Monday, September 26, 2011 — What methods do you use to assure that your safety and health programs are moving in the right
direction? One method many employers use is the periodic performance of safety and health
audits. In doing so, they are benchmarking against: Themselves back to the dates of earlier audits Others in their class of business, and The standards and guidelines which are applicable to their activities. Measuring against established standards and guidelines is a way to promote performance
improvem...
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Monday, September 26, 2011 — Legionella bacteria can be found in a variety of naturally occurring sources (i.e., soils, ponds and
streams) in addition to man made sources such as cooling towers, potable water systems and
heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. Legionella bacteria are present in
public and well water supplies at extremely low concentrations. Legionella bacteria grow well in
cooling towers and other indoor water systems primarily because of warm water and available
nutrients. ...
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Monday, September 26, 2011 — If you occupy a building built before 1978, there may be lead based paint on interior structures
such as woodwork, sheetrock walls, block walls, doors, windows, or plaster walls. In addition,
the exterior of the building may be painted with lead based paint. Proper planning of renovations
will help prevent employee exposures and building contamination.Determining whether lead paint is present is the first step in the planning process. A survey can
be done by collecting representative ...
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Monday, September 26, 2011 — The leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry is falls. In 2010, 635 fall related
deaths occurred, while in 2009 there were 645 fall related deaths. The sad part of the story is that
most of these deaths could have been prevented.How do these accidents occur?Employees in the construction industry have a high risk of falls because they have exposure to
many hazards as buildings are being constructed. The hazards are compounded when there are
many contractors on a projec...
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Monday, September 26, 2011 — If you operate a building built before 1980, you may have asbestos containing materials that must be managed. This may include floor tiles, mastic, pipe insulation, fittings on fiberglass insulated pipes, transite panels, roofing materials and others. If the building was built before 1973, there may be surfacing materials such as spray applied fireproofing, acoustical plaster and other friable materials. Many of these materials may be hidden or enclosed under carpet or above plaster or acoustic ...
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Monday, September 26, 2011 — The merits of a holistic, integrated approach vs. a behavior-based approach, to create lasting
change in unsafe attitudes and behaviors.
by Michael D. Topf MAEveryone has heard the old saying, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" In the field of
behavioral safety, a similar dilemma persists. Should the quest for behavioral safety begin with a
cognitive approach to changing people's attitudes and values to produce a positive change in
behavior? Or should you begin with a beha...
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Monday, June 13, 2011 — Fatigue is defined as the increasing difficulty in performing mental and physical activities. This is typically a consequence of inadequate restorative sleep; however, other factors such as health and emotional issues can also play a role. Fatigue has been studied extensively in key industries such as transportation, chemical and nuclear due to the potential for catastrophic losses. Fact is we have all experienced fatigue at one time or another and to varying degrees. No job is exempt and no emp...
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Monday, June 13, 2011 — Heat illness can be deadly. Every year, thousands of workers become sick from heat exposure on the job. Some of these workers even die. These illnesses and deaths are preventable.Who is affected? Workers exposed to hot and humid conditions are at risk of heat illness, especially those doing heavy work tasks or using bulky protective clothing and equipment. Some workers might be at greater risk than others if they have not built up a tolerance to hot conditions, are in poor physical condition, ar...
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Monday, June 13, 2011 — Planning for a successful mold remediation includes both the identification and correction of the building or building system conditions that caused the mold growth, as well as, safe removal of moldy building materials and cleaning and/or treating of remaining building surfaces in a manner that does not spread mold spores or fragments to other areas of the building.As a first step, the identification of moisture sources, causes and pathways that are causing or contributing to the formation of mo...
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Monday, June 13, 2011 — How do you measure success when it comes to patient handling? Is compliance a starting point?
Is compliance enough? A good business model is achieving E3, having a program that is
effective, efficient, and exemplary.EffectiveThe primary goal for a SPH program is to prevent harm to caregivers and
patients/residents/loved ones associated with the physical demands of providing care. Effective
programs have these demands assessed early and thoroughly with demands matched with
available cont...
