Portable Fire Extinguishers Using a portable fire extinguisher is an important safety skill. You never know when you might have to use it; but do not attempt to use one if you haven’t been trained to use it. You could make things much worse. Responding to fires: Sound the fire...
Frostbite Low temperatures, humidity, and wind velocity all are contributing factors to overexposure from the cold. Usually the victim is unaware of frostbite until someone else observes the pale, glossy skin. Frostbite results when crystals form, either superficially or deeply in the fluids and soft tissues of the skin. Frostbite...
Frostbite During winter, many of us will continue to work outdoors, exposed to inclement weather. Just as heatstroke is a serious problem in the summer, frostbite can cause serious injury in the winter. It is important to be able to recognize frostbite symptoms and protect yourself from this serious condition....
Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupters (GFCI) The most common electric shock hazard, ground faults, can cause severe electrical shock or electrocution. In normal conditions, electricity runs in a closed circuit; electricity flows out on the “hot” wire and returns on the “neutral” wire, completing the circuit. A ground fault occurs when the electrical...
Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupters (GFCI) 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 a fast-acting...
Care for Your Respirator Your respirator may be the most important tool of your job. It protects your most precious asset, your health. Yet, more often than not, respirators find their way to the bottom of tool bags where they become damaged and/or very dirty inside and out. Both of...
Care for Your Respirator OSHA requires employers to identify and protect against breathing hazards. Engineering controls are the preferred form of protection; e.g., ventilation, using less toxic measures, and enclosing operations that create air contaminants. When air measurements reveal that engineering controls haven’t brought air hazards to safe levels, employers...
Machine Safety According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 1100 workers in the United States were killed last year by contact with equipment or by being caught up in running machinery. That’s 20% of all fatalities in the workplace. Over a thousand people killed in ways that could have...
Machine Safety According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 1100 workers in the United States were killed last year by contact with equipment or by being caught up in running machinery. That’s 20% of all fatalities in the workplace. Over a thousand people killed in ways that could have...
Scaffolding Safety Every year nearly 100 fatalities and 10,000 injuries occur on scaffolding across the country, despite numerous safety regulations aimed to prevent such incidents. There are a number of different scaffold types, having different rules and regulations surrounding their assembly, fall prevention requirements, and inspection procedures. The good news...