Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Safety is a process, and as such, needs to be managed. This section offers resources to create a viable safety program, sell it to senior management, train supervisors and employees in using it, and then track and report your progress. Look also for ways to advance your own skills in these areas, both for your current job, and those that follow.
Free Special Report: 50 Tips for More Effective Safety Training
There’s no OSHA standard for it. And for the most part, you can’t see it or touch it. But the potential risks are significant. We’re talking about indoor air quality (IAQ). IAQ refers to the quality of the air inside buildings as represented by concentrations of pollutants and thermal conditions like temperature and humidity. These […]
If it’s time for an employee safety attitude checkup, you don’t need to send your workers to the doctor. You can make your own diagnosis with a safety attitude survey. Safety is largely about actions. But it’s also about attitude. You can observe actions objectively. But it’s harder to see into employees’ heads and hearts […]
Three fatality reports from NIOSH illustrate the importance of emphasizing lockout/tagout rules. Reason 1 A 25-year-old worker at a concrete pipe manufacturing facility died from injuries received while cleaning a ribbon-type concrete mixer. The victim’s daily tasks included cleaning out the concrete mixer at the end of the shift. The clean-out procedure was to shut […]
Read about a geographically diverse company that’s surmounted the challenge of maintaining a consistent, effective safety and health program. Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, NC, operates coal and gas facilities, plus nuclear, fossil, and hydroelectric plants in geographically dispersed areas. This diversity presents challenges to the company’s safety and health program, says Executive Director of […]
Here’s a company that’s achieved a 21 percent reduction in OSHA recordables and historic improvements in safety performance with a top-down commitment to a safety and a broad-based safety campaign that hits all the right notes. At Covanta Energy, headquartered in Morristown, NJ, safety initiatives are all part of a "pathway for continuous safety Improvement," […]
With employee stress levels reportedly rising across the nation, isn’t it time you found out exactly how stressed your workers really are? Try this easy-to-use survey. Dr. Paul Rosch, president of the American Institute of Stress (AIS), warns employers to be wary of studies claiming to objectively measure workplace stress. Many, he notes, are highly […]
There’s nothing new about workplace stress. But recession, cutbacks, and job uncertainty have made things worse, according to many experts. Here are some ideas for reducing stress in your workplace. Statistics about workplace stress are enough to cause stress for employers who need to manage and pay for it. Several sources estimate the annual price […]
Want to estimate the costs of workplace accidents? OSHA has a tool for doing just that. In addition to the costs in pain and suffering to workers and their families, workplace accidents have a major impact on your bottom line. The Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index for 2010 estimates that employers nationwide pay over $1 […]
Selling upper management on increased budgets (or even just budgets that hold the line) for safety and health programs can be tough—especially in difficult economic times. Here’s some ammunition. It’s a documented fact: Employers that implement effective safety and health management systems can expect to significantly reduce work-related injuries and illnesses and the associated costs, […]
Yesterday, we told you about a company that got tough on distracted driving and experienced great results. Today, we relate another success story. About 6 years ago, a senior vice president at Sunoco, Inc., was watching a weekend television news magazine. According to Senior Safety Specialist Bill Sanicky, the subject was distracted driving, and the […]