Mending a Smashed Fingernail

Jan 312016
 

smashedfingerFingernail trauma must certainly be a fairly common hazard in construction work. The following presentation shows you how to mend your own finger when it’s been on the receiving end of a hammer blow. It’s a relatively painless and effective treatment, but as it says on the first slide: “CAUTION: the following procedure is not recommended in all similar cases of injury to the fingers. Significant damage to the nail bed or fracture in the finger bone may require may require the services of a physician.”

  • 1/30/2016
  • by Dan Futoran

The Latest Scoop on AEDs

Dec 132013
 

This image is a screen capture from an American Heart Association video promoting hands-only CPR.

The Latest Scoop on AEDs

  • By Greg Slusser
  • Nov 01, 2013

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) have become a familiar sight in many workplaces across America, yet these life-saving devices are still not present in the majority of them. Organizations without AED programs cite various concerns, range from liability issues to costs, as reasons to withhold a sudden cardiac arrest safety net.

There are many compelling reasons to have an AED program. Leading this list, of course, is having the ability to save the life of a co-worker stricken by sudden cardiac arrest. Let’s take a look at the latest research, best practices, and results to see how they apply to your workplace.

1. Research shows speed to shock is the most important lifesaving factor. Of the countless studies about AEDs, the one making perhaps the most important point is the Johns Hopkins study by Myron Weisfeldt and colleagues published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. This study demonstrated that training lay (non-medical) volunteers to use AEDs doubled the survival of cardiac arrest victims.

Most interestingly, laypersons using a defibrillator achieved the highest survival rate (40 percent)—higher than health care workers, police, and EMS. The overall survival rate among 13,769 victims eventually reached by EMS personnel was 7 percent. The 33 percentage point difference between laypersons and EMS is attributable simply to speed. The laypersons were on the scene with an AED and were able to treat the victim more quickly than EMS responders. The study’s authors even went so far as to state that “speed is more important than training” and encouraged early defibrillation programs in communities, including workplaces.

2. AEDs are extremely reliable, but maintaining them to ensure they are ready for a rescue is important. AEDs have proven very reliable at the scene of sudden cardiac arrest. AED program expert Richard A. Lazar is the founder and president of Readiness Systems, which helps organizations create and maintain operationally ready and risk-managed AED programs. He examined data the FDA used recently to support proposed rules that would tighten AED regulations.

Writing on his blog, Lazar said the data shows that AEDs work as intended more than 99.5 percent of the time. When they don’t work, the reason is often related to faulty inspection and maintenance. He cited a recent University of Alabama at Birmingham study that evaluated five years of data from Alabama communities involved in the National Institutes of Health Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) trial. The data showed high percentages of AEDs with expired batteries, expired defibrillation pads, and unresolved maintenance alerts. “These are people problems, not device problems,” he wrote.

If AEDs are inspected and maintained regularly, the chances of an AED failing when needed are virtually nil. Recent technological advances are making AEDs even more reliable and easier to maintain and use through features such as automated daily self-tests, status screens showing the readiness of defibrillation pads and the AED’s battery, and embedded help videos that can be used during training to review the critical steps of a rescue.

3. You can’t argue with results. Virtually every day somewhere in America, an organization with an AED program saves the life of a worker, customer, or community member. A quick Google search finds these organizations mentioned in news stories about co-workers saving an employee’s life: American Airlines, ARTCO/ADM, Bennett International Group, Delta Air Lines, Honeywell, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Maryland National Capitol Park Planning Commission, New Jersey Transit, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, O’Hare International Airport, Penn State University, Pentair, SANBlaze Technology, Schick, State Farm, Systemax Manufacturing, Trans International, WebMD, Wells Enterprises, and more.

The list of organizations saving customers or community members would go on just as long. LA Fitness, for example, has saved 50 lives since instituting its AED program. Life saves on airlines and in airports, schools, athletic facilities, and casinos are well documented, with thousands of saves occurring in these locations. The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation’s You Can Save a Life at School (www.sca-aware.org/schools) and You Can Save a Life on Campus (www.sca-aware.org/campus) programs provide many examples of students and school employees saved by AEDs.

