safety at work – Page 6 – Risk Management 365

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.

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.

Harvest-Time Danger

It’s harvest time and with it comes unique dangers. Here is a list of a few to consider:

*Regular inhalation of dust from grain bins, silos, milk vats and manure pits can cause respiratory issues such as bronchitis and other dangerous cardiac conditions. Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth can reduce risk.

*Farm vehicles such as tractors and all-terrain vehicles cause many injuries, particularly among children. Wearing a seat belt and helmet can help prevent traumatic brain injuries or even death. Children should be supervised and given only age-appropriate tasks and access to vehicles and other farm gear.

*Grain augers are one of the most dangerous pieces of farm equipment. Broken bones, electrocutions and amputations can occur if augers aren’t handled properly.

*Livestock is another common source of injury. Cattle and other farm animals can bite, kick, ram or trample someone without warning. Stay attentive and alert.

*Working long days and evenings in the field can cause dangerous levels of fatigue. Farmers may experience shortness of breath, stroke or heart attack. Try to take breaks, eat a healthy diet and get plenty of sleep.

*Only enter a grain bin or gravity wagon when absolutely necessary, especially when grain is flowing. You can quickly become trapped and suffocate. If you must enter a grain bin, use a body harness and safety line secured outside the bin, and always have someone watching in case you are entrapped.

*Take special care to avoid falls, another common farm injury and the source of not only broken bones, but head injuries and other physical trauma.

*Protect eyes from debris whipped up by farm machinery.

An additional tip, one that applies to non-farmers as well: Please be extra cautious driving near farm machinery on the roadways, farm vehicles need to travel slowly on occasion so give them a break.

via Mayo Clinic – Harvest-Time Danger: Mayo Clinic Expert Discusses Common Farm Injuries.

Work Safely

Take a few minutes to pay attention to your health and safety at your place of work. Some jobs require extra protection. All jobs can benefit by having a healthier workforce.

Put on protective clothing and equipment to protect your eyes, ears, and skin.
Take brief rest breaks throughout the day to help lower stress and strain on the eyes and muscles.
Eat healthy meals and snacks.
Educate yourself about health and safety.

via CDC – Family Health – Five Minute Weekly Tip – Work Safely.

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.

Hazards of Powered Industrial Trucks – Hilo Safety

What are the hazards associated with operating powered industrial trucks?

There are many types of powered industrial trucks. Each type presents different operating hazards. For example, a sit-down, counterbalanced high-lift rider truck is more likely than a motorized hand truck to be involved in a falling load accident because the sit-down rider truck can lift a load much higher than a hand truck. Workplace type and conditions are also factors in hazards commonly associated with powered industrial trucks. For example, retail establishments often face greater challenges than other worksites in maintaining pedestrian safety. Beyond that, many workers can also be injured when (1) lift trucks are inadvertently driven off loading docks; (2) lifts fall between docks and an unsecured trailer; (3) they are struck by a lift truck; or (4) they fall while on elevated pallets and tines.

via Safety and Health Topics | Powered Industrial Trucks.

Building the Business Case for Behavioral Safety

How do you sell a behavioral safety program to management? Keep these few pointers in mind.

Partner with someone in Accounting or Finance to build the financial case for implementing a behavioral safety program. Use the terminology of investment.
Stress behavioral safety is an investment, not a cost. Show how the commitment of resources can earn the company financial returns or gain future benefits or advantages.
To help with number two, get current/past cost data on workers’ compensation and follow the ROI guidelines of your organization. Project investment returns by using direct and indirect costs.
Stress that behavioral safety helps contribute to fewer lost time incidents and workers’ compensation (WC) claims, lower WC premiums and admin costs, higher employee morale, a better reputation and more.

via DuPont™ STOP™ Behavioral Safety Program.

What Is an OSHA DART rate?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) measures illness and injury by using an acronym called DART. DART stands for “Days Away, Restricted and Transferred.” Companies use a formula designed by OSHA to calculate their DART. The variables used in this formula come from the company’s OSHA 300 form. The OSHA 300 form is used to track recordable injuries and illnesses within a given company in a given year.

via What Is an OSHA DART? | eHow.

Avoidable Workplace Health and Safety Hazards

When it comes to non-fatal workplace injuries, the clear leaders are incidents of ergonomic problems and overexertion. They affect people in manufacturing, service, and office settings and regulatory bodies are increasingly cracking down on employers who ignore their employees ergonomic needs. Furthermore, because these injuries can give rise to chronic conditions, they result in one of the higher rates of lost work time.

via 9 Avoidable Workplace Health and Safety Hazards | Inc.com.

Communication Key to Workplace Safety

Dangerous working conditions not only pose threats to the safety and livelihood of workers, but also have major ramifications that can affect families, employers and communities. Research indicates the importance of the availability of safety information and presentation tips for organizations to help create more effective messages for employees:

Get personal – Research showed that workers preferred to receive important information verbally from their immediate supervisors. Having direct interaction about safety with the same individual in charge of productivity conveys the importance of the safety message.
Keep the message simple – Too many details are likely to create barriers to efficacy and cause important safety messages to be ignored. Organizations should, however, have more information available to those who seek it out.
Encourage positive safety behaviors – Organizations also should develop messages that focus on how to initiate pre-safety messages. Messages emphasizing the initiation of new safety behaviors (wearing safety goggles) are more like to be successful than messages that focus on the termination of certain behaviors (no horseplay).
Deliver messages through more than one medium – By asking workers to engage a safety message in different ways (watch it, hear it, read it), supervisors can better ensure that more workers receive it. This does not require multiple safety messages, but does require delivering the same message over various channels.

via Trust in Communication Key to Workplace Safety | Safety content from EHS Today.