HAPPENING SOON: CONSTRUCTION SUICIDE PREVENTION WEEK
An outreach event aimed at addressing a growing issue in the industry, is set for the week of September 9-13.
Scheduled during National Suicide Prevention Month, the week includes a national stand-down and moment of silence at 2:50 p.m. Eastern on September 9th.
Event organizers cite Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics showing that the construction industry has the second highest suicide rate, at 53.3 per 100,000 fulltime equivalent workers.
The event website includes links to videos, webinars and toolbox talks intended to “help employers effectively support mental wellness” among workers or to organize a stand-down.
About 300,000 construction workers from 47 states and territories registered for Construction Suicide Prevention Week in 2023, the organizers say.
SUICIDE PREVENTION
Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (para ayuda en español, llame al 988). The Lifeline provides 24hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Call 911 in life-threatening situations. If you are worried about a friend’s social media updates, you can contact safety teams at the social media company . They have processes to reach out to connect the person with the help they need.
WHAT IS SUICIDE?
Suicide is a major public health concern. In 2021, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of over 48,100 people. Suicide is complicated and tragic, but it is often preventable. Knowing the warning signs for suicide and how to get help can help save lives.
Suicide is when people harm themselves with the intent of ending their life, and they die as a result.
A suicide attempt is when people harm themselves with the intent of ending their life, but they do not die.
Avoid using terms such as “committing suicide,” “successful suicide,” or “failed suicide” when referring to suicide and suicide attempts, as these terms often carry negative meanings.
WHAT ARE THE WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE?
Warning signs that someone may be at immediate risk for attempting suicide include:
• Talking about wanting to die or wanting to kill themselves
• Talking about feeling empty or hopeless or having no reason to live
• Talking about feeling trapped or feeling that there are no solutions
• Feeling unbearable emotional or physical pain
• Talking about being a burden to others
• Withdrawing from family and friends
• Giving away important possessions
• Saying goodbye to friends and family
• Putting affairs in order, such as making a will
• Taking great risks that could lead to death, such as driving extremely fast
• Talking or thinking about death often
Other serious warning signs that someone may be at risk for attempting suicide include:
• Displaying extreme mood swings, suddenly changing from very sad to very calm or happy
• Making a plan or looking for ways to kill themselves, such as searching for lethal methods online, stockpiling pills, or buying a gun
• Talking about feeling great guilt or shame
• Using alcohol or drugs more often
• Acting anxious or agitated
• Changing eating or sleeping habits
• Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
Suicide is not a normal response to stress. Suicidal thoughts or actions are a sign of extreme distress and should not be ignored. If these warning signs apply to you or someone you know, get help as soon as possible, particularly if the behavior is new or has increased recently.
Learn about actions you can take to help someone having thoughts of suicide.
WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS FOR SUICIDE?
People of all genders, ages, and ethnicities can be at risk. Suicidal behavior is complex, and there is no single cause.
The main risk factors for suicide are:
• Depression, other mental disorders, or substance use disorder
• Chronic pain
• Personal history of suicide attempts
• Family history of a mental disorder or substance use
• Family history of suicide
• Exposure to family violence, including physical or sexual abuse
• Presence of guns or other firearms in the home
• Having recently been released from prison or jail
Direct or indirect exposure to others’ suicidal behavior— such as that of family members, peers, or celebrities—can increase risk for people with suicidal thoughts.
Most people who have risk factors will not attempt suicide, and it is difficult to tell who will act on suicidal thoughts. Although risk factors for suicide are important to keep in mind, someone who is actively showing warning signs of suicide may be at higher risk for danger and in need immediate attention.
Stressful life events (such as the loss of a loved one, legal troubles, or financial difficulties) and interpersonal stressors (such as shame, harassment, bullying, discrimination, or relationship troubles) may contribute to suicide risk, especially when they occur along with suicide risk factors.
Family and friends are often the first to recognize the warning signs of suicide , and they can take the first step toward helping a loved one find mental health treatment. See NIMH’s page with resources for finding help for mental illnesses if you’re not sure where to start.
