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
Keep machine operators safe by making sure that no machine is operated unless guards and safety devices are in place and working properly. According to OSHA’s machine guarding standards (29 CFR 1910.211-219), machine guards must meet six requirements. They must: Prevent contact of hands, arms, or any other part of a worker’s body with dangerous […]
There are nearly 5 million permit-required confined spaces in workplaces across America and another 1 million nonpermit spaces. The three essential safety elements in those spaces are training, testing, and rescue preparedness. Confined space accidents happen more often than you might think. And the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says that these […]
According to safety consultant Emmitt Nelson, when everyone is on board with a zero-injury approach, the high costs of worker injury can be reduced to sums that previously existed “only in the dreams” of safety professionals. Emmitt Nelson is a safety consultant (www.nelsonconsulting.com) and pioneer of the zero-accident approach. He chaired the first Construction Industry […]
Read about how one Fortune 100 company set and achieved a goal to reduce the number and severity of workplace injuries by 50 percent in 5 years. The program was so successful, the company is already into its second 5-year challenge. Anyone who thinks changing safety direction and outcomes at a large company is impossible […]
Forklift accidents can happen in so many different ways that you have to anticipate all the possibilities—even the kinds of accident scenarios that common sense would dictate should never happen Parking and securing a forklift when not in use is a simple enough thing—something trainers might not emphasize much because it seems like such a […]
OSHA estimates that 1 million forklifts are used in workplaces across the country. Forklifts are not only among the most common types of motorized equipment, they are also the cause of some of the most serious workplace accidents. Forklift safety is—or at least should be—a major concern in the large majority of U.S. workplaces. That’s […]
The average vehicle crash costs an employer more than $16,000. When the incident involves an employee injury, that figure spikes to $74,000, then up to $500,000 if there is a fatality. The good news, say the experts, is that auto accidents are largely preventable There’s no time like the present to shore up your fleet […]
Hand injuries can be especially traumatic, stripping away not only an employee’s ability to work, but also the ability to perform activities of daily living. Yet, workplace hand protection often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. OSHA’s hand protection standard (29 CFR 1910.138) is short and sweet: 1910.138(a) General requirements. Employers shall select and require […]
Whether a worker is injured on or off the job, the result is often the same—lost workdays, lost productivity, and hefty healthcare costs. That makes getting all injured employees back to work ASAP a priority. At General Electric the focus is on an integrated approach to worker injuries and return to work (RTW). By “integrated,” […]
When workers are injured on the job, early return to work (RTW) makes good sense for employees and employers. Spend a few hours in front of the TV on a weekday, and you’ll get an eyeful of what injured workers see every day—ads for lawyers promising large settlements for their injuries. That’s why workers’ compensation […]