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April, 2008
Shiftworkers, Training and the Bottom Line, Part 1 of 2
A recent study casts new light on the unique hazards posed to shiftworkers. Here’s a look at what the study says and how to use the results to convince senior management to invest in special training for shiftworkers.
The Hazards of Shiftwork
Many employers, such as manufacturing plants, utilities and healthcare facilities, operate 24 hours a day, [...]
Dont Let Them Be a Stairway to Heaven
A newspaper delivery worker in northern British Columbia;
An 83-year-old design engineer in New Jersey;
A 27-year-old Youth Worker in Wales; and
A 45-year-old former Seattle Mariner’s catcher in Philadelphia.
What do all these workers have in common? Answer: All four of them died from injuries they sustained from falling down stairs. Staircases are so commonplace that it can [...]
Electronic Is OK But Do Not Throw Out the Paper
A couple of weeks back, SafetyXChange did an article about whether it’s against the law to computerize MSDSs’. I think it’s important to also consider the practical problems of computerization and the need for paper backup. Let me tell you about some of my experiences.
The Scanning Setback
A company I used to work for switched over [...]
12 Tips
Happy birthday, SafetyXChange. Thanks for letting me do the honors on your third. Here’s my attempt at a segue: Your members get their daily SafetyXChange newsletter via email. So today, I’d like to talk about email. Most email is really me-mail. In just the past 24 hours, how many of you have uttered the phrase, [...]
Label Me Safe
We need to use all five of our senses to recognize hazards. Let me share with you a lesson I learned as a teen in visual and olfactory hazard sensing. It’s a lesson I still readily share today, well into my second decade as an environmental, health and safety professional.
Colonial Craftmanship & Modern Safety
When I [...]
Insights from Recent Case Studies, Part 3 of 3
In the first two parts of this series, we cited the results of four case studies as evidence of the link between common organizational culture issues and safety records. Let’s now build on these findings and consider the steps that organizations can take to improve their safety performance.
New Benchmarks Based on Towers Perrin-ISR Research
By comparing [...]
Are You Doing Enough to Protect Your Workers? Part 2 of 2
Telling your workers to be aware of hot weather hazards, take breaks and drink plenty of water is just part of what you need to do to prevent injuries and ensure compliance. You also need to create and implement a heat stress plan that combines appropriate engineering, administrative and work controls. Here’s how to create [...]
Working for the Wrong Company
Sometimes getting the job is worse than not getting the job. Let me describe an experience I had several years ago when I worked for a defense contractor.
The Ax Falls
One day, my immediate supervisor advised me that my position had been eliminated. He explained that the company was reorganizing as part of a cost saving [...]
Insights from Recent Case Studies, Part 2 of 3
Intuitively, it just makes sense that a culture conducive to health and safety would translate into better health and safety performance. Extensive new research from the consulting firm, Towers Perrin-ISR, demonstrates and sheds new insight on the link between culture and performance. Specifically, researchers zero in on four aspects of culture that influence outcomes:
Supervision;
Employee empowerment; [...]
Safety Advice for Volunteers
National Volunteer Week (April 19 to 25, 2009) is set aside in Canada and the United States to recognize volunteers for their efforts. And there are a lot of volunteers to thank. In the US alone, an estimated 59 million people spend approximately 52 hours a year volunteering. Volunteer work is a growing activity for all [...]