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

Chemical Incompatibilities

1/18/2018 Chemicals are part of our daily life. We use them in industry, office environments, and scientific research as well as in our homes. And while we typically think of dangerous or hazardous chemicals as items used for industrial purposes, some of the most potent chemicals are used in our own residents.  Nowadays, unclogging a sink, or cleaning toilets and floor tiles; even cleaning our driveways; involve the use of strong acids or alkalis (i.e. Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Caught-Between Accidents

11/20/2017 Within the construction industry, four specific hazards have become the focus of OSHA and safety professionals. These are: 1) Falls, 2) Caught-betweens, 3) Struck-Bys, and 4) Electrocutions. As such, they are frequently referred to as the fatal four! This discussion is an emphasis on the second hazard: “Caught-betweens.”    Caught between hazards are those where workers are squeezed, crushed, caught, pinched, or compressed between two objects or parts of two objects. This includes an employee Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

The Invisible Problem

9/25/2017 At some point in our lives, this week’s topic will touch us all. And if you think about it, it can keep you up at night. That is, if you’re not already dealing with an elderly relative living in an assisted living or nursing home, odds are one day you will. AND, there is the inevitability that one day, we will faced with the possibility of moving into one of these facilities ourselves! I Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

The Hamlet Chicken Processing Tragedy

9/18/2017 It is not uncommon to reference past catastrophes to learn from their mistakes. In most cases such examples are occurrences that happened years ago. Of course, the most famous disaster that S&H professionals typically reference is the Titanic. However – and quite unfortunately – there are many other misfortunes for which we should never forget. One such event was the Hamlet Chicken Processing Plant Fire.  This was an industrial fire that occurred at the Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Complacency

8/8/2016 Within the field of occupational safety and health, there has been a growing concern regarding complacency.  Accident investigations (in private industry and government operations alike) are showing an upward trend where “complacency” is listed as a contributory factor. Many perception surveys now ask workers if they have become complacent when doing repetitious jobs and if complacency is considered an undesirable characteristic of a safety culture. Although this attention to complacency is deserved, the standard Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Accident Precursors and Hindsight

7/18/2016 After an unfortunate incident, it is common to discover through diligent investigation, that there were indicators, missed signals, and dismissed alerts that preceded the event. And if these “signals” were only heeded, disaster could have been averted. All one has to do is review some of history’s most famous catastrophes. Such notable examples are the sinking of the Titanic, the 2000 Concorde crash, the two space shuttle disasters as well as the epic Chernobyl Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Skin Cancer and Sun Exposure

7/5/2016 Skin cancer is the most common of all human cancers, with 1 million people in the U.S. diagnosed each year with some type of the disease. Cancer occurs when normal cells undergo a transformation and grow and multiply without normal controls. Here are the cancer basics: As the cells multiply, they form a mass called a tumor. Tumors are cancerous only if they are malignant. This means that they encroach on and invade neighboring Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Noise Cancelation Headphones

2/1/2016 Recently I presented an OSHA 8-hour HAZWOPER Refresher Course and during the Hearing Conservation section, I was asked a question about noise-canceling headphones. Do these devices provide any protection from noise and do they have an associated Noise Reduction Rating? Well, I don’t like to tap dance in front of a group of people when I am not sure of the answer, so using my better judgement, I said that I truly did not Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

The “Skinny” on Cold Remedies

12/14/2015 Walk into any drugstore and you’ll see shelves lined with products claiming to boost your immune system and cure your cold and flu. But do they work?  Nutritionist and TODAY contributor Joy Bauer has the scoop (and science!) on some common cold remedies. Vitamin C:  Since Linus Pauling first announced his belief that vitamin C was the definitive cold remedy, studies have gone back and forth either supporting or refuting this claim. Recent studies Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

First Aid Kits

8/26/2019 In the field, first aid kits are a mandatory item; whether for camping or performing work in remote locations.  Many times, we will search the internet, looking for the right type of kit, only to find ourselves faced with the insurmountable task of choosing between so many varieties of first aid supplies that deciding has become a surprisingly, if not complicated, task. So, there we are; looking at a vendor website trying to pick Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago