examples of checklists for inspecting offices can be found at http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/list_off.html and for manufacturing facilities at http://www.ccohs.ca/ oshanswers/hsprograms/list_mft.html.

Out-of-the-way places such as shelves, basements, sheds, and boiler rooms that might otherwise be overlooked should be included. Te orderly arrangement of operations, tools, equipment and supplies is an important part of a good housekeeping program.

Benefits

• fewer tripping and slipping accidents in clutter-free and spill-free work areas

• decreased fire hazards

• reduced worker exposure to hazardous substances (e.g. harmful dusts, vapors)

• better use of tools and materials, including inventory and supplies

Tis editorial first appeared in the Orange County Register Reprinted with permission

The federal regulatory state has just surpassed a dubious milestone.

Since 2005, the total net cost of the 4,432 regulations finalized has now topped $1 trillion, according to the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank with a focus on limited government and free markets. Tat translates to a long-term total cost of $3,080 per person, or an annual per capita cost of $540.

“In other words, each year every person, regardless of age, in the nation is responsible for paying roughly $540 in regulatory costs,” writes Sam Batkins, AAF’s director of regulatory policy. “Tese burdens might take the form of higher prices, fewer jobs or reduced wages.”

It was fitting that the Environmental Protection Agency’s second round of heavy-duty truck standards, with an estimated cost of at least $29.3 billion, put federal regulations over the top of the $1 trillion threshold, given that the EPA has been responsible for six of the top eight most expensive rules by total cost, and all of the top five by annual cost, since 2005.

In addition to the cost in dollars, there is also the cost in terms of lost time, for the hours spent on paperwork and compliance that would otherwise be spent on more productive pursuits.

Te federal regulations during this period racked up a total burden of more than 754 million paperwork hours, enough for about 350,000 full-time jobs, AAF estimates.

It seems that President Barack Obama is going out with a bang, too. As of mid-December, the Federal Register,

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• more efficient equipment cleanup and maintenance • better hygienic conditions leading to improved health • more effective use of space

• reduced property damage by improving preventive maintenance

• less janitorial work

• improved morale • improved productivity (tools and materials will be easy to find)

Workplace housekeeping is a shared responsibility. Everyone in the workplace can play a part to keep each other safe.

Tis article is reprinted from Te Health and Safety Report a free monthly newsletter produced by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). You can subscribe at http://www.ccohs.ca/

IT'S OFFICIAL: United States is wrapped up in red tape

which includes the federal government’s final and proposed rules and regulations, reached 91,642 pages, the highest in its 81-year history and more than 10,000 pages higher than the previous record set under Obama in 2010.

Many of these regulations are silly and nonsensical, as revealed by some of the recent entries from the institute’s “Tis Week in Ridiculous Regulations” series on its blog. Te agricultural cartels known as “marketing orders” are always ripe for regulatory overload. Tere are rules for removing the word “midget” from California raisin standards, changing the size requirements for olives, another potato handling regulation (the 345th since 1995) and another “Egg Research and Promotion” rule (the 549th during this time).

Other rules include requiring movie theaters to have closed captioning and audio description devices, imposing energy efficiency test procedures for electric cooking tops, banning smoking in public housing and revising the Food and Drug Administration’s procedures for approving over- the-counter sunscreens.

To address this regulatory bloat and economic drain, the Competitive Enterprise Institute recommends some common-sense measures, such as requiring Congress to vote on all new regulations costing more than $100 million a year; establishing a bipartisan, independent commission to evaluate the 178,000-page Code of Federal Regulations and recommend a package of rules for repeal; and requiring that the cost of new regulations must be offset by repealing one or more existing regulations, which has been utilized in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the U.K.

Tis would be a great start and would help President Donald Trump make good on his promise to eliminate government waste and burdensome regulations.

TPI Turf News March/April 2017