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UFCW Stewards

Stewards: Keeping Our Workplace Safe

Oct 11, 2011

 

Many UFCW members in meatpacking, poultry and food processing plants may not be aware that they work around anhydrous ammonia – a highly hazardous chemical that could trigger an evacuation of their plant as well as the surrounding community.

 
Under OSHA’s Process Safety Management Standard, workers and their representatives have special rights to action and information in every facility with over 10,000 pounds of ammonia. Most plants that have to cool large storage or production areas use well over 10,000 pounds in their ammonia refrigeration systems.

 

 
Since an ammonia release could affect workers in any area of the plant, stewards can benefit from a basic knowledge of the hazards of ammonia and the steps the employer must take to protect workers.

 

 
The Process Safety Management Standard gives stewards the right to ALL information the company has about their ammonia refrigeration system. The company also has to have a system in place for workers to express their concerns and to receive responses about those concerns.

 

 
“Anhydrous ammonia is a deadly material,” said Jeff Dillener, a steward at Cargill and member of UFCW Local 230 in Ottumwa, Iowa. “As a UFCW steward, I have been trained to follow exact procedures in handling this material so that I can keep my fellow workers safe from harm.”

 

 
Every three years, the company has to conduct an audit of their compliance with the Process Safety Management regulations. Stewards can request to see the recommendations of the past two audits. If the company is carrying over the same recommendations from one audit to the next, that’s a good indication that they are not taking their own Process Safety Management program seriously.

 

 
The regulations for highly hazardous chemicals are different from the general health and safety regulations for regular production operations. One of the big differences is that breakdowns are not acceptable in ammonia refrigeration systems. Components of the ammonia refrigeration system must be replaced BEFORE they reach their breaking point! Every component of an ammonia refrigeration system (including the miles of piping on the roof) should have an estimated life cycle and a scheduled replacement date. This system of fixing things before they break is called Mechanical Integrity. Since ammonia refrigeration systems are closed systems, the ammonia never should get out of the system into the air. A leak or a release is an indication that the system is not being maintained the way the law requires it to be.

 
An important provision of the Process Safety Management Standard is the requirement for the company to think through changes to the system BEFORE they make those changes. They must document this process, which is called Management of Change. OSHA has made it very clear that personnel changes, such as changes in staffing levels, hours, outsourcing and training, that have an impact on the ammonia refrigeration system must go through the Management of Change process. Members can ask to be part of this process and weigh in on the possible consequences of the change being considered. This is a way for workers to fight dangerous reductions in Refrigeration Technician staffing levels or dangerous increases in mandatory overtime. Contact the UFCW Health and Safety Office at (202) 223-3111 for information about training.

 

 

UFCW Stewards

OSHA 300 Logs: An Important Tool To Improve Safety and Ensure Accountability

Apr 08, 2010

 

Safety is one of the most important issues at any plant. Preventing injuries at the workplace is about identifying hazards and getting them fixed, and stewards play a particularly important role in making sure this happens.
Many workers are already familiar with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a division within the U.S. Department of Labor that sets and enforces safety standards in the workplace.
These standards are the law and employers are required to comply with them. Among these requirements is the OSHA Form 300. Most employers with 10 or more full-time employees are required to file this form, which is a yearly log of work-related injuries.
Miguel Luna, a steward from UFCW Local 2, works in a plant in Guymon, Okla. He has been an active member of his plant’s safety committee for more than four years.
“I joined the safety committee to help to keep my coworkers safe. Together with other members, we have helped to improve safety at the plant. The OSHA 300 logs are fundamental for our mission. They help a lot,” Luna said.
OSHA mandates that employers record all new cases of work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses if they involve death, time away from work, restricted work, transfer from another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional.
“An OSHA 300 log is where companies record the injuries that occur at the workplace,” said Luna. “By law, they have to report all the injuries to OSHA.”
The OSHA law gives workers and their unions the right to have access to injury logs.

