Food and OSHA safety - binary stars at the workplace

Currently, Steve Sayer is a workplace safety *consultant #accredited auditor to *OSHA, *EPA, *#GFSI, *USDA, *FDA, *Human Resources, *#and Humane Handling of feed birds and animals and is a technical writer for multiple industries, as well as a part-time maintenance worker for California State Beaches.

(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)

By Steve Sayer

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Visual binaries, those that appear as double stars when seen through a telescope, were discovered to be gravitationally bound by German-born English astronomer?William Herschel?(1738 – 1822) around 1800. ________________________________________________________________________

If your establishment is visited by OSHA, it’s more than likely that they’ll be asking for specific programs and supporting documentation with regards to the unique occupational hazards that may exist at your establishment.?

There are a number of programs and prevailing documentation that GFSI, USDA and FDA inspected establishments that all generate documentation on a daily basis involving their food safety/quality programs that are clearly inherently applicable (gravitational) to OSHA regulations.

All you need is a dollop of creativity topped off with a shower of inventiveness.

Let’s imagine that you’re conducting pre-operational inspection prior to operations beginning. You notice that there’s a steady stream of condensation dripping from an overhead refrigeration unit onto a pallet of boxed product in the freezer; resulting with the overspill forming a slippery mini-me krakatoa ice volcano on the freezer floor.?

You place hold tags on the palletized product and document the deficiency; including immediate corrective actions (re-work the product, cordon off and tag the area, and remove the burgeoning ice knoll) and implement planned future preventive measures (instruct the maintenance department to remedy the freezer unit in a timely manner) prior to informing the inspector that you’re ready to commence production.??

A photocopy of the pre-operational and corrective action report of the episode described above is filed away in chronological order in your OSHA file as you place the original documents in your SSOP file for any needed future references.??

Besides dodging a written non-compliance projectile from your in-spec-tor, what you’ve also accomplished was identifying and correcting a potential occupational safety hazard (a promising slip and fall somersault maneuver) that includes immediate corrective actions and future preventive measures (GFSIs Action Register & Corrective Action Register) taken. OSHA and GFSI including - USDA and FDA agencies absolutely cradles this brand of documentation. So will your company’s workers compensation carrier and your company's pocket book.

Keep in mind that your (USDA/FDA) HACCP system requires that you identify and eliminate any potential physical, chemical, or biological hazard (or if you slaughter beef "Other" for BSE) that may adulterate your products. Nearly the very same troika of hazards can be said regarding OSHA and GFSI requirements. That is; the identification and timely elimination of any potential physical, chemical or biological hazards that may cause injury or illness to your employees.

Other programs and procedures that can simultaneously be potential GFSI, USDA, FDA and OSHA identified hazards, or "two-in-one’s," can be unearthed from your GFSI programs, your good manufacturing practices program, food defense program, preventive maintenance program, GFSI planned improvement programs and sanitation programs, EPA (# waste (# plural) discharges, generator of recyclables, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Programs, etc.) and - even by going Greener,.. .?

Akin to the USDA, FDA and GFSI, OSHA openly encourages daily monitoring and record-keeping of newfound hazards, near misses and their associated immediate corrective actions including preventive measures that are generated. Ample documentation in the guise of accurate descriptions, dates, and signatures shall always be the name of the game for GFSI, FDA, USDA and OSHA.)

Food and OSHA safety do go hand N' hand and do synchronize with one another. What programs does your company perform on a daily basis that will collectively circumvent potential food and occupational hazards from occurring?

(Pictured to my right is Ms. Erika Voogd who helped me attain two (2) of my three (3) required shadow audits for humane handing certification. Ms. Voogd, an International humane handling auditor for many, many full moons, shall be contributing a chapter in the soon-to-be-released book - "The Jungle in the 21st century."

12/8/2010 (revised on Feb. 6, 2022) Meatingplace.com