The True Danger Of Confined Spaces Just how dangerous are confined spaces? Aren't all the warnings and procedural checks simply overkill? Hardly. Think about this: According to a study performed by Safety Sciences, the following types of confined space incidents resulted in injuries and/or fatalities: Type of Event Number of Events Number of Injuries Only Number of Fatalities Atmospheric Conditions (lack of oxygen) 80 72 78 Explosion or Fire 15 49 15 Explosion or Fire at Point of Entry 23 20 32 Electric Shock 11 2 9 Trapped in Unstable Material (cave in) 16 0 16 Struck by Falling Objects 15 1 14 These numbers should tell you something: Fifty-four % of the people exposed to oxygen deficient conditions died. For every fire within a confined space, one person...

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...

Understanding Electricity And Breaker Panels The process of forcing electrons to move through a material creates electricity. A standard generator performs this process. The best material for carrying electricity is a "conductor." Most metals are excellent conductors and the most common material used for electrical wiring is copper. In order to provide protection from direct contact with the conductor, an "insulator" is used as a cover around the conductor. Electrons will not move easily through insulators such as most plastics and rubber. Insulators and proper grounding help to prevent electrical shocks. Typically, electricity is provided to your building or facility by way...

Using Portable Fire Extinguishers In the event of a fire, the correct use of a portable fire extinguisher could mean the difference between suffering a minor loss or a major one. Portable fire extinguishers, if used properly, can make that difference. But there are several things to consider in using fire extinguishers. For instance, you must know the class of fire involved and the correct type of fire extinguisher to use. CLASSES OF FIRES AND FIRE EXTINGUISHERS: Class A Involves ordinary combustibles such as paper, wood, cloth, rubber or plastics. The common extinguishing media is water or dry chemical. Class B Flammable liquids, grease...

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...

What You Need To Know About Welding & Cutting Protecting yourself when performing welding operations depends on your understanding of the hazards involved and the proper way to control them. Control of welding hazards includes avoiding eye injury, respiratory protection, ventilation of the work area, protective clothing and having safe equipment to use. Eye hazards include exposure to ultraviolet and infrared light. Welders and their helpers should wear filter glasses with shades ranging from 2 to 14, depending on the type of welding being done, to protect their eyes. Unless a welding arc is behind a screen, not only the welder, but...

Working Safely With Lead It used to be thought that only children were exposed to lead poisoning hazards which occurred mostly from eating lead based paint chips from doors or windows in the home. This is no longer the case. Studies conducted over the past few years now suggest many adults are exposed to lead in the work place and suffer from varying degrees of lead poisoning. These studies have also shown that eating lead based paint chips is not the only or even the primary way for lead to enter the body. Workers that use lead based paints, or work with...