It?s a great thing to be courageous and to have nerves of steel. There are many important tasks that would never get done if it weren?t for those who were brave enough and tough enough to tackle them. But there is a fine line between being brave and being dangerous.
Loading and unloading cargo is a routine task at many workplaces. And it?s a task that requires establishing and following safe procedures.
If you?re alive, you have stress. Stress is what motivates us to do the things we need to do to survive. In small doses, it can be very powerful. The problem is that repeated exposure to situations that cause our bodies to produce stress hormones may have negative effects on our mental and physical health.
Fatigue is difficult to prevent when your job takes you on the road a lot. It?s hard to say ?no? to a trip or to stop for sleep when there?s a delivery to make or a customer to see.
Things are constantly changing in many areas of people?s lives. Your job likely sees a lot of change, where new methods of doing things are introduced, potentially affecting your safety and health.
Nearly everyone has heard sayings such as ?Many hands make light work? or ?None of us is as smart as all of us.?
These sayings refer to teamwork. Many people associate teamwork with sales teams or sports teams, but teamwork is also a vital element in keeping you and your co-workers safe and healthy on the job.
We all know that illegal drugs such as marijuana or cocaine are hazardous to use. We also know that alcohol is prohibited at work because it is, obviously, intoxicating. But did you know that many other drugs that we take for granted can also affect your ability to do your job safely?
Bullying is defined as repeated aggressive behavior against another person in an effort to hurt that person, either emotionally or physically. And it happens more often than you’d think. In fact, an estimated 35 to 37 percent of North American workers report being bullied on the job by a co-worker or person in a position of authority.
Thousands of people across North America become victims of unintentional poisoning every year. A major contributor to this problem is when toxic chemicals are stored in unlabeled containers.
Most of us have seen a sick co-worker trying to make his way through the workday instead of being home resting or in bed. But coming to work with a cold, flu or other illness is a bad idea. It can make all of us less productive.
Carbon monoxide, also known as CO, is a deadly gas. It’s colorless, odorless and tasteless, making it impossible to detect by human senses. When CO is breathed in, it quickly replaces the oxygen in the bloodstream. Various stages of illness can easily lead up to unconsciousness and death.
An injured worker needs care now — can you administer it? Proper training, supplies and equipment are essential for providing prompt care to injured workers. If you have ever been faced with an injury, no matter how small, you will probably know the value of first aid.
Laboratories harbor fire and explosion hazards, and radiation hazards. There may be high-powered equipment which could cause cuts, entanglement or electrocution. There also could be biohazardous materials which can cause fatal diseases.
Cuts and contact with substances in trash could expose you to dangerous chemicals and infections.
The space between a loading dock and a truck trailer is one of the most dangerous in any plant. But no matter how fast things move for just-in-time shipping, you should always make time for safety.
We all know about the dangers of using a cell phone while driving. But if you think driving a car while talking on a cell phone is dangerous, imagine the hazards of operating a forklift, working on an assembly line or performing other safety-sensitive jobs while chatting away on a cell phone.
In a heroic attempt to extinguish an apartment fire, two men working in a residential building found extinguishers in a hallway and raced to the unit. Although they had just rescued a tenant from the same unit, they were both overcome by thick smoke and died of cardiac arrest.
A moment of distraction is all it took for Terrence’s foot to catch at the walkway’s edge, causing him to stumble. He recovered his balance but it was a close thing!
Read this Safety talk and learn how to avoid unsafe conditions which are a leading source of workplace accidents, with over 200,000 reported every year.
Distracted driving is a factor in approximately four million crashes in North America each year. Read this Safety Talk and learn what the Canadian and American Automobile Associations (CAA and AAA) have identified as the most deadly driving distractions.
Swimming and boating are staples of summer fun. The fun can quickly turn to tragedy though, when water and boating safety are thrown overboard. On average, 1,000 people die in boating-related accidents every year in North America and thousands more are injured. Additionally, more than 3,500 unintentional drownings, not related to boating, happen each year. The majority of these deaths are preventable.
Depression affects tens of millions of workers across the U.S. and Canada, with a cost to companies of more than $50 billion annually from absenteeism, loss of productivity and medical expenses. By 2020, depression is projected to rank second only to heart disease as the leading cause of disability worldwide. The toll on the workers themselves is often immeasurable.
Fatigue is the state of feeling very tired, weary or sleepy. It results from not getting enough sleep, shiftwork, prolonged mental or physical work, or extended periods of stress or anxiety. Fatigue impacts work performance and safety and can cause health problems. In the most extreme cases, fatigue has been linked to environmental disasters, plane and train crashes, nuclear disasters and the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle.
Housekeeping at work is about much more than cleaning windows and sweeping up dust bunnies. Poor housekeeping can cause injuries, slow down production, dampen morale, start fires and cause catastrophic explosions of combustible dusts.
Having an escape plan and working smoke alarms throughout your home are two ways you can avoid getting burned if a fire were to break out in your home.
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