THE attendant is the last individual external to the confined space who can monitor working conditions that will ensure the safety of the workers inside the work space. Attention to specific details outlined on the work permit, the ability to adequately oversee "permitted operations," and the authority to "stop work" when rules are violated are the critical elements of the responsibility.
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.
THE lockout/tagout standard--29 CFR 1910.147--is arguably the best OSHA standard ever written. For the price of a lock and tag, employees can be confident they are protected from the sudden release of hazardous energy while performing maintenance, cleaning, or servicing activities on equipment.
THERE are a ton of resources available from OSHA, NIOSH, medical associations, and the like explaining all of the signs of heat stress and what to do about them. You can easily get those online or with a simple phone call. Rather than rehashing those things here, I'm going to spend a couple of minutes talking to you about a few things you may not have considered regarding your employees.
IN the wake of a most devastating 2005 hurricane season with deadly storms named Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, many safety managers will undoubtedly find top management asking tough questions: "What are our risks and threats to customers, employees, operations and property? What type of enhancements to plant safety and emergency planning and response are justified?"
THIS column provides information about the use of outdoor air dampers in hot and humid climates and during hot and humid seasons in temperate climates in commercial buildings.
IN the fire alarm industry, there have always been two principal options for fire alarm systems: conventional systems and analog/addressable systems. As you might imagine, there was a time not too long ago when conventional systems were the systems of choice for most buildings.
BUYING and wearing appropriate high-visibility apparel--appropriate in the sense that the wearer is conspicuous and highly visible given the task he or she is engaged in--became much easier last fall with the update of the first American National Standard for high-visibility safety apparel, ANSI/ISEA 107-1999. Sept. 15, 2005, was the date the American National Standards Institute approved ANSI/ISEA 107-2004, which was devised by the ISEA High Visibility Products Group with help from employers, material suppliers, testing labs, safety professionals, and others.
"YOUR Speed" driver feedback signs have become increasingly popular devices for slowing traffic and increasing workers' safety. Thanks to new technologies, these signs have become more effective and easier to deploy than ever before.
TOM Davis worries about twisted knees, broken ankles, medical bills, recovery periods, new recruits, and overtime. He is not a coach, yet he has responsibility for 13 "teams."
SAD but true: In spite of all safety regulations and precautions, almost 500 deaths occurred in confined spaces during the past five years. Seventy-five percent of these deaths involved skilled workers who were cleaning, repairing, or performing routine maintenance.
THE United States may never be the target of a large-scale bioterror attack, but homeland security officials continue to urge vigilance and preparedness. Every facility manager can take a number of simple steps to improve a building's preparedness for such an attack, and many of these steps include improvements to the facility's HVAC system.
IN recent years, we Americans have experienced more than our share of natural and man-made disasters. From the six major hurricanes that struck Florida during the past two years to oil spills, tornadoes, and the devastating acts of terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001, and the Oklahoma City bombing, first responders and cleanup personnel have been required to work with a variety of catastrophic situations and related hazards.
PROVIDING individual-specific feedback is one of the most inexpensive and powerful tools in the arsenal of a leader. And of all leadership practices, few so perfectly balance a leader's dual tasks of establishing performance expectations and creating the conditions conducive to meeting those expectations.
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.