Workplace Safety

Viagra is the most frequently counterfeited product on the market. Running a close second – and of far more concern to workplace safety experts – come electrical components. The Electrical Safety Foundation International has identified more than 1 million fake parts that can easily fail, putting workers at risk of serious injury or death from electrical accidents.

To protect your employees against this danger (and make sure that you’re getting the parts you’re paying for), manufacturers offer these guidelines:

1. Buy from an authorized dealer whenever possible. However, bear in mind that counterfeit parts are often mixed in with the genuine article, making them difficult for reputable dealers to detect. Also, a broker might be your only source for discontinued items.
2. Examine the packaging. Check for such obvious discrepancies as logos that are missing or don’t look right, misspelled or badly edited text, etc.; and make sure that shipping documents and parts numbers on the packaging match.
3. Check the product. To make sure that a part looks and feels right, lay it next to a genuine component and see if they match. If they don’t, have an expert examine the product using a microscope, X-ray, or ion chromatography technology that can detect tampering.
4. Test the part. Because many counterfeits can pass basic functionality tests, it makes sense to send any suspicious products to an independent lab for testing under a variety of conditions. This is the best way to detect actual manufacturer components that were discarded because of damage or quality control failures. Don’t choose a lab based strictly on price; ask for a detailed listing of its procedures and inspect the facility in person.

As people retire later, the workforce keeps aging. This trend has been a concern for businesses because the conventional wisdom holds that older workers are more vulnerable to costly injuries, driving up Workers Comp rates.

However, new research from the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) casts doubt on this conclusion, changing the definition of “older workers.”

After studying injury rates for different age groups, NCCI found that, while workers under 35 had substantially more cuts on their fingers and those over 35 suffered more cases of carpal tunnel and cervical injuries, the numbers are startlingly similar.

What about expense? NCCI concluded that although workers between 20 and 34 create much lower costs (and fewer days lost), once they reach 35 these costs are similar. This redefines an “older worker” as someone who grew up listening to Nirvana instead of Elvis.

Injury prevention for employees – regardless of age –should begin during the hiring process. Once you have a written job description, offer the candidate the job based on his or her ability to do the work with reasonable accommodation. Then have the candidate complete a medical questionnaire to determine if he or she “fits” position. If so, it’s time to get started. If not, to find someone else.

If you haven’t already done so, set up and monitor a comprehensive safety-training program for new hires, Make sure that they remain mindful of how they’re doing their job. Far more injuries result from unsafe acts by employees than unsafe workplace conditions Employees who feel rushed are more likely to ignore safety aside so they can meet deadlines – leading to preventable accidents.

To learn more about keeping your workers safe on the job, feel free to get in touch with us.

We’re all well aware of the safety risks that “distracted driving” possesses – but what about “distracted walking”?

If your employees are walking around your facility, or down the street, with faces buried in their mobile phones (even if they’re on company business), they’re creating a hazard to themselves and others, According to Ohio State University Professor Jack Nusar.

His study of distracted walking found that more than 1,500 people were treated in emergency rooms during 2010 for injuries related to use of a cell phone while walking. If the pedestrian numbers were under reported, as is probably the case with distracted drivers, there might have been about 2 million pedestrian injuries related to mobile phones in 2010. Nusar says, “If current trends continue, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of injuries to pedestrians caused by cell phones doubles again by 2015.”

Although being able to multitask is usually considered a productivity booster, that’s not the case when one of these activities is using a mobile phone. “When you’re going to take a cell phone call or text, stop walking. Don’t do two things at once,” advises Nusar.

His study offered details about some of the accidents. One study, a 28-year-old talking on his cell phone walked into a pole and lacerated his brow. In another study, a man suffered a sprained elbow and spinal sprain when he was hit by a car while on the phone.

Your employees have probably gotten the message on the dangers of distracted driving. Making sure you also keep them informed about the hazards of “distracted walking” can help keep your workplace safe – and your workers comp premiums under control.

For more information, feel free to get in touch with us.

You’re traveling at 70 miles per hour on a busy highway when you blow a tire. Your car hits an unexpected slick spot and starts to fishtail. Your brakes or steering suddenly lock up.

In these situations, preparedness can literally make the difference between life and death. That means making sure your employees are trained to deal with common driving emergencies by following these guidelines:

A blown tire:

• Hang on to the steering wheel.
• Don’t brake suddenly.
• Ease off the gas and coast until you have control of the car.
• Turn on your hazard lights to warn the drivers around you.
• Steer smoothly.

