Category: General Safety

Deliver safety, not injuries

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: Fly View Productions/iStockphoto

With the holiday season upon us, delivery drivers are likely to see an increase in work. Now is a good time to review safety measures these workers can take to avoid on-the-job injuries.

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries Division of Occupational Safety and Health offers these tips:

  • Park your vehicle on level ground when possible.
  • Don’t jump or climb in or out of your vehicle while holding packages.
  • Make sure your shoes have good traction.
  • Use a headlamp or flashlight if you’re delivering packages in the dark.
  • Be aware of your surroundings when walking to and from the delivery location.
  • Make two trips or use a hand truck if items are heavy or you have to carry multiple boxes.
  • Don’t carry packages in a way that blocks your view.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Reduce lower back pain: 3 tips from surgeons group

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: martin-dm/iStockphoto

Rosemont, IL — In light of data showing that about 1 in 4 working adults have low back pain, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is offering tips to strengthen and protect the back.

“Good musculoskeletal health is not just about treating problems when they arise; it’s about taking proactive steps to prevent them in the first place,” Alan S. Hilibrand, an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in spine surgery, said in an AAOS press release. “By maintaining proper ergonomics at our workstations and building the strength of our core stabilizing muscles, we can significantly reduce the risk of developing debilitating chronic or debilitating back pain and related conditions.”

So, whether working from home or in an office, or a combination of both, “it’s important to invest in your musculoskeletal health and protect your back,” AAOS says. Here’s how:

1. Check your posture. “Sitting properly is the first step to protecting your back. You may not realize how often you slouch or hunch over your desk while working.” Maintaining and practicing the right posture can help prevent back pain and injury. While sitting, keep your back in a “normal, slightly arched position and your head and shoulders erect.” If needed, adjust your chair so your elbows are relaxed, your hands are resting comfortably on a table or desk, your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle, and your feet are flat on the floor.

2. Create an ergonomic workspace. “Your work environment can have a big impact on your comfort and musculoskeletal health. Instead of forcing your body to fit your workspace, set up your workspace to fit your body.” Make sure your computer screen is at eye level so you don’t need to lean forward. Invest in ergonomic office equipment that’s designed for back support and proper posture. Consider using an exercise ball (or Swiss ball) as a desk chair to help your core and protect your back.

3. Give yourself a break. Take a few minutes every hour to stand up and slowly stretch. “Carefully place your hands on your lower back and gently arch backward. Take a walk to the break room, another room in your remote workplace or take a lap around the office. You can even try some simple desk exercises like neck stretches and shoulder rolls. A break not only protects your back but can also refresh your mind so you can return to your work with sharp focus.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

BLS: Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses rose in 2022

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Washington — The number of reported workplace injuries and illnesses in the U.S. private sector increased in 2022, data released Nov. 8 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

Workers in private industry experienced an estimated 2.8 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses last year. That’s up from slightly more than 2.6 million in 2021. The 2022 total includes more than 2.3 million injuries and nearly 461,000 illnesses.

Nonfatal workplace injuries increased by more than 100,000 for the second year in a row. The 2.3 million injuries are fewer, however, than the roughly 2.7 million injuries reported in both 2019 and 2018.

The rate of nonfatal injuries remained steady at 2.3 per 100 full-time equivalent workers.

The number of illnesses recorded increased by nearly 100,000 from 2021, largely because of a rise in respiratory illnesses. Around 365,000 respiratory illnesses were reported in 2022, representing almost 80% of all workplace illnesses.

That’s up from nearly 270,000 respiratory illnesses in 2021. However, those numbers are both down from the nearly 429,000 respiratory illnesses reported in 2020 – the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By contrast, 10,800 workplace respiratory illnesses were recorded in 2019 and 12,100 in 2018.

Other 2022 data highlights:

  • Among industry groups, health care and social assistance had the highest number of recordable cases (665,300). Retail trade (422,700) and manufacturing (396,800) followed.
  • Transportation and warehousing had the highest rate of recordable cases at 4.8 per 100 FTE workers. Health care and social assistance (4.5) was No. 2, followed by arts, entertainment and recreation (4.2).

The data release is the first of two annual reports from BLS. The second, scheduled to be released Dec. 19, will highlight Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries findings.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

CPWR releases resources for aging construction workers

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: simonkr/iStockphoto

Silver Spring, MD — Recognizing the importance of older workers in the construction industry, CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training has developed a series of resources for them.

Citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statics, CPWR says the average construction worker is 42 years old and that many of them are expected to remain on the job longer, “influenced by financial pressures as well as by job satisfaction.”

The resources include a data dashboard, tools for hazard assessment and primary prevention, supportive programs, and legal resources.

The Aging Workers Data Dashboard examines the U.S. workforce by the numbers, including the number of workers 55 and older in construction, along with the average worker age in all industries and nine separate industries.

