Undoubtedly the fact that almost everyone is now in the PPE distribution business. W.W. Grainger has vastly expanded its safety services, training, checklists, white papers, hotlines, etc. Fastenal, at one time a strictly or almost strictly an industrial fastener company, now markets vending machines of all sizes with all varieties of PPE.
What is hazardous energy? According to OSHA, energy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal or other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy could cause injury to employees.
These tragic electrocutions, all investigated by NIOSH, show just how widespread and unexpected electrical dangers can be, sometimes involving the most ordinary types of work:
You would think if workers knew how little electricity it takes to kill someone, they would be more cautious around energized equipment and other electrical hazards. But among most electrical workers there exists the old “it can’t happen to me” attitude of complacency.
1. Paul O’Neill would be voted in as OSHA chief by safety pros in a heartbeat. Or they would like to clone him for every boardroom meeting on safety. He is an inspiration to professionals, with his straight talking passion for safety.
The safety job has matured, and will continue to do so – that was one of the takeaways from last week’s National Safety Congress & Expo, sponsored by the National Safety Council.
For the record, there were 204 exhibitors from foreign countries; 100 of them from China. Most of the rest were from Canada, with a smattering of vendors from India, Malaysia, Pakistan, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Portugal, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Argentina.
Talking to vendors at last week’s National Safety Congress & Expo, sponsored by the National Safety Council, it’s clear a safety pro who comes to work without a smartphone is going to lost in the dark.
One of the changes in the nature of workplace safety work happens to be the nature of conversations revolving around safety. Back in the day when safety was largely a policing job with a heavy emphasis on rules and discipline, conversations between the safety manager and an employee tended to be short and direct.
“You know, a lot of safety managers don’t like that saying, ‘Safety Pays.’ They think it’s cold and heartless, impersonal,” said the PPE vendor from the NSC’s Congress & expo show floor. “But let me tell you, when you get down to it, a lot of businesses look at safety now in terms of dollars and cents.
