The union steward had just recounted an incident where a supervisor asked one of his workers to step into standing water to work on corroded gauges near the coker. The work needed to be done immediately as it would delay ongoing maintenance on the fractionator to take on different stock feed.

Whether in mining, construction, fabrication and assembly, equipment installation and repair, or other industries, there is a shortage of skilled tradesmen/ technicians to do essential work.

In the last decade or so many organizations have been placing more of a focus on Serious Injury and Fatality prevention (SIF). The theory behind the traditional “Safety Pyramid” (or Heinrich Safety Triangle) says if we reduce incidents at the “base” of the pyramid, it follows we will reduce incidents at the top of the pyramid at an approximately proportional rate. 

If there’s one thing the global business community has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to ebb, flow and unfold on the daily, wreaking having on bottom lines in every corner of the world in its wake, it’s the outright imperative for companies to be agile “from top to bottom.”

The topic of “return to work” is certainly front and center. While many organizations have continued to operate during the COVID-19 situation under the definition of essential businesses, there are many who have not — especially consumer facing businesses such as retail businesses, bars and restaurants.

Evans Roofing Company, Inc., with its subsidiaries Charles F. Evans (union) and CFE, Inc. (non-union), is a building envelope contractor licensed in 46 states. Charles F. Evans and CFE, Inc. are the only commercial roofing and wall panel contractors to hold the VPP STAR mobile work force designation.

For all the COVID-19 safety guidelines circulating, some hundreds of pages long, basic best practices are straightforward and known by most Americans. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, recently recounted them in an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Women have made amazing strides in many fields and industries throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Unfortunately, there are many others in which it remains a big challenge for a woman to rise to the top — or even, in some cases, to enter the industry at all.

New Pureflo- Supplied Air Respirators for grinding, welding and painting. Respirators are NIOSH approved with ANSI Head, Eye - Face Protection, along with three welding lens options, optional left front window, QR Suspension, APF of 1000.

The Guarddog Self Closing Safety Gate from Bluewater Mfg., Inc is tough, durable and easy to install.

Beat the heat and enjoy a ChillOut™ moment. ChillOut evaporative cooling towels are XL and waffled to hold more water for effective, instant cooling that lasts. Portable and easy-to-use,  simply add water.

Se-Kure Domes and Mirrors is a true Made in America manufacturer of mirrored safety products. Full 360-degree domes from 18” to 60” in diameter, 180 & 90-degree domes are also available.

MCR Safety is proud to announce that Paul Harris will be leading our Sales and Customer Service as well as Consulting and Compliance teams as our newly appointed Vice President, US Sales. 　

With more than 500 exhibitors showing their products and services at the ASSE Professional Development Conference & Exposition, it’s not a bad idea to plan your itinerary in advance, so you won’t miss something you really want to see.

Workers in many fields – construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, emergency response, firefighters among others – toil in high heat stress conditions. These tasks can lead to rapid increases in body temperature that raise the risk of heat-related illnesses.

VelocityEHS, the global leader in cloud-based environment, health, safety (EHS) and sustainability solutions, announced today it has acquired Spiramid, developer of the most advanced and easy-to-use system for managing industrial hygiene (IH). The acquisition adds Spiramid’s occupational safety & health software and unparalleled IH expertise to the most trusted EHS platform in the industry.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane… no, it’s a Squishy Robot, dropped from a helicopter or a drone to transmit crucial environmental data to emergency responders at disaster scenes.

Excessive noise is prevalent across industries. From manufacturing to construction, agriculture to oil and gas, more than 22 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous noise each year.1 Wherever unsafe levels of noise exist, employers are responsible for providing hearing protection devices (HPDs).

ISHN recently exchanged an email Q&A with Amanda Alexander, global product manager for Emerson’s Location Awareness System.

Responses provided by Carol Hanover, Field Director, Risk Control, Travelers

We sat down with Matthew Elson, CEO of SHE Softwares to discuss implementing safety programs, and a positive safety culture for workers. Below are excerpts from that conversation.

The G7 connected wearable from Blackline Safety (TSX.V: BLN) was one of five products highlighted by the Globe and Mail in their new Report on Business ranking of Canada’s Top Growing companies. Having earned position No. 231 on the ranking, Blackline achieved a three-year revenue growth of 145%.

When loud noises cannot be reduced or eliminated through engineering controls, workers who are exposed to them must use hearing protection devices (HPDs) to conserve their hearing. This notion is not new, nor is the concept that HPDs require fit-testing to be effective.

eCompliance unveils its newest advancement in their product line-up at NXT 2019: The Future of EHS, their annual conference. The concept version of the eC Edge App was announced to attendees today to give customers and prospects a first-hand look at the advanced functionality the product will begin to offer in 2020.

