Beauty Shops and Hair Product Manufacturers: OSHA is inspecting for products containing formaldehyde. Many products mis-labeled "Formaldehyde Free."
Often referred to as "Brazilian Blowout" products, these products contain a chemical that releases formaldehyde, a cancer-producing agent that also causes severe skin, eye and respiratory irritation.
Please see this notice from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and OSHA.
If you work in or operate a hair salon, manufacture or distribute hair products, it is important that you check these links for complete warning information:
Facts about Formaldehyde in Hair Smoothing Products
Free Workers’ Comp Seminars
Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Laws and Workplace Safety
Workers’ Compensation Topics
- Review of Key Statutory Definitions
- Insurance Coverage Requirements - Exemptions
- Contractor Responsibilities - Enforcement Provisions
Workplace Safety Topics - presented by OSHA (U.S. Dept. of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
- Direct and Indirect Costs - Inspections
- Florida Fatalities
Classroom AND Webinar Options
1. Classroom sessions are available at the locations listed on our flyer. All sessions are from 9AM to Noon. The flyer lists class dates and cities in which the seminar will be held. (The location addresses are listed on the registration form and advanced registration is required to assure availability. Classroom Session Flyer [137K PDF] | Classroom Session Registration Form [46K Word]
2. Webinars are sessions that you can join via your computer and telephone. Registration is required and you will be notified of the link and telephone number when registration is complete. Webinar Flyer [140K PDF] | Webinar Registration Form [55K Word]
Continuing Education Units are available to individuals licensed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) or the Electrical Contractors Licensing Board (ECLB) for all sessions, including the Webinars. For additional information, please contact us atBocSeminars@MyFloridaCFO.com or call (813) 221-6518.
Register for a USF OSHA Training Institute Safety Course
Cranes and derricks, combustible dust updates: Participants taking OTI 510, 500 and 502 construction training will now receive up-to-date information on OSHA's Cranes and Derricks in Construction Final Rule. In OTI 511, 501 and 503 general industry classes, students will learn about combustible dust in a program that follows the Chemical Safety Board’s guidelines. Enroll here.
Private safety classes available: If your company needs safety training at a time not currently offered on the OTI course schedule, including Safety Weeks for construction and general industry, ask about private contract classes. Courses are available upon request and can be tailored to your training needs. For more information, contact George Buck at gbuck@health.usf.edu or 813-624-SAFE (7233).
Professional certificate program: Did you know the OTI Education Center offers a professional certificate program in general industry, construction and maritime industries? The programs offer a concentrated study and in-depth analysis of safety and health, thus adding to your professional development and growth in the safety and health field. For more information, visit here or call 813-624-SAFE (7233).
OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor
Let OSHA's Recordkeeping Advisor step you through the process of learning which injuries and illnesses you must report -- and how to report them on the OSHA forms.
USF OSHA Training Institute Course Brochure
Nearly 40 pages list 2011's big selection of classroom course contents and schedules available in the Southeast. Includes Professional Certificate courses. Also describes the on-line courses that are available to you and your employees 24/7.
New and Now Available Online from the USF OSHA Training Institute:
OSHA 24-Hour HAZWOPER Training.
OSHA-accepted and designed for hazardous waste and emergency response workers.
Register here for more USF OSHA Training Institute courses.
Respiratory Protection for Healthcare Workers
OSHA releases new video. Watch it here. You may download the video to your computer for permanent use by your company and its employees by right-clicking on the link and selecting Save Target As or Save Link As.
Take the OSHA 510 and 511 Online
Can’t make it to the classroom? Now you, or anyone in your organization, can take your510 Construction Industry or 511 General Industry course online, anytime you like. These courses fulfill the same requirements as the traditional classroom course and provide the OSHA Training Institute Education Center Completion Certificate.
Landscape Safety
USF SafetyFlorida safety and health consultant William Tomlin offers eight ways to protect the safety of landscape maintenance workers. Brief refresher videos.
Bilingual Safety Tools
Print Your English Safety Plan in Spanish
You know how easy it is to click together a safety plan in English with USF SafetyFlorida's free SafetyWriter online software. SafetyWriter also offers the same tool to click together your safety plan in Spanish.
