Category: Special Topics in Safety Management

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.

Work Safety

Safety Best Practices for Contract, Gig, and Temporary Workers

The number of staffing agencies and temporary workers grew rapidly during the end of the last century, and the types of alternative work arrangements continue to proliferate. There now are several types of workers in “nonstandard work arrangements.”

Lone worker inspecting storage tank.

Lone Worker Risk Management: Apply the 4 Ps

Whether you are working for a large corporation with thousands of employees or a small business contractor with a handful of employees, there are times that will require employees to be lone workers. During these times, a lone worker must make many decisions to successfully complete a task on time. To work safely, these employees […]

Ladder Inspection and Safety

Ladder Inspection on the Job: Important Safety Tips

In my safety classes, I often hear questions like “How should we inspect our ladders?” and “Who should do it?” According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), ladders must be inspected by a “competent person for visible defects on a periodic basis and after any occurrence that could affect their safe use (1926.1053).” […]

Total Worker Health

EHS on Tap: E67 NIOSH Experts Discuss Total Worker Health for World Health Day

There are many health threats facing the workforce today, such as stress, fatigue, obesity, mental health issues, and lung and heart disease, to name a few. These issues impact workers, as well as their organizations and the general public, and the entire working world can benefit from addressing the overall health of our populace, both […]

OSHA, OSHA regulatory agenda, safety and health concepts

OSHA Regulatory Agenda Retains Infectious Disease, Workplace Violence Rules

Under the last regulatory flexibility agenda signed by Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has retained rulemakings to expand the communication tower standard and establish standards for infectious disease exposures and the prevention of workplace violence in health care and social assistance (86 FR 16920).

Protective footwear, foot safety, PPE

Protective Footwear: A Sample Policy for Employers

If you require employees to wear protective footwear, you as the employer must provide and pay for it unless the PPE is non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear that you allow employees to wear off the job site.