Safety Tips

Instituting industrial hygiene controls can help protect workers from exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace.

Fall protection is designed to save a worker’s life, but it also can create risks in certain situations. If a worker is suspended for too long, he or she may develop what is known as suspension trauma.

Working on jobsites painted before 1978 can pose risks associated with lead-based paints. Workers need to be aware of safe practices in removing this paint to avoid the health risks that come with lead exposure both during and after work has taken place.

Approximately 50,000 miners rely on self-contained self-rescuers every day, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration. These devices are vital to protecting the health and safety of mine workers.

Falls, struck-by incidents and overturned machinery are the most common causes of injury and death in forklift operations, according to NIOSH. Many of these deaths and injuries can be prevented by ensuring machine operators are trained and the work area is safe.

A 34-year-old female firefighter was killed after being struck by a pickup truck on an icy interstate. The victim was a seven-year veteran firefighter, working as part of a crew dispatched to an accident.

Using tool belts can be helpful for carting a large number of tools around a jobsite. But when fully loaded, tool belts can weigh upward of 50 pounds, according to OSHA.

According to OSHA, injuries on loading docks most often occur when forklifts run off docks, or when product or equipment falls off and strikes a workers.

More than 5,000 workers are burned in restaurants every year, according to NIOSH. Commercial fryers are responsible for many of these burns.

Hearing-impaired workers face a number of additional challenges in the workplace, particularly when working safely around machinery or responding during an emergency situation.