Continuous Improvement and Fall Prevention: Using the Hierarchy of Controls to Prevent Slips, Trips and Falls

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In Part III of our blog series during National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, Scott Gaddis looks at using the Hierarchy of Controls to promote a proactive safety approach to preventing falls in the workplace.

Employing the Hierarchy of Controls

Understanding control and how best to manage your walking and working surfaces program are more significant than the outputs of the risk assessment process. The process defines good control actions specific to hazards and risks, but it is not the only process that can be used. While I’m a firm believer in the risk matrix and scoring approach, I also would recommend the widely accepted approach within the safety and health practice called the hierarchy of controls. This process is simple to understand and is quite useful in gauging the control appetite of the organization. It should serve as the overarching methodology for how we best deliver the … Read more...

Fall Prevention Strategies: How Risk Management Can Prevent Slips, Trips and Falls

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In Part I of this blog, Scott Gaddis looked at how falls in the workplace happen and the impact they can have on workers. In Part II, Scott examines the role of risk assessments in preventing falls from happening in the first place.

Risk Assessment

The objective of risk assessment and analysis is to understand the level of risk associated with the hazards found in the work environment as well as the concerns related to how people are navigating walking and working surfaces. All associated activities need to be judged with criteria that assist in building a credible understanding of what is acceptable or not acceptable.

Most regulatory bodies require some form of risk assessment and all follow a similar template:

  • Identify risks to the worker associated with work activity.
  • Identity hazards found in the work environment that pose a threat of loss.
  • Provide details of identified risks or hazards
… Read more...

The Problem is Real: Why Slips, Trips and Falls Continue to Cause Serious Workplace Incidents

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May 1-5, 2023, is the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction. This is a voluntary event that encourages employers to stand down from work and discuss workplace hazards relating to trips, falls or other job safety concerns.

In this three-part series dedicated to walking-working surfaces, Scott Gaddis—Vice President, Global Practice Leader, Safety and Health at Intelex Technologies, ULC—provides his expert insight into the risks associated with pedestrian safety in the workplace and what employers need to do to mitigate them.

Pedestrian Safety in the Workplace

Pedestrian safety is not an issue to be overlooked. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that on average, slips, trips and falls cause nearly 700 fatalities per year. OSHA reports that as many as 30,000 forklift accidents occur in the United States annually and close to 20 percent of those accidents involve a pedestrian being struck by the forklift. Of these forklift … Read more...

Worker Engagement in Safety Management Systems Improves Safety Culture and EHS Performance

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Environment, health and safety (EHS) performance significantly improves when workers are actively engaged in a company’s safety culture and practices through a safety management system.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) may have said it best.

“To be effective, any safety and health program needs the meaningful participation of workers and their representatives. Workers have much to gain from a successful program and the most to lose if the program fails,” they say. But as many safety professionals can attest, employee engagement is easier said than done.

Businesses have long accepted that strong employee engagement has a direct link to better productivity and profitability. Likewise, environment, health and safety (EHS) performance significantly improves when workers are actively engaged in a company’s safety culture and practices through an effective safety management system. A Gallop study observed that “engaged employees produce better business outcomes than other employees — across industry, company … Read more...

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries: One U.S. Worker Died Every 101 Minutes in 2021

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In 2021, 5,190 workers suffered fatal work injuries, equating to one worker death in the U.S. every 101 minutes.

In 2021, there were 5,190 work-related deaths in the United States, a. 8.9 percent increase from 2020. The fatal work injury rate was 3.6 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, up from 3.4 per 100,000 FTE in 2020 and up from the 2019 pre-pandemic rate of 3.5. The 3.6 fatal occupational injury rate in 2021 represents the highest annual rate since 2016.  

The increase of nearly 9 percent in fatal work injuries “serves as call to action for OSHA, employers and other stakeholders to redouble our collective efforts to make our nation’s workplaces safer,” the U.S. Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker.

“In 2021, 5,190 workers suffered fatal work injuries, equating to one worker death in the U.S. every 101 minutes, including 653 Black … Read more...

