Risk Management


The Portable Oxy-Fuel System Debate

FOR some years now, there has been a debate over whether it is safer to leave a portable oxy-fuel welding and cutting unit in a constant state of readiness for use, or whether the unit should be disassembled when it will not be used for "X" period of time.

Refining Subcontractor Safety Requirements

ENSURING subcontractor safety requirements are adequately defined is often an arduous task. Procurement specifications are used as a complement to the design package and provide additional information to the bidders that defines special conditions associated with the work site, how scrap materials are to be handled, quality provisions and, of course, safety requirements.

Master Jugglers

NOISY, dusty, confusing traffic patterns, flaring tempers, constantly changing weather conditions, temporary workers and/or bilingual workers, subcontractors milling around like worker bees, traffic--did I mention stress? There are few worksites as continuously challenging as a construction site.

Effective Interaction

WORKER'S compensation fraud is difficult to pull off without factoring in the decisions made by a medical provider.

Task Planning for Dredging with Clamshell

IN the construction industry, we often deal with new or unique situations. Because they are unusual or new, we tend to plan more intently to ensure the work goes safely.

The Three Changing Faces of the U.S. Workforce

IT'S no secret that organizations spend billions of dollars each year on worker's compensation. Rising health care costs, a complex regulatory environment, and soaring premiums have affected the bottom line for many organizations.

Risks of Involvement in Contractor Safety

MOST businesses of any size use contractors. Some large facilities use contractors on a regular, some even on a daily, basis for such things as maintenance.

Our Emerging Reliance on Pervasive Sensing

IT is a debatable question whether people feel any safer now than they did three years ago. We are certainly more aware of the threats, but have our responses scaled with the threat?



What Good Are Standards?

STANDARDS for manufactured products provide a welcomed accountability to the marketplace and make purchasing decisions easier--or do they?

The Need for Speed

PALMS sweating, smelling burnt rubber, feel the power, getting hot, c'mon c'mon, let's go, sweating more, yellow lights--feel the rush, pedal to the metal, ZOOOOOM. Does this sound like your fork truck driver? While this may get a chuckle, speeding fork trucks and dock safety do not go hand in hand.

Innovative Uses of Thermal Imaging

IN the workplace, excessive amounts of heat emitted by machinery or escaping from containers can be a sign of something more serious.

A Business Case for Sustainability

AS the realities of resource depletion and global environmental degradation become more evident, we can see a maturing and strengthening of the public's concern for and knowledge of the broad goals of environmental issues.

Delivering Timely Safety Recognition

HERE's the deal: Deliver more than 3.1 million packages per day, log 2.5 million miles per day (the equivalent of 100 trips around the world), connect markets that comprise a large portion of the world's economic activity within just one to two business days, and by the way--Do it safely!

The Gender Gap

ON July 1, 2002, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced a significant change in policy as it pertains to recording occupational hearing loss cases on the OSHA 300 Log.

The Cost of Cardiac Arrest in the Workplace

CARDIAC arrest, the equal opportunity killer, took 1,261 Americans' lives yesterday, most of them before they reached the hospital.

Staying in Control

MANY industries must maintain rigid adherence to mandatory safe practices in machine maintenance and operations. For workers in laboratories, paper and wood products, chemicals, recycling operations, automotive assembly and repair, and many other settings, successful lockout/tagout is essential to safety and survival.

Protection for Process Industries

THE issue of hearing protection in the process industries--food processing, tobacco, and pulp and paper--is more complex than in other industries.

Considering the Alternatives

Editor's note: Hair, saliva, and sweat testing technologies for drugs are moving toward approval this year for programs that test federal employees. Getting a federal OK is important not just to companies marketing these alternatives, but to employers generally.

Post 9-11 Employee and Business Protection

THE Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have left their marks on all of us. For those who were present in the New York and Washington areas when these coordinated acts of terror occurred, the joy of surviving the assault was tempered by concerns over the safety of local relatives and colleagues.

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