Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Safety is a process, and as such, needs to be managed. This section offers resources to create a viable safety program, sell it to senior management, train supervisors and employees in using it, and then track and report your progress. Look also for ways to advance your own skills in these areas, both for your current job, and those that follow.
Learn what you could and should be doing to prevent and control indoor air quality (IAQ) problems and protect employees from health risks. OSHA recommends a management approach to IAQ problems—the same systematic means that you might use to address other safety and health issues. The elements are familiar: Management commitment Training Employee involvement Hazard […]
There’s no OSHA standard for it. And for the most part you can’t see it or touch it. But the potential risks are significant. We’re talking about indoor air quality (IAQ). What are the causes of unhealthful air? What are the effects on worker health and productivity? And what can you do to reduce the […]
Yesterday, we presented a sample of questions received by BLR safety experts and the answers they provided. Today, we conclude our Q&A with these offerings. Q. Is testing after employee training really necessary? A. Testing employees’ understanding of safety benefits everybody. Tests help you assess the effectiveness of your employee safety training. They help you: […]
Today and tomorrow, we offer a sample of questions sent to the experts at BLR and the answers they provided. Q. Can OSHA issue citations for equipment that is not being used in a facility, even if it is tagged “out of service?” For example, an old printing press that is no longer used. A. […]
Yesterday, we talked about preventing parking lot slips, trips, and falls. Today, we explore circumstances in which parking lot slips and falls might trigger OSHA reporting requirements. If an employee slips and falls in your parking lot on the way to work, or if an employee goes out to the parking lot for a smoke […]
Parking lots are easy to ignore. We use them at least twice a day to stow and shelter our cars, but beyond that they’re fairly invisible. A closer look, however, reveals that they are an integral part of overall worker safety and health and must considered in an organization’s workplace safety plan. Security Here are […]
Do your supervisors understand the early warning signs of a substance abuse problem? They should. If they don’t, it’s time for a training session. Surveys show substance abuse remains one of the most serious issues facing U.S. businesses, with more than 6 million active alcoholics employed and a price tag of $276 billion a year. […]
BLR regularly polls safety professionals like yourself to find out what people are thinking and doing about important safety and health issues. Here’s a sample of those polls, courtesy of Safety.BLR.com. If Mitt Romney is elected tomorrow, what direction will OSHA take? 39% No significant change in direction 35% Less compliance and enforcement driven 22% […]
scenario when a safety improvement yields an unintended productivity improvement as well! Safety expert Wayne Vanderhoof, CSP, president of RJR Safety, Inc. (www.rjsafety.com), offers a hypothetical example of how safety improvements can increase productivity: A worker has the task of keeping the feeder on a machine filled by dumping four 50-pound bags every 15 minutes […]
Are safety goals and business goals mutually exclusive? Your CEO may think so, but you know better. Safety goals and business goals may not always seem to be aligned. For example, safety goals might include: Reduce injuries by 10 percent annually Increase safety meeting attendance to 100 percent Near-miss reporting 2 reports per worker annually […]