In addition, certain U.S. communities have achieved exemplary results by combining access to AEDs with innovative EMS services. For example, King County, Washington, has a sudden cardiac arrest survival rate of 57 percent, according to Seattle and King County Public Health. Through its “Shockingly Simple” campaign, the county has encouraged the purchase and registration of AEDs while improving the speed of EMS response and the training of paramedics. A new initiative has EMS dispatchers providing CPR instruction over the phone while EMS is en route. The basic elements of King County’s approach can be replicated in any workplace by having AEDs readily available and employee response teams trained in CPR and AED use.

Yet the vast majority of workplaces have not yet implemented AED programs. Citing concerns about legal liability, the time involved, and costs, these workplaces are basically betting that no employee, customer, or visitor suffers sudden cardiac arrest on their premises. Or these organizations are falsely assuming that EMS will arrive to save the day, despite the evidence showing that EMS saves of sudden cardiac arrest victims are quite rare in most communities, the King County example notwithstanding. Of about 380,000 annual, nationwide incidences of sudden cardiac arrest that occur outside the hospital, only about 8 percent of victims survive. That&’s nearly 1,000 people dying each day.

4. Reliable, regularly inspected, and well-maintained AEDs are the best answer.Having one or more AEDs at your workplace is simply the least risky approach to managing the possibility of sudden cardiac arrest, assuming the AEDs are a reliable brand, regularly inspected, and well-maintained. An employee response team with an AED and training will typically “do the right thing” in response to sudden cardiac arrest, Lazar said, and often the team members are able to save a life. And despite the warnings from naysayers, well-intentioned and reasonable responses by trained and prepared workplace teams rarely result in adverse legal consequences. Most importantly, correctly maintained AEDs rarely malfunction–and they’re easier to use than ever.

All AEDs provide real-time audio instructions for rescuers, and some have video and text instructions. For example, when the audio says and text reads, “Place pads on patient’s chest,” the video shows exactly where to place the pads. When it comes to simplicity, AEDs have reached a tipping point similar to when the iPhone was introduced to cell phone users. The iPhone made smartphones easy. Before the iPhone, relatively few Americans used their mobile phones to text, use the Internet, and keep track of important personal information. Now, many people use their phones to manage virtually every aspect of their lives.

Simply put, new AED technology makes it easier to save a life while giving workplaces the opportunity to send a strong message about health, safety, and well-being to employees, Lazar explained. “If you want to have an AED program,” he said, “you can do it and you can do it well.”

Today’s Safety Daily Advisor Tip:

Dec 132013
 

Office Workers: The Forgotten Workforce?

Topic: Safety Management
Forgetting about anybody when you assess and plan workplace safety programs? What about office workers? They face hazards, too.

 

Compared with industrial and construction worksites, the average office tends to be pretty tame. But even in an office, a variety of potential hazards exist, any one of which can lead to accidents and injuries. For example:

  • An office worker carrying a stack of files falls down the stairs and severely injures her back.
  • Another office worker gets a painful bang on his shin when he bumps into on a lower desk drawer that’s been left open.
  • An office worker, opening a box of supplies with a box cutter, cuts her hand and has to be taken to the emergency room for stitches.
  • A disgruntled former employee returns to the office and shoots his supervisor and three co-workers.
  • The person designated to shut off the coffee maker forgets, and later that night a fire breaks out, spreading rapidly through the office.
  • An office worker entering the building on a wet day slips and falls on the wet tiles in the entryway.
  • The mailroom receives a suspicious package, which turns out to contain an explosive device.

These are just a few possible scenarios that demonstrate the risks office workers may face on the job.

