SLIPS and falls are a leading cause of unintentional injury in the United States. National Safety Council statistics noted in 2003 that 14,200 deaths from the previous year were caused by falls from one level to another or falls on the same level--the leading non-vehicular cause of death in public places.
IT'S hard to judge from day to day how much you should invest in training. Even through you know training improves productivity, morale, and retention of key employees, the question of cost still remains.
BY now it is well understood by industrial workers that unprotected exposure to loud noises can lead to permanent hearing loss. In fact, it could be said that most people living in the modern age have at least some sense of the potentially harmful effects of loud noise on hearing.
HOW much is employee health and safety worth to one of the world's largest industrial companies? Enough to divert the time and energies of some 180,000 people from their production and other responsibilities and support tasks to re-focus their attention on the company's unwavering commitment to health and safety at work.
ABOUT a year ago, on April 13, 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing revisions to the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs.
Editor's note: How can a safety manager persuade both corporate management and workers to comply with NFPA 70E, the consensus standard addressing electrical safety requirements for workplaces? Read on to see how Gary McGuire solved the problem. McGuire is safety coordinator at the Newberg, Ore., mill of SP Newsprint Co. (www.spnewsprint.com), which is based in Atlanta, Ga., and produces more than 1 million tons of newsprint annually.
Editor's note: A trend to require more fire safety equipment in residences and nursing homes will reduce deaths and injuries, both among firefighters and the general public, says E. Metts Hardy, vice president/Fire Investigations for EFI Global (www.efiglobal.com), a Kingwood, Texas-based provider of engineering, fire investigation, environmental, accident reconstruction, and laboratory testing services.
WHAT are the biggest safety problems on summer construction sites? Noise, moving vehicles, heat, and falls from height come readily to mind. But some of the most common hazards are more subtle: Communication problems, poor housekeeping, and a wrongheaded safety approach are factors.
Editor's note: Rapid innovation in user-friendly radiation detection devices is helping emergency responders and civilian users alike, says Thea Philliou, a first responder applications specialist for Thermo Electron's Security group. Products are increasingly smarter, stronger, and smaller in response to users' needs, she explained in a March 1, 2005, conversation with Occupational Health & Safety's editor. Excerpts from the conversation follow.
A worker is about to enter a confined space. Prior to entry, he reaches down to his belt and pulls out his gas monitoring device. He points the device into the confined space and initiates a scan of the entire area. Beams of light emit out of the instrument in all directions and cover the entire interior of the confined space.
Approximately 80 percent of all electrical injuries are burns that result from the electric arc flash and ignition of an employee's flammable clothing. Arc flashes cause electrical equipment to explode, resulting in an arc-plasma fireball.
AN alarm sounds. An emergency fixture is activated, and a rusty fluid begins gurgling through the pipes. An injured worker uses the emergency unit, not suspecting the water used to flush his body and eyes has been collecting sediment for months or even years. Only later is it learned that the contaminated fluid severely worsened the worker's condition and caused long-term health damage.
MATERIALS handling often focuses on storage and transport by equipment, including forklifts. However, employee behaviors and work practices, such as using poor lifting techniques, also contribute to many injuries.
Editor's note: "White powder" incidents continue to occur in the United States, largely at mailrooms. U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter asked Congress in April for $51 million for security costs associated with a Biohazard Defense System, a Ventilation and Filtration System, and a mail sanitization facility to be located in Washington, D.C.
Editor's note: The ranks of safety and health consultants have exploded in recent years. Patricia Carlisle, CIH, who has been certified in the comprehensive practice of industrial hygiene by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene since 1990 and has been a private consultant for about 20 years, discussed competition, networking, and other consulting challenges in an April 21, 2005, conversation with Occupational Health & Safety's editor.
HOW many employers or employees were faced with the following scenarios in the last five years: a change in health plan vendors, a decrease in benefits coverage, or increased cost sharing for the insurance premium?