Since it was recognized in the late 1970s, allergies to latex have become a major health concern. Latex is used in a variety of applications and products, which leads to an increasing number of people in the workplace being affected.
A postdoc was badly scalded by water while removing items from the top autoclave of a tower-style autoclave. To autoclave her own materials, the doctor began to remove a load that belonged to another laboratory while standing on a low step-stool. The load in the autoclave consisted of a Nalgene tub that contained liter bottles of media with water around them. The water in the tub was near boiling temperature, and as the doctor attempted to remove it, the contents spilled down her torso and thighs.
All human body fluids, including sweat, saliva, vomit, and blood, can potentially be infected with bacteria or viruses. Some of these potentially infectious materials die almost immediately once outside of the body, but others can survive for several minutes, hours, or days in the air or on surfaces. Healthcare workers can never know until laboratory tests are returned which patients pose a threat.
A burn means more than the burning sensation associated with this injury. Burns cause skin damage because the skin cells die. Burns can happen at work and outside of work. In fact, burns are one of the most common household injuries, especially among children.
With hectic schedules, the electric glowing light of our phones and tablets, the stress and anxiety of life, and a host of other factors contribute to many of us being sleep-deprived. Searching for that next cup of coffee, energy drink, or other ways to stay awake. We likely don’t spend as much time thinking about prepping for a blissful night’s sleep as we do searching for the next caffeine fix. Here are some tips to help you sleep better.
We are all vulnerable to disasters–whether they’re the work of Mother Nature in the form of earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado or flood or deliberate acts of mankind in the form of arson, bombing or other act of terrorism. Surviving such disasters often hinges on being prepared.
When a serious incident happens in the workplace, everyone will be busy dealing with the emergency. Helping injured victims, assessing if the danger has abated, trying to piece together what happened. So, it’s critical to be prepared to investigate an incident before one occurs.
A 50-year-old male cleaner died when he fell approximately 35 feet through a temporary roof opening and was impaled on a piece of equipment on the factory floor.
A laboratory was seriously damaged when the rotor of an ultracentrifuge failed while in use. Flying metal fragments damaged walls, the ceiling and other equipment. The shock wave blew out the laboratory's windows and shook down shelves.
Glutaraldehyde is a toxic chemical that is used in certain circumstances to disinfect and clean medical, surgical and dental equipment. It is used when equipment can’t be sterilized with heat, or if something can’t fit in a sterilizing unit.
An electrical burn occurs when skin meets an electrical voltage. It does not always leave a significant burn to the skin, but the electricity can cause significant internal damage to nerves, muscles and internal organs.
Poisoning, accidental or intentional, causes significant harm or death to many US and Canadian people. Poisoning takes many forms as harmful chemicals can be breathed in, swallowed, touched or injected.
Two workers entered an unprotected trench (11 feet deep x 8 feet wide) to set new sections of pipe. Only one would survive.
Close to 400,000 healthcare workers a year sustain an injury by used hypodermic needles and other sharp instruments such as a scalpel blade and suture needles.
Recently, a researcher left a lit Bunsen burner inside a BSC, closed the sash and walked away. The type of biological safety cabinet she was using recirculates about 70% of the air with 30% of the air going out of the exhaust.
One cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a car and the pressure on the chest can make it impossible for a worker to breathe, even if his or her head is above the level of the collapsed soil. Often, it’s impossible to rescue a trench collapse victim quickly enough to prevent death.
There are some obvious hazards in this picture, yet it’s still a good tool for training and learning. Share this image with your crew and see how many hazards they spot. Then discuss why they are hazardous, how these hazards can be corrected, and what they would do if they were asked to work in this excavation.
Housekeeping staff working in healthcare play an important role in keeping the environment safe for patients, staff, and visitors. They may not provide direct clinical care to patients, but they work around patients, and in areas where clinical care has been given.
Trenching and excavation work puts workers in mortal danger if the excavation is not inspected and cave-in protections are not in place. Use this daily checklist as a starting point and edit the list as necessary for location specific regulations and work performed.
Use this checklist as a starting point and edit the list as necessary for location specific regulations and work performed.
A fracture is the medical term for a broken bone. The break can be along the length of the bone or across the bone, so it looks as though the bone has snapped. These are generally clean breaks but sometimes the bone can fracture in several places, especially if the fracture is caused by a fall from a great height or from being crushed.
Staph is a very common, generally problem free, bacteria that lives in the nose or on the skin of up to 1 in 3 people. Staph only causes a problem if it gets somewhere it shouldn't, such as into a wound, or the blood. Staph can be easily treated with antibiotics but over time some bacteria have developed a resistance. These strains are commonly known as MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and can cause a variety of problems ranging from skin infections to pneumonia.
Infections are a serious problem in healthcare facilities. Many people develop an infection while using healthcare services. Such infections are known as healthcare associated infections (HAI).
Sexual harassment is defined as any conduct, comment, gesture, or contact of a sexual nature that is likely to cause offence or humiliation to any employee; or that might, on reasonable grounds, be perceived by that employee as placing a condition of a sexual nature on employment or on any opportunity for training or promotion.
As “safety people” we spend a good deal of our time consciously or unconsciously trying to persuade others. We try to persuade management to support and fund safety initiatives. We try and persuade supervisors to enforce safety rules. We try and persuade workers to follow those same safety rules. In his article, Powerful Secrets of Persuasion, speaker, trainer, and coach James Hurford, DTM, he goes over 20 ways to get people to take action.
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