Develop And "Sell" Your Safety Solutions The best ideas for improving the work environment often come from the people who are most affected by what happens in that environment-the workers. But how can employees effectively create solutions to their workplace safety problems, communicate their ideas for improvement to management, and have those ideas be seriously considered? Two tools are needed; a structured approach to solving problems and a way to submit formal suggestions. A Five-Step Approach to Solving Problems: Identify the Problem. Perhaps you already have a specific, perplexing safety problem in mind. It may be a piece of equipment or a...

Back Care: You Can Make A Difference! "OUCH! Why did I try to lift that much weight on my own?" Did you ever ponder those words after you hoisted something heavy, or lifted from an awkward position? These incidents are well-known causes of back strain, but you might not have considered other "underlying" factors that lead to back injury. Several conditions influence your "back health." The cause of most back problems is poor posture, loss of flexibility, stressful living/working habits and above all, a general decline in physical fitness. Surprised? You shouldn't be. When you "let yourself go," (and most of us...

General Safety - "Take Two" Picture this scenario. You are walking through your operation and notice a puddle of oil on the floor. Hopefully, you recognize that this is a safety hazard and proceed to clean up the oil. Feeling that you have done all you can to prevent an accident from occurring, you return to your usual job. But did you really do everything you could have done to prevent an injury? How about if I told you that the next day your co-worker slips and falls on the same puddle of oil and injures his back? You may argue...

Carelessness Have you ever done anything stupid, something that you know puts you at increased risk of injury? When you realize how stupid you were, whether you got hurt or not, do you ask yourself, "Why did I ever do that?" For your own future preservation, this should be a very important question for you to answer yourself. Consider the fact that approximately 20% of injuries are due to unsafe conditions and 80% are caused by unsafe acts. If you realize that most unsafe conditions are brought about by human failure, then virtually all accidents are brought about by unsafe acts....

Employee Responsibility What is employee responsibilty? An effective Accident Prevention Program should include the defined responsibilities for management, supervisors, and employees. Management, by law, has responsibility for the safety and health of all employees as well as providing a safe workplace. Supervisors have responsibility for providing a safe work place as well as managing the production issues. Now we need to address employee responsibilities and what those entail. Employers and supervisors should expect the employees to be responsible. This starts with getting to work on time, working safely through the day, and addressing concerns to their supervisor. Suggested Areas of Responsibility Employees are responsible...

Safety Signs You might see over 100 of them as you ride to work. Safety Signs -- they are everywhere. How many of these do you actually notice? Probably not many. That creates a problem. Not only do signs litter the streets, they may also be all over your work place. Do you see them? Do you notice them? Do they mean something or do they just make the work place look safer to the outsider? Safety Signs are placed to warn and educate. They are not simply decoration. Safety Signs can be permanent or temporary. Signs lose their impact if they...

Ergonomics - The Term Ergonomics Ergonomics is an important term that is currently receiving a great deal of attention from safety professionals. Federal OSHA is in the process of developing standards that would require every company to have an ergonomics program.  What is ergonomics and how could it affect you? Ergonomics is the scientific study of human work. It considers the physical and mental capabilities and limits of people as they interact with tools, equipment, work methods, tasks, and the environment. The primary goal of an ergonomics program is to reduce work-related injuries and illnesses by adapting the work to fit the...

Give New Co-Workers Your Support! Once the initial orientation to the company is over and the basic requirements of the job and the safety program have been covered, it's time to move the new employee into the work force and introduce the people he or she will be working with. Co-workers play an important role in getting the new person off to a good start. What is a veteran employee's role when it comes to orienting a new employee? Remember that new people are nervous to begin with - just starting a new job. They probably don't remember all the instructions they...

Emergency Preparedness Are you mentally prepared for an emergency? Emergency Preparedness is not only the physical steps to take. How would you mentally handle an emergency? Would you know what to do if an emergency occurred while you were on the job? Do you know what actions to take if a co-worker was seriously injured, a fire ignited, or a structure collapsed? Are you mentally prepared to react to an emergency? Emergencies and disasters are a reality of everyday life. Local and international news programs document such occurrences every day throughout the world. Too many lives are lost and property is damaged because...

Allergies, Antihistamines & Drowsiness Spring is here! It is time to put away the heavy coats and break out the sunglasses. But the weather conditions that lead to "spring fever" also give rise to another affliction that affects many of us-hay fever. Hay fever can make those who are sensitive to pollen miserable, interfering with work and play. Fortunately, modern medicine has developed drugs which give temporary relief from hay fever's common symptoms. As users of antihistamines and decongestants know, however, there are side effects to these over-the-counter drugs. The side effects most often experienced is drowsiness. A Gallup survey of allergy sufferers...