Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Small business fuels the American economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a “small business” as an independent company with fewer than 500 employees. According to the SBA, there are about 28 million such companies, which represent about 49 percent of private sector employment. Being a small business shouldn’t keep you from thinking big […]
Whenever workers are working on or near exposed live electrical conductors operating at 50 volts or more, they are at risk of arc flash—a potentially explosive release of electrical energy through the air that can cause serious injury or death. Here’s how you can prevent arc flash incidents and injuries. Make a Plan Employers should […]
On just his second day on the job, a 28-year-old man working on a machine to forge parts lost a fingertip in a November 2014 incident. Investigators said it could have been prevented if his employer had trained the man to properly operate the upsetter machine and if the machine had proper safety mechanisms. The […]
Are you ready for the new safety data sheets (SDS)? Writing for Safety.BLR.com®, Safety Editor Emily Clark has everything you need to know about the recently passed deadline and its implications. June 1, 2015, marked an important deadline in the 4-year phase-in period for OSHA’s revisions to its hazard communication standard. Effective that date, chemical […]
Protecting workers from the heat is a critical issue during the hot months of July and August—so critical that OSHA is ramping up its awareness and enforcement efforts around heat illness prevention this year. Ideally, employers are supposed to prevent workers from suffering heat illness in the first place, but what happens after a worker […]
While the Ebola threat seems to have been contained for the time being in the United States, it is still a problem in other parts of the world. In today’s Advisor, learn how training is helping fight this deadly disease. With the news that Sierra Leone’s vice president was put in quarantine this week after […]
A 20-year-old employee at a manufacturer of rice cakes and other snack products was shocked while performing service work on an electrical panel on August 18, 2014. The employee missed 2 days of work. After hearing of the injury, OSHA inspected the facility and identified several problems with the employer’s electrical safety work practices.
HAZWOPER Medical Surveillance FAQs—Part 1 Q: Which employees must employers include in a medical surveillance program? A: According to 29 CFR 1910.120(f)(2)(i)–(iv), employees who meet the following requirements must be included in a medical surveillance program: All employees who are or may be exposed to hazardous substances or health hazards at or above the permissible […]
A tree-trimming accident leads to a fatality—and a reconsideration of safety training for outdoor work. Today’s Advisor reports on the accident and reiterates OSHA’s safety recommendations for tree-trimming activities.
In yesterday’s article, we looked at a few situations that can arise in a real fire that you might be overlooking in your fire safety training. Today, we’ll look at two more possibilities your employees need to be prepared to face, and what you can do to keep your fire safety preparation real.