safety – Risk Management 365

Danger – No Diving

Diving tips:

Don’t ever dive into shallow water. Before diving, inspect the depth of the water to make sure it is deep enough for diving. If diving from a high point, make sure the bottom of the body of water is double the distance from which you’re diving. For example, if you plan to dive from eight feet above the water, make sure the bottom of the body of water, or any rocks, boulders or other impediments are at least 16 feet under water.
Never dive into above-ground pools.
Never dive into water that is not clear, such as a lake or ocean, where sand bars or objects below the surface may not be seen.
Only one person at a time should stand on a diving board. Dive only off the end of the board and do not run on the board. Do not try to dive far out or bounce more than once. Swim away from the board immediately afterward to make room for the next diver.
Refrain from body surfing near the shore since this activity can result in cervical spine injuries, some with quadriplegia, as well as shoulder dislocations and shoulder fractures.

via Safety First – Before Diving into Summer Headfirst | Virginia Orthopaedic & Spine Specialists.

OSHA announces Top 10 most-cited violations for 2014

For the fourth year in a row, OSHA’s Fall Protection Standard (1926.501) is the agency’s most frequently cited violation.

The entire list is as follows:

Fall Protection in Construction (1926.501)
Hazard Communication (1910.1200)
Scaffolding in Construction (1926.451)
Respiratory Protection (1910.134)
Lockout/Tagout (1910.147)
Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178)
Electrical – Wiring Methods (1910.305)
Ladders in Construction (1926.1053)
Machine Guarding (1910.212)
Electrical – General Requirements (1910.303)

via OSHA announces Top 10 most-cited violations for 2014 | 2014-09-16 | Safety+Health Magazine.

NASA Workforce Maintenance Program

National Aeronautical Space Agency (NASA), an executive Federal Agency dedicated to Space flight, highly values exploration. The Agency’s exploration success depends on employees’ detailed attention to the safety and health of the astronauts and their fellow Earth-bound employees. For decades NASA’s occupational health programs have maximized the opportunities of national health initiatives as well as internal resources. And, they have led the way to improve internal programs for the maintenance of a workforce that operates at its highest level of physical and mental well-being.

via CDC – NIOSH – Total Worker Health™ in Action – February 2014.

Emergency Medical Services Workers

Emergency medical services (EMS) workers are primary providers of pre-hospital emergency medical care and integral components of disaster response. The potentially hazardous job duties of EMS workers include lifting patients and equipment, treating patients with infectious illnesses, handling hazardous chemical and body substances, and participating in the emergency transport of patients in ground and air vehicles. These duties create an inherent risk for EMS worker occupational injuries and illnesses; and research has shown that they have high rates of fatal injuries and nonfatal injuries and illnesses.

via CDC – Emergency Medical Services Workers – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Business Case for Safety and Health

Employers that invest in workplace safety and health can expect to reduce fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. This will result in cost savings in a variety of areas, such as lowering workers’ compensation costs and medical expenses, avoiding OSHA penalties, and reducing costs to train replacement employees and conduct accident investigations. In addition, employers often find that changes made to improve workplace safety and health can result in significant improvements to their organization’s productivity and financial performance.

via Safety and Health Topics | Business Case for Safety and Health – Benefits.

Injury Risk to Home Building Workers

Home building is physically demanding work and manual material handling may be the most difficult part of the job. Manual material handling includes all of the tasks that require you to lift, lower, push, pull, hold or carry materials. These activities increase the risk of painful strains and sprains and more serious soft tissue injuries.

Soft tissues of the body include muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs, cartilage and nerves. Soft tissue injuries cause workers pain, suffering and lost income. They can also restrict non-work activity, like sports and hobbies. Builders’ and employers’ costs include loss of productivity and high workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

via CDC – NIOSH Publications and Products – Simple Solutions for Home Building Workers (2013-111).

GHS: Hazard Communication Standard

With newly formatted Safety Data Sheets and chemical labels beginning to arrive at worksites, experts recommend employers take the following steps:

Train employees. The deadline to ensure all workers are familiar with the updated labeling and SDS elements was Dec. 1, 2013.
Get the new SDSs. Take steps, including contacting chemical manufacturers, to ensure you have updated SDSs by June 1 for all chemicals onsite.
Review the SDSs. When the new SDSs come in, closely examine them and consider whether you have appropriate controls in place for all hazards.
Update hazcom program. If new hazards are listed on the SDSs, update your hazard communication program to mitigate the risks posed by those hazards.
Review training. Make sure your employees understand the new labels and SDSs. Refresher training may be necessary.

via GHS: The look of things to come | February 2015 | Safety+Health Magazine.

Connecting Psychosocial Environment and Employee Health

Psychosocial environment refers to the culture and climate of the workplace. Examples of the psychosocial environment of a workplace include respect for work-life balance, mechanisms to recognize and reward good performance, valuing employee wellness, encourage employee feedback about organizational practices, zero tolerance for harassment, bullying and discrimination, ensuring employee psychological safety and health.

via Psychosocial Environment.

How will a healthy work environment benefit my bottom line?

Research shows that healthy people working in a healthy environment are key to business success. That’s because a healthy workplace improves productivity and reduces employers’ costs.

A healthy workplace will:

Improve employee health outcomes
Make it easier to attract and retain qualified employees
Lower absenteeism
Reduce health benefit costs
Enhance morale
Reduce risk of injury
Improve job performance

via What Makes a Healthy Work Environment? – Healthy Environments.

How Can Total Worker Health Help My Business or Workplace?

“Today leading companies have learned that because of lost workdays and diminished employee productivity, poor health costs them more than health benefits do.”

Safe and healthy employees are less likely to be injured while on the job and are vibrant, engaged, and high performing.

Safer and Healthier Employees…

… Are good for business and help improve the bottom line. Companies that have exemplary safety, health, and environmental programs outperformed the S&P 500 by between 3% and 5%.

… Create a happier, less stressful, and more prosperous business environment. According to a survey by Aon Hewitt, the National Business Group on Health, and the Futures Company, employees who reported having a strong culture of health at work were more likely to report being happy, less likely to report that stress has a negative impact on their work, and less likely to cite the work environment as an obstacle to health.

… Do better at their jobs and contribute more. Employers that have high employee engagement performed better than employers with low employee engagement in profitability, customer ratings, turnover, safety incidents, productivity, and quality. Engagement includes feeling like someone at work cares about the employee as a person and having the materials needed to do work right.

… Are absent from work less and more productive when at work. For every dollar spent on worksite wellness programs, absentee day costs were reduced by $2.73, and medical costs were reduced by $3.27.9 Research on chronic conditions and productivity estimates that presenteeism causes 18-91 lost work days per year and absenteeism causes 1-10 lost work days per year. Presenteeism costs more than absenteeism and medical expenses combined.

… Enjoy their jobs more, reducing turnover costs. Employees who feel supported by their employers are more likely to want to keep their jobs and will help attract and retain the best employees for the business. A study by the World Economic Forum found that 64% of employees who reported that their workplaces were active promoters of health intended to stay with their companies at least five years.

via CDC – Making the Business Case – NIOSH Total Worker Health.