What To Do About Near Misses? Unlike a western gunfight "shoot out" at the corral on television, serious accidents can cause real anguish and suffering so real and vivid that persons involved or nearby bystanders rarely forget the flow of blood, broken limbs, crushed bodies, or screams of pain. An accident without injury though is more like the bloodless, painless fakery of television "violence"-perhaps without a real purpose in the drama, and therefore easy to forget. In real life, there is a danger in brushing off accidents that do not hurt, harm, or damage. When these accidents, or perhaps we should refer...

Accident Prevention is Painless & Profitable! Accident Prevention - Why are you working? The most obvious answer is that you need to earn money. Your employer is in business for the very same reason--to make money. If the people you work for don't operate at a profit, they may not be able to keep you on the job. It may be surprising to hear that most companies do not make money hand over fist. Expenses take a big chunk of the income, and competition limits how much your firm can charge for the goods or services it provides. What's more, competition...

Why Take A Chance? Are you willing to risk losing your ability to see? Thousands of people take that chance every day by not wearing needed eye protection. In fact, 3 out of 5 workers who have experienced an eye injury were not wearing their eye protection. A survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that nearly 70% of the injuries were the result of flying or falling objects. Most of the material striking the eye was reportedly moving at speeds faster than something being thrown by hand. What can you do so you are not added to these statistics? Easy...

Make The Best Use Of Your First-Aid Kit Are only Band-Aids® and aspirin taken from the first-aid kit most of the time-because you or your coworkers aren't sure how to use the other supplies? First-aid kits can be stocked with a variety of items, but most kits have a common assortment of supplies. As with any tool, you must know how to use these products to get the best results. In this safety meeting, typical supplies and their uses will be described, to help make this helpful "tool kit" most effective for you. Absorbent Gauze: Use these to clean a wound...

Unsafe Acts General Safety -  Most of us know that accidents are caused by only two things - unsafe acts or practices, and unsafe conditions. Some of us even know that 9 out of 10 accidents are the result of unsafe acts, or things we do when we know better. This is kind of strange if you think about it. We have more to fear from our own actions than from any other job hazards around us. Why do we deliberately expose ourselves to injury every day? It Won't Happen To Me Basically, most of us are just thinking about getting the job done...

Want A Drug User On Your Work Team? More and more companies require drug testing these days. Chances are your company schedules pre-employment or random drug tests for its employees. Some people don't like the procedure very much. So what's the best possible attitude to have about this matter? You can joke about it, that's okay. You can grumble about it, that's natural. But do you want your employer to change the company policy and stop the testing? Here is what that would probably mean: Firms that do not test these days tend to end up with a greater percentage of...

Warning: Read The Signs! When is it that people pay the most attention to signs? It seems to be while driving a car! Have you ever wondered why that is? Most likely it's because signs are the simplest way to direct, instruct, and warn people. During your commute to the job site today did you happen to notice all the signs along the way? "You'll need to detour on this road," one tells you. "Slow down, you're driving too fast!" another advises. "Watch out for that bump," you are warned… Road and travel indicators are not the only signs that direct, instruct...

Was It An Accident Or Was It An Error? What is an accident? Briefly, it is a sudden and unforeseen event. Given that definition, can we say that the Apollo fire that killed three astronauts on the launch pad, and the Challenger disaster, were accidents? The first Apollo fatalities were due to a fire that occurred when the spacecraft cabin was charged with pure oxygen during a test. Unfortunately, there was an electrical short under the seat of one of the astronauts. Oxygen fed the resulting fire. The men could not escape because of a poorly designed escape hatch that took too...

Cumulative Trauma Disorders How Can You Prevent Them? Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTD's) are strains that may result from long-term repetitive motion or from continually working in an awkward position. Strains commonly occur in the wrists, arms, shoulders or back, affecting the body's joints and surrounding muscles and tendons. CTD's are said to be today's fastest growing occupational problem, affecting all types of employees, from computer operators to construction workers. Modern equipment, tools and machinery have increased production capabilities in many ways. But in some cases, they have also increased the potential for strain injuries in people. These disorders not only cause great discomfort,...

Seven Common Accident Causes Consider this statistic: 80 out of every 100 accidents are the fault of the person involved in the incident. Unsafe Acts cause four times as many accidents & injuries as unsafe conditions. Accidents occur for many reasons. In most industries people tend to look for "things" to blame when an accident happens, because it's easier than looking for "root causes," such as those listed below. Consider the underlying accident causes described. Have you been guilty of any of these attitudes or behaviors? If so, you may have not been injured-but next time you may not be so lucky. ...