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OSHA Requirements

Office safety is covered by OSHA’s General Duty Clause requirement that you protect workers against known hazards. The following standards also apply to a variety of office environments:

  • Housekeeping—29 CFR 1910.22
  • Exit routes, Emergency Action Plans, and Fire Prevention Plans—29 CFR 1910.33 to 1910.39
  • Fire Protection—29 CFR Subpart L
  • Electrical Safety—29 CFR Subpart S
  • Hazard communication for chemical hazards—29 CFR 1910.1200
  • Sanitation—29 CFR 1910.141

Office Safety Plan

Your office safety plan should include information about the following basic elements as applicable to your workplace:

  • Hazard assessment
  • Safety orientation and training
  • Housekeeping (e.g., surfaces, floors, entryways and exits, stairs, file cabinets, storage)
  • Electrical cords
  • Lighting
  • Ergonomics and lifting safely
  • Indoor air quality and ventilation
  • Electrical appliances
  • Emergency action and fire prevention
  • Medical and first aid
  • Chemical hazard communication and control
  • Disability accommodations
  • Workplace violence
  • Accident investigation
  • Sanitation
  • Security

Your plan should be reviewed at least annually and updated whenever changes in procedures or the office environment could create new hazards or affect existing ones.

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Office Safety Responsibilities

Responsibility for office safety is shared by safety personnel, office managers and supervisors, and office workers. Everybody’s got an important role to play.

It’s your job to:

  • Implement an office safety plan
  • Enforce all safety policies and procedures
  • Conduct worker training regarding common office hazards
  • Investigate all accidents and near misses and keep appropriate records
  • Make regular office inspections to look for hazards
  • Oversee correction of reported office hazards promptly

Office managers and supervisors must:

  • Monitor employee safety performance
  • Keep alert for potential hazards in office areas (as well as in areas office workers must pass through to get to the office) Ensure that employees follow safety procedures and policies
  • Work with maintenance to make sure that cleaning and maintenance tasks are performed routinely and properly
  • Report any hazards or accidents to you immediately

Office workers must:

  • Be informed about potential office hazards
  • Follow the procedures of the office safety plan and the instructions of their supervisor
  • Keep work areas uncluttered, orderly, sanitary, and free of other hazards
  • Report unsafe conditions or acts that may cause injury to either themselves or other employees
  • Report accidents and injuries to their supervisor

Tomorrow we’ll review good housekeeping requirements for the office.

 

 

Employers subject to OSHA recordkeeping must post the OSHA Form 300A, beginning February 1, in a common area where notices are typically displayed. The form must remain up through April 30. Form 300A is the summary of all job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred in 2010 and were entered on the 300 log. If there were no recordables in 2010, the form must be posted with zeros in the total line. Also required is the information about annual average number of employees and hours worked, and all summaries must be certified by a company executive

Today’s Safety Daily Advisor Tip:

Workplace Violence: Train to Prevent a Tragedy

Topic: Training

Why is it so important to provide violence prevention training, and what should that training include? Find out here.
During violence prevention training, employees should learn how to:

  • Recognize warning signs of violence
  • Report such behaviors
  • Defuse violent situations

Supervisors and managers should also be trained about these issues and additionally learn how to:

  • Follow up before a potential problem escalates
  • Communicate effectively with HR
  • Use conflict resolution techniques
  • Counsel employees and administer appropriate discipline in violence-related cases

Training for all employees at all levels should also address the details of the organization’s violence prevention policy, says Wayne Maxey, a senior consultant with Baron Center Inc., a San Diego—based consulting and training firm known for its expertise in violence intervention and prevention, threat assessment, and posttrauma response.

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Problem Behaviors

Potentially problematic behaviors include anger, outbursts, physical assaults or intimidation, bullying, substance abuse, and mental health issues. Maxey says that employees should also report co-workers’ comments about getting even with supervisors or the company as well as comments about weapons, homicide, or suicide.

Similarly, if a co-worker is fixated on recent incidents of workplace violence reported in the news or makes disturbing comments about such incidents, this should be reported. It’s better to encourage employees to report and be wrong about it than not to report and face a full-blown violent incident like a shooting that kills several people.

