August 2020

Page A14 AUGUST 2020 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on A XL industries inc. Call: 661-250-1507 • Visit: www.XLIndustries.com Available Through Quality Suppliers Ladder Racks with adjustable shelves Portable Folding Register Stands Made in USA Quality & Value - Built Just for Funeral Homes! Providing the Best-Designed Tools for Your Services Since 1926. Dozens of products that give you years of service and store compactly when not in use. Lightweight and easy to take to gravesides or churches. Portable Folding Display Table Deluxe Combo Stand ©adfinity ® Contact us today to learn more. (888) 889-8508 • travelplan@shipinman.com ShipInman.com Discover the... Want to earn extra income and offer families peace of mind? By Glenn Lafitte In the funeral industry, everyone is familiar with some of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) required employee training such as Bloodborne Pathogens, Hazard Communication, and Formaldehyde. But are these employee training requirements all that must be offered? No, there are a number of other OSHA-re- quired and preferred employee training that funeral home employers must consider. The following is a list of both re- quired and preferred employee OSHA training that must be considered in order to achieve OSHA compliance and minimize employee injury and illness: • Hazard Communication, 1910.1200 – Fundamen- tal chemical safety awareness i.e. chemical container la- beling, Safety Data Sheets, chemical hazards, etc. One-time employee training plus additional training when new chemical products are used. • Formaldehyde, 1910.1048 – Hazards specific to formaldehyde i.e. effects of exposure, skin protection, personal protective equipment, exposure limits, etc. Training required in addition to Hazard Communica- tion due to the fact that formaldehyde liquid concen- trations and exposures exist via the embalming process that trigger the training. Annual employee training required of personnel involved in the embalming process and/or who frequent the embalming room. • Respiratory Protection, 1910.134 – Principles of how various types of respirators work i.e. protection factors, cartridges, cleaning, care and storage, etc. Respirators are required when excessive chemical exposures and/or bioaerosols are encountered by funeral personnel. Job • Tuberculosis (Communicable Disease) Infection Control, 5a.1 – Addresses PPE necessary when han- dling the deceased potentially infected with active TB or other infectious bioaerosols. Also discusses TB skin testing, the symptoms of infection withTB, treatment, and others. This training is required in some specific states e.g. California One-time employee training (embalming, removal, custodial, cem - etery staff) • Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Man- agement Systems (Preferred/Required) – Provides employees with basic risk identification and control awareness. Includes how to report incidents at the fu- neral home, investigating incidents, performing work- place inspections, and others. While not currently a specific OSHA regulation requiring training from a federal perspective, some state OSHA plans require it e.g. California, Oregon, others. One-time employee training (all employees) • General Health and Safety, 5a.1 – Addresses basic safety precautions for items like ladders, electrical, cre- matory safety, stairwells, walking surfaces, tool safety, lawn care, and others. One-time employee training (all employees) While there is a mix of training frequencies required, it is a sound idea to train employees on an annual basis to not only satisfy OSHA compliance obligations but to also re- fresh and reinforce safety topics with applicable employees on a regular basis. In addition, while performing group training sessions may be a challenge in the current CO- VID-19 pandemic environment, funeral home employ- ers should seek alternatives such as on-line training which allow employees to receive the training they need at their convenience and while observing social distancing. OSHA Compliance tasks such as embalming and making removals of cases in- fected with COVID-19, Tuberculosis bacteria, and others. Annual employee training • Bloodborne Pathogens, 1910.1030 – Recognition and protection from bodily fluids potentially contaminated with infectious agents i.e. hepatitis B and human immu- nodeficiency virus. Applicable primarily to embalming, re- moval, and certain custodial staff. Annual employee training • Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records, 1910.1020 – Covers employee rights to access certain types of work-related exposure and medical records i.e. in- jury information, medical testing records, formaldehyde exposure records, and others. Annual employee training (all employees) • Emergency Action Plans, 1910.38 – Fundamental ac- tions employers/employees should take in response to emergencies such as general evacuation, fire, severe weath- er, earthquake, active shooter, and others. One-time employee training plus anytime emergency plans change (all employees) • Portable Fire Extinguisher Awareness, 1910.157 – Fundamentals of how and when to use a portable fire ex- tinguisher (PFE) typically found throughout the funeral home facility. Generally, most funeral home employees are not “required” to fight a fire with a PFE, however, if one chooses to do so and they are available, OSHA requires basic awareness training for attempting to use the PFE for incipient stage fires. Annual employee training (all employees) Glenn Lafitte is the President and principle owner of Ecolomed LLC. Ecolomed LLC has offered comprehensive OSHA compli- ance services to the funeral home industry since 1992. For more information, please visit www.ecolomed.com or call 918-625-4755. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.nomispublications.com Monthly Columns online at Are You Providing all Required and Necessary OSHA Training? Foundation Partners Group Adds Two Sarasota Firms ORLANDO,FL— Founda- tion Partners Group has announced the acquisi- tions of Jennings Funeral Home and Crematory in Sarasota, FL as well as Gulf Coast Cremations in Sara- sota and Venice, FL. The purchase adds to the grow- ing network of Foundation Partners Group firms on the gulf coast of Florida. “The acquisition of Jen- nings Funeral Home and Crematory and Gulf Coast Cremation fits well into our strategy of expand- ing in Southwest Florida,” stated Bob Bukala, presi- dent and CEO of Foun- dation Partners. “The Jen- nings family and their team have shown a dedi- cation to providing excep- tional, compassionate care for more than 20 years in the Sarasota area and we’re very pleased that they have chosen to become part of the Foundation Partners family.” Doug Jennings has en- joyed a long career in fu- neral service having opened and operated several funer- al homes and other funer- al businesses in the past. He started Jennings Fu- neral Home and Cremato- ry in Sarasota in 2000, his fifth successful funeral ser- vices firm. Ten years later, he opened the doors to the first Gulf Coast Cremations in Sarasota and added a sec- ond location in Venice, FL in 2017. “My family and staff feel a real ‘fit’ with FPG and I sense that they share the same feeling,” comment- ed Jennings. “Having been through this process in the past, I sincerely appreci- ate Foundation Partners’ transparency, commitment to innovation and invest- ment in a smooth transi- tion process.” “Even in these unprec- edented times of uncer- tainty, Foundation Part- ners Group is growing and remains dedicated to identifying and partnering with independent funer- al homes and cemeteries who align with our culture and purpose,” stated Jus- tin Baxley, vice president of business development at FPG. “I have known the Jennings family for a long time and am grateful to have the businesses they have successfully built be- come a part of our family of firms.” Foundation Partners Group is one of the in- dustry’s most innovative providers of funeral ser- vices. The company owns and operates a network of more than 140 funeral homes, cremation centers and cemeteries across 20 states. Their organization- al structure allows them to embrace and grow the leg- acies of the local funeral homes they acquire while leveraging the economies of scale, deep understand- ing of technology, and their ShareLife ® customer expe r i enc e - c en t e r ed approach to deliver truly innovative and compassionate care to the families they serve. Visit www.foundationpartners.com to learn more.