Questions and Answers
The safety and health conditions in the majority of businesses in the private sector are regulated by OSHA and the OSH Act of 1970. The act is then primarily enforced by compliance safety and health officers. These officers are trained industrial hygienist professionals who conduct OSHA inspections in businesses all across the country. OSHA inspections … Read more
Occupational safety has only been researched and regulated for a relatively short amount of time with the first session of the International Labour Organization/World Health Organization Committee on Occupational Health in 1950. Since then, government agencies, institutions, and organizations have worked to develop and enforce regulations that promote and maintain physical, mental, and social well-being. … Read more
One of the most effective ways to keep workers safe while on the job is to provide training. OSHA believes training is essential to any safety and health program and as an employer, you will need to meet their standards for training and education. While training is often different from facility to facility, there are … Read more
The hierarchy of hazards, also referred to as the hierarchy of hazard controls is an approach used to effectively address safety risks in the facility. After performing a job safety analysis, you will have a list of different kinds of hazards: chemical hazards, physical hazards, health hazards, and more. There are five levels to the … Read more
Workplace safety should be a continuous effort for any company. You will most likely never achieve perfect safety, so there will always be areas for improvement. Here are some ways you can start improving the safety or your facility: Organize: Often times a messy or cluttered facility can lead to injury. A great first step … Read more
Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is any type of equipment or clothing worn by a person to protect them from a specific hazard and minimize exposure to the hazard. Industrial workplaces can often be a dangerous place, and PPE is an effective and proven way to improve the safety of a facility. Every day workers … Read more
Visual communication, also referred to as visual management, is a tried and true method for improving and sustaining workplace safety. It encompasses a variety of different supplies: wall signs, equipment labels, chemical labels, floor signs, industrial floor tapes, and more. Not only are there are a number of visual communication supplies on the market, your … Read more
There is a common saying amongst safety professionals: a safe workplace is an efficient workplace! Production is positively and indirectly impacted by an effective safety and health program. Improved morale and productivity Studies have shown that when a safety culture is developed in a facility, employee productivity significantly increased, and factory costs noticeably decreased. The … Read more
There are hundreds of standards and regulations that have been developed to improve safety in the workplace. All over the world there are different governmental agencies, institutions, and organizations who work to develop these standards and regulations. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the agency who sets workplace safety requirements … Read more
Keeping workers safe is arguably the employer’s most important job and OSHA law requires “employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers.” If you are running an unsafe operation, consequences can be serious, even deadly. Not only is it the law to keep your workers safe, but it is … Read more