After all the engineering and administrative controls have been exhausted, PPE is left to be the last line of defense against injuries. PPE is anything that an employee wears to minimize workplace safety risks. It is designed to help protect employees from hazards that cannot be eliminated by other means. If utilized correctly, it can protect against hazards such as flying particles, noise, chemicals, sharp objects, or falling objects, just to name a few. Choosing the correct PPE and wearing it properly can go a long way towards preventing injury to yourself and to others. Continue Reading →

Why should we pay attention to housekeeping at work? Effective housekeeping can help control or eliminate workplace hazards. Poor housekeeping practices frequently contribute to incidents and look bad from our Client's perspective. Housekeeping is not just about cleanliness. It includes keeping work areas neat and orderly, maintaining halls and floors free of slip and trip hazards, and removing waste materials (e.g., paper, cardboard) and other fire hazards from work areas. It also requires paying attention to important details such as the layout of the whole workplace, aisle marking, the adequacy of storage facilities, and maintenance. Good housekeeping is also a basic part of incident and fire prevention. Effective housekeeping is an ongoing operation: it is not a one-time or hit-and-miss cleanup done occasionally. Continue Reading →

When winter temperatures drop significantly below normal, staying warm and safe can become a challenge. Exposure to cold temperatures, whether indoors or outside, can cause serious or life-threatening health problems. Infants and the elderly are particularly at risk, but anyone can be affected. Continue Reading →

Now that the COVID-19 vaccines are arriving, people are starting to dream. “As soon as my five closest friends and I get the shot, I’m spending a weekend at a cabin with them. No masks, no social distancing.” “Realistically, it’s definitely not going to be an on / off switch on normal,” said Eleanor Murray, a Boston University epidemiologist. Stage 1 is what you can safely do once you and your close friends or family are vaccinated. Stage 2 is what you can safely do once your city or state has reached herd immunity, where enough people are protected against infection that the virus can’t easily spark new outbreaks. Stage 3 is what you can do once herd immunity is reached internationally. In the meantime, even vaccinated people have to assume they can still become infected and pass along the virus. That means they need to keep wearing masks and social distancing whenever they’re around unvaccinated people. Continue Reading →

In past safety tips, we have learned that the Experience Modification Rate (EMR) has a strong impact on a business. The EMR number is used by insurance companies to gauge both past cost of injuries and future chances of risk. This can be said another way by looking at expected losses versus actual losses, but also looks at the severity of the actual loss. The higher the EMR, the higher your worker compensation insurance premiums will be.  Continue Reading →

OSHA requires that businesses have an Emergency Action Plan for the workplace that addresses all possible emergencies and how employees are to respond. The plan also is to provide emergency response contact information, as well as exit routes, shelter in place, and safe areas for emergencies. Along with the Emergency Action Plans, there should be testing of the plan to verify it works and to run drills for employees to practice. There is a strong suggestion that Emergency Plans be tested to identify errors and to get employees involved. Continue Reading →