"This is a major threat," says Teresa Dwyer, CSP. "It can cost several hundreds of dollars to have a professional remove an AHB hive and, without the correct protective equipment and training, the potential rescuer may become an additional victim."
To the thousands of visitors planning to attend the American Society of Safety Engineers' Safety 2009 conference and expo, symbols are valuable tools. At the job site, symbols can warn workers of imminent danger, advise them about proper PPE, or convey the quickest egress route during an emergency.
Painters, janitors, helpers, apprentices, and any other worker who may come in contact with equipment that could be exposed and energized will require electrical safety training.
Whatever can you do to get a handle on safety? Specifically, to prevent injuries to fingers, wrists, hands, and arms that are common to many industries, especially where people use hand tools, assemble, work on machines, lift, load, cut, push, pull, and more?
Training is critical, including a relevant, compelling message that explains the reasons for precautions as much as the precautions themselves.
Since the publication of our first article ("Vision Testing: A Blind Spot in Occupational Safety," February 2009, page 47), we have been asked many questions, and most people wanted references to the research data.
A May 28 conference co-sponsored by the California Department of Public Health looked at sustainable farming and ecologically friendly pest control, along with health impacts of pesticide use.
In addition, the standard's Fire Protection in Shipyard Employment subpart includes sections on implementing a fire safety plan, fire watches, and fire response. Hexavalent chromium has been added to the list of air contaminants whose concentrations should not exceed stated exposure levels.
The standard will require hospitals, health and correctional facilities, EMS, homeless shelters, labs, and others to develop control measures to lower employees' risk of infection.
"It's plain and simple: when you need your life jacket, you need it on," says Al Johnson, the U.S. Coast Guard's First District recreational boating safety specialist, commenting on the correlation between boating fatalities and the lack of the survival equipment used.
A study in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report is timed to 2009 National Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week (May 18-24) with the aim of educating parents, instructors, pool maintenance workers, and others.
On-site activities at the two-hour event Saturday in East Boston will include in-the-water demonstrations of self and assisted rescues, as well as proper paddling techniques.
This year's awards recognize research that made ambulances safer for EMS workers and passengers and also EMS protective clothing recommendations used in the 2008 edition of the NFPA 1999 standard.
ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2009 designates new kit types and expands the required supply list to include a first aid guide.
Filed April 28, the petition says OSHA has acknowledged both the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for crystalline silica and OSHA’s abrasive blasting standard (29 CFR 1910.94) are "seriously outdated."
The Week, observed June 8-12, is an opportunity for hand therapists and health care professionals to raise awareness of how hand therapy prevents and ameliorates disability due to hand injury or disease.
Basic precautions and PPE could help to prevent deaths, injuries, and illness in the industry, according to a new NIOSH report. Though significant, safety hazards may be the least of the industry's worries as the 135th Kentucky Derby is run today.