On the expo floor of Safety 2017, 28 vendors showcased mobile apps (tracking devices, mobile inspections, alarms and signaling devices, etc.). The new buzzword is “connectivity.” Safety pros are now using technology to respond to the exact location of an employee in distress of help while providing tools to account for the wellbeing of every worker.
On the expo floor at ASSE’s Safety 2017, Caterpillar displayed one of the latest tools in the battle against unsafe fatigue on the job. In-cab monitoring is a way to keep operators alert and safe.
DEKRA a global consultancy that exhibited at Safety 2017, has gone on record stating the idea behind the OSHA recordable rate was a good one, but it is time to get more proactive in tracking safety performance. OSHA recordkeeping provided a level playing field for what would be classified as a medical treatment case or an injury for recording purposes, according to DEKRA. It has provided that consistency, not just in the U.S., but for companies worldwide.
Behavior-based safety has been practiced since the Ford Motor Company used it to increase seat belt usage in 1970s. Controversy has dogged it ever since, especially in the 1980s and 1990s when the BBS bandwagon attracted a small army of consultants.
On Thursday, June 22, Dr. Tim Ludwig drew an audience of 500 attendees at ASSE’s Safety 2017 to his presentation on stopping the ever-popular blame game as a safety practice and instead striving for a better understanding of human behavior.
It’s something of a tradition in workplace safety to observe how different company cultures react to bad news about accidents, hazardous conditions, OSHA penalties, worker complaints and negative press. In my experience, most of the time defenses go up immediately.
The dark, misty highway made the digital boards hard to ignore. They are also visible from a greater distance. You notice them sooner. Which of course is the point of outdoor advertising. But I thought, this seems like another form of distracted driving.
The statistics are well known. Each day three or four workers are killed due to electrical related accidents, according to NIOSH. A Michigan burn center found that 34 percent of patients injured on the job received flash injuries.
Looks like we’re going to have to outfit workers with wearable devices to monitor their blood pressure and heartbeat to be on the alert when stress levels driven by office and assembly line political chatter get dangerously high strung.
Despite the potential for serious injuries and fatalities, gloves were not considered when arc flash standards for clothing were first developed in the 1990s. For years electrical industry safety experts wanted the same type of rating on gloves as they had for clothing and face shields.
