Safety Tips

Looking for some quick recommendations for setting up a workplace safety and health program? OSHA has 10 steps.

Do you work with wet cement, paints or plaster? Maybe adhesives? These are just some of the materials that can irritate your skin because they can contain harsh substances such as hexavalent chromium, calcium hydroxide, toluene, xylene, epoxy resins and lime.

A 59-year-old foreman for a municipal public works department died after falling from the tailgate of a dump truck. The department had no comprehensive safety and health program.

On the day of the incident, the owner of a gutter and siding installation company and his 47-year-old employee were installing guards on the existing gutters of a two-story home. The owner of the company did not provide fall protection, and the victim was not wearing any.

The next time you fuel up at a gas station, consider this: Most pump handles contain 11,000 times more germs than a toilet seat in a public restroom. And the keypad on the pump? The buttons typically have 15,000 times more germs than a public toilet seat, according to a tip sheet from KeepTruckingSafe.org.

Ticks can carry potentially life-threatening infectious diseases. Most active during warmer months (April-September), they reside mostly in grassy, brushy or wooded areas – putting virtually all outdoor workers in the United States at risk of exposure.

Heat-related illnesses accounted for 783 worker deaths and nearly 70,000 serious injuries in the United States from 1992 to 2016. And in 2018 alone, 3,950 workers experienced days away from work as a result of nonfatal injuries and illnesses from on-the-job heat exposure.

As many employees begin returning to a more typical work environment, employers must remember to prioritize safety. Here are 10 steps the National Safety Council – based on recommendations from its SAFER task force – says employers should take before reopening.

As the economy gradually begins to function in this new normal, some workers who traveled for business before the COVID-19 pandemic may be returning to that lifestyle.

Workers might be facing a number of issues during the COVID-19 crisis that can have an impact on mental health, including furloughs and layoffs, social isolation, financial hardships and worries, and health concerns for themselves and their families.