Safety Tips

Elk Grove Village, IL — The American Medical Association, along with more than two dozen other organizations, has issued a list of recommendations to help end the nation’s epidemic of drug-related overdose and death.

“There has to be a plan in place to let people work alone,” one expert says. “You’ve got to have a safety policy.”

Fall hazards are a common problem across multiple industries and workplaces.

A 39-year-old hay press operator died when he was struck by the machine’s steel guillotine blade.

Employers typically are required to accommodate employees with diabetes, according to the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety. Accommodations may include time and a private place to administer any medications or conduct blood sugar tests, the ability to keep food nearby, or a schedule of regular breaks to maintain a prescribed diet.

The first rule of performing façade work while on a scaffold: Don’t do it unless you’ve completed scaffold safety training, warns a recent worker alert from the New York City Department of Buildings.

Inspections are an important part of any workplace safety and health management system. Described in a video from the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Division of Labor and Industry as the practice of “identifying unsafe conditions through observations and testing of the work environment,” inspections can cover housekeeping, emergency alarms, electrical hazards, machine guarding and chemical hazards.

Washington — The Department of Labor’s regulatory agenda for Fall 2021, released Dec. 10, includes a proposed rule that – should OSHA decide to move forward on it – would revoke Arizona’s State Plan status.

Bilbao, Spain — Excessive workloads, conflicting demands and a lack of support from management are some of the psychosocial factors that can contribute to the development of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace, according to a literature review conducted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

Boston — The rate of opioid-related overdose deaths among Massachusetts workers in 2016 and 2017 rose 83.7% over the previous five-year period, with construction and agricultural occupations experiencing dramatic jumps, according to a recent report from the state’s Department of Public Health.