Once the snow starts to fall, our driving skills are pushed to the limit. Do you know how to drive properly in winter conditions? A few moments spent thinking about it now could save you from problems later when you’re out on the road.
Working in a cold environment—such as cold weather, cold water or an indoor freezer—can lead to serious injuries, illnesses and death.
Are you suffering from burnout? Can you recognize the symptoms? If so, do you know how to fix it?
If there are certain times of day when you are fighting the urge to sleep, you aren’t imagining things. Any night shift worker will tell you that the urge to sleep is strong between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. What you might not know is that another lull occurs in the early-to-mid afternoon.
We often hear about people being “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” While this saying often refers to people who have been victims of crime, it certainly applies to workers as well.
Every year, more than 100 workers across North America die and thousands more are injured in highway work zones—areas where road construction, maintenance or utility work is being undertaken.
Workplace safety can be a complex issue, but learning and adhering to a few safety basics can go a long way toward keeping employees safe on the job. Many workplace injuries and fatalities are directly related to either not knowing how to do something and attempting it anyway or committing unsafe acts through inattention or for other reasons.
Poor housekeeping causes a wide range of injuries and fatalities, ranging from painful slips, trips and falls, to workers being unable to evacuate burning buildings because of blocked fire exits, to dust explosions that can claim multiple lives in an instant.
Your body has a marvelous ability to regulate its internal temperature through sweating and the cooling effect caused by the evaporation of sweat. But there are a number of factors that can interfere with this process and cause your body temperature to spike, resulting in heat illness.
Hoisting and lowering objects from one level to another is an everyday task for many operations. But this task is common in another way: It’s a common cause of serious injury and death in the workplace.
Think “formaldehyde” and very likely images of laboratories, hospitals or funeral parlors come to mind. But formaldehyde’s uses go beyond that of specimen preservation and embalming fluid. It’s one of the most commonly used and encountered chemicals in industry today.
Every month in the United States, an average of two workers die after being caught in collapsing trenches. In Canada, about 10 workers die in trench collapse incidents each year.
A confined space is any enclosed or partially enclosed space with restricted entry and exit that is not designed or intended for continuous human occupancy. The word “confined” suggests “small” but many confined spaces aren’t small.
Every 85 seconds, a fire breaks out somewhere in Canada. And in the United States, the number of fatal work injuries resulting from fires and explosions in 2010 rose to 187, an increase of 65% over the previous year. Of the 187 fatalities, 82 occurred in multiple fatality incidents.
In the US more than 15,000 people die each year from falls, placing falls second only to motor vehicle collisions as the leading cause of accidental death. In Canada, more than 1,800 people die as a result of falling each year. And across North America, tens of thousands of workers are injured in falls every year, with many of these incidents occurring from a height where fall protection measures should have been taken but weren’t.
Hearing loss is one of the fastest growing chronic conditions facing today’s workers, affecting nearly 30 million people in the United States and Canada. While there are many causes of hearing loss, noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the most common types and it can affect anyone who is exposed to loud sounds or noise over a long period of time, whether at work or during recreational activities.
Stress sets in when there is an increase in demand for our time and resources that we can’t meet. In small doses, stress can be powerful. It motivates us to do the things we need to do to survive. However, too much stress can have negative effects on our mental and physical health. And it can certainly ruin the holidays.
Imagine a vehicle that weighs twice as much as your family car, can’t stop nearly as quickly and is operated by a person who may not see you.
Workers all have their areas of expertise and they develop impressive skills through years of experience. But being an expert machine operator doesn’t necessarily mean one is able to perform critical maintenance or repairs on that machinery.
A sudden gust of wind can be annoying to most people as it blows dirt into their faces or sends hats flying. But if you work outdoors, the wind can damage much more than your previously cheerful mood.
Today’s workforce is rich in diversity. Working together are people of different ages, cultures, physical abilities, education, sexual orientation, language and religious beliefs. Each of us is unique, and our different strengths and perspectives contribute to the strength of our teams.
Workers who perform frequent and heavy lifting are at risk for back injuries and abdominal straining that can cause hernias. Arm, shoulder, neck and wrist pain is also a risk if materials are lifted improperly.
Focusing on a stationary object like a screen for a long period of time can have health consequences. The most common is a temporary condition called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).
Operations are undergoing near constant change in many facilities to help increase productivity, improve safety and reduce waste. Workers may feel strongly about their opinions, or have a hard time adapting to change. Conflict is to be expected in this fast-paced work environment.
A poorly maintained work environment in a machine shop conceals all kinds of serious hazards. This may result in safety incidents ranging from trips and falls to chemical exposures, electrical hazards, and even explosions.
Since it's your first time, you may want to checkout some of the video tutorials.
800-ICW-SAFETY (800.429.7233)
SAFETYOnDemand@icwgroup.com