Because the physical demands of construction work make hazard assessment and primary prevention important, CPWR offers a suite of guidance on:

  • Fall prevention and protection
  • Health and wellness promotion
  • Heat-related illness prevention
  • Lighting
  • Manual materials handling
  • Noise and hearing loss
  • Safety climate
  • Site management and housekeeping

Examples of supportive programs include pairing younger workers/apprentices with older journey persons, bidirectional mentorship and training for “career ladders.”

Online links to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, OSHA construction standards and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility standards provide information on age discrimination, workplace safety and health, and the role of reasonable accommodations on the job.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Work safely around wood dust

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: Dmytro Petryna/iStockphoto

When wood is cut or sanded, it releases dust that workers can inhale.

This dust can contain “harmful substances, including chemicals used to treat or finish the wood, as well as fine particles of wood,” the Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation says.

Carpentry, furniture making, lumber milling and cabinet making are some of the dust-producing jobs in which workers are at risk of:
Respiratory issues, such as allergic reactions, chronic bronchitis and even cancer.
Skin problems, including dermatitis – “a condition in which the skin can become red, itchy or dry, and blisters may develop.”
Eye injuries, which can result from workers unintentionally rubbing wood dust into their eyes. This “can irritate the eyes, causing dryness, tearing or conjunctivitis – an inflammation of the mucous membranes of the eye.”
Fires and explosions from wood dust accumulating on the woodworking machinery. “It acts as an insulator, trapping in the heat. If enough heat is formed, the wood dust will ignite. If dust is concentrated and floating in the air, the fire can cause an explosion.”
Slips and trips, from slippery floors covered in wood dust.

Reduce worker exposure to wood dust with these tips from TDI:

  • Evaluate and monitor your workplace dust control measures to ensure they’re effective.
  • Regularly clean and maintain ventilation systems.
  • Vacuum wood dust to prevent buildup in the work area.
  • Wear dust masks and other appropriate personal protective equipment, including a respirator, safety glasses and a faceshield.
  • Lubricate bearings to prevent overheating, which can cause dust fires or explosions.
  • Educate employees about the hazards associated with wood dust and how to safely handle it.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

‘Living together’ with drones: Advice for easing worker concerns

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: ilze79/iStockphoto

Bilbao, Spain — As on-the-job use of drones expands, workers should be trained on the technology’s capabilities – including communication basics – to ensure safe workplaces, a new report states.

Published by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the report bases its conclusions on an analysis of best practices and existing studies related to drones – also known as unmanned aircraft systems or unmanned aerial vehicles.

“The perception of danger in people standing in the proximity of an active UAV is often amplified by propellers rotating at high speeds and enabling the UAV to make complex maneuvers,” the report states. “This naturally raises safety concerns.”

To alleviate those concerns, EU-OSHA recommends that workers be trained on “generic and specific capabilities” of drones. This might entail reading a manual/workplace sign or obtaining certification should the worker be required to operate in an environment with UAVs.

It adds that “even workers not directly related” to drone operation must understand how to give basic commands to drones in their vicinity, such as to “move away.” The report authors suggest employing a human supervisor who can:

  • Ensure drones maintain safe distances from workers.
  • Manage communication with workers.
  • Assess workers’ comfort levels, perhaps via questionnaires.

Employers also should consider workers “at the center of the concern” when implementing and communicating drone operations and not take for granted that workers will “adjust” to drones on the fly, EU-OSHA says.

“Workers must feel comfortable ‘living’ together with UAV in shared workplaces,” the report states. “This means that special attention must be given to designing forms of communication that do not overload the workers.”

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration regulates the commercial use of drones under 14 CFR Part 107.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Researchers call for more worker awareness in ‘moderately hazardous’ environments

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: D3Damon/iStockphoto

Waterloo, Ontario — Workers in moderately hazardous environments may be more likely than those in highly hazardous workplaces to underestimate the degree of safe behaviors needed to avoid injury or illness.

That’s according to Waterloo University researchers. The team recently conducted four different studies to find out in which of the two types of workplaces safety incidents are more common.

In two of the studies, they analyzed historical workplace injury data and found that moderately dangerous environments were associated with the most incidents. The other studies involved people completing work simulations in which they knew the level of danger and how to safely engage with it.

Findings show that under moderately dangerous conditions, participants exhibited only a “moderate degree” of safe behaviors. Despite being aware of the hazards in the moderately dangerous conditions, the participants under-allocated time and effort needed to work safely.

The researchers recommend safety training that explains the need for workers to increase their safe behaviors sharply in response to small increases in the hazard level of workplace situations.

“In highly dangerous environments, individuals engage in a high degree of safety behaviors, which offsets the chance of an accident,” lead study author James Beck, a psychology professor at the university, said in a press release. “In moderately dangerous environments, people usually engage in some safety behaviors, yet most people do not engage in enough safety behaviors.”