Should You Be Contesting That OSHA Citation?

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Going down the road of litigation isn’t always the right path to take when your organization is on the receiving end of an OSHA citation.

Your company has just been cited for a safety violation or workplace incident by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). What should you do now?

You have 15 days to respond and according to John Ho, the co-chair of the OSHA workplace safety practice at international law firm Cozen O’Connor, contesting an OSHA citation shouldn’t necessarily be your automatic response. There are many factors to consider when determining a course of action, he says, explaining that a decision should weigh issues that may have significantly greater liabilities than the actual OSHA penalties imposed.  

“Lawyers are expensive and usually you’re going to spend more money on litigation, even if you win,” Ho says. “To fight a $30,000 to $50,000 OSHA (fine) – the cost/benefit … Read more...

ESG Data Can Help to Improve Business Performance

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If your company is getting on board with ESG, consider a strategy that also focuses on improving business and looks beyond the mere gathering of regulatory metric data and results reporting.

It may seem like a relatively new set of business principles, but environmental, social and governance (ESG) thinking traces back to the early 2000s when a first wave of sustainability emerged.

Back then, minimizing your negative impact on the planet earned good public relations without having to do much, since at the time nothing needed to be proven. A company could make claims and cite sustainability results without much scrutiny.

ESG Emerges from Sustainability

But without legislation or a real push behind the effort, momentum was lost for a while. The public wasn’t ready at that point to seriously look at investing in companies that were sustainable since most of the products they sold were significantly more expensive. However, … Read more...

Popular Reads – The Top 10 Intelex Blog Posts From 2022

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A look back on Intelex blog posts from 2022 reveals a full gamut of environment, health and safety (EHS) topics: from long-standing challenges and proactive strategies to improve safety performance to the exploration of new ideas, technologies and emerging opportunities.

Our coverage this year featured stories about building and growing safety cultures and safety management best practices, and innovative EHS technologies such as software-as-a-service and artificial intelligence that help organizations improve. We also explored the continued impact of COVID-19 in the workplace and environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and what it means for EHS.

Stay connected throughout the year to the things that matter in EHS and ESG by becoming a regular Intelex blog reader. And, in case you missed them, check out some of our top 2022 blog posts below.

#1 Lessons from the U.S. Army Climate Change Strategy: The U.S. Army’s first-ever Climate Strategy shows why … Read more...

Blog: Looking Back on 2022 – EHS and ESG Make the Connection

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Concerns and connections between environment, health and safety (EHS) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) were dominant topics of interest for readers of Intelex’s online resources in 2022.

Visitors to intelex.com during this past year most often download reports and research on EHS and ESG, particularly insights that explored important links between the two practices. And it became a hot discussion topic in our blog posts and webinars conducted throughout the year and will continue as a key focus of our insights and analysis in 2023.

Our most downloaded content report for the year was the just-completed research with North American health and safety and ESG professionals that examined trends, top challenges and important opportunities in EHS and ESG. More than 1,200 Intelex website visitors have so far requested the report since it was made available in early November. Upcoming in 2023: stay tuned for our global report.

Other topics … Read more...

Winter Safety Tips

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These tips can help prevent injuries and illnesses and make the winter months safer and more enjoyable.

Driving safety – Driving on wet, snowy or icy pavement is very different than driving during warmer months. Snow, sleet and ice can lead to hazardous road conditions. Another safety challenge occurs if your vehicle breaks down. Prepare your vehicle for the upcoming winter season with these helpful tips from the National Safety Council:

  • Test your battery; battery power drops as the temperature drops.
  • Make sure the cooling system is in good working order.
  • Have winter tires with a deeper, more flexible tread put on your car.
  • If using all-season tires, check the tread on your tires and replace if less than 2/32 of an inch.
  • Check the tire pressure; tire pressure drops as the temperature drops.
  • Check your wiper blades and replace if needed.
  • Add wiper fluid rated for -30 degrees.
  • Keep
… Read more...