The 2018 edition of NFPA 70E®, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace®, addresses issues that should be put into practice at any workplace. New voluntary requirements and guidance cover risk assessment, the hierarchy of controls, human error, job safety planning, management systems, work performance and workplace culture.
Recently a Hawaiian civil defense employee sent an emergency alert that a ballistic missile threat was headed for Hawaii, and that residents should seek shelter. It was a mistake, a human error. Panic ensued and it took 38 minutes to correct the error.
In industries where there has been success in error reduction, a common element is that there is a distinct focus on the quality of safety activities and processes, with leadership actively fighting against safety processes becoming 'tick the box' activities.
In part one of this article, we covered quite a lot – what mindfulness is, why it’s relevant to EHS, and where, as humans, we have the most control over our lives. Moving on from distractions and reactions, here we’re going to look at solutions.
On Tuesday morning, a motivational keynote will address “The Human Side of Injury Prevention.” Two powerful and dynamic speakers are teaming up to teach the interpersonal dimension of occupational safety. E. Scott Geller, PhD, Senior Partner, Safety Performance Solutions and an ISHN contributor, along with Charlie Morecraft, President & CEO, Phoenix Safety Management, will present from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18.
Review shows mental and physical toll of workplace fatigue
October 11, 2016
Sleep loss and poor working conditions are the most important causes of occupational fatigue—which can impair mental and physical performance with the potential for serious errors and injuries, reports a review and update in the October Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
When there is a possibility that a large chemical spill could necessitate evacuating employees, establishing isolation zones, communicating with several different entities and coordinating response efforts with outside resources, it pays to be prepared.
Although the effects of sleepiness and fatigue has been extensively researched, the multi-layered, complex construct of fatigue has resulted in much of the research, particularly field-based studies, being confounded to some extent due to the many endogenous and exogenous variables that “interplay” simultaneously.