Risk Profile Improvement
The threat of danger surrounds every person, every day. Challenging employees to look beyond tasks to identify and eliminate hazards before exposure is key to working safely at home and in the workplace.
via Recognizing Hazards Both On and Off the Job | Training content from EHS Today.
What is hazardous energy?
Energy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal or other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy could cause injury to employees.
Control hazardous energy by following Lockout/Tagout procedures.
via Safety and Health Topics | Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout).
If you think lean is only for manufacturing, look it up on Wikipedia. You will find that lean principles, lean thinking and lean tools have been adapted and applied to everything from service industries to software development and now are being used to reduce the greatest waste of all: workplace injuries.
via What Can Safety Learn from Lean? | Safety content from EHS Today.
Needlestick and other sharps injuries are a serious hazard in any healthcare setting. Contact with contaminated needles, scalpels, broken glass, and other sharps may expose healthcare workers to blood that contains pathogens which pose a grave, potentially lethal risk.
Occupational hearing loss is the most common work-related injury in the United States. Approximately 22 million U.S. workers exposed to hazardous noise levels at work, and an additional 9 million exposed to ototoxic chemicals. An estimated $242 million is spent annually on worker’s compensation for hearing loss disability.
via CDC – Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.
Construction workers build our roads, houses, workplaces, and repair/maintain our nations physical infrastructure. This work includes many hazardous tasks and conditions such as work at height, excavations, noise, dust, power tools and equipment, confined spaces and electricity.
via CDC – Construction Safety and Health – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.
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:
One of the best ways to prevent and control occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities is to “design out” or minimize hazards and risks early in the design process. NIOSH is leading a national initiative called Prevention through Design (PtD) to promote this concept and highlight its importance in all business decisions.
The concept of PtD can be defined as:
Addressing occupational safety and health needs in the design process to prevent or minimize the work-related hazards and risks associated with the construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and disposal of facilities, materials, and equipment.
via CDC – Prevention through Design – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.
Workplace injuries are preventable. Here are a few tips to help you stay safe at work.
There is mounting evidence of obesity contributing to the cost of workers compensation. Longitudinal studies by Duke University of its own employees—and by Johns Hopkins University of employees of a multi-site U.S. aluminum manufacturing company—point to substantially higher odds of injury for workers in the highest obesity category. Further, a 2011 Gallup survey found that obese employees account for a disproportionately high number of missed workdays, thus causing a significant loss in economic output. Finally, earlier NCCI research of workers compensation claims found that claimants with a comorbidity code indicating obesity experience medical costs that are a multiple of what is observed for comparable non-obese claimants.
via NCCI Releases New Research on Indemnity Benefit Duration and Obesity.