Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
No one wants it to happen, but an emergency, natural or manmade, can strike at anytime, 24/7. What’s more, it need not be a major, nationally-televised incident, such as a hurricane, earthquake, or act of political terror. An event as common as a local building fire can present just as large a challenge to you. These resources will help you create a plan for handling such crises, whatever their scope, and to carry it out in a way that best protects your employees and your company.
Free Special Report: 50 Tips for More Effective Safety Training
Louisiana residents—emergency workers, employers and the public—recovering from the impact of the recent floods should be aware of the hazards they may encounter and take necessary steps to stay safe, OSHA urges.
On January 18, 2015, Peter Jonsson and Carl-Frederik Arndt, graduate students at Stanford University, were riding their bikes across campus at about 1 a.m. As they rode through an alley, they saw something disturbing: a man on top of a woman next to a dumpster. The woman was unconscious. The two students yelled at the […]
On April 17, 2013, a 60-ton stockpile of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate (FGAN) exploded at the West Fertilizer Company (WFC) in the middle of downtown West, Texas. The fire and explosion killed 15 people—12 twelve emergency responders and 3 members of the community—caused injuries to 260 more people who required medical treatment, and damaged more than […]
When a 900-gallon melt tank containing hexane and ethanol overpressurized and exploded in December 2015 at a food additive manufacturing facility in Newark, Ohio, owned by Arboris®, LLC, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) faulted the employer’s process safety management (PSM) for failing to prevent the explosion. But even when the fireball erupted, […]
At the Arboris® plant in Newark, Ohio, workers were adding hexane to a process that produced sterols—a natural compound produced by pine trees—for use in foods such as spreads, bread, milk, and yogurt. Unfortunately, the employer’s process safety management (PSM) program failed at many points to identify and correct potentially disastrous issues with the process. […]
Is an ounce of prevention really more effective than a pound of cure? According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), that’s certainly the case for Arboris®, LLC, a food additive manufacturing facility in Newark, Ohio. A 900-gallon melt tank at the facility containing hexane and ethanol overpressurized and exploded in December 2015. […]
What happens if there’s a chemical leak or spill in your workplace? Are your workers ready to contain it? Workers at Nestlé’s Willy Wonka candy manufacturing plant in Itasca, Illinois were quick to react to a lithium chloride spill, containing the 5-gallon mishap. Unfortunately, containing the spilled liquid didn’t eliminate the hazard to workers—just a […]
What’s your worst-case scenario? Fire? Explosion? Flood? If you’re just thinking of the disaster itself, you’re not thinking broadly enough: the true worst-case scenario is a disaster for which your facility and your workers are completely unprepared.
When there’s an emergency in the workplace, workers need to get out quickly. Unfortunately, some types of emergencies may involve power failures and a loss of interior and exterior illumination; or, the building may fill with smoke, obscuring ordinary illumination. In either case, emergency lighting is critical to your workers.
In the wake of severe flooding in West Virginia, OSHA announced that it is providing assistance to the three hardest-hit counties of Kanawha, Greenbriar, and Nicholas, which President Obama declared to be federal disaster areas. The agency will provide compliance assistance in these areas to ensure that workers engaged in flood cleanup efforts are protected […]