November 2016 OH&S

November 2016

  • IH/CONFINED SPACE: Peer-to-Peer Wireless: A Game Changer for Confined Space Monitoring
  • CONFINED SPACE: Residual Confined Space Hazards . . . An Unintended Booby Trap!
  • CHEMICAL SAFETY: Making Sense of a Safety Data Sheet
  • HEAD & FACE PROTECTION: Prescription Safety Eyewear: Style, Design, Ergonomics, Delivery
  • RESPIRATORY PROTECTION: Selecting Appropriate Respirators--A Complicated Matter
  • RESPIRATORY PROTECTION: Harnessing the Powered Air Purifying Respirator
  • HAND PROTECTION: Selecting the Best Hand Protection for the Task
  • HAND PROTECTION: Why Quality Manufacturing Matters
  • FALL PROTECTION: How Fall Protection Has Changed Dramatically Over the Decades
  • SLIP & FALL: Slip Resistance
  • ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Oxidizer Selection and Technology Options
  • HEALTH CARE: Understanding Rotating Shift Workers' Health Risks
  • HEALTH CARE: Your Ambulance Service: Friend or Foe?
  • HEALTH CARE: What You Need to Know About Prescription Painkillers and Safety Risks
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Cover Story

A competent person for confined spaces should be the employer’s specialist. To meet OSHA

Residual Confined Space Hazards ... An Unintended Booby Trap!

By Pat Furr

Using elements of the new construction industry regulation for confined spaces in a general industry program will go a long way to save the lives of those who would otherwise fall victim to them.


Features

A glove that is too thick or has material that is too inflexible for a specific task will decrease finger dexterity and increase hand fatigue. (SW Safety Solutions Inc. photo)

Why Quality Manufacturing Matters

Get a grip on safety with new single-use glove technologies.


Because painkiller prescriptions are written by primary care physicians or pain specialists, patients may perceive that they are receiving credible treatment, not realizing the risks of misuse or abuse, and assume that pills are safe to take for any reason and under any circumstance.

What You Need to Know About Prescription Painkillers and Safety Risks

By Fred Kohanna

The low number of employers who offer training about workplace usage of prescription drugs must increase dramatically.


This 40,000 SCFM Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer was applied on a pharmaceutical application to destroy emissions from tray ovens, fluid bed dryers, and coating pans. (Anguil Environmental Systems photo)

Oxidizer Selection and Technology Options

By Jim Stone

As thermal oxidizer technologies have been applied to a wider range of industrial applications, new challenges are continually uncovered that test their efficacy and durability.


Making Sense of a Safety Data Sheet

According to OSHA, employers must ensure that Safety Data Sheets are readily accessible to employees for all hazardous chemicals in their workplace, and employees should have immediate access to the information without leaving their work area when needed, even during a power outage or other emergency.


Slip Resistance

By Mark Blanchette, Bert Spiller

To date no study has been performed that defines the safe threshold COF for a specific tribometer for all combinations of footwear, contaminant, and floor type.


Tight-fitting PAPRs not only offer significantly higher APF, but they use a less expensive qualitative fit test to achieve a higher level of efficiency for a lower cost. (Draeger Inc. photo)

Harnessing the Powered Air Purifying Respirator

By Paula Varsamis

Differentiating between contaminants that are gaseous or dust can be crucial in ensuring your PAPR is the proper PAPR.


Ever wonder why a forklift operator is wearing the same cut level of hand protection as the sheet metal operator? And even worse, their monthly usage is the same? (Ringers Gloves photo)

Selecting the Best Hand Protection for the Task

By Kevin Weatherford

When the correct level of persistence is applied toward identifying the hazard exposures, true cost savings will be seen every time.


Prescription safety eyewear companies on the cutting edge have found that style sells. They realize the need for workers to wear the proper frame and lens for the job at hand. (SafeVision, LLC photo)

Prescription Safety Eyewear: Style, Design, Ergonomics, Delivery

By Brent Motchan

Glasses are more protective, resilient, and fashionable than ever before.


Specialty harnesses can now be custom ordered for specific industries and applications, making them more practical than ever before—as each one is built with the specific applications in mind. (3M Fall Protection photo)

How Fall Protection Has Changed Dramatically Over the Decades

By Steve Kosch, Jim Hutter

Given all we know and the resources available to us, "rescue" today should be viewed as an expected event with a positive outcome.


For night shift professionals who want to remain entrained to the dayshift, red light exposure will not affect melatonin levels but will provide an alerting stimulus similar to a cup of coffee.

Understanding Rotating Shift Workers' Health Risks

By Mariana G. Figueiro, Claudia M. Hunter

Until we know more, it is recommended that lighting in health care facilities should be designed to minimize acute melatonin suppression in night shift workers.


Review the applicable safety data sheets. Review injury and illness reports and talk to the employees. Have they reported signs or symptoms of respiratory distress?

Selecting Appropriate Respirators—A Complicated Matter

By Sally J. Smart

When respiratory hazards cannot be eliminated and employers are considering using respiratory protection, choosing the right respirator is the key.


Ambulance bills in general can often top $600 or $800 or more, and most ambulance services tack on an "emergency response charge" that tops $300 on average.

Your Ambulance Service: Friend or Foe?

By James Dziendziel

Strive for consistency to avoid confusion when emergencies occur. Debrief and analyze how an emergency was handled and whether the appropriate transport style had been used.


Departments

Checking the Safety of Closed System Transfer Devices

By Jerry Laws

The Nov. 7 meeting allows NIOSH personnel to give an update of new protocol developments.


3 E's For Steering Superior Safety

By Robert Pater

Enlist these three critical, interlocking "E's" in your own way and you’ll also achieve remarkable strides in Safety performance, communications, leadership, and culture.


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