July 2015 OH&S

July 2015

  • HEAD PROTECTION: Heads Up!
  • FALL PROTECTION: Fall Protection for Iron Workers
  • FALL PROTECTION: The ABCs of Personal Fall Arrest Systems
  • BEHAVIOR-BASED SAFETY: What Were You Thinking? The Key to Communicating More Effectively
  • OSHA COMPLIANCE: OSHA-Related Documents: Creation and Retention
  • TRAINING: Adult Learning Principles for Safety Training
  • TRAINING: The Scary Truth About Safety Training
  • HAZMAT: Hazmat Identification, Control, and Emergency Response: The Fundamental Weakness in the System
  • HAZMAT: Three Hazmat Rules Every Employee Can Remember
  • GHS/SDS: The Ripple Effect of Missed GHS Deadlines
  • EMERGENCY SHOWERS/EYEWASH: Coordinating Guidelines and the ANSI Z358.1 Standard
  • RESPIRATORY PROTECTION: The More Things Change...
  • CONSTRUCTION SAFETY: OSHA's New Confined Space Standard
  • EMERGENCY RESPONSE: Plan, Prepare and Recover: How Businesses Can Manage Through Emergencies
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Cover Story

A personal fall arrest system should be designed and tested as a complete system because components from different manufacturers may not be interchangeable or compatible. (Miller Fall Protection by Honeywell photo)

The ABCs of Personal Fall Arrest Systems

By Hugh Smith

All workers exposed to falls should be trained by a competent person to recognize fall hazards and to be familiar with available control methods and equipment.


Features

Recessed and wall-mounted safety equipment is very appropriate in laboratory specifications. It’s both highly visible and completely out of the way.

Coordinating Guidelines and the ANSI Z358.1 Standard

By Casey Hayes

While ADA has no specific guidelines for eyewashes or eye/face washes, it does outline other guidelines that can be helpful, such as maximum sink and/or counter height.


It is imperative to select only equipment that has been tested and approved to tie off at foot level or below.

Fall Protection for Iron Workers

By Marty Sharp

It is imperative that you select only equipment that has been tested and approved to tie off at foot level or below.


By June 1, 2016, OSHA expects all employers to be fully compliant with GHS adoption.

The Ripple Effect of Missed GHS Deadlines

By Glenn D. Trout

How employers are experiencing the impact of the missed deadlines and what they can do to get on the right path toward full GHS compliance.


We can avoid having cosmetically enhanced pigs running about in the training department by remembering this scary truth about safety training: Trainees always learn something.

The Scary Thing About Safety Training

By Joseph A. Saccaro

Safety training can make a substantive impact on employee morale when instructors take this approach.


Continuous atmospheric monitoring is always best practice. (MSA photo)

OSHA's New Confined Space Standard

By Chris Irwin, Jessica Smith

It is generally agreed that this new standard was written to mirror many facets of its general industry counterpart.


We must remember to always wear our hard hats. If they are sitting at a desk, on a work bench, or in a truck, they are definitely not going to protect us.

Heads Up!

By Sally J. Smart

Just as important as actually wearing a hard hat when needed is making sure the hard hat fits properly. Hard hats must fit securely to provide maximum protection.


Teaching employees to handle and use each chemical safely does not require them to carry around volumes of manuals or countless handouts.

Three Hazmat Rules Every Employee Can Remember

By Karen D. Hamel

Teach employees to get into the good habit of reading every label every time they pick up or pour from a container.


Perceived low-risk tasks typically involve the highest frequency of injury.

What Were You Thinking? The Key to Communicating More Effectively

By Joseph White

The occurrence of experientially based at-risk behaviors driven by anticipated gains that outweigh any perceived costs is not limited to the highways or to drivers; it occurs all too often in the workplace.


Companies often send out an all-staff email if bad weather is predicted, but would employees really know what to do in a serious emergency, be it related to nature or man-made?

Plan, Prepare and Recover: How Businesses Can Manage Through Emergencies

By Tom Heneghan

Smaller companies often struggle, not knowing where to turn or having the budget to develop a robust business continuity plan.


Provide training in small "chunks" shortly before the time it

Adult Learning Principles for Safety Training

By Jeff Dalto

Your employees bring a lifetime of experiences to every training session. Sometimes they’ll know more than you do about specific hazards and safety conditions in their current jobs.


Describe what you will be protecting employees against, how you will be sure respirators are selected the right way, and options.

The More Things Change . . .

By Greg Zigulis

Training about a company's respiratory protection program and the uses and limitations of the respirators in use is still training, even if more delivery options are available.


The CSD can also automatically provide the first responders with the proper isolation and protective actions and safe distances necessary in the case of a spill or accident.

Hazmat Identification, Control, and Emergency Response: The Fundamental Weakness in the System

By Jim Giermanski

The solution includes the development and use of electronic standards and methods for automatically identifying hazardous materials and waste.


The OSHA Log, the annual summary, and the OSHA Incident Report forms must be retained by employers for five years following the end of the calendar year that these records cover.

OSHA-Related Documents: Creation and Retention

By Mark A. Lies, Ilana R. Morady

It is important to note that any documents produced can be utilized to issue citations, thus, the employer should not produce any documents unless required by law.


Departments

Climate and Culture Before, Not After, Behavior-Based Safety

By Shawn M. Galloway

For BBS to work, the organization must have a culture ready for the tool to take them to the next level.


Curing Cultural Cancer?

By Robert Pater

Leaders take control of themselves first. They have to discipline themselves to not kneejerk attack disaffected workers.


Conferences Are Golden Opportunities

By Jerry Laws

If you haven't taken the time to attend any of these OSH conferences, you're missing a golden opportunity to learn and network.


Artificial Intelligence