed of the specific risks with each confined space job. There are severe hazards to be aware of such as flooding, drowning, asphyxiation, toxic fumes, flammable air, lack of oxygen, etc. 
  • DO Ensure Capability – The person doing the job must be capable to complete it regarding health and training. If they are healthy and properly trained in both the work needed and the use of emergency equipment, they are qualified.
  • DO Have a Plan – For every risk involved, come up with a plan to control these risks for the specific confined workspace. For example, if there is a confined work space with reduced oxygen levels, make sure that your employer provides a breathing apparatus or has the space ventilated before entering.

Confined Spaces: What NOT to Do

  • DON’T Ignore the Hazards – Unfortunately, accidents do happen. Just because a confined space is safe one day doesn’t ensure it’s safe the following day. It’s imperative to be aware of the risks involved.
  • DON’T Enter the Space Until It’s Safe – Avoid rushing to complete a job before you can ensure safety. A confined space needs to be marked safe before a worker enters the work area.
  • DON’T Forget about Emergency Arrangements – If someone is working in a confined space, there needs to be a plan in place in order to know if they are safe. And, if they are not safe, how will you get them out of the situation?

Safety is imperative. Many job sites come with dangers or risks to be aware of. Do not take these lightly. Make sure that you are equipped with the proper gear, knowledge and training to complete the job effectively and safely.

If you are a confined space attendant looking for ongoing work opportunities in the United States, view our job board here and apply today! If you are an employer looking for quality safety professionals for your next job, learn more about our process here.

How ResponsAble Serves the Power and Utilities Industry

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In 2022, the Power and Utilities Industry will continue to forge a path towards cleaner and more reliable energy sources. As in all business, many challenges are ahead for the this specific industry such as: 

  • Boosting Clean Energy 
  • Ensuring Reliability and Resiliency
  • Maintaining Security 
  • Keeping Costs down

One of the first steps to tackle any of these challenges is creating a culture of safety on jobsites for all tradesmen and crew. We thought it would be helpful to answer a few questions individuals may have about this ever advancing industry and how ResponsAble can ensure safety and success all year long. 

Within the power and utilities industry, what are some specific safety needs that are present on jobsites? 

Current needs on job sites are for Safety Technicians to provide safety oversight, observations and recommendations for field work. Field work includes construction projects and maintenance work. The majority of construction and maintenance work includes Transmission and Distribution facilities. The good news is ResponsAble also supports construction and maintenance of Power Generation facilities.

What is required to have a safe job site in the Power & Utilities Industry? 

Many factors go into creating a safe work environment. Here are a few key things to consider:

  • Management support of a safety culture.
  • Experienced field safety oversight of work environments.
  • Appropriate tools, personal protective equipment, PPE, and safe work conditions.
  • A well trained workforce. 

What jobs can ResponsAble supply for the Power and Utilities Industry? 

  • Safety Technicians
  • Safety Managers
  • Observers
  • Inspectors
  • Utility Locators

Do these positions require specific skills, experience, or certifications?

Yes. COSS, CSST, CUSP, OHST are certifications that may be required for various jobs plus 3 – 5 years of relevant work experience is a standard requirement. Occupational hygiene safety technician experience accompanied by an OHST certification is also a common requirement.

What is the future for safety and the Power and Utilities Industry?

Power and Utilities looks to be a promising industry for investment for years to come. Fossil fuels are under pressure to upgrade their infrastructure for environmental compliance.  Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are emerging market segments. One thing is for sure, when it comes to finding qualified and certified employees for these jobs, ResponsAble is the answer.

How fast can ResponsAble fulfill the demand for safety jobs in the Power and Utilities Industry?

ResponsAble is a leader in sourcing and deploying experienced safety staff for the Power and Utility market. It is ResponsAble’s recruiting process coupled with our large database of pre-qualified staff that keep us as the most effective staffing resource for safety in the Power and Utilities industry.

Why should companies use ResponsAble for their safety staffing needs? 