Skidding or hydroplaning:

• Don’t make any sudden moves, such as braking hard or jerking the wheel.
• Ease off the gas.
• Steer the car’s nose gently in the direction you’d like to go. Make adjustments gradually, as needed, until the vehicle is moving in a straight line.

Failed steering:

• Don’t brake – a sudden change in speed could send the car spinning.
• Ease off the gas.
• Turn on your hazard lights.
• Coast to a stop, using your brakes gently once the car slows on its own.

Your brakes fail:

• Downshift.
• Move to the right, remembering to signal as needed.
• Because the failure might be temporary, keep your foot on the brakes. If you have ABS, apply steady pressure; If you don’t have ABS, pump the brakes.
• Shift into neutral and apply your emergency brake.
• If possible, use friction to slow or stop the vehicle by running it along a curb or something alongside the road.

For more information, feel free to get in touch with us.

Last September 16, a former serviceman with a history of personal and workplace violence and untreated psychiatric issues massacred 13 people at the Washington D.C. Navy Yard.

This has been a tragic cliché for workplace issue resolution.

As an employer, what can you do to prevent such a tragedy?

If you have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), be sure that you’re making the best use of it. Unfortunately, all too many businesses mention their EAP to new hires only on orientation day and do little or nothing to encourage worker participation after that.

An effective program can provide an invaluable resource for troubled employees who might not feel comfortable in confiding their pent-up issues to managers. –Maybe they find it difficult to access counseling or mental health resources available through their health plan.

More and more employers are providing counseling services to unhappy workers in a less obtrusive way than old-fashioned face-to-face meetings. Electronic, teleconference style services can take a lot of the stigma out of sitting in a waiting room or signing up for an awkward group counseling session (Millennial employees, who are more accustomed to spending time in front of their tablet than with a counselor, will probably be receptive to this approach).

Keeping an open dialogue with your workers, and a concerned eye on them, can be a literal life-saver. Problems develop in every workplace. it’s essential to remain vigilant and aware of potential issues that could trigger a shootout on your premises.

For more information, feel free to get in touch with us.

With slips, trips and, falls remaining one of the top causes of workers compensation claims, safety experts stress the need for preventive measures and ergonomic workplace design.

Such accidents need particular attention in nonindustrial environments where employers often install terrazzo or marble floors that can be dangerous to walk on.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, same- level slips, trips and falls (in which workers slip and fall on the surface where they’re standing) accounted for 134,580 lost workdays and 111 deaths in 2011. The number of same-level falls increased 42.3% from 1998 to 2010, the highest growth of any accident type during this period. These mishaps are costly, in 2010, Liberty Mutual a a leading workers comp insurance company, paid $8.61 billion in same-level fall comp claims.

Implementing safety measures such as, cleaning spilled liquids promptly and placing floor mats on smooth flooring will help prevent workplace injury. Reviewing injury records to find trends will help determine additional safety measures to implement in the workplace. Many businesses are replacing surfaces that contribute to these mishaps which is a highly cost effective investment that can curb expensive litigation and workers comp liabilities.

Although these precautions have prevented thousands of slip-and-fall accidents, the risk will remain a problem until employers work with design professionals to create ergonomically friendly safe buildings. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is sponsoring a “Prevention Through Design” initiative to address ways that architects and engineers can get involved in designing safer workplaces (for example, by training college engineering and architecture students about safety and ergonomic considerations).

Our workers comp specialists would be happy to check your business for slip and fall hazards and recommend steps to help keep your staff and visitors from slipping.

As smartphones and mobile technology become increasingly important to people’s daily routines, government agencies and private companies are adding new applications every day. For example, mobile apps are making it easier for workers to access safety information when and where they need it.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has released a smartphone application for ladder safety, available for free download on iPhone and Android devices. The app uses visual and audio signals that help workers using extension ladders check the angle at which the ladder is positioned. It also provides references and a safety guide for selecting, inspecting, accessorizing, and using extension ladders.

OSHA offers a heat safety app for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android that workers and supervisors can use to calculate the “heat index” for a worksite and get information about appropriate protective measures. The heat index, which combines temperature and humidity, provides a more accurate indicator of risk for heatstroke and other heat-related conditions than temperature alone. For more information and to download the app, visit http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/heat_index/heat_app.html.

NIOSH is developing a mobile version of the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (NPG) that includes descriptive, exposure, protective, and emergency recommendations for 677 chemicals commonly found in workplaces.

