Safety at work can depend on an effective or comfortable fit between the physical workplace or the tools of work, and the worker. A seatbelt becomes impractical if it can’t be latched securely or comfortably. The safety that firefighters’ gloves provide is compromised if the gloves are too big, hampering dexterity and movement in a hectic and physically risky situation.

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) is hosting a two-day Construction Safety Symposium featuring industry experts discussing the latest safety practices, innovation and risk management thinking from November 12-13, 2015 in New Orleans.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has changed its position on including “safety case” principles in OSHA’s process safety management (PSM) standard.

A PtD update, tree trimmer fatalities and the ASSE gets a new president. These were among the EHS-related news stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has released a new Prevention through Design paper on Preventing Falls through the Design of Roof Parapets (PDF*).

NIOSH is seeking an industrial hygienist or safety engineer to coordinate the agency’s Prevention through Design (PtD) program. This position offers the opportunity to serve a national initiative that promotes the prevention and reduction of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities through the design and re-design of workplace environments.

A session at ASSE’s Safety 2013 focused on, “Integrating Risk Management and Prevention Through Design Standards,” and ASSE has been beating the drum in support of what’s known as PtD. Presenters were Georgi I. Popov, PhD., QEP, University of Central Missouri, Overland Park, KS; and John N. Zey, Ed.D., CIH, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO.