THERMAL imagers (TIs) are sweeping through the North American fire service as more and more municipal fire departments adopt the technology. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently reported approximately 25 percent of municipal fire departments have TIs.
IN 2001, at an exotic animal ranch in Florida, a 550-pound crossbred Siberian tiger mauled to death a 49-year-old volunteer worker. According to the Associated Press, the worker was attempting to qualify for his own license to keep "big cats" when the tiger broke through a chain link, grabbed the worker by the neck, and pulled him to the ground. The official report of the incident said the man died in seconds of a broken neck.
Editor's note: Ambassador Medical Services Inc. of Marlton, N.J., a third-party administrator of federally required testing programs, has seen its business shift from 100 percent DOT testing at startup in 1988 to a 40 percent DOT/60 percent non-DOT mix today.
A large construction company was building a multi-story office building in St. Louis. Partway through the job, a worker fell more than 30 feet through a hole in a partially decked floor. He died as a result of severe injuries a few hours later.
I supervise electrical distribution line workers. We start each week with a safety meeting. Being the highly effective supervisor that I am, I have a folder of safety stuff I draw from when we don't have a video or speaker.
LIFE just keeps getting more and more complicated. Between advancements in industrial technologies, increasing productivity pressures, and a general "need-for-speed," most safety professionals are constantly adjusting their thinking and processes.
WHAT is your company's agenda when an employee cuts himself while handling a knife (or any other incident that induces bleeding)? What happens if an employee contracts Hepatitis B (HBV) or the HIV virus while rendering first aid or CPR to a critically injured employee?
THE American public buys more than five billion over-the-counter drug products each year. A June 2003 national survey examining use of OTC medications indicated more of us are reading labels and checking out possible side effects, but we still have far to go, the National Council on Patient Information and Education noted last fall when it launched its latest consumer education campaign, "Be MedWise Prescription for Taking OTC Medicines."
SLIPS and falls are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries in the country. In fact, the National Safety Council reports more than 300,000 injuries occur each year as a result of slips, trips, and falls in the workplace, averaging almost $7,000 per accident in lost compensation and medical costs.
DEVELOPING standards to protect workers' well-being is a great way to get started on the path toward a healthy and injury-free workplace. But as any safety expert will tell you, it takes dedication, perseverance, and a desire to make sure every employee is as safe as can be while on the job.
IN the world of occupational heat stress, including professional sports such as American football, employers and employees must find some accommodation between reasonable productivity and reasonable heat stress illness prevention.
THE final rule on recording hearing loss (HL) was published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2002. It is a revision of 29 CFR 1904, Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements, as they pertain to recording HL. Details are reported in the Federal Register (Vol. 67, #126, pp. 44037-44038). Major provisions are the following:
ARE you in charge of creating a lockout/tagout (LOTO) program for your company? If so, beyond being familiar with the standard, you must fully understand the process of creating and implementing a successful LOTO program that will ultimately save time, injuries, and possibly lives.
WEARERS of hard hats will look and feel better as helmet manufacturers continue to develop products that improve comfort and ease of use.
THE revised ANSI Z359.1 standard coming out this year is not meant to be the last word on fall protection programs and equipment, because the Z359 committee already plans to append at least three sections to it.
WORKERS depend on their five senses--sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch--to keep them alert to their surroundings and to any danger present. It's important to note that four of the five sense organs are housed in the head. The brain (the organizer of all that data collected by the senses) is also located there.
THE attack on the World Trade Center and the anthrax scare have forced the government and private industry to increase safety and security precautions. The anthrax scare, in particular, has prompted greater safety controls in the mailroom.