NIOSH Released New Nail Gun Safety Booklet

NIOSH releases new material to aid nail gun users in recognizing potentially dangerous conditions and nail gun features that increase the risk of injury.

Based on previous Nail Gun Safety research, "Straight Talk About Nail Gun Safety” offers new users explanations on how different nail guns operate and discusses the typical hazards encountered while working with, or near someone working with, these devices.

According to NIOSH, the comic book-esque publication is not to be used as a substitute for proper OSHA-required training, but may be used in conjunction with regular training to help reinforce safety education.

The publication is available for download in both English and Spanish.

Developing Safety Awareness

By law, employers are required to protect their workers and provide a safe work environment. However, statistics show that employees are less likely to be injured on the clock than after hours, at home, in their car or even in public places. While employers have the most control when it comes to diminishing occupational hazards, Don Wilson of SafeStart suggests that employers who are concerned with worker safety and want a more stable workforce should consider switching to a 24/7 safety program.

Workplace and worker safety was the focus of the 2013 Michigan Safety Conference held in April 2013 in Grand Rapids, MI. This year’s keynote presentation by Wilson focused on how 24/7 safety awareness by both business owners and employees can reduce the likelihood of injury overall.

The three-part series, Safety Awareness for Your Agricultural Employees, by Michigan State University Extension and Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (MIFACE), explores the concepts behind SafeStart’s techniques to reduce injury both on and off the job.

While the first two articles covered the "states" that can cause or contribute to four "critical errors" which can then lead to an increased risk of injury, the third article discusses developing safety skills that, Wilson claims, will help employees avoid incidents.

The four skills to develop are:

Self-trigger: 

Wilson explains that recognizing that you have fallen into any of the four states (rushing, frustrated, fatigued or being complacent) can help you adjust your behavior and reduce the chances of having an incident. The self-triggering process will help get your mind and eyes back on the task at hand.

Analyze close calls and small errors:
As Wilson says, it is easy to agonize over  incidents that could have been even worse, but much more difficult to find the small errors and close calls. By taking a closer look at everyday close calls and determining what went wrong, you can begin to develop what to avoid a similar situation in the future. 

Look at others:
Learning to recognize patterns of risky behavior in others will help you to examine your own behaviors, Wilson says. This can lead you to make adjustments that will help reduce your own risk of injury.

Work on Habits: 

Train yourself on different safety habits. For example, training yourself to look before you stand up, or put on your seatbelt every time you get into a car is a “habit” that can be formed if practiced regularly. 

“We don’t have to accept that accidents ‘just happen,’” Wilson says. By increasing your safety awareness and developing safety skills to avoid “critical errors,” can benefit workers on and off the job.

To learn more about these concepts and techniques derived from on of SafeStart’s safety training programs, please visit www.safestart.com. To read more from the 3 part series on 24/7 safety, click here.

Seatbelt Policies Key to Public Sector Risk Management

Seatbelt usage is an important factor to consider when sending public sector employees out on the job. In a recent article from the Public Sector Practice Specialty’s online technical publication, Perspectives, Mark Woodward offers guidelines for implementing a successful seatbelt policy. Once the policy is written, you need to gain buy-in from top management, have employees sign the policy each year and provide regular fleet safety training and meetings. You also need to ensure that the seatbelt policy is continually enforced, including among police officers, firefighters, emergency responders or those who use construction machinery.

Click here to learn how you can improve your company’s seatbelt policy.

Raising Awareness About Inhalant Abuse

Products described as canned air may seem harmless to consumers, providing an easy way of clearing dust from keyboards and other equipment. Yet what many do not realize is that the cans they buy really contain toxic gases used as propellants that can present an array of hazards, including air pollution, explosions and the potentially deadly effects of inhalant abuse.

Inhalants are now regarded as the second most commonly abused drug. “I’ve been told that it’s as addictive as heroin,” says John Scherer, founder and CEO of Canless Air System, a product line that offers safer alternatives to typical aerosol cleaners.

While inhalant abuse is not a new problem, recent studies show that one in every five children has abused inhalants by grade eight. According to Scherer, parents should not keep hazardous products in their homes or garages and should talk to their teenagers and younger children about the dangers of huffing. He believes it should not be difficult to convince kids to refrain from such activities by explaining to them that some individuals die the first time they inhale toxic substances, depending on their lung capacity and other factors.

Huffing is generally thought of as an issue that primarily impacts pre-teens and teenagers, yet adult abuse occurs as well, many times by recovering drug and alcohol addicts seeking a replacement substance to abuse. A study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration showed that more than half of the patients who were admitted for inhalant abuse treatment were 18 or older.

Scherer suspects many users and abusers of the products are unaware that abusing them can be fatal, regardless of the many warning labels mandated by EPA. In fact, when promoting the toxin-free O2 Hurricane Canless Air System on GeekBeat TV, Scherer was asked by interviewer John Pozadzides, “Are you telling me that when I run around the office spraying my canned air in people’s faces just for fun, I shouldn’t be doing that?”

In addition to buying safer cleaning products, Scherer suggests following EPA’s guidelines for safe disposal of hazardous materials, reading all warning labels on products prior to purchasing them and having family discussions about household hazards.

“Talk to your kids,” Scherer stresses, recalling recent news stories about fatal huffing incidents. “Have the conversation.”

Find more information about safer products here. 

Lockout/Tagout Tips for Safer Mining

In his article, “Lockout/Tagout Tips for Safer Mining,” from the latest issue of the Mining Practice Specialty’s online technical publication Inside Global Mining, Matt Dudgeon states that since 1990, at least 75 fatal and 1,850 nonfatal incidents have occurred in the mining industry. MSHA classified these incidents as electrical, and many of them could have been prevented if the circuits were locked, grounded and tagged prior to any maintenance work performed.

Dudgeon emphasizes the importance of properly training employees to perform lockout procedures and provides a seven-step lockout/tagout process specific to mining operations.

For those of you in the mining industry, what methods do you use to ensure that your equipment is properly locked, grounded and tagged?