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Training Requirements

Maxey says that employees should receive violence prevention training when hired and complete a refresher course at least every 2 years.

BLR can make that training easy for you with Safety Meeting Repros’ Violence in the Workplace training module. The module is presented in two parts. Part I focuses on prevention, understanding causes of workplace violence, and identifying security measures designed to prevent problems. Part II focuses on recognizing signs of potential violence and defusing violent situations.

Violence in the Workplace is just one of Safety Meeting Repros‘ 50 completely turnkey safety meeting modules, each responsive to a key OSHA regulation, with trainee materials in reproducible form. Just check items off the outline items as you proceed through the meeting and you won’t miss a single point of importance. Then follow up with the fully prepared quiz (with instantly available answers) and illustrated handouts that also come with each lesson. You’ve completed a full training cycle, with little more work than running a copier, at a cost equivalent of under $6 a session.

We don’t think you can appreciate how much this program can ease your training task without looking it over. We invite you to do so at no cost (we’ll even pay any return shipping) and no risk. Here’s how you can arrange a trial run, at our expense.

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Today’s Safety Daily Advisor Tip:

Dec 132013
 

Just Say NO! to Workplace Violence

Topic: Safety Management
It takes effort on the part of every member of your organization to combat workplace violence, starting with safety personnel.
A former employee with a grudge against his supervisor enters the workplace armed with a gun and kills his supervisor and three other employees before turning the gun on himself. After the incident, co-workers said that when the employee was fired, he threatened to “get” the supervisor. Unfortunately, nobody took him seriously.You’ve heard stories like this one on the evening news no doubt, and maybe there’s even been an incident in your area.No one should have to feel threatened by violence when he or she comes to work. Workers want to feel safe on the job. In fact, feeling safe at work was ranked third among the top five priorities of job satisfaction by employees polled by the Society for Human Resource Management.Your organization can help prevent violence and make workers feel safe by:

  • Communicating and enforcing a zero-tolerance violence prevention policy
  • Providing effective security procedures such as access control, employee photo identification, sign in and badges for visitors, and readily available security personnel
  • Making it easy to report violence-related problems
  • Promptly and firmly responding to threats and violent incidents with appropriate counseling and/or discipline

Policy

Your policy should include examples of behaviors that will not be tolerated such as:

  • Bringing into the workplace any kind of weapon or other objects that could be used in a threatening or violent way
  • Assaulting or threatening to assault someone
  • Throwing things, destroying property, or similar hostile behavior
  • Focusing obsessively on a grudge, a grievance, a romantic interest in another employee, or other offensive behavior, such as stalking

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Disciplinary Action

If an employee violates any part of your violence prevention policy, the situation should be thoroughly investigated, and if appropriate, disciplinary action should be taken. Discipline could include termination, depending on the severity of the incident.

However, except in severe cases where termination is required, counseling in addition to discipline may be more effective in resolving the problem than discipline alone. Employees who need help dealing with personal or work problems that are generating anger or hostility should be able to take advantage of an employee assistance program to help them deal with their problems.

Reporting Procedures

It should be easy for employees to report threats or incidents of violence. Employees should understand that anyone who comes forward or who participates in any investigation of workplace violence will not face any adverse treatment and will be protected from predators.

Employees should be encouraged to report threats or incidents, whether they involve co-workers, customers, suppliers, visitors, or even people unrelated to the workplace—for example, a violent spouse or partner who comes into the workplace to act out domestic violence.

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Options for Employees Who Feel Threatened

If an employee feels threatened, is a victim of violence, or witnesses a violent or potentially violent situation, there are several options.

If there are immediate safety concerns, the employee or a co-worker should call 911.

Otherwise, employees should be encouraged to first approach their supervisor or manager. If that person is unavailable, employees can go to Human Resources or the head of company security.

Tomorrow, we’ll continue with the topic of workplace violence and talk about violence prevention training for all levels in the organization.

