Abatement means action by the agency to comply with a cited standard or regulation, or to eliminate a recognized hazard. Abatement is often misunderstood as being synonymous with mitigation. Where abatement is the elimination of a hazard, mitigation is action taken to ensure that employees aren't harmed by a hazard until it can be abated.
29 CFR §1960.30 requires the FAA to ensure that an abatement plan is established when an unsafe or unhealthful condition has been substantiated through an annual workplace inspection, or employee report. Conditions identified during an agency conducted annual workplace inspection are usually record in the online Workplace inspection Tool (WIT), accessed behind the agency firewall at https://eoshwit.faa.gov. Conditions identified through employee reports are recorded as an Unsatisfactory Condition Report (UCR), via the Safety Management Information System (SMIS), also accessed online behind the agency firewall at https://smis.faa.gov.
Both of these systems have a provision for an abatement plan. The WIT actually provides a form built into the software itself. The abatement plan for a hazard recorded as a UCR must be manually written/updated and added to the UCR as an attachment in the SMIS. The UCR abatement plan form is also provided on this website. You can also access it on the FAA intranet at: https://employees.faa.gov/org/linebusiness/ato/operations/technical_operations/atc_facilities/eosh_services/osh/ucr/. The abatement form is the last two pages of the document at the link: OSHA Hazard Reporting Requirements.
The two forms have a similar format. The form provided for the UCR best incorporates all of the requirements of 29 CFR §1960.30 and will be used as the basis for discussing the required elements of the abatement plan:
Basic Information
The first three items required on the form are the sequential number assigned to the UCR, the location of the hazard, and the description of the hazard. These are derived directly from the UCR and are self explanatory.
Reason For Delay
The next piece of required information is the reason for delay in abatement. This information is required by 29 CFR §1960.30(c). Funds, manpower, assistance from an OSH professional, any reason for not being able to abate within thirty (30) days.
Risk Assessment
This five level risk assessment scheme asks for consideration of two factors:
1. The magnitude of the threat presented by the hazard. The greatest magnitude of threat is death and the least a mere technical violation of a standard. Care must be taken to properly assess the hazard. The failure to properly label emergency egress with an EXIT sign is a serious threat to personnel. However, a properly placed EXIT sign with letters that are 1/32″ smaller than the standard calls for is likely a technical violation and should be corrected in the course of business. However, letters 1″ smaller than the standard calls for, likely presents a slight risk. A sign that uses the wrong color of lettering and isn't clearly legible from all points it's intended to serve likely presents a moderate to serious threat to personnel safety.
2. The likelihood that an employee will be exposed to the hazard. If an electrical panel is not labeled with the applicable electrical safety boundaries and required personnel protective equipment (PPE) the risk to personnel is higher if the panel is accessed weekly than if it's accessed annually.
A hazard that presents a clear risk of death to employees, but occurs rarely, is a serious threat to safety. A hazard that presents a moderate threat but is encountered often still presents a serious risk. Most of the identified hazards in the ATO present a Serious or Moderate risk to personnel. A common error is the tendency to assess all "paperwork" hazards as presenting a slight or technical risk. For example, the lack of an emergency egress plan from an air traffic control tower (ATCT) likely presents a serious threat. The failure to document an annual review of the plan would more than likely present a slight risk. The failure of the supervisor to place a date next to his/her signature on the annual review is a technical violation of a standard that presents little, if any, actual risk to personnel.
Interim Control Measures
The interim control measures section is one of, if not the, most important sections of the plan. It's also one of the most misunderstood and neglected sections of the plan. 29 CFR 1960.30(c) describes the interim control measures as the: summary of steps being taken to in the interim to protect employees from being injured as a result of the unsafe or unhealthful working condition.
A common misconception is that once these interim controls are in-place the actual hazard itself has been abated. The interim control for an open trench may be to erect a temporary barrier to warn employees to keep out of the area. Actions have been taken to protect employees from being injured from the unsafe condition. However, the condition exists until the trench has been filled, or some type of permanent structure is erected such that access isn't possible.
Another common situation is the abatement of fall protection hazards. Climbing a communications tower presents inherent risks to employee safety. The agency's fall protection program requires that workplace risk assessments be conducted, fall protection plans and procedures be established and implemented, safety devices such as ladder safety systems and engineered anchorages be put in-place, personnel protective equipment issued, and that employees are properly trained for tasks that required use of fall protection devices and procedures. Once all the requirements of the program have been met for a specific task at a specific workplace, the hazard has been considered to be reduced to an acceptable level. If any component of that program, or system of protection, is missing, a fall hazard exists that requires interim control measures and abatement.
If a ladder safety system is in-place using notched tubular safety rails, the interim control procedure might be to post signs warning employees to not use the ladder safety system along with the use of alternate fall protection procedures requiring the scaling of the tower with "lobster claws." The final abatement of the hazard, and closure of the WIT issue or UCR, will occur once the ladder safety system is retrofitted with an approved center rail, fall protection procedures updated, equipment issued, and employees trained.
The electrical safety program enumerates requirements associated with working on energized electrical equipment. Once employees have been properly warned of the hazards they face (e.g. training and equipment labels), required procedures established (e.g. lockout/tagout), employees issued the proper PPE, and training conducted qualifying employees for the tasks they are assigned to perform, the risk of working on energized electrical equipment is considered reduced to an acceptable level. That said, if any component of that system of protection is absent, or incorrect, (e.g. labeling of equipment with the level of PPE required) an unsafe condition exists that must be reported and recorded in the WIT or with a UCR, and interim control measures put in-place as part of the abatement plan.
If a certain electrical disconnect isn't properly labeled with the level of PPE required, the interim control measure might be a requirement that the power service company verify an electrically safe condition on at the load side of their service transformer.
Interim control procedures can be very complex and difficult to define. Your PASS regional safety representative is ready to assist you when needed.
Planned Corrective Actions
The planned corrective actions should lead to the final desired outcome: elimination of the hazard. This section includes the estimated cost associated with the actions and the projected abatement date. The date is just that, a date. A relative statement such as "when funds are received" is not acceptable. If the date is reached without the required actions taken, the abatement plan should be updated with a new abatement date. This is also a great place to document related information from the needs assistance program (NAP) or joint acceptance inspection (JAI).
Assistance Requested
29 CFR 1960.30(d): When a hazard cannot be abated within the authority and resources of the official in charge of establishment, that official shall request assistance from appropriate higher authority.
A commonly heard lament from front line managers is: why are you "gigging" me for this? There's nothing that I can do about it!
Firstly, identifying an unsafe or unhealthful condition in the workplace is not a "gig." It's an extremely important piece of information that will hopefully aid the agency in ensuring a hazard-free workplace.
Secondly, it's expected that a front line manager won't have the resources required to evaluate and abate all workplace hazards. Therefore this section is provided to document what assistance is required to establish a complete abatement plan, or in obtaining the resources required to implement the plan; who was asked to provide assistance; and when the request was made.
If the abatement plan was prepared for a UCR, it is a standalone document that is uploaded as an attachment to the original UCR. If the abatement plan was created in the WIT, it will be there and available for downloading and printing as a document. In either case, abatement plans for unsafe or unhealthful conditions should be reviewed during regular meetings of the appropriate establishment OSHECCOM.
The applicable PASS regional safety representative, who is also PASS's Regional OSHECCOM member, should be notified if it becomes evident that the abatement process is stalled, or that issues exist that are unresolvable at the establishment level.
