ONE of the biggest barriers to effective use of hearing protection devices (HPDs) as the last line of defense against noise in the workplace is that there has never been a good way to test performance. How can we trust PPE if we don't know how well it works? Laboratory rating systems do a good job of measuring the protective capability of HPDs to block noise, but study after study has shown that real people working in real noise conditions rarely achieve the levels of protection that would be expected based on the laboratory testing reflected in the noise reduction rating (NRR) label on the HPD package.
EACH year, more than 100,000 injuries and deaths are attributable to work-related falls. According to the National Safety Council, falls are one of the leading causes of deaths in the workplace. In addition to permanent injuries and lost lives caused by falls, businesses lose billions of dollars each year from significant increases in insurance premiums, worker's compensation claims, product liability costs, and other related expenses.
SHORTcircuits and faults in electric power systems are nothing new--and are typically damaging and even deadly. One type of fault that has received particular attention in recent years is the arc fault, or fault current that travels through the air, which differs from the bolted fault current that flows through conductors, busbars, or other equipment optimally designed to withstand its effects.
RESPIRATORS are essential personal protective equipment for protection against some airborne biological hazards in health care settings, tuberculosis (TB), the virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), avian influenza, and smallpox virus among them.
YOUR hearing protection/conservation program is rolling along. Upper management is in full support. The budget is workable and approved, including audiometric testing, and engineering corrections (where possible) have been put into place. Your written program is great.
OSHA's PPE standards and its handy eTool are the first stops to make when the question concerns eye and face protection. 29 CFR 1910.132 (general requirements), 1910.133 (general industry), 1915.153 (maritime), and 1926.102 (construction) say employers must ensure each affected employee uses appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids, caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, and potentially injurious light radiation.
FALL protection equipment and training in the construction industry have come a long way in the past 50 years. Today, by law, any worker exposed to an unprotected fall of 6 feet or more must wear--and companies must provide--appropriate fall protection equipment.
IN the construction industry, workers are consistently operating in environments where hazards abound. Employers and employees alike rely on state-of-the-art fall protection equipment as they work on various types of structures.
WE know the DuPonts and Fords can afford to maintain effective hearing conservation programs. But more than 99 percent of U.S. companies are defined as small businesses. They employ more than half of the U.S. workforce and are the dominant power in driving the economy. Small-business employers of noise-exposed workers can feel a real pinch in meeting OSHA's requirements for effective hearing conservation programs.
SAFETY is a concern to all welding and cutting operations. Yet, for small to medium-sized welding facilities, managing the safety and health of workers can be a particular challenge. Unhealthy work environments can be costly to a welding shop.
Editor's note: Broad changes in the U.S. manufacturing sector and within the safety industry have made it more difficult to sell prescription safety glasses to employees, who collectively pay an increasing percentage of the glasses' cost, say Titmus Optical, Inc.'s Mike Franz, senior marketing/product manager, protective products, and Joe Parsons, director of sales.
MANY respirator program managers have been taught that respirator faceseal leakage increases directly with increased breathing resistance. If this were true, an increase in breathing resistance (pressure drop) because a particle filter has become loaded with a solid aerosol (clogging) would be expected to increase the wearer's contaminant exposure via increased faceseal leakage.
THOUSANDS of people are blinded each year from work-related eye injuries that could have been prevented with the proper selection and use of eye and face protection.
THE need to protect employees against air contamination in the workplace has become more critical than ever before.
Editor's note: NIOSH's National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory continues to develop standards and test procedures for all classes of respirators that protect against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents.
HOW to prevent eye, face, and head injuries isn't a mystery. But knowing how to protect yourself or your workers does take some analysis, attention, effort, and money. Wearing inadequate protection or none at all is not an alternative if the hazards involved in a given task cannot be eliminated, engineered out, or solved through administrative controls.
THE technology available in today's auto-darkening welding helmets was the stuff of science fiction to welders 30 years ago. A single lens capable of darkening automatically to a variable, preset shade level the instant an arc is struck would have sounded about as realistic as a "Star Trek"-style "transporter" or a cell phone that can take pictures.
IT was a normal work day for J.D. Buske. With the blink of an eye, all of that changed. He almost became one of the one thousand daily eye injury statistics reported in the United States. Here's his story: "Hello, my name is J.D., and I live in San Antonio, Texas. Today your product saved my right eye and prevented me from serious injury to my face. Let me explain what happened.
DID you know foot and toe injuries typically take longer to heal than many other common workplace injuries? In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, employees who suffer a foot or toe injury miss an average of seven days of work.