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Today’s Safety Daily Advisor Tip:

Dec 132013
 

Need a Variance from an OSHA? Here’s How to Get It

Topic: Enforcement and Inspection
Find out what you need to know about OSHA variances and how to obtain them.
HazCom featured in third place on OSHA’s top 10 violations for 2010. Two big HazCom issues are labels and MSDSs.A variance is an alternative procedure of compliance with some part of a safety and health standard, which is granted to an employer by OSHA. For example:

  • You are not able to comply fully and on time with a new safety or health standard because of a shortage of personnel, materials, or equipment.
  • You prefer to use methods, equipment, or facilities that you believe protect workers as well as or better than OSHA standards.

Variances can be temporary, permanent, experimental, or national defense. See the Rules of Practice standard (29 CFR 1905.10, 11, 12) for complete information about variances.

Commitment Required

Obtaining a variance necessitates a major commitment on your part. You must be able to assure OSHA that the variance will be at least as protective of employee safety and health as the underlying requirement.

This level of commitment is well illustrated by Keystone Steel and Wire Company of Peoria, Illinois, which requested that OSHA grant a variance from a regulation that prohibits the use of compressed air to clean floors and other surfaces where lead and arsenic particulates accumulate.

Keystone’s production process includes melting scrap steel in furnaces. It requires the use of two overhead cranes to haul the scrap to the furnaces and transport the molten steel for further processing. During melting, fugitive emissions containing trace amounts of lead and arsenic accumulate inside the motor housings of the cranes. To prevent electric arcing, Keystone must remove the accumulated particulates from inside the crane-motor housings.

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Support Materials

To support its request for a variance, Keystone submitted extensive material to ensure that the required level of protection would be met, including:

  • An engineering plan that employed a compressed-air vacuum-containment system that maintained negative pressure inside the motor housings, ensuring that the exhaust airflow leaving the enclosure exceeded the inflow of compressed air. The system would be inspected at least annually and defective parts would be repaired or replaced.
  • A personal-exposure monitoring plan for workers during the entire period they used compressed air to clean crane motors. Breathing-zone samples for lead and arsenic would be submitted to a certified analytical laboratory.
  • Biological monitoring of every worker involved in motor-cleaning operations within 30 days after the cleaning. To establish a baseline blood-lead level, biological monitoring would be performed on every new worker before the worker engages in a cleaning operation.
  • Written notification provided to affected workers of their individual personal exposure and biological monitoring results. OSHA would be informed whenever monitoring results were above action levels for lead or arsenic.
  • A training program for workers before they began crane motor-cleaning operations, as well as yearly refresher training. Training would be documented and training records would be maintained.
  • Implementation of a respiratory protection program.
  • Assurance that supervisors would observe and enforce applicable safe-work practices while the cleaning takes place.

OSHA incorporated these and related measures as requirements into the Keystone variance.

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How to Apply for a Variance

The procedure for applying for a variance depends on whether your worksite is under federal or state jurisdiction.

Federal jurisdiction. Forward variance applications to the U.S. Department of Labor/OSHA, Office of Technical Programs and Coordination Activities, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, N-3655, Washington, DC 20210. (The following states are under federal jurisdiction: AL, AR, CO, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, KS, LA, MA, ME, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NH, OK, OH, PA, RI, SD, TX, WI, WV. The private sector in the following states is also under federal jurisdiction: CT, IL, NJ, and NY.)

State jurisdiction. Address variance applications to your state OSHA office. (The following states operate under their own OSHA-approved job safety and health programs and cover state and local government employees as well as private sector employees: AK, AZ, CA,, HI, IA,, IN, KY, MD, MI, MN, NC, NM, NV, OR, SC, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WY. In the following states only the public sector is covered by state plans: CT, IL, NJ, and NY.)