IDENTIFYING PEOPLE AT RISK FOR SUICIDE
Universal Screening: Research has shown that a threequestion screening tool helps emergency room personnel identify adults at risk for suicide. Researchers found that screening all patients—regardless of the reason for their emergency room visit—doubled the number of patients identified as being at risk for suicide. The researchers estimated that suicide-risk screening tools could identify more than three million additional adults at risk for suicide each year.
Predicting suicide risk using electronic health records:
Researchers from NIMH partnered with the VA and others to develop computer programs that could help identify increased suicide risk among veterans receiving VA health care. Other healthcare systems are also beginning to use data from electronic health records to help identify people with suicide risk.
WHAT TREATMENTS AND THERAPIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE AT RISK FOR SUICIDE?
Effective, evidence-based interventions are available to help people who are at risk for suicide.
...continued on next page
BRIEF INTERVENTIONS
Safety Planning: Personalized safety planning has been shown to help reduce suicidal thoughts and actions. Patients work with a health care provider to develop a plan that describes ways to limit access to lethal means such as firearms, pills, or poisons. The plan also lists coping strategies and people and resources that can help in a crisis.
Follow-Up Phone Calls: Research has shown that when at-risk patients receive supportive phone calls that include risk monitoring and they are encouraged to engage in treatment and safe behaviors, their suicide risk goes down.
PSYCHOTHERAPIES
Multiple types of psychosocial interventions have been found to help individuals who have attempted suicide (see below). These types of interventions may prevent someone from making another attempt.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help people learn new ways of dealing with stressful experiences. CBT helps individuals recognize their thought patterns and consider alternative actions when thoughts of suicide arise.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has been shown to reduce suicidal behavior in adolescents . DBT has also been shown to reduce the risk of suicide attempts in adults with borderline personality disorder , a mental illness characterized by an ongoing pattern of varying moods, self-image, and behavior that often results in impulsive actions and problems in relationships. A therapist trained in DBT can help a person recognize when their feelings or actions become overwhelming and teach the person skills that can help them cope more effectively with upsetting situations.
MEDICATION
Some individuals at risk for suicide might benefit from medication. People can work with their health care providers to find the best medication or medication combination, as well as the right dose. Many people at risk for suicide often have a mental illness or substance use problems and may benefit from medication along with psychosocial intervention.
Clozapine is an antipsychotic medication used primarily to treat individuals with schizophrenia. To date, it is the only medication with a specific U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indication for reducing the risk of recurrent suicidal behavior in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
If you are prescribed a medication, be sure you:
• Talk with a health care provider to make sure you understand the risks and benefits of the medications you’re taking.
• Do not stop taking a medication without talking to your health care provider first. Suddenly stopping a medication may lead to worsening of symptoms. Other uncomfortable or potentially dangerous withdrawal effects also are possible.
• Report any concerns about side effects to a health care provider right away. They can help determine whether you need a change in the dose or a different medication.
• Report serious side effects to the FDA MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088. You or your health care provider may send a report.
To find the latest information about medications, talk to a health care provider and visit the FDA website.
COLLABORATIVE CARE
Collaborative care is a team-based approach to mental health care. A behavioral health care manager will work with the person, their primary health care provider, and mental health specialists to develop a treatment plan. Collaborative care has been shown to be an effective way to treat depression and reduce suicidal thoughts.
HOW CAN I FIND HELP FOR MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS?
If you’re not sure where to get help, a health care provider can refer you to a licensed mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist. Find tips to help prepare for and get the most out of your visit and information about getting help.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has an online treatment locator to help you find mental health services in your area.
WHERE CAN I LEARN ABOUT NIMH RESEARCH ON SUICIDE?
NIMH supports promising research that is likely to have an impact on reducing suicide in the United States. Research is helping improve our ability to identify people at risk for suicide and develop and improve effective treatments. NIMH researchers continue to study suicide and how to best implement suicide prevention and intervention programs in different contexts, including in health care, community, school, and justice system settings.