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Monday, June 13, 2011 — During the 20th century, life expectancy at birth among U.S. residents increased by 62%, from 47.3 years in 1900 to 76.8 in 2000, and unprecedented improvements in population health status were observed at every stage of life. In 1999, MMWR published a series of reports highlighting 10 public health achievements that contributed to those improvements. This report assesses advances in public health during the first 10 years of the 21st century. Public health scientists at CDC were asked to nomina...
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Monday, June 13, 2011 — The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports over 150,000 construction related injuries per year with over 1,000 fatalities per year. In the construction environment potential hazards can change constantly which unfortunately can take a significant toll on employees, their families, employers and society.Most construction accidents result from one of the following four hazards: Falls from elevationsElectrocutionStruck by objects, soil, or equipmentStuck in or between equipment or vehicles. Why Constru...
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011 — Variables such as occupancy rate, ventilation rate, rate of contaminant accumulation, housekeeping, processes, integrity of building systems, temperature control, and moisture intrusion are known to impact the air quality within buildings. Most of these variables can be controlled, thereby, limiting the impact these variables may have on the expression of symptoms by an occupant. Certain variables such as seasonal changes and occupant variables (i.e. age and health) are less likely to be control...
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011 — Say goodbye to collecting field data on paper and transcribing into Excel or Word. 1Source Safety and Health has released SMARTouch. SMARTouch provides the power to conduct, manage and maintain ergonomic assessments, asbestos and lead in paint surveys and indoor air quality assessments all within one comprehensive software program with a touch. The software runs on any computer; however, for portability during field surveys, it runs on a Tablet PC with Touch Smart screen technology. Basically, y...
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011 — Nurses and related healthcare workers have some of the highest incident rates for back and other injuries arising from ergonomic risk (now termed work related musculoskeletal disorders or WMSD) of any industry. These WMSD are associated with the physical demands of patient handling. The risk for these disorders is due to the increasing weight of patients, the increasing average age of healthcare workers, and the increased degree of disability while patients and residents are receiving care.A new...
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011 — The mitigating and controllable factor of mold growth in structures and HVAC systems is moisture. Moisture can be in the form of liquid flow (i.e., pipe leak inadequate flashing, window details or floods), condensation/high humidity conditions (i.e., due to sub-cooling of room surfaces or excessive outdoor air humidity introduction) or capillary action (i.e., moisture through block walls in a basement) or vapor transmission (i.e., through wall assemblies due to negative pressure of the building ...
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Tuesday, January 15, 2008 — Vapor IntrusionWhat is vapor intrusion? Why is it now a concern? Is occupant health affected? Are there risk-assessment criteria? According to the EPA, “Vapor intrusion is the migration of volatile chemicals from the subsurface into overlying buildings. Volatile chemicals in buried wastes and/or contaminated groundwater can emit vapors that may migrate through subsurface soils and into indoor air spaces of overlying buildings in ways similar to that of radon gas seeping into homes.” As w...
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Friday, August 31, 2007 — Asbestos Operations and ManagementIf you operate a building built before 1980, you may have asbestos-containing materials that must be managed. These may include floor tiles, mastic, pipe insulation, fittings on fiberglass-insulated pipes, transite panels, roofing materials, and others. If the building was built before 1973, there may be surfacing materials such as spray-applied fireproofing, acoustical plaster, and other friable materials. Many of these materials may be hidden or enclosed under...
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Sunday, April 15, 2007 — Legionella Bacteria Prevention PlanningLegionella bacteria can be found in a variety of naturally occurring sources (e.g., soils, ponds and streams) in addition to man-made sources such as cooling towers, potable water systems, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. Legionella bacteria are present in public and well water supplies at extremely low concentrations. Legionella bacteria grow well in cooling towers and other indoor water systems, primarily because of the presen...
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Monday, January 15, 2007 — OSHA Outreach Training Programs – 10-Hour and 30-Hour Construction and General Industry TrainingThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Outreach Training Program is a voluntary train-the-trainer training program through which OSHA authorizes trainers to teach construction and general industry occupational safety and health standards and policies. OSHA has promoted workplace safety and health by authorizing trainers since 1971. In the last three years, over 1.1 million workers ...
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