Tag Archives: incident

Workplace injuries and the bottom line: indirect incident costs are staggering

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This week the Intelex Blog introduces its newest contributor, Robert Smith. Head of Injury Management Solutions, Robert has tons of experience in Human Resource and Disability management, including a long stint with WSIB. Robert will blog on a biweekly basis on issues related to compensation, claims management, case management, and much more. This week Robert tackles the real costs of workplace injuries.

I have been directly involved in workers’ compensation issues for well over 20 years and, like many of you, I have heard the stories of the costs of a workplace injury and how important it is to implement health and safety programs and to manage claims. Yet time after time I have conversations with employers who still do not grasp the big picture. 

So what is the big picture? Most companies are aware of how their workers’ compensation premiums are calculated and that poor performance results in … Read more...

OSHA enforcement vs. incident rates, airline attendant safety, Doha climate talks and more on EHS This Week

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On this week’s edition of EHS This Week we’ve got the week’s top stories in environment, health and safety news:

  • The correlation between higher OSHA enforcement areas and injury and illness rates.
  • A proposal to increase safety for airline attendants.
  • Doha climate talks and more.

Remember to write us with your suggestions, questions and comments at paul@ehsthisweek.com. Also, if you are an industry expert and ever want to take part in the program, we’d love to have you. 

Until next week, enjoy the program!

[audio: old/mp3/EHS This Week Dec 7 2012.mp3]… Read more...

US Labor Department’s OSHA exposes safety and health hazards at construction sites through no-notice incident prevention campaign

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This release has been reposted from www.dol.gov.

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has concluded its 2012 “Construction Incident Prevention Initiative,” during which it issued 243 citations and assessed a total of $658,862 in proposed fines to companies on construction sites throughout the agency’s Philadelphia Region.

The four-month campaign included 545 no-notice inspections focused on falls, trenches and silica exposure. Fifty-nine percent of the inspections revealed violations, some of the most common of which are failing to use fall protection when working on roofs, ensure that scaffolds are constructed safely and protect trenches from collapse.

“This alarmingly high number of violations underscores the need for employers in the construction industry to make a stronger commitment to workplace safety and health,” said MaryAnn Garrahan, OSHA’s regional administrator in Philadelphia. “Employers are responsible for ensuring safe and healthful workplaces, and will be held legally accountable … Read more...

Benefits of mobile on the rise for energy and utilities companies

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More and more, here in the Intelex Energy and Utilities team, we’re seeing a strong need for mobile access in all areas of the Energy-Utilities community. Energy is generated and delivered in a variety of ways throughout the world and reaches out far from centralized stations and hubs. Therefore, the need to have mobile access on a residential, commercial and/or corporate level is becoming much more of a ‘must-have’.  

Whether it’s through downloaded apps or web-based access, residential and commercial customers can quickly report an outage and check on restoration status or have at-a-glance visibility into outages within their communities.  They can easily access their account summary and history, make payments or submit a meter reading.  Utility companies themselves are able to relay information throughout the organization very quickly, 24 hours a day.

Outside of the direct impact on customers, these companies can leverage the right web-based mobile solutions … Read more...

NAOSH Week now underway in cities across the continent

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It’s NAOSH week! In terms of North American Health and Safety, NAOSH week is kind of a big deal. Hot on the heels of the International Day of Mourning for fallen and injured workers (April 28) as well as International Workers Day (May 1), North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) week is a great opportunity to raise awareness about occupational health and safety across the continent.

As we’ve discussed recently on the EHS This Week podcast, injuries and accidents continue persist in workplaces across Canada and the U.S., and as OSHA head Dr. David Michaels recently reminded us, every day 12 American workers go to work and never come home as a result of workplace fatalities. Most workplace injuries and accidents are entirely preventable, and this week is all about seizing opportunities to make North American work environments safer.

Jointly sponsored by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) … Read more...

Veresen’s SMART Idea

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Last week Training Specialist Steph DiRaddo conducted our largest in-house user training session with client Veresen Inc, which owns and operates energy infrastructure assets across North America. The training stretched over two days and brought Veresen plant managers from their eastern facilities together with the Alberta-based project team here at Intelex headquarters in Toronto.

Veresen is getting ready to launch their appropriately named SMART (Sustainability Management and Reporting Tool) using Intelex’s EHS Incident Management application to 200 users across North America. The project team has been working diligently to ensure a smooth introduction of the new system to various internal departments, and in doing so has provided a great example of how they can creatively engage employees that will be working with the system.

Demonstrating their full commitment to SMART, and to further encourage user adoption and integration, the Veresen Project Team went as far as creating a new … Read more...

Streamlining EHS incident management in the chemical industry

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While comprehensive EHS management is critical in almost any industry, businesses in the chemical sector face a unique array of challenges. Since dangerous chemicals have direct impacts on human health, carry the potential of compromising safety, and also — improperly handled and contained — can result in significant negative environmental impacts, proactive EHS management is just a part of douing business for chemical companies.

That’s why we’ve put together a unique product demonstration of Intelex’s ENS Incident Management solutions. Hosted by our resident chemical expert Cristian Quinteros, our new webinar, EHS Incident Management in the Chemical Industry, covers all the bases, from capturing near misses to streamlining reporting and analysis and maintaining regulatory compliance.

You can view this on-demand webinar as well a library of other webinar presentations by visiting our webinar page.… Read more...

What is an OSHA 300 Log and Do you Need One?

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Many businesses across the U.S. are well-acquainted with OSHA Form 300 logs, reports generated on a monthly (300) and annual (300A) basis that list all work-related injuries and illnesses.

While hundreds of thousands of businesses are currently bound to report, there is a long list of industries that have been exempt from reporting.

But all that is poised to change.

If a proposed rulemaking becomes law, many previously exempt industries will be required to report workplace injuries and illnesses in accordance with Form 300 and 300A requirements. Dozens of industries (including bakeries, automotive dealers, performing arts companies, and many more) would be affected by the expanded regulation. That said, some organizations that have previously been required to report may not have to. Check out the highly useful OSHA Law Blog for a complete list.

While completing these logs can be a tedious, time-consuming process with a lot of paperwork, well-prepared … Read more...

Imagine: one-click OSHA Form 300 and 300A reports

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Most organizations waste days upon days preparing requisite safety incident logs, pushing and pulling data from paper-based forms, spreadsheets, and other siloed software products.

A robust electronic safety incident reporting process, however, will include configurable reporting tools that enable organizations to generate reports based on customized templates that address all safety reporting requirements. By ensuring the timely, accurate and comprehensive creation of required reports, and organization can eliminate the risk of facing substantial fines imposed by regulatory bodies as a result of poor reporting.

For example U.S. companies must generate and post OSHA incident reports on a monthly and annual basis. These reports must contain information such as how many people were injured, how many days away resulted from incidents, how many incidents were recordable, where the incidents occurred, as well as other details.

A streamlined incident reporting solution allows safety personnel to generate automatically populated OSHA Form 300 and … Read more...