6 Essential Labor Day Safety Tips
08.16.2019 | SaferAmerica
Labor Day is the last major holiday Americans can celebrate before the summer ends. And you know what that means: flocks of families traveling to beaches, parks, and backyard barbecues. With all of the festivities going on, it’s easy to gloss over general safety precautions. In this article, you’ll learn about six essential labor day safety tips for adults and young children alike.
LABOR DAY WEEKEND SAFETY TIPS
1. DRIVE SAFELY
Whether you’re taking a cross-state road trip or visiting family a few streets down, it’s always important to drive safely. This means:
• Adjusting your rear-view and side-view mirrors so you can see traffic behind you clearly.
• Checking your car’s vitals (oil level, tire pressure, and servicing that pesky ‘check engine’ light).
• Driving defensively by checking your mirrors, using your turn signal, going the speed limit, and assuming that every other driver is going to drive irresponsibly.
• Wearing a seatbelt (in 2017, seatbelts saved an estimated 14,955 lives ).
Labor Day Safety Statistics
The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that about 400 Americans on average are involved in fatal auto accidents over Labor Day weekend each year. A high number of these deaths are a result of distracted driving . In addition, the NSC estimates that around 49,000 people each Labor Day weekend experience non-fatal car accident injuries (which are serious enough
IT’S EASY TO GLOSS OVER GENERAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS...
HAVE A SAFE, FUN, AND WORRY-FREE LABOR DAY!
to seek medical care). The last thing you’ll want to do while celebrating with your family is to consult with a car accident attorney because of a careless mistake.
2. WEAR SUN PROTECTION
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. In 2019 alone, there will be approximately 140,690 cancer cases diagnosed . Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to spend outdoors. But aside from protecting your skin, it’s important to protect your eyes too.
• Wear 100% UV protection sunglasses to protect your eyes from sun damage.
• Wear at least 30 SPF sunscreen (and reapply every two hours, or every one hour if you’re in the water).
3. GRILL RESPONSIBLY
According to data from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) , an average of 19,000 patients per year went to the emergency room due to injuries involving grills between 2013 and 2017. Here are some NFPAsanctioned tips for grilling safely this Labor Day weekend:
• Grills should only be used outdoors (both propane and charcoal).
• The grill should be placed away from wood objects (e.g. deck railings) and foliage (e.g. branches hanging overhead).
• Young children and pets should be kept at least three feet away from the grill.
• Keep your grill clean by removing fat buildup and grease from the grates and the tray below.
• Never leave your grill unattended while it’s in use.
4. TAKE CAUTION IN WATER
Whether you’re boating or swimming this Labor Day weekend, be extremely cautious in the water. Every day in the U.S., about ten people die from unintentional drowning
• When swimming: Never swim alone (always have someone near you in case you become incapacitated), make sure young children wear lifejackets, and do not drink and swim .
• When boating: Do NOT drive under the influence of any non-prescribed drugs or alcohol, keep a first aid kit with you at all times, and be familiar with all of the rules of the water .
5. WATCH OUT FOR FIREWORKS
Firework shows are fun to watch and virtually harmless for spectators — but commercial fireworks are very risky. Sparklers, Roman candles, and similar store-bought fireworks contribute to thousands of injuries every year. In 2018, fireworks were involved in an estimated 9,100 injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms. And children under 15 accounted for 36% of those estimated injuries. If you choose to use fireworks this Labor Day weekend, be sure to:
• Only light one firework at a time.
• Do not point fireworks at anyone.
• Do not let young children handle fireworks.
• Do not use fireworks while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
6. DRINK ALCOHOL IN MODERATION
Even though an estimated six people per day die from alcohol poisoning in the U.S., many more of us are afflicted with chronic dehydration . It’s very important to drink plenty of water during your Labor Day festivities, especially if you’re going to consume alcohol, which dehydrates your body even more.
• Drink water whenever you’re thirsty.
• Set a limit on the amount of alcohol you plan to consume and stick with it.
• For every alcoholic drink you consume, drink an equal amount of water.
