When employers think of workplace safety, most often they think of accidents and injuries caused by active hazards such as slipping, tripping, and falling. Unfortunately, however, the largest contributor to workers’ compensation costs is not so obvious, and is often overlooked: Overexertion. Overexertion leads to worker’s compensation costs of over $15 billion a year and…
Despite advances in safety technology and practice, construction remains one of the most dangerous industries in the United States. Every job site contains hundreds of potential hazards, in a landscape that changes on a daily basis. Annually, almost a thousand people die due to construction accidents, representing 20.7% of total private industry fatalities. Tens of…
Nobody looks forward to a visit from an OSHA Compliance Officer. An OSHA inspection can be disruptive, and often results in citations and fines. It also usually means that some sort of problem has already been identified or a complaint has been filed. Here’s what you need to know to be prepared for the possibility…
OSHA requires employers to maintain a written hazard communication plan that effectively protects workers from potentially harmful chemical exposure in the workplace. On the surface, the requirement sounds simple, yet failure to meet this requirement is the second most commonly cited OSHA violation. Here’s what you need to know to ensure you comply with this…
Every year, proper respiratory protection prevents hundreds of lung-related deaths and thousands of lung-related illnesses, including cancer, asthma, COPD, and many others. About 5 million U.S. workers in 1.3 million workplaces are required to wear respirators on the job, to protect them from insufficient oxygen, harmful dusts, fogs, smokes, mists, vapors, and sprays, as well…
When it comes to worker safety, few things are as important as proper personal protective equipment, or PPE. Gloves, ear plugs, goggles, hard hats, and respirators are all examples of PPE that can make the difference between an accident-free day and a worker’s comp claim. To understand just how big a difference it can make,…
In 2016, more than 5,000 workers were killed on the job. More than 20% of those were in construction, while the remaining 80% were in general industry, manufacturing, and other environments. Since its inception in the 1970s, OSHA has been responsible for substantially decreasing the number of workers injured and killed on the job annually….
Twenty-two million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. Every year, an estimated $242 million is spent on workers’ compensation for hearing loss. On top of that, businesses in the U.S. annually pay more than $1.5 million in penalties for not protecting their workers from noise. These financial losses represent an…
An exposure assessment is a necessary and important tool for ensuring the health and safety of your workers. But many employers don’t understand exactly what it is, why they need it, or how to do it right. Here’s what you need to know. Definition: An exposure assessment evaluates the nature and magnitude of exposures to…
Hazard Communication Plans (HCPs) are a required, and often overlooked, element of any company’s workplace health and safety plan. Failure to communicate hazards appropriately has steep costs in terms of worker health, both in the short and the long term. Yet in the past year, OSHA has issued more than 5,000 citations for violations of…
