OSHA wants to hear from employers about how they’ve been using control circuit-type devices to isolate energy and about evolving technology for robotics.
The information request is for a possible update of the agency’s Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) standard.
As high school and college students get ready to put away the books and start summer jobs, OSHA hopes its #MySafeSummerJob program will help keep them safe in their new endeavors.
#MySafeSummerJob offers information for both employers and employees about occupational safety for young people – who generally have less experience and training and a lower awareness of hazards than older workers.
It is not new news that agriculture has excessive worker injury rates. Nor that senior farmers and adult farmers in the South experience some of the highest occupational injury and mortality in the nation. There were an estimated 58,385 work-related adult farm injuries (more than six every hour) in 2014. In 2016, 417 farmers and farm workers died from a work-related injury.
Construction is a high hazard activity. Workers face serious dangers posed by heavy machinery, sharp objects, falling objects, falls from heights, asbestos, silica, electrocutions, among many other hazards. It's in the best interest of workers and construction companies to ensure the highest safety standards.
During Small Business Week, May 5-11, we celebrate entrepreneurs across the country for their willingness to take a risk and follow a dream. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, we have plenty to celebrate: more than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and they create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.
Having a detailed fall protection plan is essential to providing a safe work environment for employees working at heights. While OSHA only requires a written fall protection plan for employees engaged in specific types of work who can demonstrate that it is infeasible or hazardous to use conventional fall protection equipment (See 1926.501(b)(2), (b)(12), and (b)(13)), CPWR feels that the use of a plan is beneficial to the safety of all workers at risk for a fall.
OSHA and its partners are hosting events throughout the country this week for the sixth annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction. Employers and workers will pause to talk about fall hazards, OSHA compliance, and industry best practices to prevent falls. The 2019 poster is available on OSHA's publications page.
Gravity be warned. There’s a new Drop Cop® in town. Five of them, to be exact, with the release of Ergodyne’s newest tool-tethering kits. Ergodyne is launching five kits that contain tethering solutions for the most common tools in a worker’s toolbox.
The increase in recent years in heavy downpours, severe flooding and other severe weather events caused by climate change keeps electricians busy making repairs. It also keeps them in danger. Electrocutions are the fifth leading cause of all reported occupational deaths.
On April 3, I represented the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) at an event kicking off Distracted Driving Awareness Month and California Teen Driver Safety Week, in Sacramento. I challenged California to lead the nation in acting on NTSB’s 2011 recommendation to ban the non-emergency driver use of portable electronic devices that do not support the driving task.
