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It didn’t take very long into the first morning of the construction industry safety conference for me to start second-guessing myself. While the prominent event presented a unique opportunity for me to network with contractors and safety directors who work directly in the field, and it allowed me direct access to the people who manage safety policies and procedures within an industry where Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) members’ equipment is used, I couldn’t help but wonder if the other attendees had different viewpoints about safety than I did.

The U.S. Labor Department says its new Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) will strengthen compliance assistance outreach by promoting a greater understanding of federal labor laws and regulations. In announcing the new office last month, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta said OCI efforts will help companies prevent violations and protect Americans' wages, workplace safety and health, retirement security, and other rights and benefits. As part of its work, OCI will work with the enforcement agencies to refine their metrics to ensure the efficacy of the Department's compliance assistance activities.

Ensuring that workers do only jobs they’re trained for is critical in industrial safety. An untrained worker who botches a job can do a lot of damage. But in the rush to get things done, proper vetting can get overlooked. How can supervisors in the field know for sure about whether a particular worker is qualified to do a specific task or operate a certain piece of machinery? It’s challenging on the factory floor and even more so in the field.

Use Improved Visual Literacy to deliver enhanced safety performance; advance your safety program; and engage employees. COVE – the Center of Visual Expertise – announces dates for its forthcoming two-day Visual Literacy program. Attendees will have an opportunity to learn: 1) Identify, interpret and act upon visual information; 2) Improve hazard awareness, pre-job analysis, BBS; 3) Enhance risk management and communication; and 4) Mitigate bias and improve decision making.

Our brains are powerful information processing systems, but they are not an unlimited resource. Our brains evolved to look for efficiency. This efficiency often happens without us even realizing it. These biases arise because of how our brain handles information and help us get to decisions quickly, but may also place the quality and effectiveness of our decisions at risk.

Back in 2012, OSHA aligned its Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom or HCS) with Revision 3 of the United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling (GHS), which resulted in the current HazCom 2012 Standard.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has announced that it has appointed Jon Franke to the role of Vice President of Safety and Health for the company, effective Sept. 1. Franke is currently PG&E’s Vice President of Power Generation.

Properly trained service technicians help minimize downtime and boost productivity. Our service training courses teach your employees what they need to know to service your lift equipment. Check the schedule to see what classes are coming up at a facility near you.

An electrical contractor recently celebrated reaching the milestone of one-million safe working hours. Wayland, Michigan-based Windemuller said in August, 2018 it hit the mark without any recordable OSHA injuries as of July. The company’s streak started in May 2016.

A decade-old standard developed to help companies with risk management has been revised and adopted as a U.S. national standard. The new version reflects the evolution of risk management from a separate, departmentalized activity to an integrated management competency.