Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Any powered equipment is potentially dangerous—even if it’s supposed to be shut down. Many needless accidents occur when somebody turns on a machine that’s supposed to be locked out. Lockout/tagout accidents are not only needless, but serious. They result not in small cuts or scratches, but often cause amputations, serious fractures, or death. Any energy […]
Yesterday, we explained how to calculate PELs. Today, we talk about how to comply with them. To achieve compliance with PELs, OSHA says a facility must determine and then implement administrative or engineering controls whenever feasible. Engineering controls involve the use of: Exhaust and general ventilation Enclosure of the source of emissions Process and equipment […]
A University of Vermont–hosted safety site has published what it calls the “Fatal 5″—the primary causes of LO/TO-preventable injuries. Make sure these hazards aren’t present in your workplace. OSHA requires you to train employees to prevent lockout/tagout (LO/TO) accidents in the workplace. Have you explained how to avoid the "Fatal 5" to your employees? 1 […]
OSHA requires authorized and affected employees to be properly trained in lockout/tagout requirements and procedures. Do your employees have the knowledge they need to prevent deadly accidents? Here’s a true story excerpted from BLR’s Interactive CD: Lockout/Tagout that dramatically illustrates to employees why lockout/tagout is so important. Laundry Worker Fatally Injured A laundry worker propped […]
Compliance with OSHA’s Control of Hazardous Energy standard involves a variety of issues other than the basic lockout/tagout procedures. It’s a comprehensive standard, and you need to comprehend all its requirements. Because you’re probably already familiar with the basic lockout/tagout procedures, let’s skip ahead to some lesser-known facts about lockout/tagout compliance. (NOTE: If you’re looking […]
Workplace horseplay can cause serious issues for both employees and companies. In a prior article, we looked at a case where an employee broke his leg engaging in horseplay. Although the injury was bad enough, there was the added difficulty of conflicting stories of the incident, and a dispute over workers’ compensation. Reduce your risk […]
Yesterday we looked at the 10 steps OSHA requires authorized lockout/tagout (LOTO) employees to follow. Today we turn to the LOTO standard’s training requirements and look at a tool that takes the pain out of providing LOTO training. As we discussed yesterday, OSHA’s LOTO standard (29 CFR 1910.147) requires you to train three groups of […]
Even with a solid safety program in place, workers need a safety pep talk from time to time. Here are some tips from our Safety Training Tips editor.
With a new OSHA lockout/tagout directive in place – including the statement that LOTO compliance will now be part of all OSHA programmed inspections – LOTO training has never been more important. Here’s how you can get your workplace prepared. In yesterday’s Advisor, we told you about OSHA’s new lockout/tagout (LOTO) compliance directive that instructs […]
Your warehouse holds not only your stock but also lots of hazards! Here is a long list of hints on safely storing and moving items in a warehouse, including why warehouse safety is important, basic rules, and common sense good housekeeping. Materials handling—either by powered equipment or manually—can cause injuries to hands, fingers, feet, and […]