 

Stewards, workers, and supervisors can use the OSHA 300 logs to help to improve safety in a food processing or meatpacking plant.
“At our plant, our safety committee meets once a month. We talk about how to improve safety at our plant,” said Luna. “The OSHA logs are very useful for those
of us on the committee, because we can see if we need to improve safety in one area or if we can do something different.”
Luna added that there have been several instances when the OSHA logs have helped the committee to improve safety at the plant.

 

“For example, if we see in the logs  that many injuries are occurring on the line due to an ergonomic issue, then we look into what is causing that issue, we investigate, and once we have reached a conclusion, we meet with the plant’s safety director,” he said.
Unfortunately, in some instances, workplace injuries are being under-counted. This year OSHA has enacted an enforcement program to review the logs and make certain that employers record all injuries.
Luna said that stewards play an important role in making sure employers keep the log current.
“As stewards, we have to review the logs to make sure injuries are being recorded in an accurate and proper way,” he said. “I recommend that stewards stay on top of things and check the logs on a regular basis.”
He said that if a steward suspects that an injury has been inaccurately reported in the OSHA logs, the best way to solve any discrepancy is to talk to the injured worker, get the facts, and talk to the plant’s safety manager or supervisors to try to clarify the issues.
For Luna, the most important thing to do if an injury occurs is to make sure that the affected worker fully recovers.
“Stewards should check back with the injured worker and follow up throughout his or her recovery. We have to support each other and that means making sure injured workers get the proper treatment,” he added.

UFCW Stewards

Be Prepared to Act When Injuries Occur

Jun 11, 2009

 

Even in a safe workplace, injuries are sometimes unavoidable. If a worker is injured, it is important that she or he get immediate medical attention.
Stewards should be prepared to act if an injury occurs during their shift.
“If a coworker is injured we should know what to do,” said Jorge Palomera- Angel, a steward from UFCW Local 22, who works at a meatpacking plant in Fremont, Neb. “As stewards, we should make sure that our coworkers receive immediate and proper medical attention if they get injured on the job.”
Palomera-Angel has been a steward for over six year at his plant. He said that during this time he has always helped coworkers who were injured on the job.
“When a coworker gets injured, the most important thing to do is to act as fast as you can,” said Palomera-Angel. “Immediately after the incident, notify your line supervisor and, if possible, accompany your coworker to your plant’s nurse’s office, if they have one.”
He said that it is important to be with the injured coworker while filing the injury or incident report with management.
“Try to help with the report. If you saw the incident, include yourself as a witness, or try to find other coworkers who were present at that time,” said Palomera- Angel. “Make sure that the report is complete and accurate. This will help to resolve any possible future conflicts.”
Palomera-Angel said that many workers don’t take full advantage of their health insurance.
“When people get injured, sometimes they just go to their company’s nurse office and their health worsens, because they don’t visit a physician right away,” he said. “I’ve known people who don’t want to go to the doctor because they are afraid of the costs.”
Palorema-Angel, a father of four, said he feels very fortunate to work in a unionized plant because of the great health care benefits.
“I have some friends who work in a non-union plant and they have to pay way too much money for their health insurance. We are lucky to have a union and a good contract,” he said.
Stewards should be acquainted with their company’s health insurance policy so they can guide and advise other workers who might need this benefit, said Palomera-Angel.
“Sometimes injuries go unreported because workers don’t say they are injured and don’t go to the doctor. We cannot improve safety at our plants if workers don’t step forward and report an injury, even if it is a small cut,” he said.
Palomera-Angel said that workers should visit their own primary care physician, even after they have been treated by the company’s medical services.
“Some of my coworkers don’t want to take time off to go and see the doctor. Many of them don’t know that we have sick leave in our contract,” he said.
Stewards should be familiar with their contract’s sick leave and extended sick leave policies, Palomera-Angel said.
“Stewards play an important role in improving the safety at the plant. We are in a union because we support each other, and that means looking out for each other’s health and safety,” he said.