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January 31, 2022
There are many scenarios where working at height is simply unavoidable and some of the most hazardous work sees operatives working on top of an elevated surface or structure. It’s here where selecting the correct fall arrest solution is critical. Jon Rowan, Product Line Manager at MSA Safety, explores where, when and how Self-Retracting Lifelines (SRLs) should be deployed for vertical fall arrest protection, and looks at the features that define the most reliable, robust and best lifetime-value equipment.
Despite significant advances in risk awareness and safety technology, falls from height remain a significant cause of injury and death. According to the HSE’s figures for fatal injuries in Great Britain for 2019-20, 29 workers suffered fatal injuries as a result of falling from height – that’s just over 26% of all UK fatalities in the workplace. Over the last five years, falls from a height have accounted for 26% of all fatal accident injuries (an average of 37 fatal injuries -
January 31, 2022I’m not here to buck the trend of social media ‘influencers’ telling you to meditate and drink herbal tea (because I’ll do that later) rather to let you in on what seems to be a well-kept secret: we owe our lives to stress.
Without stress we would blissfully roast our hands against a hot stove, or stagger our way into on-coming traffic where smiling motorists would mow us down. Stress is helpful. It’s only when mismanaged that it starts killing us.
I have written many articles but I tend to limit myself to the best magazines, hence finding myself gracing the pages of HSI magazine once again. Tasked with writing about “above the neck” safety, my immediate thought, at the risk of sounding trite, was that all safety begins above the neck.
Your brain is the control centre. It dictates, and the body follows. But aside from the brain’s uses to keep our arms -
January 31, 2022Many OHS pros believe that going beyond OSHA requirements demonstrates the use of best practices. Going beyond OSHA, however, requires careful considerations.
Examples PIT standards
Are employers required to maintain a written safety checklist for each forklift prior to its operation? OSHA’s Powered industrial trucks standard at 1910.178(q)(7) requires powered industrial trucks to be examined before being placed in service. In support of this requirement, OSHA, in conjunction with the Industrial Truck Association, provide online “Sample Daily Checklists for Powered Industrial Trucks” (1). Automating forklift inspections, such as use of the MasterCheck app (2), are growing in popularity and add performance analytics for daily forklift inspections.
Given the above, it appears that employers are required to maintain a written safety checklist -
January 31, 2022Another employee became sick following exposure to respiratory hazards at the Alabama facility. Two workers are dead and one is sick after exposure to dangerous toxins at an Alabama chemical manufacturing plant – Daikin America Inc. – after the employer failed to provide appropriate PPE and implement safe work practices during maintenance activities on chemical processing equipment.
An OSHA investigation found that on July 2, 2021, Daikin America exposed three chemical operators to toxic fluorocarbon and other hazardous chemicals that resulted in the workers suffering respiratory failure. According to a press release, one worker spent nearly a week in a local hospital for respiratory failure treatment before he returned home. The other two employees were treated for respiratory failure at local hospitals but later died one on August 10, 2021 and the other on September 28, 2021.
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January 23, 2022The sudden shift of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) from an optional public relations reporting initiative into an increasingly mandatory, investor-driven reporting requirement has many companies reevaluating how they use data. While organizations have used “big data” in the past to be more competitive, efficient, and profitable, they’re now seeing the benefits of advanced data analytics in assessing EHS performance. Sophisticated use of data and analytics can reduce incidents and operational overhead, directly impacting the bottom line, improving employee morale, and strengthening the business’s reputation.
Traditional data metrics such as incident rate and lost-time incident rate only track issues after the fact. These lagging indicators reactively measure safety efforts by evaluating past performance rather than current or future conditions. While this data may be helpful for regulatory reporting, it doesn’t provide a complete picture of the cause of the issues -
January 23, 2022
Ansell, a global leader in protection solutions, has signed a contract under the terms of a European Union (EU) Framework agreement to help meet the ongoing and critical need for PPE to support the pandemic response. The agreement provides assurance of Ansell’s capacity to supply up to three million AlphaTec® 2000 disposable gowns, if required, over the next twelve months; to protect key frontline healthcare workers involved in deploying COVID-19 vaccines.
Ansell reacted rapidly to the growing pandemic-driven demand for PPE
Ansell has been recently appreciated by the European Commission for its contributions in tendering to the EU Framework agreement, which is designed for purchasing essential protective equipment and administered under the auspices of the European Commission.
This latest contract announcement is the culmination of Ansell’s unfaltering commitment to a process commencing in January 2020. Reacting rapidly to the growing pandemic-driven -
January 23, 2022
The works of heavy industries involves many vital risks that adversely affect human health. In order to remove or minimize these risks, protective clothings and accessories with the latest technology, tested and certified according to the most up-to-date standards and proven to be reliable, should be preferred. These accessories include eye / face, head, hand and foot protectors. However, in this article, we will mention about special body protection suits against molten metal splashes which are necessary to be used in metal casting factories.
Molten metal splash or explosion of molten metal in the hot furnace is usually caused by the damp, wet, cold or air inside the part thrown into the furnace, and causes the metal to explode violently and dangerous molten metals to spread into the air. These molten metals are very dangerous particles that can reach temperatures up to 1800 °C.
In case of such accidents, these dangerous particles can ignite ordinary workers’ clothes, -
January 23, 2022Few people are happy to be stuck in the same position for their entire careers. This isn’t just a matter of having lofty ambitions. Progression is a route to supporting the lifestyle you want. You might feel you have ideas that could be innovative in your industry. Whatever your reason for pursuing better career opportunities, you need to present yourself as a good investment.
There are various ways you can approach this, but one of the most effective is by leaning into safety skills. It doesn't matter what area of industrial operations you want to work in. A background in safety can be instrumental in pushing you above the competition.
Let’s go through a few of the things to bear in mind when leveraging your safety skills.
Where are the opportunities?
Your first step is to understand where the potential opportunities for leveraging your safety -
January 16, 2022With accuracy rates as high as 86 percent, predictive analytics have helped organizations save lives.
The Safety field has made continual progress over many decades; however, many organizations have reached a plateau and are looking to move from great to world-class. Companies have robust training and effective safety processes, yet struggle making continuous safety improvements. Great organizations also implement processes like Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) and Human Organizational Performance (HOP) to supplement their compliance-driven programs, yet people are still getting hurt. Although, some people claim that "HOP is the archenemy of BBS" and have set up BBS as a "strawman" to HOP. This article will discuss the next safety evolution will occur through a synthesis, not division, of BBS and HOP using system analysis and predictive analytics to create a more proactive "Predictive-Based Safety" process.
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January 16, 2022Severe temperatures, poor ventilation, toxic gasses and extreme darkness – these are all common working conditions when operating in confined spaces. It’s understandable then that sound safety procedures and protocols are paramount to those hard-working professionals who count Confined Space Entry (CSE) among their everyday or even just occasional job responsibilities. By utilizing advanced monitoring technology, companies can see improved safety, increased productivity and reduced overall costs during confined space operations.
The risks of working in and around confined space areas are well-known. Conventional practices require a safety attendant to be in close proximity to observe workers entering and performing work within the space. Despite the presence of an attendant and well-documented procedures, however, injury and even death can still occur. A safer, more effective approach would be to monitor the confined space from a centralized location to avoid putting additional
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