• NEVER operate machinery, use fireworks, or swim while under the influence.
• Always have someone available to give you a ride if you consume more than you planned.
Be sure to follow these tips to have a safe, fun, and worryfree Labor Day holiday weekend!
SLC 2024 Preview: Counter Biases with Artificial Intelligence
08.14.2024 | EHS Today
Learn how millions of data points can help you better calculate risk and take action before workers get hurt.
The human brain does plenty of amazing things, including helping humans stay alive. The brain assesses threats, avoids dangers and maintains all the daily functions.
But it does have weaknesses, including accurately predicting risk. That’s where artificial intelligence (AI) comes into play—and why it is uniquely able to make substantial improvements in workplace safety.
Keith Bowers, president of Bowers Management Analytics, knows this all too well. He previously spent 20 years at Honeywell in diverse EHS and ISC roles and holds multiple patents in AI for workplace safety.
Bowers will be speaking with Geoff Walters, corporate director of enterprise safety at Owens Corning, about how AI is ushering the future of workplace at the 2024 Safety Leadership Conference that’s taking place Aug. 26-28 in the greater Denver area. More information, including registration, can be found here. Below is a conversation with Bowers in anticipation of his presentation.
EHS Today: What do you think of the way Owens Corning is using AI to improve workplace safety?
Bowers: I think Owens Corning does a nice job of using AI and advanced analytics at the strategic level. Too often, we simply use AI, computer vision and other advanced tools on the floor to do smaller things. Owens Corning and a few others are using AI and advanced analytics to help determine strategy and focus where they need to work and assess how good their existing systems are.
The problem is—and human and organizational performance (HOP) has done a really nice job of pointing this out to us—is how poor humans are at estimating risk, particularly of infrequent events like serious injuries and fatalities. We get the lessons from thinking fast and slow, from common and temporary security, but we have huge cognitive biases and deficits when it comes to estimating the risk or estimating infrequent events.
An example I like to use is shark attacks. If you’re at the beach and you ask someone what’s the highest risk for fatality here on the beach, most people—including the very sophisticated, well-educated people—will say shark attacks
when, in fact, fatalities from shark attacks are very rare. In the U.S. alone, over 100 people drown from rip currents every year, and none of those with any help from sharks.
It’s a good example of how poor we are at estimating risk, particularly fatality risk. We think of sharks first because of a very normal fear of being eaten by larger predators and popular movies and such. We think of that first, and we think it’s the biggest risk when, in fact, we’re almost always very, very wrong.
So, if we use AI tools and advanced analytics, we can overcome that hurdle and invest our limited resources, our limited money and our limited people on the proper risks.
In your opinion, where do the possibilities for AI and safety overlap?
Bowers: This is after a very smart question! A big problem with most AI tools is that they’re very poorly suited for understanding and preventing risk. Most AI tools are really good at preventing very frequent and very common events. However, they are poorly suited for very infrequent events like serious injuries and fatalities.
When a serious injury or fatality happens at a company, it’s often the first time that scenario or situation has led to a serious injury or fatality. How do you predict an event, a very infrequent event, that’s never happened at your site before? I think the answer lies in advanced AI, natural language processing tools and other, external data to supplement company data.
It’s interesting because like you were saying, it’s an infrequent event, but the risk is always present. I think that makes it more difficult for our brains to understand the potential severity of a problem. Our brains weren’t built to process information that way.
Bowers: Yeah, very nicely phrased. We evolved in an environment that required us to manage infrequent events successfully, such as getting bit by a tiger.
Using the Campbell Institute data as an example, if you look at cases of total recordables and days away from work, they have been declining steadily for the last couple of decades. However, deaths and death rates have not. They plateaued or even arguably increased slightly. ...continued on next page
What’s something you wish safety professionals understood about AI?
Bowers: I think AI and HOP together tell us that we need to be less arrogant, that we know less than we think we do, and that we need to gather data. We need to mine our incident data in a more effective way, and we need to go out and gather new data about possible hazards. For example, we started putting up cameras in areas with forklifts, a well-known and potentially fatal hazard that many, many companies deal with. So, we put up cameras in areas we thought were safe and had rules.