Tainted love: Johnson & Johnson recalled 33,000 bottles of baby powder after the Food and Drug Administration found asbestos in one container, The New York Times reports. The company, which once marketed its baby, body, and wellness products as being “for all you love,” has long denied that its talc-based products ever contained cancer-causing asbestos, but it faces more than 15,000 lawsuits from customers who say their products caused them to develop ovarian cancer or mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos.

Traditionally, safety departments get opinions and guesses thrown at them, says Stinson. There may be a hazard. Equipment doesn’t seem to be working. “Now you have objective data all mapped out. It’s very important that this is objective data, so you know for a fact that a part of plant is leaking. It’s a fact, not a suspicion,” he says.

Back in 2015 I had a widow-maker heart attack. That near-death event focused attention on my heart health, particularly when I push to physical extremes during mountain backpacking. 

Depending on where you live, you may encounter severe weather if you must be on U.S. roadways this week, whether you're driving for work or traveling to and from the homes of loved ones. Forecasters are predicting multiple storms from coast to coast, with conditions worsening as we get closer to Thanksgiving. Some 55 million travelers are expected to travel 50 miles or more from their homes for the holiday, according to AAA. That’ll make it the second-highest Thanksgiving travel volume since AAA began tracking in 2000.

Independent research firm Verdantix announced the 11 winners of the annual EHS Innovation Awards at the Verdantix Summit in Atlanta. The international awards recognize organizations which have implemented innovative EHS technologies.

Wearables, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) were all featured prominently in this year’s top safety technology stories.

On a Tuesday afternoon, you send a maintenance contractor out to a remote station to perform a routine check on some of your equipment. Your contractor drives out to the nearest access road, parks his truck, and walks over to the site. When he gets there, his personal gas monitor alerts him to high levels of dangerous gases...

Whether they’re scissor lifts, boom lifts or some other kind of powered, mobile platform used to elevate workers to various heights, aerial lifts are very useful – and potentially dangerous. Aerial lifts can be found at construction and telecommunications job sites and in warehouses. They’re used for everything from painting, drywall installation, maintenance, moving materials – even changing lightbulbs.

Working alone and working at heights for me began years ago as an instrument technician in a large steel mill in western Pennsylvania. We always tried to work in pairs but there were occasions when I had to work alone or apart from my buddy.

Many devices, including gas detectors, have connectivity features designed to transfer information from a lone worker back to safety personnel on site. Although connectivity features are a tremendous step forward, not all lone worker solutions deliver the protection they need.

KPA, a leading software, consulting services, and training provider for Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) and Workforce Compliance solutions, announced today the upcoming release of the Vera SuiteTM software platform for managing EHS, workforce compliance, online training, and regulatory management in a single integrated cloud system.

Area monitoring is frequently used as a temporary solution to help keep workers safe in industrial facilities where mid-term deployment occurs as well as for confined space entry and far-working locations such as oil and gas platforms.

Mobile EHS software is improving workplace health and safety programs by disseminating critical tasks – like incident reporting – and making EHS a part of everyone’s job. Now every employee has the ability to feed real-time information on workplace risks directly into a centralized location.

Modern day portable gas detectors are quite reliable and accurate. For enhanced worker safety and to be fully compliant there is a little known concept called bump testing. Bump tests are crucial when it comes to protecting your workers from hazardous gases and other air-borne toxins.

Why is ANVL’s product called an analysis and communications platform? Because it is a software solutions product with mobile apps in the hands of front line users, an app web-based for managers, and the back-end part is a platform to analyze data from workers. It’s a logic engine.

The one-day event will feature expert speakers, panel discussions and roundtable sessions on topics such as mental health, employee retention, compensation, safety culture, chemical safety and more.

The conference has a dedicated educational track focused on Occupational Safety Research.

Grainger has demonstrated a commitment to sustainability by implementing environmentally friendly practices across its operations. 

The conference features general sessions, more than 200 continuing education sessions and a vast expo showcasing innovative products and services. 

Along with all the educational sessions you normally will find at the annual American Society of Safety Professionals’ annual meeting and expo, some of this year’s talks take on the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times.

One of the striking aspects of this year’s American Society of Safety Professionals’ annual conference this week in Denver is the diversity of topics being addressed.

Expert Kathy Seabrook explores how EHS professionals can leverage sustainability initiatives to drive business value and enhance safety performance in this session from day one of the ASSP Safety 2024 conference. 

In an exclusive interview with ISHN, ASSP Chief Executive Officer Jennifer McNelly made these points about the role that AI will play in the safety profession.

Advance the OEHS profession by sharing your knowledge on the latest research and best practices. 

At ASSP Safety 2024, he addresses enforcement efforts, new and upcoming rulemaking, and the importance of a holistic approach to worker well-being.

The expert panel pointed out leadership responsibilities or factors that can damage mental well-being, causing burnout, sadness, anger, anxiety and other psycho-social disorders.