Manufacturing Company with a High DART Rate?
OSHA places high-hazard manufacturing and maritime industries at the top of its inspection list. Here's the list for 2012, shown in three sortings: by NAICS, alphabetically, and by DART..
What Florida Small Businesses Say about the USF SafetyFlorida Consultation Team
The on-site consultation program has had a broad impact on Cable USA. It has changed the culture of our organization to that of a team. The SHARP award could not have been achieved without a team effort, and when teamwork improves, productivity and quality improve as well.-- Devin Brock, Vice President of Operations, CableUSA
I am a HUGE fan of University of South Florida SafetyFlorida. I firmly believe that their services have made Marpan Recycling a much safer and therefore productive workplace. -- Nancy Stephens, General Manager, Marpan Recycling, Tallahassee
(The consultation) was nothing but good for us. It was a very positive experience and brought our safety program up to a new level. – Teresa Nealer, Safety and Health manager, Florida’s Blood Centers, Orlando. Achieved a twenty-four percent reduction in workers’ compensation modification rate.
It can help you and even save one of your employee's lives. – Gus Cagigas, Safety Coordinator, Portside Maintenance and Repair. Zero DART rate for past two years.
How Companies Profit from Safety
Florida Underwriter describes how insurance brokers recommend USF SafetyFlorida to their clients for free consultations and the SafetyWriter, the online safety plan builder.
850, The Business Magazine of Northwest Florida, documents the safety attitudes and practices that save money for a construction firm and a high-end commercial woodworking business.
Jacksonville Business Journal describes how USF SafetyFlorida helps companies Increase Profits through Workplace Safety.
In the News
OSHA Salutes Two Florida Small Businesses
Gate Precast and Orbeco-Hellige earn OSHA praise for safety management.
OSHA Letter to Beverage Distribution Companies
Beverage workers have a significantly higher rate of musculoskeletel injuries than workers in most other industries. Here's what you can do!
Preventing Residential Construction Falls
OSHA guidelines help prevent fall-related injuries and deaths and demonstrate work methods for complying with OSHA fall protection directive. See OSHA's new fall protection video for helpful details you can apply to your job sites.
New and Revised OSHA Publications
Aerial Lifts Fall Protection Over Water in Shipyards Quick Card
Employee Rights and Responsibilities Following a Federal OSHA Inspection
Permit-Required Confined Spaces in General Industry
Disney's Kelly Bernish and OSHA's Debbie Berkowitz named 100 Women Making a Difference in Safety
The American Society of Safety Engineers' (ASSE) Women in Safety Engineering (WISE) Common Interest Group has honored OSHA Chief of Staff Debbie Berkowitz and Disney's Kelly Bernish, Michelle Demarest, Heather Earl, and Jennifer Zipeto for making a difference in the safety, health and environmental field as part of the WISE ‘100 Women, Making a Difference in Safety' project. WISE recognized Berkowitz for her work at OSHA, where she "assists in making changes to benefit the health, safety and well-being of millions of workers across the United States." The ‘100 Women, Making a Difference in Safety' project honors women who, throughout history, have dedicated their careers to promoting innovation in safety, health and environmental issues.
Ending Grain Storage Deaths
You're thinking about the Mid-West, right? But it was a Florida grain storage fatality 15 years ago that caused OSHA to take a new look at its grain storage standard. Here is the latest update on grain storage safety guidance.
OSHA standards don't kill jobs. They stop jobs from killing workers.
OSHA chief on cost benefit of safety regs.
OSHA Updates Shipbreaking Emphasis Program
OSHA inspections of shipbreaking operations will focus on 20 worker safety and health issues, including asbestos and lead exposure, polychlorinated biphenlys, confined spaces, heavy metals, powered industrial trucks, guarding of deck edges, oil/fuel removal and tank cleaning, hearing conservation, fire prevention, scaffolds, cutting and welding, and personal protective equipment. Also, new online OSHA publication helps protect shipyard workers during rigging operations.
