America’s solar energy industry has grown rapidly — more than doubling its workforce. There are now more than 242,000 U.S. solar workers. Training programs and compliance with OSHA safety standards keep workers informed and can prevent accidents.
According to OSHA, arc flash burns are one of the top three most common hazards when working with energized electrical equipment.
Every day in the U.S. there are up to 10 arc flash incidents, totaling more than 3,600 disabling electrical contact injuries each year. The violent nature of arc flash exposure, which can result in a fatality, even if a worker is 10 feet from the blast site.
“Welding fumes are a complex mixture of fine condensed metallic particulate and other solid particles. While welding fume is not a gas, some gases such as ozone, NOx and carbon monoxide are also generated during the welding process,” says Keith Daley, environmental systems manager at The Lincoln Electric Company of Canada.
Welding fumes inhaled through the years may cause serious medical complications. Those noises that didn't seem so loud actually were, potentially destroying your ability to hear. The parts that didn't seem so heavy may trigger shoulder problems. The constant kneeling can lead to knee troubles.
Welding operators should always wear an approved respirator unless exposure assessments are below applicable exposure limits.
Report concerns to a supervisor so your exposure to substances of the welding fumes can be checked.
Electric shock is one of the most serious and immediate risks facing a welder. Electric shock occurs when welders touch two metal objects that have a voltage between them, inserting themselves into the electrical circuit.
The most common type of electric shock is secondary voltage shock from an arc welding circuit, which ranges from 20 to 100 volts.
After increasing steadily from 2005 - 2015, workplace suicides in the U.S. hit a new record high in 2016 – 291 – according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A total of 1,719 male and female workers committed suicide on the job between 2003 and 2007. Those numbers only takes into account suicides that occur at work.
Among occupational groups, male employees of construction and mining companies had the highest suicide rate: 53.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2015, up from 43.6 in 2012.
The importance of safety can’t be underestimated. Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential in industries that require employees to work in harsh and hazardous conditions, from manufacturing to transportation, construction and more.
Imagine that on the first day at your new job, the foreman tosses you a harness and a 6-foot lanyard and says, “Be careful out there!” That may seem like an extreme example of a woefully inadequate fall protection training program, but I will bet dollars to donuts it happens more often than we think.
Unfortunately, many organizations have a false perception that merely employing someone in a safety capacity is a risk control, as in, “Your Honor, we did our due diligence in safety… see, we hired a Safety Person (points to the ‘Safety Person’).”
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