ARE you in charge of creating a lockout/tagout (LOTO) program for your company? If so, beyond being familiar with the standard, you must fully understand the process of creating and implementing a successful LOTO program that will ultimately save time, injuries, and possibly lives.
WEARERS of hard hats will look and feel better as helmet manufacturers continue to develop products that improve comfort and ease of use.
THE revised ANSI Z359.1 standard coming out this year is not meant to be the last word on fall protection programs and equipment, because the Z359 committee already plans to append at least three sections to it.
WORKERS depend on their five senses--sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch--to keep them alert to their surroundings and to any danger present. It's important to note that four of the five sense organs are housed in the head. The brain (the organizer of all that data collected by the senses) is also located there.
THE attack on the World Trade Center and the anthrax scare have forced the government and private industry to increase safety and security precautions. The anthrax scare, in particular, has prompted greater safety controls in the mailroom.
THE updated standard for fall protection, ANSI Z359, will contain two important guidelines for rescue. A portion designated Z359.0 will provide facility managers a plan to build and maintain rescue operations, while Z359.3 is a new standard dedicated to the construction, use, and training required for fall protection rescue equipment.
IT is a beautiful sunny day in the Midwest, and a construction crew is setting the decking on bridge girders located over an interstate highway. Their horizontal lifeline (HLL) system is attached to each girder with a steel cable height of approximately 42 inches (waist height) and 2-inch squared steel posts supporting the steel cable system.
THE hard hat has become the symbol of the construction industry. With this widely supported "branding" of construction as a safety-conscious industry came substantive reductions in injuries and illnesses--a 47 percent reduction, from 15.3 per hundred full-time construction workers in 1976 to 7.9 in 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
IN theory, warnings are an important means for accident prevention. They reveal hidden hazards so the user of a product or facility can avoid injury. Unfortunately, warnings frequently, and some would say usually, fail to affect behavior.
FOLLOWING Sept. 11, 2001 the question "How safe are we?" has entered our minds repeatedly. Previously, the idea of a potential terrorist attack included the use of weapons used in warfare or homemade bombs, such as in the first WTC attack.
THE industrial environment has changed substantially since OSHA first defined confined space entry (CSE) regulation in the late '70s, and gas detection regulation has not kept pace.
YOU've conducted a hazard assessment, identified personal protective equipment requirements, and trained your employees, but they don't always wear their PPE. Sooner or later, their failure to use PPE will lead to an injury.
WITH 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Washington Redskins lead the Dallas Cowboys by four points. John, a 34-year-old construction worker, holds his breath as Cowboys quarterback Quincy Carter steps back and throws a deep pass to the end zone.
WHEN it comes to distractions, today's car and truck drivers can select any number of ways to focus on anything except the road. All of us know that jabbering on a cell phone or reading the newspaper while flying down the expressway during rush hour is probably not a good idea.
LARGE industrial and stationary back-up batteries are used to "store" electrical power. The sudden and unplanned release of their direct current (DC) electricity can cause problems ranging from electric shock to battery fires or explosions.
I have never actually entered a confined space, and to be honest, I have never really wanted to. I have, however, been responsible for ensuring the safe and effective entry into literally hundreds of confined spaces. One thing is for certain: The safest entry is no entry at all!
AS a facility safety director or fire protection manager, you have several types of training to offer to different groups of people.