While arc flash is an increasingly well-known phenomena, workers are still suffering injuries on a regular basis. In June 2019, OSHA cited a metal smelting company for electrical hazards after an arc flash caused three workers to suffer severe burns at the ASARCO facility in Hayden, Arizona.
What is a High Reliability Organization? The work is highly technical and complex, operators require a high level of technical training and certification, and the consequences of error can be catastrophic. Hence, “it has to be done right every time.”
Since 2014, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has set a goal, or more specifically a “vision,” that traffic deaths and injuries on city streets is, in his words, “not acceptable and… serious crashes will no longer (be regarded) as inevitable. We won’t accept this any longer.”
Telling employees to watch their step isn’t enough to eliminate slip, trip and fall injuries in production areas. Like other safety hazards, slip, trip and fall hazards can be identified and in many cases eliminated.
Imagine a work setting with all the latest and greatest eye washes and safety showers installed in every area that poses an exposure risk with easy and unobstructed access.
Our safety programs, if they exist at all, tend to focus on participation and completion, rather than transformation. To be fair, the chief obstacle stems from a preponderance of wrong assumptions and dangerous misconceptions. Identifying some of these (see below) may help us as safety professionals become more effective in our mission.
The signature event of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) continues to grow in popularity. Final numbers from ASSP’s Safety 2019 Professional Development Conference and Exposition show that 8,938 people took part in the June event, surpassing the organization’s previous record gathering from last year.
Fewer injured workers are receiving opioids, and more are receiving non-opioid medications (e.g. NSAIDs) and non-pharmacologic treatments like physical therapy, according to a study just released by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI).
John Ruser, president and CEO of WCRI, said opioid overdose deaths continue to be a top public health priority in the United States.
A renovation project in Pennsylvania has resulted in OSHA citations against a New Jersey contractor. The agency cited Scot Christopher Rule LLC for exposing workers to lead and other workplace hazards as the company renovated and remodeled a worksite in Easton, Pennsylvania. The company faces $104,637 in proposed penalties.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has developed a training bundle to help facility managers, building owners, engineers, designers, and code officials address essential safety and security features in the buildings that they are charged with keeping safe and functional.
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