Here’s a video clip I’ll probably show in Denver. You can see that this is a worker trying to load this hopper with these pallets. He just turns off the safety device and he crawls in there. His buddy comes in and pulls them out. This factory has a spotless safety record, good morale, and healthy long-term and well-paid employees. Nobody had imagined that stuff like this happened until we went out and gathered some data.
Someone who works at this factory might feel they know exactly what’s going on and exactly what the risks are. Then we go out and we gather this kind of detailed data, where we look at every second for two weeks, and we find stuff that they had no idea what’s happening.
People are on the best behavior when we walk through the facility, but we don’t see what happens there at 2:00 a.m. on a Sunday when people are trying to make quota. We need to gather more data in order to appreciate the risks and to mitigate them.
This video playback gives me the willies!
Bowers: Exactly! A forklift is 3,000 pounds of rapidly moving steel that can turn on a dime and in unexpected ways. It’s why it’s one of the more common ways people are seriously injured or killed in the workplace.
Do you have any words of advice or perhaps caution for safety professionals who are interested in working with (or doing more) with AI to improve workplace safety?
Bowers: I would caution that we shouldn’t get too entranced by shiny new toys. We need to make sure we understand the risks. You need to use data to figure out what your problems are.
AI and computer vision can be very helpful with that. Then you need to identify technologies and AI tools that are appropriate for your set of problems. It’s easy to be distracted by fun, new cool stuff, but we need to make sure it’s addressing your biggest risks.
What’s one thing you hope attendees take away from your presentation at the Safety Leadership Conference?
Bowers: I hope they realize that we humble humans are quite poor at understanding serious risks, and that we should get help and take a deliberate approach to understanding our biggest risks.
I hope they realize that we have better tools for gathering more data about these risks, and that we should focus on reducing those risks once we make sure we’re working on the right problems. We can spend all of our money and all of our time working on the wrong problems, only to be blindsided by the real risks.
You’ve spent over 20 years as an EHS professional. Do you have any words of wisdom that you want share with fellow EHS professionals?
Bowers: I wish all safety folks understood and valued the scientific method. When we have a belief, a plan or a program, we must make sure that there’s data behind it. We do that through testing and the scientific method.
A lot of times, we think that putting some safeguard or safety processes in place is going to reduce this risk. But if you don’t test it, if you don’t gather data before and after, then there’s a good chance that you’re completely wrong. Some folks are driving by intuition or best professional judgment when we should be driving by data and rigorous, objective scientific testing.
It’s a good reminder that the scientific method is a solid foundation for how to approach all kinds of problems. Bowers: Exactly! Test your solutions. Make sure they are doing what you think they’re doing.
Sim Safety
08.22.2024 | Weeklysafety.com
THERE ARE HAZARDS WITH MOST SUMMER ACTIVITIES, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SUN IS INTENSE AND THE TEMPERATURES RISE, BUT MOST RECREATIONAL MISHAPS ARE PREVENTABLE.
Swimming safety rules are often geared towards children, like using the buddy system, but adults can benefit from water safety reminders too.
Be honest with yourself about what you can handle while swimming, and don’t push your limits. Watch for signs of exhaustion or cramping and take breaks to avoid overexertion.
The buddy system works for adults too! Don’t swim alone, or at least ensure someone can see you in the water, even if they are on land or on a boat.
Do not swim if you have been drinking or are under the influence of drugs or medications. Even if you don’t realize it, an altered state can impair your judgment, slow your reactions, and affect your ability to make safe decisions, which is critical when you’re in the water.
Be honest with yourself about what you can handle while swimming.
Pay attention to posted warning signs, flagged areas, or visual cues warning of strong currents in the area. Rip currents are so strong that they can quickly pull even the strongest swimmers away from the shore. If you get caught in a rip current, stay calm and swim parallel to the shore until you are out of the current, then swim at an angle back to the shore.
