MANAGING hazardous materials in a safe and compliant fashion can be a complex and daunting task unless proper planning and procedures are in place. Many environmental, health & safety (EHS) professionals turn immediately to OSHA and EPA regulations to determine what is required, then provide guidance to those who will ultimately be held responsible for proper use and storage of the hazardous materials.
MANY hospitals today find their financial health in critical condition. Increasing worker's compensation claims, an ongoing nursing shortage, higher operating costs, and reduced government funding contribute to a challenging operating prognosis.
WHEN a recognized hazard cannot be eliminated through engineering controls (at the source) or reduced through administrative controls (staff rotation, procedure development), the last line of defense is through the use of personal protective equipment. One common type of PPE that is also often downplayed is foot protection.
ACCORDING to the National Safety Council (2000), falls represent one of the most common causes of unintentional injury deaths in the United States annually (approximately 14,200 in that year). Only motor vehicle accidents and poisonings ranked higher, with 42,900 and 14,500, respectively.
MAINTENANCE and inspection of the sloping, 600-foot face of Hoover Dam is not a task that can be accomplished in a great many ways.
EFFECTIVE management of flammable and combustible materials is a critical fire prevention and protection issue. The essence of fire prevention is keeping potential fuel away from ignition sources.
DURING the past few years, safety professionals worldwide have been observing the developments in CD-ROM and online training courseware. The advantages of training with these formats are numerous.
PERHAPS never before have the challenges facing occupational health and safety professionals been so starkly defined and potentially consequential. A rapidly expanding global marketplace is creating opportunities in places that could scarcely have been foreseen a decade earlier.
WHAT do you really know about machine safety? Ask yourself, "Would I be comfortable working on this equipment? What if someone I cared about was working on this machine? A spouse? A brother? A sister? Would I want them working on a machine that is not safe?" If you answered no to any of these questions, why would you let your employees work on an unsafe machine?
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.
WITH more than 25 percent of all workplace accidents involving hand and finger injuries (and each disabling hand injury costing as much as $26,000), many companies and organizations are placing a higher priority on identifying the critical issues associated with the workplace environment.
WHEN a major distributor of tires and wheels wanted to put together a safety incentive program, the call went out to Chip Separk, president and CEO of Recognition Solutions in Raleigh, N.C., who partners with Chicago-based Hinda Incentives. CS Recognition was already doing the service award program for the company.
YOU can increase productivity and reduce downtime in your plant by applying a systematic facility identification program. If you think this is an expensive proposition, the alternative--downtime, errors, and injuries--can be much more costly. You realize cost benefits through a reduction in process and production errors and fewer lost time accidents.
WHAT do a police officer approaching a suspicious looking person and a quality control technician inspecting an integrated circuit board have in common? They both need good visual acuity.
BREAKING down language barriers is critical to maintaining a safe work environment. Why the concern? As the number of employees with English as a Second Language (ESL) has increased over the past decade, the number of workplace injuries has risen disproportionately.
AS a safety manager, you have probably spent enough time in the trenches to see the ill effects of poorly designed safety incentive programs. I'm speaking of programs that merely reward employees for reaching an injury-free milestones without changing underlying employee behavior.