There are tried and true reasons why stainless steel is the surface material of choice in commercial kitchens and food prep areas: it’s durable, nonporous, nonreactive, resistant to corrosion and equally important, easy to keep clean.
During Women’s History Month, NIOSH will highlight several female researchers and their contributions to NIOSH and America’s workers.
Christine M. Branche, Ph.D., is the Director of the NIOSH Office of Construction Safety and Health. Dr. Branche began her career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1996 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. In 2007, Dr. Branche joined NIOSH.
When it comes to ladder safety, there’s a difference between three-point control and the traditional three-point contact rule. Three-point control is a climbing method that involves always using three or four limbs distributed over three or four locations for reliable support. Three-point contact involves simply coming into contact with the ladder at three points without necessarily requiring a reliable hand grip for support.
A cause of death amongst construction workers is falls from elevation, of which a third are from ladders. Some of these fatalities could be prevented simply with the implementation of the three-point control technique.
In addition to proper use of horizontal grab bars and the existing horizontal rungs, construction workers should be trained to use the three-point control technique.
Analysis of data from three surveillance systems showed that in 2011, work-related ladder fall injuries (LFIs) resulted in 113 fatalities, an estimated 15,460 nonfatal injuries that involved more than one day away from work, and an estimated 34,000 nonfatal injuries treated in emergency departments. Workers who are male, Hispanic, older, self-employed, work in smaller establishments, and work doing construction and extraction or installation, maintenance, and repair experience higher LFI rates.
When you’re 280 feet off the ground, your feet clinging to the deck, the breeze blowing past, you’ve got a clear view of the power of wind energy. This past summer, I experienced it first-hand.
The New York communities of Lowville and Martinsburg are the home of the 195-turbine Maple Ridge Wind Farm. We checked out the wind farm from a range of angles and perspectives. And, yes, we climbed a turbine.
OSHA last week launched a regional Focus Four Campaign in the Mid-Atlantic States to address the four leading causes of fatal injuries in construction.
Throughout the month of March, the campaign will use toolbox talks and outreach events to focus on electrical hazards.
OSHA has cited a Palatine, Illinois-based contractor for multiple safety violations after agency inspectors observed employees exposed to fall hazards on half a dozen Chicago-area residential roofing projects between August and November 2017. The company faces $281,286 in proposed penalties.
A Florida Patio and Pool Enclosure Installer faces $40,096 in fines following the death of an employee who fell while installing patio screen enclosures.
OSHA has cited Naples-based L.I. Aluminum Design Inc. for four serious citations.
Although efforts to improve occupational safety often focus on industries like manufacturing, mining and agriculture, the arts can be dangerous, too.
Thus, OSHA, United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC (IATSE) have just renewed their alliance to protect the safety and health of workers in the entertainment industry.