Make sure you know the depth before diving or jumping into the water. If you can’t see or don’t know what’s below the surface, don’t dive or jump in.
When diving, keep your arms extended above your head. Your arms form a protective barrier for your head and neck, reducing the risk of head injuries.
DON’T FORGET TO DISCUSS:
• What are essential safety precautions to take before swimming in open water?
• How do weather and environmental conditions affect swimming safety?
Replacing a Guard is Easier Than Replacing a Finger
08.20.2024 | WeeklySafety.com
Moving machine parts have the potential to cause severe workplace injuries. Injuries most often occur when workers operate unguarded or inadequately safeguarded machinery. Any machine part, function, or process that may cause injury must be safeguarded so that the hazards are eliminated or controlled.
Industrial workplaces such as garage workshops, metal fabrication and welding shops, and mechanical or heavy manufacturing facilities will have a variety of machines and tools. Some of the tools may be as simple as a table saw or box fan and sometimes they can be complex and partially robotic or involve hazardous chemicals. Workers responsible to operate, repair, clean, or just work near these machines and tools must be protected from potential hazards.
OSHA Standard 1910.212(a)(1) One or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks.
Machine guards are critical to the safety of workers. Machine guarding shields, devices, and safety features cover the hazardous areas, functions, or processes of machinery and prevent injury to the machine operator, and other workers nearby. Many times, workers do not realize the dangers that they are protected from because of a simple steel or acrylic guard. For this reason, workers should be familiar with the potential hazards introduced when machines with rotating parts, gears, or pulleys are used.
Moving machine parts have the potential to cause severe workplace injuries including:
• Caught-in, Crushed-by, and Mangled-by Injuries
• Bruises, Strains, and Sprains
• Abrasions, Lacerations, and Amputations
• Burns
• Eye Injuries and Blindness
• Shocks and Electrocutions
• Struck-by Injuries
• Injuries so severe they result in death
Recognizing the potential hazards of machines starts with understanding the first place where the potential for injury
exists – this is the “point of operation.” According to OSHA, the point of operation is the area on a machine where work is actually performed upon the material being processed.
OSHA Standard 1910.212(a)(3)(i) Point of operation is the area on a machine where work is actually performed upon the material being processed.
Workers have to be protected from point of operation hazards, power transmission apparatus such as pulleys and chains, and other moving or rotating parts that pose danger to the operator. Workers should be familiar with the potential hazards introduced when machines with rotating parts, gears, or pulleys are used.
Safe and effective machine guarding is secure, tamperresistant, and durable. Machine guarding should prevent contact with the hazards of the machine while not interfering with the normal operation of the machine and not creating any additional hazards.
OSHA Standard 1910.212(a)(2) Guards shall be affixed to the machine where possible and secured elsewhere if for any reason attachment to the machine is not possible. The guard shall be such that it does not offer an accident hazard in itself.
There are a variety of ways that workers could be protected from machine and point-of-operation hazards –some techniques require special training in order to ensure the safety of the operator.
• Fixed Guards – made of acrylic, metal, or even plastic that are bolted, welded, or locked in place provide stable protection from moving parts.
• Adjustable Guards – self-adjusting or manually adjustable guards that allow the material to be of multiple sizes or shapes but still protect the worker.
• Interlocked or Sensors – sometimes combined with adjustable or removable guards, interlocks or sensors can be set to instantly shut off power to a machine. Sensors may be designed to shut off a machine or tool as soon as a visible or invisible barrier is broken.
• Safety Trip Controls – similar to interlocks or sensors these devices can be in the form of metal bars, steel cables or wires, and floor mats or gates that are designed to trip and shut off power to a machine if a worker touches, steps, or enters a danger area.
• Restraints and Pullbacks – devices such as wrist straps and safety ropes attached to specific points to keep the worker from getting too close to a point of operation hazard.
Only trained and authorized machine operators should be close to the machinery and all other workers must remain at a safe distance. If an employee who is not the machine operator needs to approach a piece of equipment, they should make eye contact with the operator and use clear hand signals to indicate they are approaching.
