Frankfort, KY — Employers can take steps to protect workers from a “silent killer,” says an industrial hygiene consultant with the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health Education and Training.
During a recent webinar hosted by KYSAFE, Anthony Stilger encouraged employers to help prevent carbon monoxide exposure. They can do this by ensuring proper ventilation systems are in place and functioning, avoiding the use of fuel-burning equipment and vehicles indoors, and installing CO detectors with alarms in areas where the hazard may exist.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, toxic gas that can be produced when fuel combusts in powered tools, compressors, pumps, welding equipment, furnaces, forklifts and motorized vehicles. Symptoms of exposure include headache, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting and chest tightness. Severe overexposure may lead to neurological damage, coma or even death, KYSAFE says.
The agency offers free, confidential consultation and training services for employers in Kentucky to proactively identify and address workplace safety hazards.
Federal OSHA also has resources on the topic, including a carbon monoxide poisoning fact sheet and quick card.