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Today’s Safety Daily Advisor Tip:

Dec 132013
 

Failure to Provide Required Training—Big Mistake! Here’s Why

Topic: Training

Read a dramatized account of a real case in which a court found an employer and supervisor guilty of negligence for failure to provide OSHA-required training.
A new employee—we’ll call him Steve—had no experience or prior training operating a forklift. Nevertheless, on his first day in a new job, he was assigned to drive a forklift.”There’s nothing to it,” his supervisor told Steve. “It’s just like driving a car.””OK,” Steve agreed, “I guess I can handle it.”But Steve’s first few weeks on the job turned out to be kind of bumpy. Several times on each shift while driving the forklift he would bump into pallets and knock things over.The supervisor witnessed a few of these incidents and warned Steve to be more careful. But Steve continued to bump his way through the workday, leaving a trail of destruction wherever he went.One day about 3 weeks after being hired, the supervisor instructed Steve to drive down a narrow aisle between two rows of stacked, loaded pallets.”Gee, boss,” said Steve dubiously, “I don’t know if I can fit through there.””Sure you can,” said the supervisor. “Now get a move on.”

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The Accident

As Steve reluctantly proceeded down the aisle, his left foot, which was dangling outside the forklift where it shouldn’t have been, became pinned between the forklift and the wall of pallets. He suffered multiple fractures of the foot, and his knee was badly twisted as well. Both injuries required surgery.

When Steve got out of the hospital, instead of going back to work, he went to court and sued his employer and his supervisor for negligence.

His argument was simple: The company and the supervisor failed to provide safety training that could have prevented the accident.

Steve’s lawyer told the court that OSHA regulations mandated specific training, testing, and certification for forklift operators. Steve had not been trained, tested, or certified. Therefore, he should not have been operating a forklift. And if he hadn’t been driving the forklift, he wouldn’t have been injured.

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The Decision

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia agreed, saying there was sufficient evidence to prove that both the employer and the supervisor were negligent. They were aware when the employee was hired that federal law required forklift operators to be properly trained and certified. By allowing the employee to operate a forklift without proper training was an act of negligence.

The Message

Failure to provide OSHA-required training is a big mistake. When new employees are hired, or when workers are assigned new jobs with new hazards, make sure they are properly trained from the start. No employee should ever be allowed to operate dangerous equipment or perform any other hazardous job until the required training has been completed and the employee has demonstrated competence as well as understanding of the hazards and necessary precautions.

Safety Daily Advisor Tip:

Dec 132013
 

Take a Mini Tour of OSHA’s Electrical Safe Work Practice Rules

Topic: Safety Management
When it comes to electrical safe work practices, its 1910.333 you want to examine closely. Here’s a mini tour of the requirements.
OSHA requires your employees to use safety work practices to prevent electric shock or other injuries resulting from either direct or indirect electrical contacts when work is performed near or on equipment or circuits that are or may be energized (29 CFR 1910.333, Selection and Use of Work Practices).The specific safety-related work practices you require employees to follow must be consistent with the nature and extent of the associated electrical hazards.Here’s a quick review of essential work practices identified by the standard.

Deenergizing Parts or Equipment

Live parts to which an employee may be exposed must be deenergized before the employee works on or near them, unless you can demonstrate that deenergizing introduces additional or increased hazards or is infeasible because of equipment design or operational limitations. Live parts that operate at less than 50 volts to ground need not be deenergized if there will be no increased exposure to electrical burns or to explosion due to electric arcs.

Energized Parts or Equipment

If the exposed live parts are not deenergized (i.e., for reasons of increased or additional hazards or infeasibility), other safety-related work practices must be used to protect employees who may be exposed to the electrical hazards involved. These work practices must protect employees against contact with energized circuit parts directly with any part of their body or indirectly through some other conductive object.

Every 23 minutes, a preventable electrical injury occurs in the workplace, so training is essential. BLR’s upcoming webinar will get you up to speed—without leaving the building. Click here for details.

Deenergized Parts or Equipment Not Locked or Tagged Out

Conductors and parts of electric equipment that have been deenergized but have not been locked out or tagged must be treated as energized parts.

