CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2 SOLUTIONS TO END-OF-CHAPTER EXERCISES

2.1. The achievement of worker safety lies principally in the hands of the workers themselves and their direct supervisors; thus it is principally a line function. Safety and health managers, however, are staff positions.

2.2. Acting as a facilitator in assisting, motivating, and advising the line function in achieving worker safety and health.

2.3. They too often are such emotional crusaders for the cause that they lose their credibility and with it their eligibility to be considered a "manager."

2.4. That safety must be achieved by line personnel facilitated by the staff function.

2.5. Go to top management to re-determine its level of commitment to safety and health.

2.6. The workers compensation system is a state, not federal system. The system is nearly 100 years old; the first workers compensation laws were introduced into state legislatures in 1909.

2.7. The ostensible purpose is to protect the worker by providing statutory compensation levels to be paid by the employer for various injuries that may be incurred by the worker.

An ulterior feature is immunity from additional liability for the employer, except where "gross negligence" can be proven.

2.8. Management contends that some risk is inescapable in any line of work. Therefore, their answer to the question is no. The worker bears some of the risk in return for his/her pay for the job.

2.9. The employer or the employer's insurance carrier.

2.10. An industrial safety consultant employed by an insurance company. The consultant's objective is to keep claims low among clients of his insurance company.

2.11. A standardized recordkeeping system for industrial safety established by the National Safety Council and later superseded by OSHA's system of recordkeeping.

2.12. Differences in recordkeeping requirements for OSHA and its predecessor Z16.1 system. Also other variations in conditions, such as employment levels and recession cycles.

2.13. The "lost workdays" method would not reveal some very serious accidents, especially fatalities, that do not cause a loss of a workday.

2.14. One that is work related and requires medical treatment.

2.15. 25 x 200,000 = 25 = 8.33

300 x 40 x 50 3

2.16. The injury/illness incidence rate computation prescribed by OSHA relates to 200,000 work-hours (roughly one year for a 100-employee firm), whereas the traditional frequency rate relates to 1,000,000 work-hours (roughly one year for a 500 employee firm). Also the OSHA injury/illness incidence rate applies to all work-related injuries/illnesses which require medical treatment, whereas the traditional frequency rate related only to "lost-time" cases.

2.17. Frequency measures the numbers of cases per standard quantity of work-hours.

Severity measures the total impact of cases in terms of total "lost workdays" per standard quantity of workhours.

Seriousness is the ratio of severity to frequency and measures the average seriousness of all cases.

All three are obsolete terms now.

2.18. OSHA Form 300a, the annual "Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses" must be posted on February 1 each year and remain posted until April 30.

2.19. For general records: 5 years (Chapter 5 will reveal longer retention requirements for certain records.)

2.20. Yes; they can help to discover hazards, but they can also dilute responsibility for workplace safety and health and can degenerate into spy parties. Without adequate orientation, safety and health committees can often become unreasonable.

2.21. Direct costs are the "tip of the iceberg" compared to indirect costs.

2.22. (1) Costs of wages paid for time lost by workers who were not injured.

(2) Cost of damage to material or equipment.

(3) Cost of wages paid for time lost by the injured worker.

(4) Extra cost of overtime work necessitated by the accident.

(5) Cost of wages paid supervisors for time required for activities necessitated by the accident.

(6) Wage cost caused by decreased output of injured worker after return to work.

(7) Cost of learning period of new worker.

(8) Uninsured medical cost borne by the company.

(9) Cost of time spent by higher supervision and clerical workers.

(10) Miscellaneous costs such as public liability claims, rental equipment, and lost sales.

2.23. Noninjury accidents are usually caused by the same types of conditions and practices that result in injury accidents.

2.24. First-line supervisors

2.25. A six-month work period = 1000 hours.

(a) General injury/illness rate = 18 x 200,000 = 72

50 x 1000

(b) Traditional frequency rate = 4 x 1,000,000 = 80

50 x 1000

(c) Comparing with general statistics for the Year 2000 in Figure 2.2, this appears to be a very dangerous industry. For the Year 2000, the total incidence rate (lost workday cases + cases without lost workdays) was 6.1, compared to this firm's general rate of 72. This firm is approximately six times as dangerous as the "average firm" in the private sector. Even compared to the most dangerous industries in Figure 2.2 ("transportation by air" and "transportation equipment") this firm is more than four times as dangerous. The "traditional frequency rate" of 80 is not comparable to Table 2.2 because it is based on a factor of 1,000,000, not 200,000. Had the "lost workday cases" rate been calculated using the 200,000 factor, the result would have been 16. This would compare with a general "private sector" rate of 3.0 for the Year 2000. So, by the "lost workday cases" criterion also, this is a very dangerous firm.

2.26. (2 + 1) x 200,000

Total injury incidence rate = ------------------------

25 x 2000

= 300/25 = 12

LWDI = 1 x 200,000 = 4

25 x 2000

2.27. (a) Total incidence rate = (3+1+1+1+1) x 200,000

62 x 2000

= 11.29

(b) (According to current OSHA recordkeeping policy, count calendar days, not just workweek days, i.e. 7 days/wk, not 5 days/wk)

Number-of-lost-workdays rate = (7+7+42) x 200,000

62 x 2000

= 90.3

62 x 2000

(excludes illnesses and all fatalities)

2.28. The 12 first-aid cases are non-recordable. The two illnesses do not enter into the calculation of the LWDI, but the lost-time injuries would. Therefore, the LWDI would be calculated as:

LWDI = 3 x 200,000 = 6.67 for the 4-month period

135 x (4/12) x 2000

Since 6.67 > 3.6, this would indicate that improvement is needed to meet the objective. However, if no more lost time injuries occurred for the year (an unlikely outcome):

LWDI = 3 x 200,000 = 300 = 2.22

135 x 2000 135

and the objective LWDI of 3.6 would easily be met.

2.29. The classification of the 12 accident files in this case study is subject to some variation due to individual judgment. This analysis will assume the following classification:

Columns on the OSHA 300 Log

File		G	H	I	J	K	L	M1	M2	M3	M4	M5
1	not recordable
2			X				14					X
3	not recordable
4			X			28	7		X
5					X			X
6					X			X
7	not recordable
8					X				X
9			X				14				X
10	not recordable
11		X						X
12			X			42	3	X
	Column Totals:	1	4	0	3	70	38	4	2	0	1	1

(a) LWDI = 1 x 200,000 = 1 = .11

900 x 2000 9

(The LWDI excludes fatalities, excludes illnesses, and includes all "lost-time" injuries, including those injuries in which the worker has "restricted work activity days," i.e. is temporarily transferred to another job, even if there are no days away from work.)

Total Injury rate = (4 - 1) x 200,000 = 3 = .33

(excluding fatalities) 900 x 2000 9

Total Illness rate = (2+0+1+1) x 200,000 = 4 = .44

900 x 2000 9

Fatality rate = 1 x 200,000 = 1 = .11

900 x 2000 9

Number-of-lost-workdays rate = (70 + 38) x 200,000

900 x 2000

= 108/9 = 12

Specific hazard incidence rate (fractures) = (1 + 1) x 200,000

900 x 2000

= 2/9 = .22

(b) Comparing National Safety Council Statistics for 2000 (see Figure 2.2 of the text):

Total incidence (including fatalities)

.89 << 6.1 therefore, much safer than the all industry average

2.30. To complete the table, add up the columns to get the following totals:

File

Column totals: