Safety Tips

A farm laborer in his 20s, standing in a pool of water in a potato field, was electrocuted and died when he touched the energized cross-brace of an operational self-propelled irrigation system.

Anyone working outdoors is at risk of exposure to poisonous plants, including poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac.

Approximately 70,250 cut or laceration cases involving days away from work occurred in the private sector in 2011, according to the 2014 edition of the National Safety Council’s “Injury Facts.”

Every year, motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion in medical care, legal expenses, property damage and lost productivity, according to a white paper from OSHA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety.

Longer hours and increasing climate levels are transforming work zones into dangerous heat zones. Ignoring early warning signs such as heat discomfort, sweating or thirst can lead to heat-related illness, including heat stroke and death.

Tokyo – Office workers who spend long hours in front of computer screens experience changes in their tear fluid similar to people who have dry eye disease, according to a study from the Keio University School of Medicine in Japan.

Washington – A new OSHA brochure lays out how to implement a safe patient-handling program to help reduce or prevent musculoskeletal disorders among nursing home and residential care workers.

Washington – NIOSH is seeking to extend a study assessing the effectiveness and cost benefit of interventions intended to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace.

Washington – Comprehensive safe patient-handling and mobility programs can decrease staff injuries and increase patient safety by nearly 95 percent, the American Nurses Association told congressional staff members May 28.

If you work outside, do so safely and know your body’s limits.