April 2017 OHS

April 2017

  • FALL PROTECTION: Safe Access to Any Space
  • HAND PROTECTION: Understanding the Modern Single Use Glove
  • IH/GAS MONITORING: Beaconing Sheds Light on the Darkness of Gas Monitor Data
  • ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Corporate Risk and the Growing Case for Sustainable Chemical Management
  • ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Green Building and Sustainability
  • ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: The Economic Implications of Water Shortages
  • ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Why Are Corporations and Municipalities Moving to Zero Waste?
  • WELDING SAFETY: Welding Safety Best Practices
  • FIRST AID TRAINING: First Aid Preparedness
  • FOOT PROTECTION: Taking Strides Toward Safety
  • INCENTIVES: The Incentive Starting Line
  • HEALTH CARE: When An Employee Says No
  • HEALTH CARE: A Proposed Solution to the High Cost of Opioid Abuse
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Cover Story

Beaconing shines light on your data and allows you to recognize the full value of the data that your gas monitoring program can provide. (Industrial Scientific Corporation photo)

Beaconing Sheds Light on the Darkness of Gas Monitor Data

By Dave D. Wagner

How can you proactively fix a problem when you don't know where it occurred?


Features

The Economic Implications of Water Shortages

By Klaus Reichardt

Better water management is a key factor in reducing U.S. water consumption that can be replicated in other parts of the world.


Why Are Corporations and Municipalities Moving to Zero Waste?

By Iain Milnes

Municipalities and states are mandating that large producers of waste food must not send it to a landfill. The administration understands that waste food has the largest impact on the environment, and large corporations are already striving for zero waste (and finding value in the waste they can recycle).


The Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation at the University of Windsor campus has a bio wall that includes 1,500 plants. It naturally filters the carbon dioxide in the air and then transfers its freshness to the entire building. This building also boasts glass and solar systems, a green roof that collects and filters rain water, and hollow core slabs to both harness and store energy and in turn decrease the use of traditional HVAC systems. (Termobuild photo)

Green Building and Sustainability

By Jack Laken

Increased awareness of not only the value, but the necessity of adopting green building initiatives in new builds and retrofits is critical.


Class A kits are designed to offer greater access to the items needed to treat most common types of workplace injuries, while Class B kits feature a broader range and quantity of supplies to treat injuries in more complex or high-risk environments.

First Aid Preparedness

By Fred Elliott

Having trained personnel ready and willing to render first aid will reassure other co-workers and make them feel safer themselves.


Begin by asking about the machine

Safe Access to Any Space

By Paul Kreutzwiser

A variety of low-level access machines and aerial work platforms safely put jobs within reach.


Ambulance bills in general can often top $600 or $800 or more, and most ambulance services tack on an "emergency response charge" that tops $300 on average.

When an Employee Says No

By James Dziendziel

Proper documentation is needed to protect your organization from liability when an employee refuses emergency medical care during work related and non-work related illness and injury.


A Proposed Solution to the High Cost of Opioid Abuse

By Deborah Lechner

Through collaboration, safety professionals and physical therapists can achieve optimal results with both prevention and post-injury management.


Properly designed programs are those that improve employee engagement as a precursor to a final goal (in this case safety), and when structured correctly, they produce remarkable results.

The Incentive Starting Line: Where to Start When Designing Your New Safety Incentive Program

By David Roark

Incentives excel at motivating important behaviors. Incentives also motivate people to go above and beyond their job requirements.


Without proper foot support and cushioning you can endure tremendous strain on your muscles; the proper footwear and insoles can help to alleviate this strain. (MEGAComfort photo)

Taking Strides Toward Safety

By Dr. Kevan Orvitz

You can use 100 percent dual layer memory foam insoles to alleviate pain and fatigue. Utilizing insoles in your shoes also prolongs the life of protective footwear.


Health effects of breathing welding fumes include eye, nose, and throat irritation; possible lung damage; various types of cancer; kidney and nervous system damage; and suffocation when oxygen-displacing gases are involved in welding in confined or enclosed spaces.

Welding Safety Best Practices

By Jerry Laws

Welders must be protected from electric shock, welding fumes, fire, and injuries that can be caused by insufficient PPE.


Modern single use gloves incorporate a wide range of job-matched performance technologies. (SW Safety Solutions Inc. photo)

Understanding the Modern Single Use Glove

Glove construction now takes into account long-term usability to reduce finger fatigue, chronic skin conditions, and more troublesome musculoskeletal disorders.


Corporate Risk and the Growing Case for Sustainable Chemical Management

Corporate Risk and the Growing Case for Sustainable Chemical Management

By Robert Polito

Being responsible for the impact of a chemical disaster—on staff, local communities, the environment, and the local economy—is every CEO's nightmare.


Departments

Embracing the Safety Stand-Down's Message

OSHA's construction industry fall protection standard, 29 CFR 1926.501, was its most-cited standard during fiscal year 2015, and construction standards for safe use of scaffolding and ladders also ranked among OSHA's Top Ten that year.


3 B's for Preventing Soft-Tissue Injuries

By Robert Pater

The 3 B's are effective watchpoints for moving and working stronger, safer, and more in control.


What Should You Stop Doing to Improve Safety Performance and Culture?

By Shawn M. Galloway

Thinking we can always be better, and hazards and risks can always be reduced, should dominate thinking throughout an organization.


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