The glass is decidedly half full when some of the U.S. safety profession's leaders contemplate the Occupational Safety & Health Administration as it enters early middle age. At age 35, the premier federal agency for ensuring workers' safety is obsolete, hamstrung, more competently staffed, and more helpful to its regulated industries, all at once, these experts said in interviews. The bottom line: OSHA accomplishes too little but succeeds at what it does.
TIMES were hard in 1932. In the midst of the Great Depression, deprivation and desperation were the order of the day for the millions of Americans struggling to get by. Bank crashes, business failures, homelessness, and unemployment were at all-time highs; bread lines were lengthening in every major city in the country, and malnutrition was rampant.
IMAGINE you're at an air show. It's a crisp spring day, and you're waiting in anticipation for the next fly-by of aircraft. Next on the list is the famous Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team.
NO one wants an unsafe work environment. Unsafe or hazardous spots in your environment must first be reported before they can be corrected, however. That takes cooperation from all employees, including those reluctant to blow the whistle.
What's the good news for safety in 2007? Just look around.
DO you want to generate the power to change your company's future? Practice energizing safety within your company.
"YOUNG lady, I think you are in the wrong place," growled a bearded, rustic-looking Dr. James Counts, his brows knitted as he stalked into the classroom of Central Missouri State University's safety program. His second comment was that I would need a very large bottle of Wild Turkey and a long-handled wooden spoon for daily doses to make it through the course.
Devastating catastrophes and the work of key individuals have contributed to the evolution of modern occupational health and safety.
WHEN I was younger, it used to frustrate me to hear folks talk of the "good old days." As with most of us, the frustration subsided as I got older. Comparing everything from the pace of life to the cost of gasoline, a clearer understanding of the "good old days" apparently comes with age!
THE typical response to sudden cardiac arrest is not the stuff of Hollywood movies or TV medical dramas. Rarely is the most-trained, clearest-thinking person on the scene first, taking charge and saving a life against long odds. Rarer still are bystanders who instantly become part of the solution instead of a distraction or impediment. Panic, confusion, fear, people getting in one another's way--now, that's often the real world.
AS a safety professional, you have learned how to quickly identify hazardous environments, led the effort in determining the best ways to protect your employees from those hazards, and spent countless hours training those same employees on everything related to safety. It's a safe bet you can probably recite an OSHA standard quicker than a quote from your favorite novel.
COMPLIANCE requirements for using and storing flammable liquids in the workplace are quite detailed and specific. Unfortunately, the requirements are spread over a number of agencies and multiple documents.
NO one plans to be involved in an industrial accident, but it happens. In Al's case, it was simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time. While returning to his work area from the tool crib, a drum of caustic material slipped off a forklift. The drum hit the side of an inventory rack and split open. Al was splashed across his left side, soaking his clothing from head to toe. A significant amount of the hazardous material struck his exposed face and hands.
CRUSHING, punctures, lacerations, sprains, and even aches and pains are common problems workers have with their feet. Footwear that doesn't match their hazard exposures are a leading reason for these, but overall workplace organization and work practices are often at fault.