Lockout/tagout of Deenergized Equipment

While any employee is exposed to contact with parts of fixed electric equipment or circuits that have been deenergized, the circuits energizing the parts must be locked out or tagged or both. You must maintain a written copy of the procedures followed to lock or tag out equipment. Safe procedures for deenergizing circuits and equipment must be determined before circuits or equipment are deenergized. The lock must be attached to prevent persons from operating the disconnecting means unless they resort to undue force or the use of tools. Each tag must contain a statement prohibiting unauthorized operation of the disconnecting means and removal of the tag.

Work On or Near Energized Equipment

Only qualified employees may work on energized equipment. These employees must be capable of working safely on energized circuits and be familiar with the proper use of special precautionary techniques, personal protective equipment, insulating and shielding materials, and insulated tools. Special training is required for qualified employees.

Work Near Overhead Lines

If work is to be performed near overhead lines, the lines must be deenergized and grounded, or other protective measures must be provided before work is started. If the lines are to be deenergized, arrangements must be made with the person or organization that operates or controls the electric circuits involved to deenergize and ground them. If protective measures, such as guarding, isolating, or insulating, are provided, these precautions must prevent employees from contacting such lines directly with any part of their body or indirectly through conductive materials, tools, or equipment.

NOTE: The work practices used by qualified workers installing insulating devices on overhead power transmission or distribution lines are covered by another OSHA rule (29 CFR 1910.269).

Unqualified employees and the longest conductive object he or she may contact must not come within at least 10 ft from an energized 50 kilovolt (kV) overhead line (greater distances for greater than 50 kV lines), and must not bring any conductive object closer than the same distances.

Qualified employees must not approach or take any conductive object without an approved insulating handle and obey approach distances to overhead lines specified in the rule.

Join us on December 9 for an in-depth 90-minute interactive webinar about electrical safety in the workplace. Our expert will discuss and compare the NFPA 70E requirements with the various OSHA standards and talk about best practices in electrical safety. Learn More.

Illumination

Employees must not enter spaces containing exposed energized parts, unless illumination is provided that enables them to perform the work safely.

Confined or Enclosed Workspaces

When an employee works in a confined or enclosed space (such as a manhole or vault) that contains exposed energized parts, you must provide (and the employee must use) protective shields, protective barriers, or insulating materials as necessary to avoid inadvertent contact with these parts. Doors, hinged panels, and the like must be secured to prevent their swinging into an employee and causing the employee to contact exposed energized parts.

Housekeeping Duties

Where live parts present an electrical contact hazard, employees may not perform housekeeping duties at such close distances to the parts that there is a possibility of contact, unless adequate safeguards (such as insulating equipment or barriers) are provided.

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Electrical Safety: How To Stay in Compliance with NFPA and OSHA Rules and Keep Workers Safe

Electrical Safety Webinar — December 9

Thursday, December 9, 2010
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (PST)
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (MST)
12:30 to 2:00 p.m. (CST)
1:30 to 3:00 p.m. (EST)

Every 23 minutes, a preventable electrical injury occurs in the workplace, so training is essential. NFPA 70E contains the most updated practices for safely working with electricity. While workers must be trained in the requirements of this standard, you also need to provide training to employees on what OSHA requires, as well.

LEARN MORE

Join us on December 9 for an in-depth webinar on electrical safety. Our expert will discuss and compare the NFPA 70E requirements with the various OSHA standards (such as lockout/tagout and preventing electrical shock), as well as the best practices you should follow to ensure the safety of your employees.

REGISTER NOW

You and your colleagues will learn:

  • Terminology definitions and differences between NFPA and OSHA
  • When electrical work permits are required
  • Why compliance with one standard does not ensure compliance with another, and how to ensure compliance across the board
  • How to conduct hazard assessments for the appropriate PPE
  • What OSHA requires in terms of keeping workers safe from electrical hazards
  • The essential training electrical safety training you’re required to conduct

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Approved for Recertification Credit
This webinar qualifies for Continuance of Certification (COC) credit. CSPs will earn 0.05 COC points for attending this webinar.