Machine operators, or those who work in a facility near machines, should wear personal protective equipment (PPE) recommended by the manufacturer and avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing, dangling jewelry, hanging badges, or long hair that could get caught in moving parts.
OSHA Standard 1910.133(a)(2) The employer shall ensure that each affected employee uses eye protection that provides side protection when there is a hazard from flying objects.
IMPORTANT:
During the safety meeting or toolbox talk on Machine Guarding, it is important to emphasize that no one should ever tamper with or remove a machine guard, sensor or safety device. Only personnel that have received specific training and follow the correct procedures are authorized to remove, repair, or modify a machine guard. Equipment should be de-energized when not in use to keep the machine from accidentally starting. The lockout/ tagout procedure is especially important when doing any kind of work on the equipment such as repairs, changing accessories, or performing routine maintenance.
More information on Machine Guarding can be found on OSHA’s website at osha.gov and at the specific links provided below.
OSHA Quick Card Protect Yourself: Amputations
OSHA Fact Sheet Amputations
OSHA eTool Machine Guarding
OSHA Booklet Safeguarding Machines and Protecting The Employees
Stay Safe During the Dog Days of Summer
08.23.2024 | EHS Today
Brush up your knowledge on the signs of heat illness and other ways you can help workers stay safe while working in the heat.
With all due respect to Florence and the Machine, the dog days are not over. At least, not the dog days of summer.
It’s almost September, and that means there will be at least one more heat wave before fall sets in.
There are concerns about working on any given day. It’s no small feat keeping our cool in chaotic, challenging or loud conditions. But summer comes with its own specific challenges to our systems.
Extreme heat and humidity are a shock to the system. Our bodies can immediately feel a change when drinking some ice water or leaving a cool air-conditioned room. Heatrelated illnesses can easily sneak up on us, and we might not realize it until we’re in trouble.
We’ve enlisted some furry friends to help remind you of the importance of staying vigilant against dehydration and signs of heat-related illnesses.
1. Heat stress is the leading cause of weatherrelated deaths.
2. Heat stress can exacerbate underlying illnesses including diabetes, mental health, asthma. Heat stress can also increase the risk of accidents and transmission of some infectious diseases.
3. The type of work you are doing can make you more susceptible to heat. For example, a higher level of physical activity and exertion or type of PPE can make it more difficult for the body to cool itself down.
4. Symptoms of heat illness include headache or nausea, weakness or dizziness, elevated body temperature, thirst and decreased urine output.
EXTREME HEAT and HUMIDITY are a SHOCK to the system.
5. A heat stroke can be deadly. Symptoms include dry skin, rapid heart rate, high fever (over 104° F), nausea, vomiting, confusion, lethargy and stupor
6. Some medications can cause people to be more susceptible to heat illness. For example, antihistamines and heart and blood pressure medication can make it harder to sweat and regulate body temperature.
7. As long as it is safe to do so, wear light-colored, loosefitting and breathable clothing.
8. The human body is comprised of about 70% water.
9. Dehydration can impair your ability to think clearly. Even mild to moderate dehydration can result in attention problems, motor coordination and impaired decision-making.
10. Signs of dehydration include feeling thirsty; dry mouth, lips and tongue; fatigue; muscle weakness; decreased urine output; darker, strong-smelling urine; and confusion.
11. To avoid dehydration, drink one cup water every 15-20 minutes you’re working in the heat. Do not exceed 48 ounces per hour.
12. People with diabetes, heart disease, cystic fibrosis and other chronic conditions need to consult their health care provider about recommended fluid intake.
13. During an hour of heavy work in hot weather, the body can easily sweat out one 32 ounces of water.
14. Workers need to drink cool water, less than 60° F, to cool down.
15. Chronic dehydration increases the risk for a number of medical conditions, including kidney stones.
16. Drinking alcohol within 24 hour of working in the heat can increase the risk of heat illness.
17. To bring down someone’s body temperature, immerse them in a tub of cold water. If that’s not possible, apply a cool rag or ice packs to the neck, armpits and groin.
