Speaking of Safety
Dealing with the N95 shortage. In these unprecedented times of COVID-19, the industrial worker is finding it more difficult to access disposable N95 respirators. OSHA has recognized that and has issued an enforcement memo regarding the use of the disposable N95 respirator to make it feasible and flexible for employers to still keep their workers protected during this time of shortage.
Hard hats are a staple item on any construction site and in many other workplace applications. But, that wasn’t always the case. In fact, before there were hard hats, standards and regulations, workers used to smear their hats with tar and let them dry in the sun. Today we have many more advances, options, choices, colors, accessories, and the list goes on. But there are some questions that people still have about wearing a hard hat.
Workplace eye injuries are most common in oil and petroleum refineries, chemical storage facilities, high-dust environments and waste disposal areas. Flying objects, tools, sand and dust particles, chemicals, vapors and radiation are only a few of the common hazards that put eyesight at risk. Here are 5 eye emergency situations and how to treat them correctly:
Cold Stress. The data doesn’t lie: Seasons are becoming more extreme. And the ever-increasing unpredictability of Mother Nature is making it harder than ever for workers exposed to her wild weather swings to prepare. It’s more important than ever to be able to properly identify the most common cold-related illnesses, knowing what treatments to seek and how to prevent them in the first place.
Long working hours, night shifts, time-consuming commutes, zero breaks, sleep disorders – all these factors reduce a person’s ability to perform his/her job safely and effectively. And with the always-on pressure posed by our high-performing culture, it’s no wonder errors, accidents and injuries are prone to happen.
Known as lagging indicators, these reactive-by-nature statistics measure the performance of a safety program based on existing factual data – no. of incidents, injuries, employee compensation cost, lost workdays. It is a convenient and easy way to measure risk. Thus, they are the dominant KPI in operations management.