Here in Australia we call safety related matters at work OH&S (Occupational Health and Safety) or workplace health and safety.
Can any one tell me what the official and common terms are for them in the US please?
Many thanks.
OSHA Occupational Safety Health Act is the name of the federal law, the entity that has the oversight is OSHA Occupational Health and Safety Administration.
Typically OSHA is used to enforce daily work conditions, and general safety issues.
got a problem?
Although OSHA is involved, aboard vessels it is limited in powers.
OSHA is HUGE ashore, can literally shutdown whole plants, fine millions and prosecute officers of corporations.
What industry are you referring to?
Post accident, the big dog here is the NTSB.
In our marine industry, the NTSB National Transportation Safety Board has ultimate authority, since we are in the transportation business. But there are several other organizations that have some oversight also: The United States Coast Guard, ABS American Bureau of Shipping (which has been made a defacto enforcer of USCG regulations through inspection, and insurance companies (who have to pay for the screwups)
If you google up several recent accidents, you will see NTSB investigations available. In almost each one, other than personal responsibility (the Coast Guard goes after individuals and their license) the NTSB has full authority to censure and demand changes in operations. Sometimes these changes take years (decades) to enact, but they do happen.
At our company In Louisiana, its called HS&E-- Health, Safety, & Environmental.
[QUOTE=cappy208;73388]
In our marine industry, the NTSB National Transportation Safety Board has ultimate authority … the NTSB has full authority to censure and demand changes in operations. Sometimes these changes take years (decades) to enact, but they do happen.[/QUOTE]
The NTSB has no authority to censure anyone or demand changes. It can recommend changes that may or may not be adopted by regulation or procedure. It is an accident investigation agency, it is not a police department or regulator.
The vast majority of NTSB recommendations are ignored. The NTSB does not have lobbyists with links to the politicians who have the power to make changes. The industry sector that should make the changes will pay a great deal to ensure that profit does not become secondary to safety. Until the public becomes outraged enough to embarrass the politicians or threaten profits, no changes ever have, or ever will occur. There is a good reason the CG and FAA are called “tombstone agencies” they won’t change anything until the number of tombstones are too great for the public to ignore.
The only judicial component of the NTSB, and it must have been one of those weird political things where someone needed a place to park a service or procedure, is that NTSB is the home of the Administrative Law Judges who are, in effect, the court of last resort for airmen and mariners who have been subject to certificate action - lost their license. Even when the CG says its decision is final, a mariner has one more place to appeal.
Steamer: As usual you are correct, and I am wrong.
from Wiki: “The Board has no legal authority to implement, or impose, its recommendations. That burden falls upon regulators at either the federal or state level or individual transportation companies.”
However, the recommendations usually are followed or highly suggested. Interesting concept to have an investigative entity with no enforcement. Figures. Someone in DC probably had a relative that needed a job!
Also from Wiki: [I]The Board’s most important product is the safety recommendation. The NTSB has issued about 13,000 safety recommendations in its history, the vast majority of which have been adopted in whole or in part by the entities to which they were directed.[/I]
Thanks for the correction on the adaptation of recommendations, I always thought that very few ever became practice. A quick review of the NTSB database shows 50 “unacceptable” or “no” responses out of 475 made in the past 5 years. Many of them are the same old same old, fatigue, junk buses, lack of training.
The NTSB has been harping about fatigue and other human factors for decades but very little has changed in that respect since it is too “touchy feely” and each instance can more easily be blamed on a single individual rather than a widespread practice or culture. The good old catch-all of “pilot error” is the poster child of that approach.
[QUOTE=Steamer;73397]…Even when the CG says its decision is final, a mariner has one more place to appeal.[/QUOTE]
The Coast Guard usually states their decision is “final [U]agency [/U]action” [empahsis added] I’m not aware of the CG saying their decision is the final action or recourse available.
QHSE- Quality, Health, Safety, and Environmental.