Hazardous Materials Managers News

Preventable medical errors result in 44,000 to 98,000
patient deaths each year, according to an Institute of Medicine report. These
statistics are well known among patient safety professionals. However, SH&E
professionals are familiar with BLS statistics, which show that healthcare
workers experience some of the highest rates of nonfatal occupational illness
and injury.

In an effort to

The Office of Mine Safety and Health Research (OMSHR) has a newly redesigned website that helps users find the latest information about safety and health within the mining industry. The site also includes videos that detail OMSHR research projects and feature stories on current innovations. New online tools help users navigate information easier with improved search functions. Comments and

The CDC wants everyone to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Here are simple tips for cooking a delicious and safely prepared turkey:

Safe Thawing. Thawing turkeys must be kept at a safe temperature. The "danger zone" is between 40-140°F. While frozen, a turkey is safe indefinitely, but as soon as it begins to thaw, bacteria that may have been present before freezing can begin to grow again

Those preparing to travel by car during the upcoming holidays might find the My Trip Calculator helpful when deciding the route and which vehicle to take. The online interactive tool provides routes with turn-by-turn directions, a trip map and estimated driving time. However, it also allows the user to compare fuel costs for up to three vehicles. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, "The

As part of its mission to encourage young people to consider
careers in engineering, the EngineerGirl
program hosts an annual essay contest. This year’s contest focuses on engineering
advancements for disease prevention. The 2013
Health Engineering essay contest asks students in grades 3 through 12 to
choose from five diseases listed by the World Health Organization as the
leading causes of death

Familiarity with standards can enhance a student’s knowledge
and skills before entering the workplace. To improve technical standards
education, ASTM International is offering an academic tool kit to help university
professors incorporate information about technical standards into engineering
and business curricula. The ASTM
Professor’s Tool Kit contains informational tools to help educators

The 2013 ASSE Foundation Scholarship and Professional Education Grant Program is available to students pursuing degrees in occupational safety and health and to ASSE members and safety professionals working to advance their professional credentials. ASSE is offering more than $180,000 for 2013. The application process is paperless, so applications are online. Applications are due Dec. 1, 2012,

ASSE and OSHA are seeking PPE donations to help with Hurricane Sandy cleanup and recovery. To speed up the process, the organizations ask that donations be sent directly to 501(c)(3) organizations in the affected areas. Also, those donating are asked to let ASSE know by contacting its public relations department at either tstachura@asse.org or cnorgaard@asse.org. Ideas for donations include

ASSE has joined the 85-3 Campaign, which recognizes organizations and employers that have adopted the 85 dBA noise protection level as part of their efforts to protect workers’ hearing. “ASSE is pleased to join the 85-3 Coalition and looks forward to working with the coalition’s members to support the adoption of the 85-dBA average exposure limit for an 8-hour day measured with a 3-dB exchange

ANSI’s online learning portal, StandardsLearn.org, provides free training and educational tools for those who want to learn more about standards and assessment activities. The e-learning content illustrates the value of compliance programs around the world and explains the standards system.

Tomorrow marks the Great American Smokeout, an event sponsored by the American Cancer Society encouraging smokers to quit smoking. The Society suggests these five strategies to assist in the process:

1) Get Ready. Set a stop date, change your environment, think about past attempts to stop and what did and did not work, and once you stop, don’t smoke again.

2) Get support and

OSHA is seeking nominations for eight new members to serve on its 15-member Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. Committee members advise OSHA representatives on construction standards and policy matters, and will represent employee, employer, public, and state safety and health agency groups. Nominations are due by Jan. 7, 2013, and can be submitted via online, fax or mail.

In light of Hurricane Sandy, FEMA is distributing training courses and publications detailing best practices for how to mitigate risks after a disaster. The Agency’s guide on reconstruction following Hurricane Sandy includes technical bulletins, construction fact sheets and flood protection. The guide also includes access to Recovery Advisories, a publication from FEMA’s Mitigation Assessment

ANSI’s  newly updated "ANS Key Steps" document lists the key steps involved in the approval of voluntary consensus standards as American National Standards (ANS). The updated version provides links to related forms and resources. According to ANSI, "in order to qualify for ANSI accreditation, organizations must meet the Institute’s requirements for openness, balance, due process and consensus in

In light of Hurricane Sandy, FEMA is distributing training courses and workshops with information on how communities and homeowners can build stronger and minimize damage from natural disasters. The Agency’s guide on snow load safety includes warning signs of overstress conditions, key safety issues and risks, and methods of snow removal. It also includes safety measures for removing snow: 

OSHA will hold a National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) meeting on Nov. 15, 2012, in Washington, DC. The agency says that the NACOSH Effectiveness Measures Work Group will meet on Nov. 14, a day before the full committee meets. These meetings are open to the public and individuals may submit comments and requests to speak.

The NFPA Committee on Loss Prevention Procedures and
Practices is accepting public comment on the Industrial
Fire Brigade Standard (NFPA 600) and the Security
Services in Fire Loss Prevent Standard (NFPA 601) until Jan. 4, 2013. NFPA
600 contains requirements for organizing, training and operating three styles
of brigades on facility properties, while NFPA 601 contains similar
requirements for

Yesterday’s post highlighted the work of Mercer ORC’s Fatality and Serious Injury Prevention task force. Here’s a summary of the six steps in its new risk assessment model for serious injuries and fatalities.

