Articles Tagged with ''injury prevention''

The 6th annual National Safety Stand-Down to prevent falls takes place the week of May 6-10, 2019. The Stand-Down was conceived by OSHA in 2014 as part of the National Falls Campaign to raise awareness surrounding the severity of fall hazards in construction and the importance of preventing them. In a construction setting, the term “safety stand-down” is used to describe a wide variety of activities where normal work is paused and the entire site focuses on a particular safety issue.

Impact, penetration, harmful dust, smoke, fumes, heat and injurious light radiation are all potential hazards associated with welding. Welding “smoke” is a mixture of very fine particles (fumes) and gases. Depending upon what is being welded, many of the substances in the smoke can be extremely toxic.

Welding is the most common method of joining metals in industry today. When welded, two pieces of similar metals are fused together by the use of heat, pressure or both. Once completed, the welded joint is as strong as or stronger than the pieces from which the joint is formed.

In 1735, Benjamin Franklin wroteExternal that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We might think he was referring to health and medicine—not so. Mr. Franklin was recommending a metal enclosure to prevent bits of hot coals from starting a building fire. He also recommended training and equipping firefighters.

There were 370 fatal falls to a lower level out of 991 construction fatalities in 2016 (BLS data). These deaths are preventable. While the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) mandates safety protocols to reduce incidences, employers can take action to help reduce hazards that lead to fall-related events. The National Safety Stand-Down raises fall hazard awareness in an effort to stop fall fatalities and injuries.

A few years ago, an un-tethered, 16-ounce tape measure falling from aloft fell on and killed a worker at a New Jersey construction site. This type of accident is now virtually avoidable with the new ANSI 121-Compliant, Gear Keeper Retractable Tape Measure Tether.

Adrian’s Safety Solutions is pleased to announce the launch of their new Modular Pallet Rack Safety Netting. The latest addition to their pallet rack safety line is designed for walkway and work area product fall protection. The modular design allows for overlapping or tiling, so any space can be easily protected right out of the box.

The growing enthusiasm for the annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction has given rise to a new, similar event: the National Safety Stand-Up for Grain Safety Week. It’s happening this week. The event is designed to raise awareness about the hazards in the grain handling industry, which include engulfment/entrapment; slip, trip, and fall prevention; mechanical hazards; machine guarding; and lockout/tagout. Demonstrations of those hazards – along with discussions about how to abate them, were held at the Asmark Institute Agricenter in Bloomington, Illinois yesterday.

The IPIECA – the global oil and gas industry association for advancing environmental and social performance - and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) have launched a new suite of guidance for the oil and gas industry: ‘Managing fatigue in the workplace’ The guidance includes fatigue management in the workplace, performance indicators for fatigue risk management systems, assessing risks from operator fatigue, and fatigue in fly-in, fly-out operations.

On any jobsite on any given day, an accident is waiting to happen. Falls and dropped object injuries are no different. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports over 50,000 struck by falling object incidents every year. Those are only the recorded incidents. What about those that don’t get reported? Doesn’t it make sense to avoid unnecessary injury before it becomes a problem? If you’re looking to better protect your workers from fall related hazards, then it’s time to get serious.