Tag Archives: coronavirus

OSHA Guidance for the Construction Industry During Coronavirus Disease 2019

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OSHA recently published COVID-19 Guidance for the Construction Workforce.

(This Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) blog is reprinted with permission from the authors and from the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP.)

We have issued several GT Alerts on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Our first Alert, published Jan. 31, 2020, provided general information on OSHA requirements and steps for employers to consider as COVID-19 began to appear in the United States, before work shutdown and shelter orders were in place.

The second alert, published March 25, 2020, provided guidance for essential workers. The third alert, published April 14, 2020, examined whether an employee’s COVID-19 case is work-related and recordable. This fourth alert covers recently published guidance provided by OSHA for the construction industry, “COVID-19 Guidance for the Construction Workforce.”

List of COVID-19 Recommendations

Although OSHA targeted the construction industry, this concise list … Read more...

Coronavirus – Leading EHS During Crisis

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Have your priorities as an EHS leader changed during the current Coronavirus crisis?

Organizations are experiencing an unprecedented situation. Now more than ever, EHS professionals can help lead their organizations through the crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Over the past 25 years, I’ve spent all my time working as an EHS professional in local and corporate level positions, determined to improve business processes and performance. Throughout my career, I’ve noticed one consistent theme: organizations optimize their efforts when they provide robust and well-balanced leadership.

This means that they do not focus on a single factor but consider the work system, employee capability and capacity, how the organization is led, and the management system. During times of crisis such as what we’re now experiencing with Coronavirus, it is vital to lead your organization more effectively.

Simply, the dividing line between managing things and leading them is measured by the ability to affect … Read more...

Intelex: Supporting COVID-19 Crisis Response and Prevention Efforts

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The global COVID-19 pandemic has propelled the world into a state of nervousness and uncertainty. People everywhere are adapting to new realities that would have been unfathomable just months ago.   

Justin McElhattan, President, Industrial Scientific / Intelex Technologies, ULC., announced March 20 that Intelex is offering its Intelex Environment, Health, Safety, and Quality software platform free of charge to those on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 in the communities in which the company operates and our employees live and work. These include the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Thames Valley and London (UK), Denver, Sydney (Australia), and Pittsburgh, where its parent company, Industrial Scientific, is headquartered.

Intelex is ready to support COVID-19 crisis response efforts.

“Municipalities, first responders, public health organizations, healthcare facilities, and all other life-essential services providers on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak, we stand with you,” said Justin McElhattan, President, Industrial Scientific / Intelex Technologies, ULC. “With nearly 30 years of experience in protecting the health and … Read more...

OSHA Releases Guidance About Preparing the Workplace for the Threat of COVID-19

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OSHA urges employers to take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

OSHA has released a guidance about best practices for COVID-19 and the workplace. The “Guidance for Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19” planning guidance is based on traditional infection prevention and industrial hygiene practices. It focuses on the need for employers to implement engineering, administrative, and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE).

For employers who have already planned for influenza pandemics, planning for COVID-19 may involve updating plans. These plans could address the specific exposure risks, sources of exposure, routes of transmission, and other unique characteristics of SARS-CoV-2.

Employers who have not prepared for pandemic events can still take steps to prepare their workplaces and workers. It’s not too late to create a business continuity plan. In addition, provide cross-functional training for workers so that they can step in for quarantined coworkers … Read more...

COVID-19 Update from Intelex: Working to Keep You Safe

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No matter where you are located in the world, you likely are working through the impacts and risks associated with COVID-19 (Coronavirus) as it pertains to your employees, your customers, your community, and your business. At Intelex, we are doing the same. 

We have established a COVID-19 Response Team who have been working behind the scenes for several weeks to put measures and policies in place to ensure that there is no significant impact on our products or our service. 

As the global situation intensifies, we have taken a number of steps to do our part in reducing the risk of this outbreak to our customers, our staff, their families and their communities while ensuring business continuity during this challenging time. 

Across our business, the solutions we deliver are ones necessary to enable infrastructure to function – power to be generated, water to be treated, connectivity to be maintained. You are counting on us as part … Read more...

Coronavirus: Will It Cause Workplace Distraction?

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Mention the word Coronavirus, and an unsettling knot grows in your stomach. It is sweeping across the globe with great voracity.  Every newspaper headline screams it. Every television news program I’ve watched over the last month leads with it.  

While we can’t dismiss Coronavirus as a medical concern, what is it doing to the mental health of workers?  As a safety practitioner, I’m concerned about how much distraction this creates in the workplace. This especially is true in those work environments where an absolute focus on work tasks separates staying safe or becoming a tragic loss statistic.

Don’t allow workers to become so distracted by the latest news about Coronavirus that they become so distracted that they commit unsafe acts.

My Experience

Years ago, I worked in a paper mill that was progressive in the care for its people. You knew you were driving into a different type of manufacturing plant when you passed signage in the parking lot with the company name … Read more...