Safety Tips

Falls through skylights and roof and floor openings can cause severe injuries and, in the worst case, death. According to NIOSH, workers should follow these tips to protect themselves:

A 24-year-old maintenance worker died while using a paint stripper, which contained dichloromethane (methylene chloride), to strip the floor of a baptismal font within a church.

Springfield, IL – Assaulting a nurse in Illinois will be classified as aggravated battery – a third-degree felony carrying a prison sentence of two to five years – under legislation signed into law Aug. 16.

Auckland, New Zealand – Many New Zealand workers lack adequate literacy skills to fully understand their employer’s safety and health policies and correctly complete hazard reports, according to a new study from Workbase, an organization focused on literacy development.

Mercury can be found in a variety of products, including barometers, blood pressure measurers, batteries and some types of lightbulbs. The Illinois Department of Public Health states that workers can be exposed to mercury through breathing vapors, direct skin contact, or by eating food or drinking water contaminated with mercury.

Using machines to cut, smooth or shape wood materials can expose workers to wood dust. According to Oregon OSHA, wood dust is classified as a hazardous chemical because wood can contain chemical contaminants such as herbicides and pesticides, as well as naturally occurring molds and fungi.

According to NIOSH, about 1.7 million workers are injured every year in workplace assaults.

A heavy-equipment operator died after he was ejected from a loader equipped with a tree fork.

Are near misses leading or lagging indicators?

Sacramento, CA – California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health has proposed a new standard on safe patient handling for part of the health care industry.