MY interest and attention to ergonomics began as the consequence of managing workplace injuries within the Risk Management division of a large high-tech company 10 years ago. Ergonomics was still relatively new and unproven to our immediate industry, and I was extremely skeptical of how injuries could be reduced by placing monitors on phone books or putting a piece of foam rubber in front of a keyboard.
WHEN a hazardous materials accident occurs, time is a precious commodity. How long it takes responders to secure the scene could mean the difference between life and death.
IN the middle of 2001, Hewlett-Packard made a decision to change the way it addressed ergonomics in its office environments. HP had two goals: decrease the rate of repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) corporate-wide and create significant administrative efficiencies.
IN previous articles (March and June 2003), we discussed how companies can evaluate their response to terrorism and provided some insight into the types of weapons that terrorists may use. Some recommendations for hardening the facility were provided in the second article.
BACKUP alarms are installed on forklift trucks because they provide notice to a worker that a forklift is in close or immediate proximity. If they worked perfectly--and they don't--they might prevent as many as 20 deaths per year from pedestrian-forklift accidents and reduce injuries by seven thousand or more.
DR. Jeffrey W. Runge of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration--the nation's top auto-safety regulator--suggests that if 90 percent of Americans wore seat belts, then 6,600 lives would be saved each year, and that the failure to wear seat belts costs society more than $26 billion annually (The Wall Street Journal, 2003).
IN corporate America, we are obsessed with productivity, reduced costs, and the "bottom line." Add to this all the concerns about safety and ergonomics, and you have the makings of a colossal headache. In fact, in some cases, I think the obsession with productivity has gone a little too far, even taking a step backward.
A good workplace safety policy begins and ends with the employee. It makes sense for the employer to establish a solid safety policy, but it is always up to the employees to adhere to the regulations before they come into work for their shifts. It's not a question of comfort or convenience--it's literally a matter of life and limb.
ADOPTION of the OSHA Hearing Conservation Amendment (29 CFR 1910.95) in the early 1980s changed forever the way employers protect workers from noise. Instead of a single focus on noise reduction to prevent hearing loss, employers were permitted to substitute the hearing conservation paradigm we know today.
SINCE the 9/11 attacks, there have been many media reports on "Dirty Bombs." The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security have fact sheets regarding Dirty Bombs on their Web sites.
SO, you've made the decision to use multimedia as part of your overall training strategy. You can take the low-cost route and purchase generic off-the-shelf products, or you can expend more of your training budget on your own development.
IN the occupational health arena, shoe programs are at the core of many safety and health issues. Besides the "steel toe" issues, there are electrical conditions requiring conductive and/or ESD shoes. Also, sole slip resistance is most important and even critical within select environments.
SAFETY directors and responsible managers have been creating safety programs for decades. So why is safety still such a difficult problem to manage in today's workplaces? One answer is that all of the safety programs in the world won't work unless those responsible for a particular task or risk control procedure do what they are supposed to do.
SLIPS, trips, and falls to the same level are a leading cause of workplace injury and death. According to the National Safety Council, more than 300,000 injuries and 1,500 deaths each year result from slip, trip, and fall accidents. The average cost for each accident is about $6,700 in lost compensation and medical costs.
IN the realm of personal protective equipment, protective gloves offer the first line of defense against an array of hazards. Most often, they are used to protect the hands against scrapes, cuts, chemical, biological, and electrical hazards--with the goal of avoiding or limiting damage to the fingers, hands, wrists, and lower arms. In some instances, the correct hand protection also helps to guard against death.
MANY articles in safety magazines address the subject of confined space rescue, so everyone should be familiar with 1910.146 (d)(9). It states that a company entering permit-required confined spaces must: "Develop and implement procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services, for rescuing entrants from permit spaces . . . ."