All Blog Posts Tagged 'Workplace' (32)

This new OSHA directive assists OSHA representatives in communicating investigation procedures with the family members of the victim after a workplace fatality incident has occured. OSHA representatives will contact and explain the investigation process and timeline, providing the family with updates throughout the investigation which ensures that early in the inspection process, an established point of contact can be made and a working relationship can be established. Once…

A worker’s perception of safety in the workplace and the work-life balance that businesses establish with their employees have a significant effect on the numbers of on-the-job injuries according to a recent University of Georgia study.

“We’ve known for some time that certain occupations are more dangerous than others due to a variety of physical and other hazards. But in the last 20 years, there has been growing evidence that management and organizational factors also play a critical…

Free is good, right? Especially when it comes to something that might otherwise take you a whole lot of time to put together. Today I want to make you aware of a free app you can download and customize, to make you workplace audit much, much simpler.

Completely free, fully customizable workplace audits for every…

The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) released its’ list of the ten most notable workplace fatalities for 2011.

The list includes:

1. The Deadly grain elevation explosion in Kansas that killed six people
2. Dust fires. This is not a single workplace fatality but rather a collection of explosions at…

According to a new study polling some 506 workers, 14% have experienced workplace rage.

Here are the numbers:

• 14% of American workers report incidents they would characterize as "desk rage" occurring at their workplace…
  
  

I got an email last week from a reader whose husband had been badly injured as an auto mechanic. She recommended the following link by www.partsgeek.com

A Resource Guide to Workplace Safety for Auto Mechanics includes links, downloads, pfs, checklists and much more to help auto mechanics safely do their…

'My job is primarily a desk job. I update the website, write documents, do graphic and desktop publishing work and more. While I am in an office setting with co-workers and customers around my safety does not depend on being able to hear them so I sometimes wear an MP3 player with an ear piece in one ear (in order to hear what's going on with the other). I sometimes will text or use my cell phone during the day. The nature of my job doesn't make this an unsafe…

When speaking about occupational health and safety, we rarely think to include workplace violence. It has, however, ranked in the top four most common causes of death in the workplace for the past 15 years. In 2010, for example, out of the reported 4,547 fatalities in the workplace, 506 were attributed to workplace homicides.

According to the new OSHA webpage on workplace violence, some "2 million American workers…

There as long been a debate going when it comes to safety compliance as to whether it is best to motivate people into compliance using psychology or enforcement. In other words what works better, showing people the reasons behind the rules and explaining the fact that it's for their own and everyone else's good or simply telling them "do it or else!"

We've talked in the past in this blog about sending people with paid when a safety violation occurs rather than sending them home…

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis released a statement yesterday (Aug. 25^th, 2011) after finding out that there was no significant drop in fatalities between 2009 and 2010. There was, in fact, a slight increase. 2009 numbers total 4,547 and preliminary numbers for 2010 total 4,551.

Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement:

"No worker should have to sacrifice his or her life to earn a living.



"An average 12 workers die on…

One of the elements that is missing in many safety programs is the "why" behind the rule. The safety program may outline the need for Personal Protective Equipment as well as procedures for safety in the workplace but in order to get employees to buy into the safety culture necessary around the job site, it is important to let them know why it is important as well.

It is one thing to know that they are required to wear a hard hat in select areas but unless the employees clearly…

Creativity isn't usually the first word that jumps to mind when I think of OSHA, or even safety in general. There isn't usually a lot of room for creativity involved. It's rather something that goes "by the book".

OSHA, however, wants to encourage creativity on this one. They've launched a photo contest that runs from May 2, 2011 to Aug. 12, 2011. The theme is pretty broad "image of workplace safety and health"…

5. The Fit Test

Before anyone can start wearing a respirator, and after they've passed the medical evaluation, they need to be fit tested. A respirator that is the wrong size and that isn't being worn correctly will allow contaminated air to pass through the face seal without going through the filters which means that the user will be inhaling the very stuff that he's trying to protect himself against.

A fit test must be done by authorized and properly trained…

ANSI Z308-1-2003 "Minimum Requirements for Workplace First Aid Kits" lists the following supplies as being essential for a first aid kit in the workplace:

• At least one absorbent compress, 32 sq. in. (81.3 sq. cm.) with no side smaller than 4 in. (10 cm)
• At least 16 adhesive bandages, 1 in. x 3 in. (2.5 cm x 7.5 cm)…

In our last post, we talked about the hidden costs associated with on the job injuries (See "The Real Cost of Injuries on the Job").

Preventing this same accident is actually a whole lot cheaper but here's the rub; accident prevention can't be quantified properly. How much money did I save the company last year by implementing the safety policies I put in place as the…

4. Cognitive Ergonomics

Cognitive ergonomics (CE) is a more recent and emergent form of ergonomics that seeks to understand how our environment affects the way we think and feel. It attempts to measure the effects of the work environment on mental processes such as perception, memory and motor skills; A work environment that is designed to maximize the manner in which workers react or respond to it will result in a work environment where fewer accidents happen.

A good example…

All too often, when thinking about risk, we automatically start to think about how to protect the worker from the hazard (e.g. when welding we automatically start to consider which respiratory will work best in order to protect the worker from the fumes generated by the welding process). That is really not the hierarchy, however. Way before we start thinking about respirator cartridges we should be thinking about exhaust, fume extractors, thinking about alternate ways to get the job done,…

According to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family Medical Leave, discrimination against pregnant women is prohibited. There are several implications regarding health coverage, pay, etc… that you should look at if (or rather "when") you have a pregnant woman working for you.

Beyond these issues, however, are safety related issues that you should take into consideration. You could be liable if anything happened to mother and/or child, if something went wrong and it could be…

4. Poor housekeeping

There was a book that hit the best seller list a number of years ago entitled "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum. Today's unsafe condition falls into this category. Remember what your mother used to tell you about cleaning up after yourself, about putting your toys away after you'd finished playing with them, about keeping your room clean? Apparently some of us never did properly learn these lessons. Poor housekeeping is a…

7. Improperly using tools or equipment.

The above photo is a perfect illustration of the deadly dozen # 7 of today. Bobcats are not intended to be the base for a scaffold. There's a big accident just waiting to happen here! One can only hope that someone had the sense to lockout the bobcat but again, the kind of people who would do or allow this kind of thing probably aren't known for their smarts or concern for safety.

While this photo is maybe somewhat…