ResponsAble is the leader in providing experienced safety personnel to industry. It is ResponsAble’s recruiting process coupled with our large database of pre-qualified staff that keep us as the most effective staffing resource for safety personnel.  

ResponsAble is distinct from typical staffing firms in that we specialize in safety-related positions and our entire staff is experienced with what the client needs from the employees we provide.  ResponsAble’s recruiting team is made up of experts in qualifying, assessing and maintaining top quality safety related employees. In addition to our team of recruiters, ResponsAble also employs dedicated project managers to provide point of contact and field coordination for the labor we provide on your job or project.  

ResponsAble Safety Staffing maintains a large pool of qualified safety professionals to support the needs of the Power Utilities Industry. From Safety Managers to Safety Technicians to General Labor, ResponsAble provides the qualified skills for successful and safe power industry jobs.  Our temp to hire solution has proven an effective way to recruit higher-level positions like Safety Managers and Directors.

Learn more here: https://responsablestaffing.com/power-utilities-safety-professionals/

Qualified Turnaround Safety Professionals – The Key to Success

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Turnaround Safety Professionals

If you have ever staffed safety projects of any kind, then you are fully aware of the safety challenges that come with executing a turnaround. A turnaround of any scale will introduce a totally different dynamic into the workplace and many of the safety challenges accompanying a turnaround are unique. One of those challenges is staffing the turnaround itself.

Hiring Quality Turnaround Safety Professionals

Logistical issues aside, let us consider the human factors and challenges that come with a turnaround. If you choose to do your own staffing, in order to find quality people you would need to:

  • Run the employment ads
  • Staff the job fairs
  • Interview more people because you don’t have a database to pull from
  • Pay for the short-term administrative costs of adding all of the people as employees
  • Pay for the workman’s comp
  • Replace the employees that don’t work out
  • And more…

Not to mention that turnarounds inherently involve a long period of pre-planning. It can take months, even years, in the planning stage to assess every detail associated with a turnaround of any scale. So, how can you find quality safety professionals for your turnaround AND effectively manage the project at the same time? Outsource your turnaround crew from a safety staffing agency, like ResponsAble.

Outsourcing Your Turnaround Safety Staff

Using an outside safety staffing company can ultimately reduce your risk and costs. When you outsource your safety staff with ResponsAble, we will:

  • Give you access to our database of already interviewed and selected candidates.
  • Handle the payroll administration.
  • Provide the workman’s compensation insurance for these employees.
  • Handle any and all communication regarding logistics, hiring and termination.If someone isn’t working out, they will communicate for you, and also replace the position so you do not have an unfilled hole in your team.
  • Take care of all the details that come with the hiring process so you can focus on effectively planning and managing your turnaround.

At ResponsAble, our safety professionals stay consistently employed so they stay sharp in their training and skill level. We don’t supply you with just warm bodies; we have a ready pool of trained and reliable safety personnel that have years of experience.

ResponsAble Safety Staffing provides critical safety-related personnel across a broad range of industries including Oil & Gas, Chemical Processing, Construction, Power, Nuclear, and General Industries. Get connected with a project manager to explore solutions and options for your upcoming project or job. We exist to make things happen for your team. Let’s talk at (225) 753-1909.

EHS Recruitment in a Tough Market

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EHS Recruitment

We are in a tough market for finding quality EHS talent.  It’s pretty easy to point out reasons for the current labor market being so tight but much harder to know how to overcome it.  Let’s look at a couple of causes for the limitations on available talent and move on to how to succeed in spite of the short supply.

The Current EHS Labor Market

The value and associated need for pro-actively manage workplace safety and health has become clear to employers over the past several decades.  Investment in Environmental Health & Safety positions continues to increase by businesses across broad industry segments.  

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. OS&H positions are projected to grow at a 7% average annual rate over the coming years of 2020 – 2030.  The projected growth rate translates to approximately 8,800 additional positions / year nationally.  Simple math produces an estimated employer demand of 88,000 new OS&H professionals over the coming decade.  

