Fall injuries. This blog is a little different from many of my earlier blogs. It relies solely upon my experience as a safety manager for companies over the years. It is a laymen’s comment. The discussion is about fall injuries and why they are so problematic. First, a fall injury may arise from a simple [...]
Health and safety plans. Intimidating? Serious? It sounds like too much? Well, actually not so. First, you want a safety plan. It helps you, your employees, and other companies you work with to understand your safety requirements. Second, if you use the safety plan as a safety training tool you can educate and keep your [...]
It is simple to avoid OSHA fines. Personal protective equipment commonly referred to as PPE. PPE refers to safety glasses, hard/steel toe shoes, hearing protection, face protection, gloves, respirators, etc. You no doubt know PPE is used to provide safety protection of employees from a variety of common workplace hazards. Hazards such as eye hazards [...]
Noise. Hearing levels in people declines when exposed to certain levels of noise over a period of time. The extent of hearing decline depends on the level of noise and duration of exposure. OSHA says 85 decibels (dBA) or higher over an 8-hour work shift is excessive. If you have a smartphone you can download [...]
Driving. Everyone does it. Many businesses rely on vehicles (commercial and personal vehicles) to carry out their business. For many of the first years I worked as a safety professional I heard other safety people talk about lock out tag out, fall protection, slips-trips and falls, and confined space as the big work place hazards. [...]
No one expects an emergency or disaster to occur. Some Pre-planing will make a major difference. Reasonable steps include training of employees, supervisors and labor alike on what thier role is in an emergency situation. The results will be mitigation of the negative impacts of an emergency or disaster. Emergency Crisis plans outline escape procedures, [...]
Work place safety subject matter experts can help clarify job safety responsibilities in cases involving work place injury or death. Work place safety is governed by either the Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) or Mine Safety Health Administration, (MSHA). Both of these federal work place safety organizations have regulatory safety standards which have been interpreted [...]
No one expects an emergency or disaster to occur. But that is where Emergency Crisis Planning comes in. Pre planing and training of employees, supervisors and labor alike, can mitigate the negative impacts of an emergency or disaster. Emergency Crisis plans outline escape procedures, escape routes, emergency shut down procedures, the use of fire extinguishers, [...]
Being struck by an object or piece of equipment or tasks where an object can strike an employee is commonly recognized as a “struck by hazard.” Struck by incidents typically result in serious injury. Imagine an employee working around an excavator. This type of equipment swings and a common source of struck by incidents comes [...]
2019 LOTO 1910./147, https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/factsheet-lockout-tagout.pdf So your company works repairing water, oil, hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical devices. Each of these items can be “stored energy”. Your employees from time to time undertake a task that directly contacts a system handling any of the above. Employees must have a clear understanding of how to safely work with [...]