Why You Can Sign Up to Attend This Event with Confidence

As with all Business & Legal Reports products, you’re completely protected. If, for any reason, you are unsatisfied with this webinar, simply let us know, and we will return your entire registration fee.

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6 Most Common Lockout/Tagout Mistakes

Dec 132013
 

Topic: Safety Management

Any powered equipment is potentially dangerous—even if it’s supposed to be shut down. Many needless accidents occur when somebody turns on a machine that’s supposed to be locked out.
Lockout/tagout accidents are not only needless, but serious. They result not in small cuts or scratches, but often cause amputations, serious fractures, or death. Any energy source—electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, or gas—can be deadly if not controlled.No lockout system will be effective if it is undertaken in a hit-or-miss fashion. You must be absolutely sure that your workers are absolutely sure about lockout/tagout procedures, whether they’re performing the lockout, whether they’re affected by it, or whether they’re just working in the area.

Make No Mistake

Here are six common lockout/tagout mistakes employees make. Could any of your workers be making any of these?

Mistake 1: “This job will only take a few minutes. I don’t need to use a lock—I’ll just shut down the equipment controls.” No! Never under any circumstance is this permissible!

Mistake 2: A worker pulls the switch and correctly locks it out. Then another workers places his lock through the first worker’s lock. The first guy finishes first removes his lock, leaving the other guy’s lock lying on the ground near the switch. Wrong! Now the second worker has no protection. Make sure that multiple lockout procedures are always followed when more than one person is servicing the equipment.

Think you have no time to train? Think again. BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer helps you fulfill key OSHA-required training tasks in as little as 7 minutes. Try it at no cost and see!

Mistake 3: A worker performing a lockout is afraid she’s going to lose the key, so she leaves it in the lock. Big mistake! Now anyone could come along and remove the lock not realizing it’s protecting someone’s life.Mistake 4: “Joe, could you take my lock, shut off the machinery, and lock it out while I get my tools together?” Stop! Don’t let employees depend on the other guy! Each worker must perform the shutoff and lockout him or herself.Mistake 5: An employee locked out the control circuit and thought that was good enough. Wrong! The main disconnect or switch must be locked out too. Even one drop of water or a few particles of dust can cause a machine to operate without anyone pressing any start buttons.Mistake 6: Everything is correctly locked out and a machine repairperson is ready to go to work. He’s only got an hour to finish the job, so he jumps right in. Stop! Before he does any repairs, he must take a few moments to test the controls to make sure they are definitely inoperative.Make sure any worker performing lockout/tagout in your facility is properly trained, evaluated, and following your written lockout procedures. You simply can’t afford mistakes with lockout/tagout.

Can you picture safety training in effective, 7-minute sessions? Get the details.

Training Prevents Mistakes

Effective employee training prevents mistakes, accidents, and injuries. And BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer has cost-effective, mistake-preventing, easy-to-implement training in lockout/tagout as well as all the other essential safety topics you need to train your employees.

Savvy safety professionals like you have been relying on the BLR® 7-Minute Safety Trainer for their training needs for years now.

This essential training resource allows you to provide concise, memorable training easily and effectively in just a few minutes. Materials are ready-to-use, and each session supplies a detailed trainer’s outline as well as a handout, quiz, and quiz answers to get your points across quickly—and cost-effectively.

All told, this “trainer’s bible” contains 50 prewritten meetings covering almost every aspect of safety you’d want or need to train on, in a format designed to be taught in as little as 7 minutes. Major topics include:

—Confined spaces
—Electrical safety
—Fire safety and emergency response
—HazCom
—Machine guarding and lockout/tagout
—Material handling
—PPE use and care
—Housekeeping/slips, trips, and falls
—and dozens more

Just make as many copies as you need of the included handouts and quizzes, and you’re ready to train.

Equally important is that the program ships new meetings every quarter to respond to new and changed regulations. This service is included in the program price, which averages just over $1 a working day. In fact, this is one of BLR’s most popular safety programs.
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