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

Face Shields

5/23/2016 Face Shields; quite possibly the forgotten PPE. While wearing safety glasses is becoming a “no brainer,” outside of specific hot work activities, face shields seem to be an extraneous piece of equipment that is only considered when one wants to be extra cautious, however, never really mandatory. After all, with all the latest technological advances and designs for safety glasses and goggles, one can see how face shields can be forgotten and quite possibly, Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Leading Accident Indicators

3/14/2016 The terms, leading and lagging indicators were first used in the financial world. While a leading indicator is designed to help determine or predict the future, a lagging indicator provides information as what went right or wrong. Thus, a leading indicator uses information prior to an event or occurrence, while a lagging indicator is based on past experience.  Examples of economic leading indicators to predict the future of the financial markets include the Dow Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Hazard Control/Risk Conrol

2/29/2016 A number of years ago I worked at a facility where underground construction activities were being performed. This project was a long-term project where a plethora of heavy equipment as well as other types of construction activities were being conducted on a regular basis. One of the greatest hazards in an underground location is fire. As such, the project had a strict limit on the amount of flammable materials allowed underground. One day, as Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Methane, Natural Gas and Explosive Limits

2/15/2016 On Oct. 23, 2015, an underground containment system for natural gas ruptured just north of Los Angeles, California in the quiet community of Porter Ranch. This facility is owned and operated by the Southern California Gas Company and is referred to as the Aliso Canyon Storage Facility.  Natural Gas is mostly methane, however other hydrocarbons, in varying, trace amounts, are also present. Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations and is typically Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

The Birds is Coming! Ornithological Diseases

6/10/2013 Just before Alfred Hitchcock’s legendary film, The Birds, hit the silver screen, billboards across the country were advertising the 1963 thriller with the catchy phrase, “The Birds is Coming.” I remember many conversations centered on whether the sentence structure was correct or incorrect (as funny as it sounds, it is correct and was probably used as a very clever marketing tool, making the movie a topic of conversation even before it was released). The Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Road Rage

3/9/2015 Last month the news reported, once more, another case of road rage that resulted in one person taking another’s life.  It occurred in a residential neighborhood in Las Vegas, Nevada that began with a traffic altercation and ended with an exchange of gunfire. In the end a 44-year-old mother was killed, while the 19-year old suspect faces a host of some very serious charges; the result which appears will leave him incarcerated for many Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Working on or Near Water

5/9/2016 Many projects find us working near water. Historically, the most notable project involving work on or near water was the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, where cofferdams were used extensively and diving to the depths of the river to locate appropriate foundations for supporting the bridge.  Today there are many tunnels and bridges that traverse waterways including the construction of commercial harbors throughout the world.  Unfortunately, this type of work is dangerous, where there Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge

2/6/2012 The year is 1866.  The American Civil War ended only one year earlier and life in New York City was returning to its normal pace focusing on urban affairs (New York not only had brigades engaged in battle, but this was also the scene of the great draft riots in 1863).  New Yorkers, especially Brooklynites, were more than a little frustrated about traveling across the East River during the winter months when ferries could Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Methamphetamine

8/31/2015 I once attended a class at an industrial hygiene conference where we learned how to derive methamphetamine from the OTC cold remedy medication, Sudafed®. For years this was the starting ingredient used in clandestine labs. Iodine was used as a reducing agent (this is the opposite of an oxidizer, therefore removing oxygen – in this case a hydroxyl group which is part of the molecular structure of Sudafed® – once this was removed and Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Time Constraints – Fall Protection and Situational Awareness

12/28/2020 It happened a number of years ago; when Las Vegas was building casinos so fast that even the local residents couldn’t keep up with what was going to be the latest and greatest theme-related high rise on the strip. These structures are big, and contractors were getting sizable bonuses for completing their portions of the work on time and on budget.  I remember the name of the one casino that was being built where Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago