SMALL changes in investigation technique can sometimes produce large improvements in incident investigation results. This article discusses several common weaknesses found in investigation management systems.
IT'S a hot, blistering day on the construction site. A worker stops to notice an attractive lady walking by confidently. She's secretly ready to barrage him with a stream of obscenities at the first sound of a whistle and sure enough, one rings clearly above the construction din.
THIS magazine and I are hitting milestone birthdays. Mine, turning 50, happened in 2004. But I'm a generation younger than Occupational Health & Safety, which will see its 75th birthday this year.
A 90-day postponement delayed it just as this column was being written, but the tug of war over OSHA's proposed expansion of 29 CFR 1910.269 and related rules is still looming. Shortly before the comment period's original closing date of Oct. 13, about 40 people had filed notices of intent to appear at the agency's hearing that was moved to March 6, 2006, in Washington, D.C.
THE place is a desolate, stinking, swampland speckled with the remains of a past civilization. Upended cars and rooftops serve as makeshift perches for birds who keep constant focus on an approaching alligator.
EMPLOYERS and employees have a vested interest in performing tasks safely at work. Employers want to ensure their most valuable assets (their people) are safe and protected from hazards while making sure they cover all of the compliance requirements for establishing and maintaining a safe work environment that is free of recognized hazards.
LET'S make it mandatory for building owners and designers to incorporate fall safety during a building's design stage. Please don't tell me this is impractical or too expensive--not when Australia's National Occupational Health and Safety Commission is taking this bold step right now.
DOES your workplace suffer from a generational rift? If you're like the majority of companies, the answer is yes. However, today's pressing concern is no longer "how to manage the Generation X crowd." With the Gen X'ers now entering managerial roles, today's biggest concern is how these new young managers can effectively lead people their parents' age.
Editor's note: All but gone are the days of EH&S consultants' reports being delivered in three-ring binders with accompanying Polaroid prints. Instead, consulting firms such as Kansas City, Mo.-based OCCU-TEC Inc. (www.occutec.com) are delivering data in "living documents" that are easy to maintain, always up to date, and available 24/7 from any computer that has online access.
BY the time you read this, the final ASIS International Workplace Violence Prevention and Response Guideline should be printed and available free online.
"A few years ago, this type of artificial intelligence-based fire detection just simply was technically impossible in real time."
Editor's note: Early warning is everything when it comes to fires, say the developers of SigniFireTM, a software system that uses patented image-analysis technology designed for instant fire, smoke, and intrusion detection.
Isiah Thomas left Indiana University after two years and at age 19 was the fourth pick in the 1982 NBA draft. Much to his dismay, the lowly Detroit Pistons selected him. Detroit was a team without a tradition or identity; in fact, its players had won just 16 of 82 games in the previous season.
I don't expect you to read and remember every word published in this magazine, Dear Reader. But I hope the contents benefit you always and educate you sometimes.
GERMS are the last things you want to find occupying your workspace, especially in a health care facility, but it's nearly impossible to eliminate them all, given the propensity for sanitary rule-breaking that occurs among any human population.
IT'S an ordinary day at the hospital where you work as a nurse. You've seen fairly run-of-the mill cases: colds, a minor bronchial infection, and two people with the flu. A patient checks in with a fever, body aches, nausea, and chills, as well as a rash consisting of dense, firm lesions.
IMPLEMENTING a 360-degree review process will either be a destructive and devastating experience or a developmental epiphany for those involved, depending entirely on how the process is structured. This article focuses on the seven reasons why 360s fail and provides best practice solutions for each.
WHY am I pondering the cost of U.S. firefighters' injuries? The bottom line of a sincere, recent effort to count these injuries and estimate their cost is no great shock to me: There is no clear bottom line.
IT'S not exactly rocket science, but close enough. Launched recently by Unique Logic and Technology Inc. (ULT) of Asheville, N.C., a computer-based training program named Play Attention Adult® (PA2) focuses on one of the all-important yet least-delved aspects of occupational safety and health: paying attention.