Florida Division of Workers' Comp Releases Annual Report
Did you know that 3% of injured workers who reported lost-time claims last year had filed at least two additional claims in the preceding five calendar years (page 29)? (page 28) Surprised that construction is only in the middle of the pack of the Top Ten Industrial Classifications for 2010 Lost-Time Claims (page 30)? That's because it has fewer but far more expensive claims. For 2010, the ranking order of payment totals for the four leading industrial classifications are: Construction; Administrative, Support, Waste Management, Remediation; Retail Trade; and Public Administration. The report is packed with many additional facts.
OSHA's New Plans for Consultation and Enforcement
OSHA head David Michaels updates his aggressive enforcement agenda. Michaels also comments on low fines for Florida workplace fatalities and advocates for higher fines in US House testimony.
Your Next Step in Safety
Worker protection--reducing injuries, illnesses and fatalities on the job--is the primary mission of the USF SafetyFlorida Consultation Program.
See our video! Our safety and health consultants are your key to achieving these benefits. They follow high and consistent standards for helping employers protect their workers. These standards, along with their years of consultation experience, will help you build a workplace safety system that unites all the elements of leadership commitment and job task procedures. With a workplace safety system in place, you can meet production goals while maintaining the health of the whole employee family.
To assist you in developing a workplace safety system, our consultants focus on management commitment, employee involvement and participation in order to establish a safety and health management system that works best for your business. Helping employers develop a safety management system gives us great satisfaction. That’s because, in the short term, our service can provide the hazard identification that directly prevents an employee from getting hurt or killed.
If our consultants find hazards while performing a consultation, we will provide you with a detailed list of those hazardous areas. But we will go beyond that to help you understand why the hazards exist and what specific actions can be done to address each hazard. This level of thoroughness is what employers find so helpful about our consultation program. We are more than about hazard identification but about helping you find hazard solutions that can create a new opportunity to profit from safety.
In summary, our primary purpose is to help your company prevent work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. In the short term, we do that by emphasizing hazard identification. In the long term, we do that by helping you develop a safety management program. Hundreds of companies already have used our SafetyWriter, which helps employers develop a written safety plan. And we have the Sunshine State Safety Award and SHARP OSHA- inspection deferment programs to acknowledge and reward companies that have top-of-the-line safety management systems in place.
If you are ready to take the next step toward safety in your business, please contact us today and request on-line a free and confidential safety consultation.
Resource Center
Small Business Safety
Safety Training
- USF OSHA Training Institute
- Safety Training & Events
- Aggression Management Solutions
- Safety Six -- Avoiding Power Line Contact
- Occupational Safety and Health Training for Healthcare Professionals: USF's Sunshine ERC
- Toolbox Talks
- Free Safety Training Photos
- OSHA Safety Training Resources for Employers and Workers
- New OSHA Standard for Cranes and Derricks
OSHA
Hispanic Safety
Free Safety Consultation
Employment Opportunities
Teen Worker Safety
Florida
Public Employers
Imported Drywall Worker Safety
Consultant's Corner
Establishing an Effective Injury and Illness Program
Safe Practices to Remember When Working with Electric Current
Revised Residential Fall Protection Standard
Risk Perception: Friend or Foe?
OSHA's New Penalty Policy Means Business
Injury and Illness Prevention Program
The Importance of Site Specific Safety and Health Management Plans
Use of Flexible Electrical Cords
Take Action Now for Hurricane Season
Careless Accident or First Sign of Heat Stress?
Three Williamisms about Inspection, Keeping it Clean, and Organizational Failures
Horizontal Lifelines: Construction or General Industry
Five Safety Actions that Cut the Cost of Accidents
The Importance of Recordkeeping
Four Steps to Developing an Effective Safety and Health Management System
Hurricane Prep & Cleanup
Hurricane Clean-up: Good Habits
OSHA's Total Hurricane Recovery Package
CDC Hurricane Information for Response and Cleanup Workers
Before the storm:Use the Hurriplanner to protect your business in just minutes.
Self-Inspection Checklists
CONTACT: USF SafetyFlorida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612
(866) 273-1105
USF College of Public Health is the parent organization for the OSHA Consultation Program. The department home for the OSHA Consultation Program is Environmental and Occupational Health. To report any website issues, please click here.

