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

A Case Study on Verbatim Compliance

8/10/2020 One project that my company was recently engaged, involved a considerable amount of investigation to understand the extent of hazardous materials contamination.   Getting access to this location requires specific training and clearance approvals. Without these qualifications; no matter how qualified one may be (i.e. education, professional certifications and experience), getting access to such an area would not be granted. And so, it happened one day last week, our team needed access to an area Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Human Performance Tools

7/27/2020 Over the years, organizations have developed tools that can be used within the workplace that are based on Human Factors, thereby enabling management and workers to control workplace hazards.   Without a doubt, some of these tools, we are not are not just familiar, but which we already incorporate.  Below is a list of 14 common human performance tools. 1. Pre-Job Briefing   6. Place Keeping   11. First Check   2. Two-Minute Rule   Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Safety Observation Teams

7/20/2020 Over the past few years, the United States has seen the number of annual workplace fatalities hover at 5,000 cases, while nonfatal workplace injuries average about three million cases. The severity of these incidents’ ranges from minor cuts to permanent disabilities.  The causes of workplace incidents are recorded and classified into such classifications as slips, trips, and falls or “struck bys,” electrocutions, sprains/strains and “fall from heights (not the same as slip, trips and Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

A Word About Disinfectants

7/13/2020 During these times of COVID-19 various health organizations are requesting that surfaces in public places and other common areas, such as buses, libraries, restaurants, etc., are properly cleaned and disinfected.  While this may seem simple enough, many of us do not understand that the act of disinfecting encompasses a specific protocol. The fact is, there is a term associated with this process, for which public health officials – for some reason – have not Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Heat Stress

7/6/2020 Make sure we have plenty of water available and if anyone feels a little exhausted or dizzy, let your team lead or fellow employees know and seek some shade and rest.  Heat stress is nothing to fool with.  Every year we hear about unfortunate outcomes of people not taking the proper precautions when working in the sun. While OSHA does not have any regulation that addresses heat stress, the OSHA web page has lots Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Verbatim Compliance

6/29/2020 Working at Department of Energy and Department of Defense projects as well as wastewater treatment facilities, our commitment to employee safety requires that persons in the field follow our various work procedures verbatim. This word, verbatim, comes from the Latin, and means, “exactly as written.” So, when we are told to follow specific work practices verbatim, it means that we need to do the assigned work activity exactly as it is written. No deviation Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressures

I am sure we all know the standard blood pressure reading of “120 over 80” as the typical A-OKmeasurement for normal. But I feel I’m not alone here, when it comes to truly understandingwhat do these numbers really mean. The first number is referred to as the systolic measurementand the second number is the diastolic measurement. Both parameters are expressed inmillimeters of mercury or mm Hg. As a reference, standard air pressure at sea level Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Driving Safety During the Summer

6/15/2020 It’s June and we are moving into the Summer months (some places have already hit triple-digit temperatures). And that means we need to ensure our vehicles – company vehicles as well as our personal cars – are properly maintained for extreme heat conditions. Ignoring proper vehicle maintenance can result in unfortunate consequences; like finding ourselves on the roadside. And should that occur in some remote areas (which always seems to be the case – Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

The FDA Approval Process

5/26/2020 We are all hearing about a number of potential drugs in the development stage for the possible vaccine to combat COVID-19. In the forefront, leading the way, are the Moderna and Pfizer studies, finding our miracle cures that will end our fears of the pandemic. Nevertheless, no matter how promising or effective a new drug/treatment may be, the approval process, established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is a long journey. And regardless Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago

Safety with Kitchen Utensils

4/27/2020 I know a lot of us must be getting a little stir crazy with staying inside, social distancing and frequent hand washing; although I hope the latter is nothing new (nevertheless the countless times I have seen guys at airport bathrooms leave the urinals and simply walk out and never giving a second thought to washing their hands, is…well, let me just say is kind of common place…some may even say it’s a “guy Read more…

By Robert Brounstein, ago