9/24/2018 Hot work: this term encompasses activities that involve burning, welding, or using fire or spark-producing tools. Such tasks include welding, torch cutting, brazing, soldering and grinding. And persons performing these activities are exposed to risks of fires from ignition of flammable or combustible materials within the work space as Read more…
9/17/2018 During the recent confirmation hearings for Judge Kavanaugh, I listened to a line of questioning concerning an incident in 2010 when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined Seaworld in San Diego after a trainer was killed by a captive killer whale. This was the first time OSHA Read more…
9/4/2018 Safety and Health (S&H) professionals are obsessed with accident precursors. That’s because the S&H community is in the business of accident prevention. Of course, if an unwanted event does occur, the next step is to minimize the potential damage. For instance, preventative measures for an accidental fire would be Read more…
8/13/2018 A few weeks ago, the nation was celebrating the memory of Senator John McCain. Many stories were told about his life of service; however, one grabbed my attention. It was the tragic event that occurred when John McCain was on the USS Forrestal: an aircraft carrier that suffered a Read more…
8/27/2018 It is indeed unfortunate, but the fact is, even today, with modern technology (especially in the United States), accidents involving excavations still occur. And it seems that at least once a year, a tragic story makes the major news networks that describes an event where a person or persons Read more…
8/6/2018 According to the American Burn Association, there are approximately 486,000 burn related injuries requiring medical treatment each year. Of these burn related injuries, 8% occur in the workplace. This equates to roughly 38,880 workers. And based on investigations these work cases were attributed to inadequate training/awareness, a lack of Read more…
7/30/2018 When I was a student (many years ago) and working on an assignment in a chemistry laboratory with another student, an incident occurred that could have resulted in a very serious injury. In one of the fume hoods a large glass bottle was used to collect spent acids. The Read more…
7/16/2018 Any person who has studied accidents – workplace or otherwise – investigating the basic cause of an unwanted event would inevitably find at the foundation, was a lack of understanding or cognizant awareness of the surroundings involving the incident. Take, for example, the recent rescue of the boys’ “Wild Read more…
6/25/2018 The recent suicides of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade caught the nation by surprise. Here were two people sitting on top of the world, attaining a level of success and accomplishment that so many of us could only envy. We were stymied while asking the question, “Why.” Yes, their Read more…
6/18/2018 With summer weather so many of us are ready for taking advantage of hiking and having picnics in the outdoors. National Parks and other hiking trails are populated with both experienced and inexperienced hikers and campers. And, while these are great activities during our leisure – whether that’s the Read more…