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December 13, 2023Clear Vision: Safeguarding Construction Workers' Eyes on the Job
A third of occupational eye injuries require trips to the emergency room, and at least 100 result in one or more days away from work.
Each year, more than 2,000 workers suffer eye injuries in the workplace that require medical treatment, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). A third of all reported occupational eye injuries require trips to the emergency room, and at least 100 of these incidents result in one or more days away from work.
One of the most at-risk groups of workers is those within the construction and labor trade industries. With this being a common and serious injury on construction sites, it’s important for both employers and workers to come together to mitigate risks and know what steps to take should an accident occur.
Types of Eye Injuries on Construction -
December 13, 2023OSHA said modern safety helmets can offer employees better protection while doing inspections.
On December 11, OSHA announced that the agency is replacing traditional hard hats used by its employees with more modern safety helmets to protect them better when they are on inspection sites.
In 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports head injuries accounted for nearly 6 % of non-fatal occupational injuries involving days away from work.
Almost half of those injuries occurred when workers came in contact with an object or equipment while about 20% were caused by slips, trips and falls.
Dating back to the 1960s, traditional hard hats protect the top of a worker’s head but have minimal side impact protection and also lack chin straps. Without the straps, tradition hard hats can fall off a worker’s head if they slip or trip, leaving -
December 13, 2023The Biggest Challenges for Safety Leaders, Revealed
A look at what motivates, frustrates and challenges safety professionals.
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What slows you down at work? What gets in the way of you being the best-version-of-your-leadership-self? What prevents you from achieving all your goals in any given day?
In other words, what are your biggest challenges as a safety professional?
This past year has been a challenging one, particularly for those whose jobs are to ensure the health and safety of others. And if it seems like the world is just getting more dangerous and confusing with every passing day, it’s not just you—that seems to be one of the after-effects of the pandemic. A lingering sense of “what’s going to happen next?” has become a prevalent mood within the workplace, making it all the harder to keep workers motivated. -
December 05, 2023
OSHA Violations, Citations and Inspections: What You’re Reading in November 2023
A look at the month’s most poplar stories as determined by you.
Nicole Stempak
What a busy month November has been! It’s flown by for me but also feels like a mish mash of annual events. First, there was the post-Halloween sugar rush, then Thanksgiving, then shopping deals and now the first major snowfall of the season.
Throw in some unexpected car issues that threatened Thanksgiving travel, a fridge that wouldn’t cool, an annual eye exam and a girls night out to see “Mean Girls” the musical, and that about sums my past few weeks.
I’m probably sharing too much, but sometimes it’s nice to remind yourself (and others), that you’re a human who has a whole different life outside of work. It’s impossible to compartmentalize -
December 05, 2023Safety Leadership Resides in Every Employee’s Hands
Creating systems which embed safety responsibility into the fabric of every job is the path to safety excellence.
A key characteristic that distinguishes our America’s Safest Companies (ASC) winners is the core value that responsibility for a safe workplace sits squarely on the shoulders of every single person in the company.
When everyone in the organization is able to not only speak up when identifying a risk but also to take action, disasters are avoided.
Therefore, the opposite is true—when the sum part of a company’s workforce refuses to see or act upon risks, catastrophes can happen.
A very recent example of that is the situation that occurred on the island of Maui. As the initial shock of the hurricane and wildfires wears off, officials are still trying to piece -
December 05, 2023EHS Technology: It’s All in the Data
The latest tech innovations not only are keeping workers safer but are showing a solid ROI.
It seems like almost every day a new technology hits our radar, and that’s certainly true for EHS professionals. Innovations and new tools are emerging that are designed to keep the workforce safe, or at least safer.
Many of these new solutions focus on providing more visibility into the myriad processes that comprise an employee’s workflow, whether it be applications that can determine if machinery is operating correctly, or devices that can assist employees in performing their jobs in a more ergonomically correct manner, or autonomous vehicles such as drones that can provide aerial views of particularly danger areas. On a broader scale, both internal and external environments can be improved as the result of software which -
November 15, 2023Injuries and Illness Up 7.5% in 2022
“We have the tools and technology to make our jobs safer,” says Peter Dooley, of National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.
On November 8, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said that private industry employers reported 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2022, up 7.5% from 2021.
This increase is driven by the rise in both injuries, up 4.5% to 2.3 million cases, and illnesses up 26.1% to 460,700 cases.
The main component of illnesses come from respiratory illness cases, up 35.4% to 365,000 cases in 2022.. This comes after a decrease in respiratory illnesses in 2021 compared to 2020.
Regarding statistics for 2022, the total recordable cases (TRC) incidence rate in private industry in 2022 was 2.7 cases per 100 FTE workers. In 2022, the rate of injury cases was 2.3 -
November 15, 2023Just 31% of Employees Find Their Work Engaging
Gartner survey reveals engaged employees are more likely to stay at their organization and contribute more.
Even with companies trying a myriad of things to get employees engaged, the numbers aren't looking good according to research from Gartner. Less than one-third of employees report they are engaged, enthusiastic and energized by their work, according to Gartner, Inc. And this be a big problem since companies need employees to be engaged in their safety programs.
Gartner defines engagement in three ways:
Employees feeling energized.
Employees finding purpose in their work.
Employees feeling empowered to do valuable work.
“Despite organizations making investments in engaging their employees, our research shows that almost 70% don’t feel as engaged as they -
November 15, 2023Safety is More Than a Slogan
Safety is more than a catchy phrase; it’s a pledge to protect workers.
I’m a fan of clever, or corny, business road signs. Usually.
But there’s a dentist office near home that irks me. One of their rotating messages reads: “Safety first. Who are we kidding? Coffee first. Safety 3rd or 4th.”
The dentist’s office is located at a busy intersection, and I’ve almost gotten into an accident several times because of drivers running red lights and cars pulling out of parking lots too close to oncoming traffic or making too wide of turns. I must practice defensive driving on those roads, and it’s nothing to make light of.
While I know the dentist office’s sign is meant to be funny, it speaks to a problem for safety professionals. I often hear safety professionals talk about—well, criticize—slogans that make light of safety -
November 06, 2023NIOSH Advice on Supporting an Aging Workforce
In 2001, on
ly 1 out of every 7 workers was 55 or older; by 2021, the number jumped to 1 out of every 4 workers.
As older workers remain in the workforce, employers are devising ways to best accommodate these workers. The National Institute for Occupational Safety(NIOSH) has a division called, The National Center for Productive Aging and Work, which is part of its Total Worker Health Program. The center operates as a hub that conducts original research, fosters collaborations, and offers expert guidance to support an aging workforce.
The presences of these older employees is more prevalent that most people realize. In 2001, only about 1 out of every 7 U.S. workers was 55 or older. By 2021, the number jumped to almost 1 out of every 4 workers (a 93% increase).
There are many reasons
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