Hazards of Silica Silica exposure remains a serious threat to nearly 2 million U.S. workers, including more than 100,000 workers in high risk jobs such as abrasive blasting, foundry work, stonecutting, rock drilling, quarry work, and tunnelling. Crystalline silica is a basic component of soil, sand, granite, and many other...
Working Safely with Aerial Lifts Jobsites are not always at ground level. Sometimes, workers need to use aerial platforms. All work has hazards and risks involved in it, but when you work at an elevated height, extra training and attention to safety procedures is a necessity. Man-lifts and scissor lifts...
Working Safely with Aerial Lifts Jobsites are not always at ground level. Sometimes workers need to use aerial platforms. All work has hazards and risks involved in it, but when you work at an elevated height, extra training and attention to safety procedures is a necessity. The most important tip...
Electrical Safety – Using GFCIs This year, in the U.S. alone, approximately 800 people will be killed by faulty electrical appliances and power tools; hundreds more will be severely injured. Worn insulation, wire damage, and moisture-induced short-circuits can make these devices as “hot” as the power lines to which they...
Electrical Safety – Using GFCIs A ground fault occurs when the electrical current does not complete its circuit and unintentionally flows to the ground. Ground faults can cause fires and are dangerous when they flow through a person to the ground. The GFCI, as it is commonly called, is simply...
Using Portable Fire Extinguishers If you ever need to use a fire extinguisher, you won’t have time to read the directions first. Take the time before an emergency to get acquainted with the fire extinguishers in your work area. Know what kind of extinguisher to use on each kind of...
Using Portable Fire Extinguishers Do you know how to extinguish a fire? According to OSHA regulations, no one at a workplace is supposed to use a fire extinguisher unless they he or she has been trained to do so. Though this may seem awfully restrictive, there are several good reasons...
Using a Ladder Safely There is absolutely no reason for anybody to get hurt, disabled, or killed while using a ladder. Yet it happens every single day. Virtually every single ladder accident could and should have been prevented. It only takes a little bit of common sense about ladder safety...
Using a Ladder Safely There is absolutely no reason for anybody to get hurt, disabled, or killed while using a ladder. Yet it happens every single day. Somebody steps on the safety sticker that says “This is not a step!” and ends up with a broken leg. Another worker puts...
Reporting – A Near Miss A “near miss” or accident without injury is easy to shrug off and forget. But there is a danger in brushing off accidents that don’t hurt, harm, or damage. When a “near miss” happens, it should immediately send up a red warning flag that something...