The most recent National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, NIOSH, study on safety related education provides some insight into the supply pipeline of available safety professionals.  Total graduates from all OS&H related disciplines during the 5 year period of 2011 – 2015 was 12,000 graduates.  Simple math reveals an average annual graduation rate of 2,400 OS&H graduates / year.  

Contrasting the projected demand for OS&H professionals with the average annual supply of OS&H professionals may shed light on why the current EHS labor market is tight.  BLS data projects a demand of 8,800 position average adds / year while NIOSH data shows a supply of 2,400 average graduates / year.  There is a potential 6,400 shortfall in available OS&H professionals / year as we look forward.  

Recruiting EHS Professionals

How do you overcome a tight market supply for any professional?  

The levers you should pull to attract quality talent of course apply.  Competitive pay, benefits, culture, and opportunity will play a big role in how attractive your position will be to candidates.  All employers are competing with these tools for the prospective employees.  We’re not going to dwell upon these fundamental employment elements as they are foundational to all positions whether Safety Professional related or otherwise.  In short you probably already know to carefully evaluate all of these elements for all recruiting.  

What can you do with recruiting that is unique to Safety Professionals?

There are a few actions that if sustained over time will greatly improve your ability to source and hire EHS Professionals.  

Define the Position

As a company that specializes in Safety Staffing and Recruiting, we see major gaps in published job descriptions and actual employer expectations All-The-Time.  Safety related positions are very diverse and the professionals who fill them are not a one size fits all solution.  It is critical that the recruiting function do the work to understand the role, what’s required, what’s expected and the associated qualifications that will make a candidate successful in the specific role.  

Network

It’s a cliché because it works.  The safety community can be a tight knit circle and there is no better way to find good candidates than a strong personal referral from someone with knowledge of a candidates past performance and capabilities.  Interact with safety related trade organizations and social media boards to both publish your organization’s priority on safety and advertise career opportunities.  

Include Experience/Experts

By this we mean someone with expertise in the role as defined actively participates in the recruiting and interviewing process.  Including a subject matter expert in recruiting accomplishes two major objectives.  First, you minimize the risk that the candidate cannot perform up to their resume.  Second, you put your best foot forward as an employer when you can “talk shop” in a meaningful way with recruits.  

If you actively work the three bullets above in concert with a sound foundation of good employment benefits as described, you will improve your performance with EHS recruitment for your team.  

You’re not alone if you’ve read this post and feel that the principles make sense but you don’t have the time or resources to pursue making sure you accurately Define the Position, Network, Include Experience in Recruiting and cover all the employment fundamentals that you have to for all your positions.  

How ResponsAble Helps With EHS Recruitment

ResponsAble Safety Staffing has been successfully filling a wide variety of safety roles, writing Position Descriptions, Networking with Safety Professionals, and employing Experienced Safety Professionals for over a decade.  Our team of knowledgeable Safety Staff Recruiters and Safety Project Managers will provide any level of service you need staffing a temporary role, placing a temp to hire or serving as a turn key Direct Hire Placement Recruiter.  

Please contact ResponsAble Safety Staffing for any safety related staffing need.  

OSHA Inspection Process: What to Expect

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OSHA inspection processs - responsable safety staffing

Most employers dread the realization that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) may knock on their workplace door at any time. In many ways, it can be comparable to getting an IRS audit letter in the mail. Here is a walkthrough of the OSHA inspection process so you know what to expect if a compliance safety and health officer (CSHO) drops by for a surprise inspection.  

OSHA Inspection Process: On-Site Steps

Preparation

Before conducting an inspection, the OSHA inspector will research the inspection history of a worksite using various data sources, review the operations and processes in use, and the standards most likely to apply. They gather appropriate personal protective equipment and testing instruments to measure potential hazards.

Presentation of Credentials

The on-site inspection begins with the presentation of the compliance safety and health officer’s credentials, which include both a photograph and a serial number.