Although mobile apps are convenient and helpful for some safety-related activities, bear in mind that they are not a substitute for a comprehensive program to protect your workers on the job. Use them to supplement the essential components of a safety system that includes formal training, weekly meetings, job hazard analysis, and so forth.

To learn more about integrating mobile apps into your workplace safety program, feel free to get in touch with us at any time.

If your employees slip up in using personal protective equipment, the results can be dangerous, if not deadly.

Among many health and safety professionals, PPE comes in last place—behind engineering controls and work practice or administrative controls – because it only addresses hazards indirectly and has the most potential failure points.

One of these potential points involves interaction between the worker and equipment, when employees make critical mistakes in the care, use, and replacement of PPE.

• Mistake No. 1: Improper care. For example, a worker takes her foam earplugs out to consult with another worker about a problem, and then rolls the earplugs again with dirty hands before reinserting them. At the end of the day, she leaves the earplugs inside her hard hat and re-uses them the next workday.
• Mistake No. 2: Misuse. A worker wearing a fall protection harness leaves the harness loose, but pulls the lanyard tight. Another worker who uses a respirator at work decides to grow a beard.
• Mistake Number 3: Failure to replace PPE as needed. Let’s say that a supervisor whose workers are supposed to use a new pair of chemical protective gloves each day, decides he will save his department money by telling workers to use each pair of gloves for a week before replacing them. After all, they still look fine after a week. Equipment should be changed 1) after each shift, it it’s disposable (gloves protective clothing, etc.).  2) whenever it shows signs of wear and tear or damage.  3) on schedule, if it’s reusable and must be replaced before exceeding its useful life.  and 4) after a save, for single-use PPE, such as hardhats, fall protection harnesses and lanyards.

A word to the wise …

Injured workers who gain weight due to inactivity or as a side effect of medication will probably receive higher workers comp benefits, thanks to the American Medical Association’s recent reclassification of obesity as a disease. That’s the conclusion of a recent six-year study of claims by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute.

According to the report, although this reclassification doesn’t have legal standing, the AMA’s positions often have a strong influence on lawmakers, regulators, and health care providers. Immediately after the decision, senators and congressmen introduced bipartisan bills requiring Medicare to cover more obesity treatment costs, including prescription drugs and intensive behavioral weight-loss counseling, which will give health care providers a financial incentive to use these remedies.

Judging from the results of the California study, this means that businesses can expect to pay more for workers comp. The report found that the costs of comp claims that listed obesity as a “comorbidity,” or additional cause, were far greater than for claims without them. Medical benefits for comorbidity cases cost 81% more than for other cases, while indemnity payments averaged nearly 65% higher. More two in three claimants with obesity comorbidity received permanent disability, nearly five times the rate for the non-obese. Finally, the use of narcotic painkillers was significantly higher among overweight claimants.

Obesity might even become a primary comp diagnosis for jobs such as long-haul trucking or office work that require employees to remain seated for extended periods.

The bottom line: look for the management and financial changes stemming from the reclassification of obesity as a medical condition to create new challenges and incentives for health care professionals, businesses, and workers compensation insurance companies.

We’ll stay on top of these changes to help make sure that your company has the coverage you need at a competitive rate.

Workplace safety signs and tags play a key role in helping prevent accidents to workers and visitors alike.

To make the most effective use of signs and tags in your facility that comply with OSHA regulation (29 CFR 1910.145), we’d recommend that you follow these guidelines:

• Identify all hazards throughout the workplace. In addition to obvious dangers, include those that are out of the ordinary, unexpected, or not readily apparent.
• Select or design signs and tags. Make sure they conform to OSHA requirements and are consistent in format.
• Use proper wording. According to OSHA, “the wording of any sign should be easily read, concise, and contain sufficient information to be easily understood.”
• Position signs carefully. Signs should be placed so that they’re easy to see and read from a distance and draw maximum attention to hazards.
• Identify safety and fire protection equipment clearly. This includes such items as eyewash stations and safety showers, as well as fire extinguishers and hoses.
• Employ tags properly. OSHA requires that “tags shall be used as a means to prevent accidental injury or illness to employees who are exposed to hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions, equipment, or operations.”
• Review your program whenever new hazards are introduced. If you just put up signs and tags and forget about them, your facility probably won’t be in compliance with the OSHA regulations. Check the program frequently to make sure that it’s still doing the job.

The workplace safety professionals at our agency would be happy to help you review your signage and tag policy. Give us a call at any time.