April 2011 Blog Posts (29)

Hansen, Snap-Tite, Schrader? Which fitting do you need on your airline respirator? Each one functions differently and they aren't interchangeable. So which one do you need? Which one is best?

There are some things that are just better shown than explained with words.

That's the basis of MSA TV's explanation of Airline fittings.

(Click on the image to view the…

       A new national outreach campaign by the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be focusing on the hazards of working in hot weather. The new initiative was announced on April 26, 2011 from Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis. This campaign…

I recently posted a comment on my FaceBook status that said essentially "I take back all those times when, as a child, I didn't want to take a nap!" Needless to say that I got a lot of "likes" in response as well as a lot of posted comments.

Apparently, the National Transportation Safety Board would be one of the "likes". They came out Monday of this week as officially recommending short naps (read 20-30 minute naps) in order to help deal with the problem of Air Traffic Controllers,…

A respirator has only one basic function, namely to protect you against the "bad stuff" in the air around you, whatever that "bad stuff" might be. It can, however, fail unless certain steps and precautions are taken. A respirator that isn't working properly can actually provide a false sense of security that can lead to more damage than no respirator at all. Here are a few tips to make sure that you are getting the proper usage from your respirator.

1. Make sure that you are using…

The Bullard Clean Air Box is essentially a hard case the you attach to a compressor in order to filter out all the impurities in order to make it breathable air for a supplied air system. They're especially useful in areas where a regular respirator would tend to get clogged too quickly (Paint spraying booths, for example). They provide the user(s) with a constant stream of clean, breathable air for as long as they need it.

The one big problem with a CAB is usually the fact that…

       The 2011 World Day for Safety and Health at Work will be celebrated on Thursday April 28th. This year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work will focus on the implementation of an Occupational Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS) as a tool for continual improvement in the prevention of workplace incidents and accidents. (Source: www.ilo.org) The intention is to focus internationally on emerging trends in the field of occupational safety and…

Because I live in the Puget Sound, I am surrounded by shipyards. A good percentage of accidents and fatalities around here are specifically related to ships and off-loading of barges.

OSHA, in an effort to specifically address these safety issues, have just published a whole new section to their website entitled "SHIPS". Ships stands for

Safety and

Health

Injury

Prevention

Sheets

Here's what OSHA has to say about this new section of their website:…

Here's the way it sometimes used to go down… a company was cited by L&I for some safety violation. Instead of actually fixing the issue, the company appealed the violation which allowed them to ignore it until the end of the appeal process. The appeal process might take several months to several years.

"No more!" says Washing Governor Christine Gregoire. She signed Senate Bill 5068 that essentially says that businesses are going to have to fix the problem even if they appeal the…

From the ASSE website…

What is NAOSH Week?

North American Occupational Safety and Health Week, or NAOSH Week, occurs every year during the first full week of May. NAOSH Week is intended to raise awareness…

Michele Dufault was a senior at Yale University when she died last week. Her long hair got caught in the lathe that she was working on his the science lab. She died of "asphyxia due to neck compression" according the medical examiners' report. She was pretty, she was young and she was vibrant and her death could've so easily been avoided.

Yale University is reviewing their 24-hour access to the science lab policy as well as trying to figure out if there was or wasn't a "buddy system"…

I mentioned last week that budget cuts had severely cut into a number of safety related agencies (See "How are Federal Budget Cuts Going to Affect Safety?"). One agency, however, survived the budget cuts with no damage done. www.saferproducts.gov, a website that was created back in 2008 and designed to provide a public…

I am sure this situation has applied to most of you readers.

I was approached by a national company trying to sell us their products. One of the few products that were quoted at a lower price were clear faceshields. After they sent us a few samples so we could compare them to our current stock, I conducted the same test I have been shown by an old safety professional.

I very scientifically took a ball-peen hammer and smashed the shield when it was attached to…

Your fall protection harness is one part of a whole system designed to keep you from hitting the ground if and when you fall. As such, you need to make sure that it isn't damaged, ripped or torn in some way to make sure that it will resist the force of the fall.

DO NOT assume that your boss, the tool room guy or your supervisor has inspected the harness for you. It isn't their life that's on the line, it's yours. It is your responsibility to examine and inspect the harness each and…

DBI-SALA and her sister company Protecta have put together a nice 20 page manual that covers all the essentials and important points about fall protection.

The document "Thinking About Fall Protection" gives you all the basics you'll need to get started (or be reminded about).

The table of contents reads as follows:…

The Federal government barely managed a last minute budget last weekend to avoid shutting down key federal services. The outcome of the cuts to the budget, while avoiding shut downs, are nonetheless going to be felt in the coming months if not years. Everyone has had to tighten their belts including OSHA, NIOSH and FEMA.

You can view a chart of the budget cuts…

As much as we all would like to think we would know what to do and how to act when a fire breaks out, statistics show that most of us don't. Panic and fear takes over and everything we thought we knew goes out the door.

With that in mind, here's a reminder of correct operating procedure. Even if you think you know it… reread it. You can't be reminded too often.

When a fire start

1. Sound an alarm. Set off the fire alarm; yell if necessary.
2. Get everyone away…

My family is relatively healthy. I don't usually get sick and have probably only used 4-5 sick days in the past 8-10 years but even the healthiest of people can and do catch germs that will make you sick unless you understand the dynamics of where germs hang out.

First of all, you need to realize that public places are the areas where you'll come into contact with germs. Lock yourself in your home and never come out and you'll probably avoid all the flus that are going around. Problem…

Back in December, OSHA issued a new directive concerning residential construction fall protection (See "Compliance Guidance for Residential Construction") in an attempt to reduce the number of falls from roof in residential construction. Deaths from falls remain the leading cause of death in that line of work.

Today, April 8^th, OSHA has issued a new document…

One of the advantages of the digital age is that you don't have to fill your shelves with catalog, flyers and pamphlets. You can view them online or download them to view when you need to. The other advantage is that you can have instant access.

With that in mind, I got an email from Protecta Fall Protection today letting me know that they have just released their brand new fall protection catalog.

Here's a copy of what Protecta has to say about their new catalog……

Today is World Health Day and this year's focus is on  Antimicrobial Resistance.  The World Health Organization (WHO) states that Antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem but is becoming more dangerous and urgent and consolidated efforts are needed to avoid regressing to the pre-antibiotic…