Opening Conference

The compliance officer will explain why OSHA selected the workplace for inspection and describe the scope of the inspection, walkaround procedures, employee representation and employee interviews. The employer then selects a representative to accompany the compliance officer during the inspection. An authorized representative of the employees, if any, also has the right to accompany an inspector. The compliance officer will consult privately with a reasonable number of employees during the inspection.

Walkaround

Following the opening conference, the compliance officer and the representatives will walk through the portions of the workplace safety areas covered by the inspection, inspecting for hazards that could lead to employee injury or illness. The compliance officer will also review worksite injury and illness records (as required by OSHA) and the posting of the official OSHA poster.

The Closing Conference

The inspector is required to have a closing conference, jointly or separately, with company and employee representatives at the end of the inspection. If management wants separate closing conferences, OSHA will hold the employee representative conference first to allow for any more employee input.

OSHA will discuss “apparent violations” (sometimes called “alleged violations”) and ways to correct hazards, deadlines, and possible fines. A second closing conference may be held if needed information, such as sampling results were not initially available. 

OSHA Inspection Process: Violations

OSHA may choose to issue citations and financial penalties to the employer for violating specific OSHA standards or regulations. OSHA must generally issue any citations within six months of the occurrence of any violations. Citations are supposed to be mailed to employee representatives no later than one day after the citation is sent to the employer.

The best way to avoid citations and fines is to keep your work environment up to OSHA standards. You can even use your own checklist to make sure that things are running smoothly before or during an inspection. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the CSHOs are, “experienced, well-trained industrial hygienists and safety professionals whose goal is to assure compliance with OSHA requirements and help employers and workers reduce on-the-job hazards and prevent injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the workplace.” Overall, you might dread all OSHA inspections, but they are necessary to ensure that workplaces remain safe and within regulation.

Reduce Risk with ResponsAble

At ResponsAble, we believe having well-trained, experienced safety professionals on a job site is the best way to cultivate a positive safety culture. Because we are one of the only agencies that specialize in industrial safety staffing, we can provide a higher level of thoroughness and attention to your safety project. We have the ability to staff experienced Safety Professionals and Managers, Confined Space/Hole Watch Attendants, and Industrial Laborers.

Give us a call at 225-753-1909 to talk with us about your upcoming projects.

ResponsAble Safety Staffing: Your EHS Recruitment Agency

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ehs recruitment agency

Are you a safety professional looking for consistent and challenging work? Are you a hiring manager in desperate need of trained and experienced staff? As an EHS recruitment agency, ResponsAble Safety Staffing exists to make your safety staffing experience as smooth as possible. So, what does our process look like? 

ResponsAble’s Recruitment Process 

At ResponsAble Safety Staffing, we recruit based on experience, qualifications, and character. Don’t waste time searching through questionable candidates. Meet with vetted, pre-qualified applicants from a pool of primed and experienced talent.

Once you are matched with one of our project managers, we’ll handle the complete hiring process for you:

  • Screening and Hiring
  • Training and Testing
  • Placing and Support
  • HR and Payroll
  • Risk and Liability

EHS Recruitment Agency

Let’s say you need to recruit a new EHS professional. EHS recruitment is all about finding a professional who has the right industry knowledge and credentials. Our recruiters screen for EHS professionals that know where to go to find standards, how to interpret them, explain them in a way that non EHS employees will understand, and then understand how to apply them in the field. Our recruiters also look for proper Certified Safety Professional credentials. Once we find the candidates that fit your safety needs, we take care of all the new hire paperwork and on-boarding so you have more time to focus on your project.  

Stay safe by using the right tool for every job. ResponsAble Safety Staffing is the best tool for finding qualified safety professionals. You may not have time to seek out highly qualified safety professionals, or new job opportunities, in a time crunch, but we do. In fact, we don’t have to find them. We already have them, and they’re ready to go. Contact us today to learn how to outsource your safety staffing with us, the safety staffing experts. Give us a call at 225-753-1909!