Many times when an accident occurs that is just property damage, it is overlooked in the investigation process, because no injury occurs. That is actually a root cause of an injury accident, because if property damage was investigated thoroughly, it could identify issues that if events were different could have resulted in an injury. When […]
With nearly 100,000 injuries or fatalities due to forklift accidents in the U.S. each year, proper training is a critical part of forklift safety. Forklifts present a unique workplace hazard for many reasons: they weigh at least double the weight of the average car, they carry very heavy loads at heights, they work in areas […]
An accident analysis report should be conducted for every accident, but also conducting an accident analysis for a near miss will create a safer workplace. It may seem excessive to treat every near miss as a full accident, but a near miss is just an accident where someone didn’t happen, this time. A quality incident […]
Bloodborne pathogens are microorganisms that transmit disease via human blood and other body fluids. When a person is exposed to infected blood the pathogens can pass on to him/her. Therefore, healthcare workers need to be careful as they regularly deal with potentially infected blood and body fluids. Bloodborne pathogen training helps them to know about […]
We have all been doing fire drills since we were in grammar school. But in a modern industrial environment there is a lot more to consider than just marching the students down the hall. In a manufacturing situation, there are specific actions that need to be taken by machine operators to shut down the […]
If your workplace has a confined space, you need to understand everything about them, the dangers, the regulations, the standards of what type they are, everything. Because confined spaces are a very dangerous place for employees, and without a comprehensive policy, employees can get hurt of worse die. So, when working on a confined space […]
Confined spaces are one of the most deadly places in the workplaces. They contains many potential hazards and have restricted exit. Related to confined spaces, OSHA requires that: a. All confined spaces in the workplaces shall be identified. b. Confined work spaces shall be treated as hazardous until proven. c. Their hazards should be identified. […]
The first stage in improving the level of safety in your workplace is to assess exactly where you are. This is your starting point. Then, you have to recognize the culture that exists in your organization and the factors that have created it. The culture is the sum of the experience, history, belief system, work […]
Setting out to modify or change the safety culture in a workplace is a daunting task. Working against you is the custom, practice and habits that have been built up over the years. However, this is not your biggest challenge. The biggest challenge lies in the belief system that occupies everybody’s mind. Again, this has […]
The direct and indirect accident costs represent the “benefits” (money saved) if we adopt the recommended actions. The benefits are realized because we will not have to pay the costs over the foreseeable future. To help estimate direct and indirect costs, you can use OSHA’s Safety Pays software. This is an excellent software tool that […]