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February 26, 2024Safety Tips for Aging Construction Workers
In 2022, 45% of construction workers were 45 and older.
As is the case for most businesses, the age of the average construction worker continues to increase as well. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2022 the median age of construction and extraction occupations workers was 41.2. And 45% of construction workers were 45 and older.
The Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR) notes that many in this age group will continue to remain on the job due to financial pressures as well as job satisfaction.
To help companies keep this population safe, in October of 2023, the group developed a variety of resources. One of these resources, the Aging Workers Data Dashboard examines the U.S. workforce by the numbers, including the number of workers 55 and older in construction, along with the average worker -
February 26, 2024EHS Professionals are Going Beyond Compliance
"EHS&S is driving shareholder value in setting and supporting ESG goals and strategies," says Nicole Wilkinson of NAEM.
In The National Association for Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability (EHS&S) Management (NAEM) blog, Nicole Wilkinson, executive director of Corporate Health, Safety and Environment at CVS Health, and board member of NAEM, talks about the expanding role of the profession. “Post pandemic our profession is further elevated, and our companies rely more on us now than ever.”
She outlines some new opportunities that are evolving in the profession. Here is an excerpt of three of those.
EHS&S is driving shareholder value in setting and supporting ESG goals and strategies. Many of us have responsibilities to setting or delivering on our company’s science-based targets -
February 05, 20245 Ways to Protect Employees from Workplace Violence
The workplace is becoming an increasingly dangerous environment for employees, so it’s more important than ever to have a plan to keep them safe.
Gen Handley
Workplace violence can appear in a number of different—and harmful—ways. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workplace violence is defined as “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site.”
This can, of course, include physical aggression, verbal threats, verbal abuse and homicide. The National Safety Council reports that violent assaults at work resulted in 20,050 injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work in 2020 and nearly 500 fatalities in 2021.
Workplace violence can hurt and impact a -
February 05, 2024Is Skills-Based Education the Trend for 2024?
A new study, from Udemy, shows companies are embracing a skills-first approach in talent management.
Adrienne Selko
The topic of much discussion over the past few years, skills-based learning, is becoming more desirable. Both the academic world and the business world have voiced their opinions on this topic.
On the academic side a recent report from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, which is a network of colleges and university, found that 86% of the respondents said there is a need for academic programs to build specific skills. However, only 22% said their institutions had implemented a campuswide competency-based framework.
On the business side skills are moving up on the criterion for hiring as well. In 2022, a study from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) -
February 05, 2024Safety Best Practices to Implement in the Year Ahead
To improve safety, companies need to emphasize leading indicators over lagging indicators.
Brett Brenner, Shawn Gregg
The beginning of a new year brings with it a multitude of new resolutions, new beginnings, and new changes. If we employ this mentality in our personal lives, why not also in our workplaces?
The 2024 edition of NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, brings with it new opportunities and standards, including setting general requirements for electrical safety-related work practices and establishing electrically safe work conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) national emphasis programs focus on harmful conditions, behaviors, and hazards, which can bring attention to issues within your own workplace.
Both of these provide great -
January 22, 2024Can Robots Improve Workplace Safety?
NSC found that remote-controlled robots offer high value for confined entry inspections, working from height and hazardous material handling.
While the answer to this question is generally yes, there are drawbacks.
First, let’s look at some recent research from the National Safety Council. In a white paper, Improving Workplace Safety with Robots, the association looked at how robots can reduce the risk of serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs). To do this they looked at "automated facility inspections, confined space entry, moving parts and equipment, machine tending, pick and-place, hazardous materials handling, and precision welding and cutting.”
The report reached five key findings:
1. Robots are available in various control configurations – remote-controlled, pre-programmed or autonomous – as well as in various forms – autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated guided vehicles (AGVs), articulated -
January 22, 2024Nanotechnology Guidance from NIOSH
NIOSH is helping employers understand best practices to meet exposure targets.
The NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Cente, which turned 20 this year, notes in its science blog notes tha tthe group's reserach "has led to improved recommendations for controlling exposures during advanced manufacturing processes."
NIOSH was the first U.S. government agency to establish recommended exposure limits (RELs) for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). In 2011 NIOSH released two RELs for the same chemical based on fine and ultrafine sizes. These were published in Current Intelligence Bulletin 63: Occupational Exposure to Titanium Dioxide. Workplace guidance recommendations were also provided in this Current Intelligence Bulletin.
NIOSH also published two other ENM-related guidance documents:
Current Intelligence Bulletin 65: Occupational Exposure -
January 02, 2024It's time for us to see how workforce wellness equates to positive business outcomes.
There’s more to EHS leadership than simply checking compliance boxes and reducing injuries. Yet, the total health of workers -- including mental health and job satisfaction – continues to fly under business leaders’ radars.
There are major consequences to deprioritizing these aspects of total health – especially regarding productivity, physical safety, and turnover. As a result, leading businesses are taking a “total health” approach to EHS in 2024 to protect employee wellness and reap wider benefits to the entire organization.
Worker Health and Safety – More than Preventing Accidents
The physical dangers of the workplace, and their costs and wider impact on productivity, are well known. In 2021, there were nearly 5,200 workplace fatalities, and -
January 02, 2024New report from ISN shows 20,000 hospitalizations, 3,154 amputations and 871 fatalities. over past 6 years.
In a new report from ISN, Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs), an analysis of more than 127,000 recordable incidents from 2017-2022 showed nearly 24,000 SIFs cases.
This incoluded more than 20,000 hospitalizations, 3,154 amputations and 871 fatalities.
Over the data’s six-year span, an interesting trend was identified with hospitalization cases. The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 resulted in elevated hospitalization cases despite the downturn in work activity; for 2022, however, ISN’s analysis shows a stabilization of cases with statistics that begin to return to pre-pandemic data sets.
In addition, 2022 saw the lowest number of amputation cases in the last six years. Unfortunately, however, the number of fatalities drastically increased.
HIghlights from the report include:
Sprains, Strains and Tears return as No. 1 incident -
January 02, 2024Stress among employees is still high and will have to addressed says Gallup Poll.
In 2023, the relatioinship between employers and employees underwent a change. What does that mean for 2024? A Gallup poll notes that "many organizations are radically retooling the ways they do business, leaving many employees, including managers, stressed and disconnected."
Some of the issues that managers faced in 2023 include.
64% said employees were given additional job responsibilities
51% cited the restructuring of teams
42% reported budget cuts
To addresses these, and other issues, the poll advises that leaders should "consider re-tooling their management strategies to better support the changing needs of their workforce and organizational culture. "
Here are a few of the trends that leaders need to address. (This is an excerpt from
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