Occupational, Industrial, and Safety Shares for your company or organization

The 1975 Kepone Incident

5/10/2021 The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 provided for the establishment of our Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA. It’s primary purpose: to ensure a safe and healthful workplace for the American Worker. The organization is headed up by the Assistant Secretary of Labor, who in turn, reports to the US Secretary of Labor: Both positions are appointed by the President with a confirmation hearing and vote by the US Senate. Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

OSHA’s Regulation for Eye and Face Protection

5/3/2021 One of the typical comments I receive from an audit or review of a safety and health document, such as a job hazard analysis – JHA (also known as an activity hazard analysis – AHA) or Safety and Health Plan, when the subject of eye protection is discussed, is the phrase, “please include side protection.”  On a good day, I’ll just smirk and shake my head and even add the requested inclusion. The reason Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Anatomy of an Accident

9/5/2011 As I sit in an airplane, thousands of feet in the air, I find it somewhat amusing that I am about to talk about the worst disaster in commercial airline history. While I have told this story a few times, I think the lessons to be learned from this incident are quite important as the set of circumstances that caused this tragic event presents us with a true-to-life illustration of how accidents occur. Without Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Natural Gas and Oil from Shale and the Whole Fracking Business

11/21/2011 During this past year, the technique known as hydraulic fracking, or simply, fracking, has surfaced (and yes, for those of you that are familiar with this process, excuse the unintentional pun) in the national media. Many of us might not even be aware of this process, or, at least, have minimal knowledge about it and therefore, do not understand the controversy that surrounds it. While most of us may think this is a new Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Behavior Based Safety

10/24/2011 Recently, I was listening to a group of safety and health professionals that work at various locations within the DOE complex talk about some of their challenges. One person brought up a concern that grabbed everyone’s attention. Apparently, his group of S&H professionals were noticing an increased practice of drivers not stopping at stop signs. So as a way to bring this concern to management, they decided to conduct an observational study for the Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Illumination

10/17/2011 The Autumn Equinox has now past and therefore the evening hours have overtaken the daylight, only to continue its encroachment on our hours of sunlight rendering the days to grow dimmer as we near the Winter Solstice.  Hence, while we may have field work that is technically designed to be performed during the day, we may find ourselves starting and ending our work shift in darkness.  As such, we may need artificial light sources Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

High Fructose Corn Syrup

4/26/2021 High fructose corn syrup.  It has become a house-hold expression and in some instances, conjures up the health food demons, turning off people from buying any food product that contains this ingredient.  The fact is, corn syrup is made from (can you guess?) corn! Corn is mentioned often in the Bible – for instance, Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream where seven ears of corn, thin and scorched, swallowing up seven good ears of corn. Of Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Hypoxia and Hypoxemia

4/19/2021 Many of us have heard the terms, simple asphyxiant and chemical asphyxiant. While both conditions can be the result of an exposure to an airborne substance, the difference between the two is based on the mechanism of how a person losses his/her ability to supply oxygen to the body; thus, suffering the effects of asphyxia.    A chemical asphyxiant interferes with the body’s function to absorb oxygen into the body or to allow oxygen Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Report ALL Accidents and Incidents!

11/8/2010 Mac’s face was turning as red as a beet. “Come on, Ethyl! Why are you making such a big deal out of this?  No one was hurt, nothing was damaged, at least, nothing noticeable.  No harm, no foul, right?! “Absolutely wrong, Mac.”  Ethyl Mercaptan, Senior Safety Rep for Property Management,Inc.,recognized a volatile situation when she saw one. What she said next and HOW she said it would undoubtedly determine whether Mac would erupt like Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Beryllium: More Than a Metal

11/1/2010 Beryllium is a unique material. It is a lightweight metal with mechanical and thermal properties that make it ideal for use in many applications and industries including defense, aerospace, telecommunications, automotive electronics, and medical specialties.  It has a modulus of elasticity almost 50 percent greater than that of steel at ¼ the weight! Its properties of high stiffness and light weight translate to accurate positioning of high-end instruments and optical equipment and the ability Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago