Applying OSHA Code Of Federal Regulation In The Home Services And Contracting Ecosystem

Patrick Flynn, LSP, CSD Director of Safety, United States Of America

Code of Federal Regulation & OSHA standards are written with a fairly black and white perspective and often refer to specific tabulated data for direction on items such as PELs (Permissible Exposure Limits) for environmental, respiratory and nose hazards. These hazards are easily measured and protected against through common hierarchy of control means in workplace environments such as manufacturing, packaging and warehousing. With that, how does a contractor protect its front-line personnel in workplace environments such as the residential construction/repair and the home services sector?

Drive down the street in a residential neighborhood and look at 100 homes. Of those 100 homes, there are 100 vastly different work environments. For the residential or home services contractor, each time they go to work, they could potentially encounter a different quantity of hazard that OSHA has meticulous PEL detail on. 

Compare this to an employee in a manufacturing environment that operates at a single workstation that produces a consistent amount of measurable hazard(s) day in and day out.

A Job Hazard Assessment is the bell weather exercise in determining what level of protection is required to safeguard an employee during the scope of work they are completing. Referring again to the example above of an employee working at a station in a manufacturing facility; this JHA exercise can be done once (or periodically) and will remain relevant until the machine or process changes. When a service tech is called to a home to diagnosis and repair a plumbing, electrical or HVAC system (for example), they are not going into an environment with a prepared JHA for hazards they may encounter. The unknown is unknown.

Our employees who deploy to work in unfamiliar atmospheres must assume the worst and prepare for an atmosphere that contains upper PELs of hazards. We as the employer must establish standard operating procedures for employee protection derived from JHAs taken from a substantial sample of similar work environments. For our friends in many coastal areas, residential crawl spaces are a common scene in the home services field.

 When a company dispatches a service tech or crew to a home where work is contracted to be done in a crawl space, the employee(s) can refer to training they received per the crawl space JHA. Empowering our employees to navigate any level of hazards that may encounter at a customer location is achieved by providing intentional and detailed training and proper safety solutions and equipment. PPE (personal protective equipment) is always our last line of defense after deploying solutions such as LEVs (local exhaust ventilation) systems, negative air machines and/or air movers to treat the working area atmosphere.

"The ultimate motivation for any employer is to champion the wellbeing of the enterprises most important asset, its people"

The ultimate motivation for any employer is to champion the wellbeing of the enterprises most important asset, its people. With that, there is a level of accountability any employer must adhere to from compliance agencies such as OSHA. If we read the OSHA Code of Federal language in its absolute form, it may seem like an unrealistic standard in some residential and home service applications. If we read OSHA CFR and interpret the application of the standard with a genuine intention to overachieve minimum standards, we will achieve both employee wellbeing AND compliance.