Category: Injuries and Illness

Modern safety management goes beyond covering traditional workplace accidents to now being equally concerned with illnesses caused on and even off the job. This section will explain what you need to know to avoid both injuries and illnesses, and to track your progress in reaching this goal.

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Are Your Workers Begging for Knee Injury Prevention?

According to NIOSH, knee injuries are not only painful and debilitating, they’re also costly, averaging more than $13,000 each. Are any of your employees at risk? Prepatellar bursitis, a painful swelling of the fluid sack over the kneecap, is a common work-related injury, especially among those who spend prolonged periods kneeling, squatting, crouching, or working […]

Cool Safety Tips for Hot Days

Summer is only a couple of weeks away and the temperatures are rising. Whether your employees get mugged by scorchers on or off the job, they need to know how to prevent health problems caused by high temperatures. To respond to the heat hazards of summer, OSHA advises employers to: Provide heat stress training to […]

Hot and Hazardous: Heat Illness Can Be Deadly

Heat can be a real danger for workers during the summer, especially those who work outdoors. Heat illness should be viewed as a serious health problem—one that can even be fatal. For many people, summer heat is uncomfortable. But for some it can be down right dangerous. That’s why OSHA is currently promoting a national […]

Simple Solutions for Big Back Problems

Bending, stooping, kneeling, or squatting can put a lot of stress on workers’ backs and lead to costly lost workday injuries. Find out what NIOSH recommends for preventing incidents and injuries The back safety problem and solutions offered here come from NIOSH’s Simple Solutions: Ergonomics for Construction Workers. But the same principles apply to many […]

Sick of Paying the Price for Workplace Back Injuries? Take Action!

Statistics tell us that 8 out of 10 people experience back problems at some time during their lives. We also know that back injuries affect millions of American workers every year and cost billions. Overexertion is a leading cause of lost-time injuries. And a significant number of workers in most industrial workplaces and construction sites […]

Climbing to the Top

You go up a ladder. You go down a ladder. What’s the big deal? According to safety statistics, at least 100,000 people fall from ladders each year and injure themselves, while 300 will die in falls from ladders. Let’s look at the dangers involved with a ladder. These are based on actual incidents that have […]

Make Sure Workers ‘Watch Their Step’ to Avoid Foot Hazards and Injuries

Yesterday, we talked about foot protection. Today, we focus on common workplace foot hazards and injuries. The feet are among the hardest working parts of the body. Feet are busy all day long, standing, walking, or climbing. Feet endure hundreds of pounds of pressure while they work, and the heavier a person is the more […]

OSHA Recordable Incident Requirements: Part II

Yesterday, we answered questions from safety professionals about OSHA reportable injuries. Today, we conclude with a couple more questions and more information about how you can become a Safety.BLR.com subscriber and get all your safety questions answered. A. Based on the OSHA excerpt from a letter of interpretation below, this case appears to be an […]

OSHA Recordkeeping Requirements: Recordable Injury or Not?

Even the most experienced safety professionals sometimes have questions about OSHA requirements. Here are some questions recently received by safety experts at Safety.BLR.com. Q. If an employee is seen by a doctor and the only treatment was administering oxygen, would this be recordable under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements? A. Administering oxygen is considered medical treatment and […]

Time to Take a Closer Look at Workplace Burns?

Burns are a common workplace injury with hundreds of cases reported daily across the nation. Identify risks in your workplace and take action to protect employees. A study of workplace burns conducted a few years back by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries found that of the 350 workers hospitalized because of work-related […]