The study was published online in the journal Personnel Psychology.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

ILO calls for collaboration to protect workers’ eye health

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
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Photo: ILO

Geneva — Occupational safety and health programs should identify and assess the on-the-job risks to eye health, the International Labor Organization says.

In collaboration with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, ILO recently released the Eye Health and the World of Work report, in which the United Nations agency calls for enhanced worker protections.

The report claims that better workplace safety records, improved worker well-being and increased productivity are all benefits of supporting eye health in the workplace.

An estimated 3.5 million occupational eye injuries occur every year, an ILO press release states.

In 2020, around 143 million working-age people had moderate to severe vision impairment, while another 18 million were experiencing blindness, according to the report. These figures suggest an estimated annual global productivity loss of $411 billion because of vision impairment.

The most common eye-related hazards fall into four categories:
Nonionized radiation: Solar (outdoor workers), artificially generated light sources (welding, steel making and glass making), computers and indoor lighting systems (office workers), and specialists using highly technical applications such as lasers and germicidal lamps (health care and manufacturing)
Ergonomic: Desk jobs (office workers)
Mechanical: Grinding, abrasion, drilling, blasting and other fractionating processes (forestry, resource extraction, construction and metalworking), and dusty/windy outdoor work (quarrying)
Chemical and biological: Liquid splashes (agricultural pesticide applications, health care and chemical processing industries), as well as fomite transfer, cough and sneeze droplets, and aerosols from bioinfectious substances

Last year, delegates of the ILO adopted a resolution that adds “a safe and healthy working environment” to the agency’s framework on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The fundamental conventions support worker eye health and list three key aspects to be considered in this area:

  • Reduce risks to eyesight at work
  • Ensure access to eye care services
  • Promote good eye health throughout the working lives of all workers

ILO calls for “strong collaboration with public health players beyond the workplace” to promote lifelong eye health.

McCraren Compliance offers many opportunities in safety training to help circumvent accidents. Please take a moment to visit our calendar of classes to see what we can do to help your safety measures from training to consulting.

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Offshore drilling safety rule gets update

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Offshore drilling safety rule gets update

Photo: Chemical Safety Board

Washington — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is reinstating several previously withdrawn provisions of a final rule intended to address gaps in offshore drilling safety identified after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

BSEE developed the 2016 Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control final rule after its investigation of the Deepwater Horizon incident concluded that the rig’s blowout preventer, or BOP, was a main contributor to the explosion. Eleven workers were killed and millions of barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast.

Citing “unnecessary regulatory burdens,” a 2019 revision rule rolled back about 20% of the original rule’s 342 provisions, including those concerning BOP design, maintenance and repair.

Provisions of the updated regulation include requiring:

  • BOPs to be able to always close and seal the wellbore to the well’s maximum anticipated surface pressure, except as otherwise specified in the BOP system requirement section of the regulations.
  • Failure data to be reported to both a designated third party and BSEE.
  • Failure analysis and investigations to begin within 90 days of an incident.
  • Independent, third-party qualifications to be submitted to BSEE with the associated permit applications.
  • The operator to provide BOP test results to BSEE within 72 hours after completion of the tests if the agency is unable to witness testing.

“Finalizing this rule will enable BSEE to continue to put the lives and livelihoods of workers first, as well as the protection of our waters and marine habitats,” BSEE Director Kevin Sligh said in a press release.

The rule is set to go into effect Oct. 23.

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication

Women in safety face six common career challenges, researcher says

Posted on by McCraren Compliance
Sarah McCraren Safety Officer

Bowling Green, KY — Leadership training and organizational support may help bolster the well-being and careers of women in safety leadership positions, according to a researcher from Western Kentucky University.

Jacqueline Basham, a WKU instructor and associate safety professional, interviewed 15 female safety leaders to find out what career challenges they face and identify potential interventions that could be used to increase the number of females working in the industry.

She found six common barriers:

  1. Work hours and travel required
  2. Lack of formal education in safety before career began
  3. Low number of women in the industry
  4. Frequently having authority questioned on the job
  5. The notion that the industry is not for women
  6. Being perceived as young and inexperienced augmenting feelings of frustration around the job

As for the employer interventions that could help alleviate these barriers and create opportunities for more women in the field, Basham lists three:

  1. Offer resources related to child care and maternity leave, financial support, and scheduling flexibility
  2. Provide leadership training, along with training on specific occupational safety and health topics
  3. Establish support mechanisms, such as mentorship programs, and support from upper management and safety teams

“It’s important that workers know they are represented,” Basham said in a press release. “With almost half of the workforce being women, it is important that they feel represented in safety and know their safety at work is important and acknowledged.”

McCraren Compliance offers a full range of safety and health training and consulting services. Plus we can help you incorporate well-being into your traditional systems in order to support the Total Worker Health of your workforce.

Call 888-758-4757, email info@mccrarencompliance.com or visit our website www.mccrarencompliance.com

Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication