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January 06, 2025"Safety first is promoted but supervisors look the other way when deadlines are at risk," says BSI report.
US businesses need to "do significantly better" in supporting workplace safety, according to a recent survey from BSI Building a thriving workplace: The power of a leading well-being program.
“We've normalized a culture where working regularly on weekends is the only way to keep up, where “safety first” is promoted but supervisors look the other way when deadlines are at risk, and where showing signs of stress is viewed as a weakness,” said Xavier Alcaraz, global practice director for Health, Safety, and Well-being, BSI Americas Consulting.
“We've created “wellness” programs that only benefit a few, we’re offering an abundance of vacation time while maintaining strict deadlines, and we’re promoting work-life balance while expecting our workers to do more with less, Alcaraz added. -
January 06, 2025A look at safety articles from parent company Endeavor Business Media.
EHS Today's parent company, Endeavor Business Media, has a number of brands that address safety concerns in their sectors. Here is a sample of some of those stories.
Beyond Iron Man: The Real-World Impact of Exoskeletons in the Workplace
New Equipment Digest contributor, Karl Zelik, who directs the Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, at Vanderbilt University, discusses the benefits of exoskeletons for preventing back injuries and boosting worker productivity in the material handling industry.
Process Safety Lessons from Bhopal 40 years later
Chemical Processing columnist, Trish Kerin, director of IChemE Safety Centre, examines what can be learned from inherently unsafe industrial design.
Designing for the safe handling of dry powders
Pharma -
December 09, 2024Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses hit 2.6 million, down 8.4% from 2022.
Private industry employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023, down 8.4 % from 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on November 8.
“Today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that the rate of recordable workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023 fell to its lowest level since 2003,” said Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker, in a statement.
This decrease was driven by a 56.6% drop in illnesses to 200,100 cases in 2023, the lowest number since 2019. This was due to a 72.6% decrease in respiratory illness cases, down to 100,200 cases in 2023.
In 2023, the incidence rate of total recordable cases (TRC) in private industry was 2.4 -
December 09, 2024Experienced personnel are leaving and facilities are aging, increasing the likelihood of something going wrong.
While intention is admirable, it’s actions that count. And when it comes to process safety, 66% of companies cited disparities between process safety goals and reality, according to a report from Sphera.
“The stakes are higher than ever for process safety improvements,” said Paul Marushka, Sphera’s CEO, in a statement. “Our newest Process Safety Report shows that experienced personnel are exiting the industry, aging facilities are increasing the likelihood of something going wrong — such as incidents with facilities, equipment or people — and visibility into potential hazardous incidents continues to be limited for many organizations that have not adopted proven digital capabilities.
“On the bright side, we have seen increased interest from senior management -
December 09, 2024Being proactive is almost always better than being reactive, but unfortunately, this advice is not always followed with tethered tools programs. Too often, companies will not even seek out options for securing tools until after a drop incident has caused serious damage to the tool, the worksite, an employee or even an innocent bystander.
Establishing a reliable tethered tool program requires understanding what’s at stake, investing in the proper equipment and enacting thorough protective measures. Once properly set up, a tethered tools system should be like auto insurance—but better.
While insurance steps in after the fact to lessen the financial burden of a mistake that has been made, a tethered tool program stops the mistake from happening in the first place. Understanding both the stakes and the building blocks of an effective tethered tool program can help companies successfully protect their employees and business.
Worker at height using a snap on tool, -
November 11, 2024On November 7, The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) announced that it has updated a national voluntary consensus standard for construction and demolition sites.
ANSI/ASSP A10.1-2024 Pre-Project and Pre-Task Safety and Health Planning establishes effective elements and activities for pre-project and pre-task safety and health planning in construction and demolition work.
“The primary purpose of this standard is to assist construction owners, project constructors and contractors in making pre-project and pre-task safety and health planning a typical part of their overall planning process,” said subcommittee Chair Wesley Wheeler, of the National Electrical Contractors Association, in a statement. “There must be a formal process in place to evaluate the safety and health performance of constructor candidates.”
The standard calls for each potential -
November 11, 2024Workers concern moved to 5.5 from 5.8 in 2023, in survey from Employee Benefit Research.
It's nice to report good news. On Nov. 1, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) published results from its 2024 Workplace Wellness Survey and found that worker concerns about well-being are trending downward.
That's an important difference since in last year's survey 74% of workers are moderately or highly concerned about their workplace well-being.
The fifth annual Workplace Wellness Survey examined worker attitudes towards employment-based benefits in the workplace, as well as a broad spectrum of financial and mental well-being, employment-based health insurance and retirement benefit issues.
“Progress is being made," explained Jack Spiegel, research associate, Wealth and Health Benefits Research, EBRI, in a statement. “However, we still see some workplace stressors. Seven in ten workers are concerned that their employers will reduce or eliminate retirement -
October 21, 2024Anyone who knows me would be quite shocked that I'm willing to admit to being an "older" worker, but in this case, there is a reason.
It is my admiration for this younger generation, that I feel is already changing the rules of the workplace, that I'm willing to 'fess up.
Throughout my career, prior to Covid, I would never think of taking a sick day unless I truly couldn't lift my head. I'm not sure exactly why. Does my generation believe that you just work through whatever circumstances befall you? Do we feel that we would be letting our company down? Or did we want to save time off for vacations?
One thing we didn't consider was work-life balance. But this generation does, and I applaud them for it.
A recent survey from Dayforce, found that in 2023 compared to 2019, sick leave increased 55%. Driving that number up were employees -
October 21, 2024In 2022, the National Safety Council (NSC) created the MSD Pledge. The pledge is a global employer-led movement to reduce musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk and injuries by 25% by 2025.
One of the first companies to sign this was Schneider Electric. In a recent article on NSC, Kathleen Spanjer, the company's North American ergonomics subject matter expert and safety support, global supply chain, said the company's goal over the next three years is to cut their medical incident rate of MSDs in half. The reason for this focus, notes Spanjer, is that while the company's number of lacerations, fractures and electrical events have gone down, MSDs, have unfortunately risen.
Discussing how they will achieve this goal, Spanjer explains that one of the core tenets of the pledge is to share learnings that improve safety practices. Heare are a couple of these best practices.
(The following is an excerpt from the article.)
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August 12, 2024How OSHA’s New Heat Rule Impacts Employers
Attorneys urge employers to use it as a general model for their own practices.
In the midst of a series of record heat waves throughout the United States this summer, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently proposed indoor and outdoor workplace regulations aimed at combating heat illnesses and injuries that occur among the nation’s workforce.
Although these rules are not yet in effect and the proposal may not survive in its current form, the agency has been making the issue a priority for quite a while, focusing special attention on it under its current regulatory regime. In 2022, OSHA launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) targeting heat-related problems at various workplaces across the country in a wide range of more than 70 specified industries, including general industry, construction, maritime and agriculture.
In the absence of a formal rule being in place, the agency
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