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How to Determine Safe Stacking Heights
Last week, Catherine Jones, editor of SafetyXChange, received the following question from a SafetyXChange member in response to her article on stacking mismatched items:
“I enjoyed reading your article about stacking oddball sized materials. I have a question. In the article you mentioned that materials should be stacked to a safe height. Is there any guidance [...]
Is It Ever Safe to Pull a Pallet Jack?
Editor’s Note: Last week, I received the following question from a SafetyXChange member:
I’ve looked everywhere on the net to try to answer my question. We have several employees who move pallet jacks by pulling with both arms behind their backs. It looks like this could strain the back much easier than pulling with one arm. [...]
How to Conduct Better Fire Safety Inspections, Part 2 of 2
Last week, we discussed the benefits of creating a questionnaire for fire safety teams to use when conducting inspections at your facility. Let’s now look at how to use and create such a questionnaire. And, if you’re a member of SafetyXChange, you can access our model questionnaire in the Tools section.
How [...]
Musculoskeletal Injuries
Editor’s Note: I forwarded the 12 questions SafetyXChange members submitted to Michael with the following note: “It wouldn’t be fair of us to expect you to answer more than half of these.” But Michael went above and beyond the call and answered all 12. So, thank you Michael. And thank you, [...]
What Employers Should Know about Contact Lenses, Part 3 of 4
In the first two parts of this series, we discussed from the employee’s perspective the safety issues that arise when contact lenses are worn in an industrial setting and how to care for lenses. This week, we’ll look at what employers need to know about employee use of contact lenses in the workplace.
Know the Regulations
There’s [...]
Basic Contact Lens Safety Information You Need to Know, Part 1 of 4
More than 32 million adult Americans wear contact lenses. Many of them are employees who wear their lenses at work in industrial settings. As an optician who specializes in contact lenses, I want to share my insights with the safety community on the dangers this poses. This series will discuss what the employee, employer and [...]
Let the Debate Begin
By the SafetyXChange Members
Thanks to everyone who commented on Elizabeth Johnston’s series on the need for PPE tailored to the female form. Here is a sampling of what you had to say.
Amen, Sister
I say AMEN to Elizabeth!
Women definitely get a RAW DEAL (pun intended) in the PPE market. From SCBA face pieces that DON’T FIT [...]
How to Conduct a Job Hazard Analysis
by Phillip Wells
How do you address the concern of repeated motion trauma? Our organization wrestled with that question for a long time. We finally decided to study each job and operation to determine what motion or activity could be changed or eliminated. We conducted a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA). This killed two birds with [...]
Provide Basic Lifting Instructions to Prevent Back Injuries
Back injuries are a common form of workplace injury. Improper lifting techniques are a leading cause of back injuries. Showing your employees the right way to lift loads is thus a key to preventing injuries. Here’s how to create a form for doing that. There’s also a model memo, written for an eighth-grade reading level, [...]
NFPA 70E and Citations for Not Following Voluntary Standards
Question: Can you be cited for not following voluntary standards even though they’re not part of the OSHA law or regulations?
Answer: Yes. It can and does happen. A leading example is the National Fire Protection Association Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace (NFPA 70E). I’ll discuss how you can be cited for not following [...]
