A fatality earlier this month involving a hydraulic breaker represents a sharp uptick in U.S. mining industry deaths caused by machine accidents, according to the Mine Safety and Health Admininstration (MSHA).
The 32-year-old general manager/owner and the excavator operator were in the process of positioning the excavator for a motor exchange when the hydraulic breaker attachment fell off the excavator and hit the victim.
One of the biggest wake-up calls I had recently was when I realized the detrimental impact biases have in the world of safety. Most people recognize that biases exist in “the other guy” but fail to see these preconceived notions in themselves. SPOILER ALERT: We all have them, and they are putting all of us at risk.
Compared to small and "micro" businesses, larger companies have made more progress toward introducing the Total Worker Health (TWH) approach to worker health and safety, reports the August Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
"Our results indicate a need for intervention research that specifically targets microbusinesses and small businesses, especially in light of the outsized health and safety risks encountered in these sectors of the economy," write Liliana Tenney, MPH, and colleagues of Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora.
Leaders may not be at the “front line of safety,” but they must have an ability to “see safety” - to understand how visual bias impacts safety programs and how those biases influence not only their operating staff, but also themselves.
By understanding their own visual literacy gaps, and those of others, leaders can develop a higher degree of empathy for the reality of getting work done safely.
This week, Aug. 12 – 18, is Safe + Sound Week, an annual, nationwide event that recognizes the successes of workplace safety and health programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America's workers safe.
According to OSHA, last year more than 2,700 businesses participated in the program, which is aimed at helping employers get their programs started, energize an existing one, or recognizing their safety successes.
HSE audits, permits to work, job safety analyses (JSAs), pre-task HSE reviews, safety observations, ‘hazard hunts,’ management / leadership walk-abouts, hazard IDs, . . . what do all of these ‘tools,’ or processes, have in common?
While it is not a complete listing, it does represent a subset of widely-used and generally accepted tools used by organizations to help manage HSE risk on an ongoing day-to-day basis.
Safe + Sound Week (Aug 12-18, 2019) is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America's workers safe. With OSHA, VPPPA and the National Safety Council all as major sponsors, the message that safe workplaces are sound businesses should resonate with everyone. Why is having a health and safety program important?
The Do More Agriculture Foundation (DMA) and Farm Credit Canada (FCC) have announced they are extending and expanding their partnership to bring mental health awareness and training to rural Canada.
Under the pilot project, FCC provided $50,000 in funding to facilitate mental health first aid training in 12 communities across Canada.
Teton Steel of Montana is a premier reinforcing steel outfit located in Billings, Montana. This employee-owned and locally run company is dedicated to serving their customers, which range from the individual looking to complete a driveway to the huge corporate manager building a super highway.
Delegates at the International Labour Conference (ILC) overwhelmingly adopted (439 for, 7 against) on June 21, 2019, the Violence and Harassment Convention and Recommendation. The new convention views occupational safety and health (OSH) as a subset of overall work well-being.