risk management – Page 13 – Risk Management 365

Employer Liability for Harassment

The employer is automatically liable for harassment by a supervisor that results in a negative employment action such as termination, failure to promote or hire, and loss of wages. If the supervisor’s harassment results in a hostile work environment, the employer can avoid liability only if it can prove that: 1) it reasonably tried to prevent and promptly correct the harassing behavior; and 2) the employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.

The employer will be liable for harassment by non-supervisory employees or non-employees over whom it has control (e.g., independent contractors or customers on the premises), if it knew, or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.

via Harassment.

How do I identify workplace hazards?

A job hazard analysis is an exercise in detective work. Your goal is to discover the following:

What can go wrong?
What are the consequences?
How could it arise?
What are other contributing factors?
How likely is it that the hazard will occur?

To make your job hazard analysis useful, document the answers to these questions in a consistent manner. Describing a hazard in this way helps to ensure that your efforts to eliminate the hazard and implement hazard controls help target the most important contributors to the hazard.

Good hazard scenarios describe:

Where it is happening (environment),
Who or what it is happening to (exposure),
What precipitates the hazard (trigger),
The outcome that would occur should it happen (consequence), and
Any other contributing factors.

via Job Hazard Analysis.

Distracted Driving

Each day in the United States, more than 9 people are killed and more than 1,060 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver. Distracted driving is driving while doing another activity that takes your attention away from driving. Distracted driving can increase the chance of a motor vehicle crash.

There are three main types of distraction:

Visual: taking your eyes off the road.
Manual: taking your hands off the wheel.
Cognitive: taking your mind off of driving.

Distracted driving activities include things like using a cell phone, texting, and eating. Using in-vehicle technologies (such as navigation systems) can also be sources of distraction. While any of these distractions can endanger the driver and others, texting while driving is especially dangerous because it combines all three types of distraction.

via CDC – Distracted Driving – Motor Vehicle Safety – Injury Center.

Back Pain at Work

A number of factors can contribute to back pain at work. For example:

Force. Exerting too much force on your back — such as by lifting or moving heavy objects — can cause injury.
Repetition. Repeating certain movements can lead to muscle fatigue or injury.
Posture. Slouching exaggerates your back’s natural curves, which can lead to muscle fatigue and injury.

Of course, certain medical conditions and lifestyle factors — such as obesity, sleeping position, poor physical condition, smoking and stress — also can contribute to back pain.

via Back pain at work: Preventing pain and injury – MayoClinic.com.

Construction’s “Fatal Four”

Out of 4,188* worker fatalities in private industry in calendar year 2011, 738 or 17.6% were in construction. The leading causes of worker deaths on construction sites were falls, followed by electrocution, struck by object, and caught-in/between. These “Fatal Four” were responsible for nearly three out of five (56%) construction worker deaths in 2011*, BLS reports. Eliminating the Fatal Four would save 419 workers’ lives in America every year.

Falls – 259 out of 738 total deaths in construction in CY 2011 (35%)

Electrocutions – 69 (9%)

Struck by Object – 73 (10%)

Caught-in/between – 18 (2%)

via OSHA Commonly Used Statistics.

Hazard Communication – New Training Requirement

“Exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of the most serious threats facing American workers today,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. “Revising OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard will improve the quality and consistency of hazard information, making it safer for workers to do their jobs and easier for employers to stay competitive.”

The first compliance date of the revised HCS
is December 1, 2013. By that time employers
must have trained their workers on the new
label elements and the SDS format.

via Hazard Communication.

Seasonal Influenza (Flu)

Manufacturers have begun shipping flu vaccines for the 2013-2014 U.S. season. Between 135 million and 139 million doses of vaccine are being produced. While some vaccine will be available in August, ample supplies should be available by September and October. Everyone 6 months of age and older should get their yearly flu vaccine, ideally by October.

via CDC – Seasonal Influenza (Flu).

Fall Injuries Prevention in the Workplace

Falls are a persistent hazard found in all occupational settings. A fall can occur during the simple acts of walking or climbing a ladder to change a light fixture or as a result of a complex series of events affecting an ironworker 80 feet above the ground. According to the 2009 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 605 workers were killed and an estimated 212,760 workers were seriously injured by falls to the same or lower level.

via CDC – Fall Injuries Prevention in the Workplace – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Develop a Drug-free Workplace

In a drug-free workplace, the employer has taken steps and initiated policies to ensure that employees, vendors, and customers are not:

taking or using alcohol or drugs,
selling drugs, or
affected by the after effects of indulging in alcohol or drugs outside of the workplace during non-work time.

Additionally, the goal of a drug-free workplace program, as they have traditionally been developed, is to encourage an employee with a substance abuse problem to seek treatment, recover, and return to work.

via Develop a Drug-free Workplace – Drug Testing in the Workplace.

Construction Industry | Preventing Backovers

A backover incident occurs when a backing vehicle strikes a worker who is standing, walking, or kneeling behind the vehicle. These incidents can be prevented. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 70 workers died from backover incidents in 2011. These kinds of incidents can occur in different ways. Click on the link to learn more.

via Construction Industry | Preventing Backovers.