Did you know your mental, physical, and emotional fitness is part of a safe work environment? If you are fit and healthy, you are likely to have more energy and stamina.
Near misses make up more than half of the incidents that occur in workplaces. A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage but had the potential to do so. A near miss needs attention, as they are a warning that conditions are right for a possible accident.
Some of the worst hazards in any work area are the ones you don’t see - because they’re above you. What’s at stake is your life, and there are two basic ways you could lose it: electrocution or falling objects.
Electricity is the movement of electrons between atoms. In their normal state, electrons in a conductor such as copper, freely and randomly move from atom to atom.
Most workplaces are required to establish and implement an Emergency Action Plan. Use this Checklist to determine if your EAP includes all required elements – or to help create a new EAP.
Fire, natural disaster, and other emergencies can strike your workplace without warning at any time. While you can’t predict them, you can prepare for them and preparedness save lives, prevent injuries and limits property damage. If that’s not motivation enough, being prepared for workplace emergencies may save your business thousands and even hundreds of thousands in safety fines avoided.
Knowing what to do in an emergency (fire, chemical spill, natural disaster, etc.) helps evacuation move quickly and safely, allows for the quick contact of emergency services, prevent further destruction, and save lives. Use this Questionnaire to quiz workers on how they would respond in an emergency. Their answers and feedback will help you identify holes in your emergency planning programs and your training. You can edit it to fit the specific needs of your organization.
Imagine being at work when suddenly the lights go out and someone starts yelling, “There’s a fire! We need to get out of here! This place is on fire!” Imagine fumbling your way in the dark and the smoke to an exit…only to find it was locked…from the outside. This is exactly what happened to Lilly Davis and 80 other workers on September 3, 1991 at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant.
If you and your friends were facing a dangerous, deceptive enemy, you'd want to find out all you could about the enemy and share any information you come up with. The fact is you do have such a treacherous enemy—the workplace hazard. And this enemy threatens you and your co-workers daily.
The power of fluids is amazing. Hydraulic power is a form of stored energy that, when under control, does good work. When released unexpectedly, hydraulic power can damage you for life or even kill you.
You’re an accident waiting to happen if you are not alert at work. This applies to most high-risk jobs, trucking and transport jobs, repetitive jobs, such as sorting logs in a lumber mill, and a host of other jobs – regardless of the inherent risk level.
Caught and between. These two mild words describe a type of injury which is anything but mild. Instead, they refer to being caught between two moving objects or a moving object and a stationary object. The result is compression and crushing injuries which can be fatal. The places where these incidents occur are called "pinch points."
Chocking is the act of using a wedge to immobilize the wheels of a vehicle or equipment to keep it from accidentally moving. Chocking the wheels of a vehicle, such as a truck or trailer, physically stops the movement of wheels to prevent runaways that can injure workers and destroy property.
The ever-increasing use of smartphones finds most of with our heads down staring into the glow of text messages, games, tweets, twitters, selfies and more. One of the downsides to this obsession is that people mistakenly think they can perform their jobs safely while they use these devices.
Adapt and use this Hazards Assessment to determine areas of potential and existing ergonomic and materials handling concerns.
To root out ergonomic injuries you must be proactive. The first step is to do a record review and create a “snapshot” of worker injuries, so you can analyze causes and identify trends. Here’s a form you can adapt and use at your workplace to perform an effective records review.
It takes a split-second of inattention, a slight change in working conditions, a forgetful co-worker, or a lax safety program for you to fall through an opening.
Excavations and trenches more than 4-5 ft/1.2-1.5 m deep (depending on your federal, state, and provincial regulations) require a protective system is in place to protect workers from cave-ins. If a protective system isn’t in place – don’t enter the excavation. Look out for your safety and the safety of your co-workers and don’t become another buried body of an excavation cave-in.
Being prepared for an emergency is part of your employers and your responsibility. For help developing your emergency response planning, Ready.gov offers the following guidance.
Let’s start with the obvious hazard – a blocked emergency exit. Blocked by conveyors, carts, trash, and cardboard boxes.
Domestic violence often crosses over into the workplace and many domestic violence victims are in danger of being attacked, harassed, or stalked while at work. Would you know what to do if an employee came to you about violence they are experiencing at home? Does your organization have a plan? An organization’s response to and support of victims can help to keep the workplace safe and secure for everyone.
A study done by the Society for Human Resource Management, found 65% of companies don’t have a formal workplace domestic violence plan in place even though 16% of organizations have had a domestic violence incident in the past five years.
Domestic violence often doesn’t stay confined to the home. Whether directly or indirectly, domestic violence effects the victim, co-workers, and the organization. Learn these warning signs and risk factors for domestic violence in the workplace and share the information with your employees during workplace violence training.
Protecting employees from harm is the foundation of every safety program and piece of safety legislation. Protecting employees from workplace violence must be part of your safety program. Further still, having a plan and program in place to help employees experiencing domestic violence should be, and in many cases must be, part of your safety program.
How would you respond if one of your employees came to work with bruises or other injuries? Does your organization have a policy and process in place for dealing with suspected and confirmed cases of domestic abuse?
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