Assess the current situation and set the stage for the technical and cultural shift needed to prevent serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs). The group is developing a safety cultural

According to NFPA, a properly functioning smoke alarm cuts the chances of dying in a reported fire in half. NFPA statistics also indicate that the primary reasons smoke alarms fail to operate in home structure fires are batteries that are missing or disconnected (50%) or dead/discharged (23%).

Yet, a recent Kidde survey, conducted by Kelton Research, reveals a striking reluctance among

This week’s Fatality Prevention Forum featured on update on the progress of Mercer ORC’s Fatality and Serious Injury Prevention task force. Presenters included Steve Newell and Dee Woodhull, Mercer ORC HSE Networks; Ray Comingore and Glenn Murray, Exxon Mobil; and David Jacobi, Kimberly Clark.

One slide during the presentation featured this insightful quote from Albert Einstein: “We can’t solve

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a safety alert for consumers about the dangers of counterfeit air bags. The agency reports that these faulty air bags have been sold for use as replacement parts in vehicles that have been in a crash. NHTSA says these air bags look almost identical to original certified bags, but after testing, the counterfeits "showed  consistent

The Academics Practice Specialty’s (APS) biannual Journal of Safety, Health & Environmental Research (JSHER) is now available on EBSCO. More than 90% of libraries subscribe to an EBSCOhost database and APS felt it was a great opportunity to promote readership and further disseminate important SH&E research. Click here for the most recent JSHER issue or visit www.asse.org/academicsjournal for more

In his thought-provoking session at the 2012 Fatality Prevention Symposium, Fisher It’s Rob Fisher pointed to these five criteria as critical to effective work instructions:
They must be available. 
They must be workable. 
They must be intelligible.
They must be correct—and this applies to both technical accuracy and usability and technical accuracy. 
They must be consistently reinforced. 

One

Fatality prevention is "the most important work a safety leader can do. It’s the most important issue we a be working on." With that Tom Krause opened his presentation at the IUP/Alcoa Fatality Prevention Forum near Pittsburgh by sharing some new insights on serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs). As he did during ASSE’s Safety 2012 conference in Denver, Krause noted that while recordable and

Procedures, said Rob Fisher, president of Fisher IT Inc., are a big part of the equation for addressing serious injuries and fatalities, the focus of the 2012 Fatality Prevention Forum near Pittsburgh. And, he stressed, it’s the system management creates that is responsible for making sure those procedures are clear, consistent and correct.

It’s too common, Fisher said, to hear statements like

The newly revised standard, “Personal Fall Protection Used in Construction & Demolition Operations” (ANSI/ASSE A10.32-2012), is now available. The standard establishes performance criteria for personal fall protection equipment and systems in construction and demolition and provides guidelines and recommendations for their use and inspection. It includes, but is not limited to fall arrest,

During an opening presentation at the Fatality Prevention in the Workplace Forum being held in Pittsburgh, Alcoa’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kevin Anton told the nearly 200 attendees, "At Alcoa, safety is a prerequisite for doing business." Anton (speaking in place of CEO Klaus Kleinfeld, who remained in New York due to Hurricane Sandy) noted that Alcoa’s C-Suite and board of directors are

News of Hurricane Sandy has the East Coast preparing for the worst. In its press release, ASSE provides many links to resources that can be helpful in preparing for the storm. ASSE also provides information on crisis management, recommendations for businesses and community members, and it suggests steps to take after a catastrophe.

With more and more in-vehicle screens and devices at
drivers’ fingertips comes increased potential for distraction while driving. A
new study set out to determine whether a change in typeface used in these
devices could reduce driver distraction and, thus, improve safety on the road.

Researchers from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) AgeLab and New
England University

The National Lead Poisoning Prevention week ends on Oct. 27. It’s not too late to spread the word of this year’s theme, "Lead-Free Kids for a Healthy Future." CDC’s website has an array of resources to help communicate the message, such as posters, banners, press releases and podcasts.

Massachusetts Department of Labor reports that the greatest risk to childhood lead poisoning is residential

J.A. Rodriguez, Jr., author of “Information Pit Stop” from the latest issue of the Consultants Practice Specialty’s publication The Advisor, suggests that linking the information provided in a PPE program to employees’ needs will lead to a better chance of uncompromised employee safety. By crafting your PPE program so that it matters to employees, you can secure the emotional buy-in needed to

Guest Post From John Olesky, CSP

As a safety specialist, I can relate alligators to accidents. We all know that most accidents are caused by a chain of events usually starting with something minor that continues through the chain until these minor issues lead to something larger–the accident. Usually, it is not just one factor that causes the accidents, so if we as safety professionals can

U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) has a new, redesigned website. As the site says, "DOT is here to serve the American people, and the redesigned site reflects our commitment to service by making it easier for you to find the information you need." The agency’s new site has three goals:

To help find what users need as easily as possible.
To make the most popular resources more accessible.
To

EPA’s new How’s My Waterway application and website provides information about the condition of U.S. rivers, lakes and streams. User only needs to enter the zip code or city name to receive up-to-date information about the quality of the water. The technology uses GPS to identify the nearest bodies of water and instantly provides search results within 5 miles of the location. The waterways are

U.K. gas distributor, Northern Gas Networks, has
developed a free game app that challenges players to solve a mystery to learn
how a student met his demise. But the game has a hidden safety message.

The player of iCOP
takes the role of crime solver tasked with cracking the case. Exploring the
student’s apartment, players will search for clues, but taking too long may
result in lightheadedness.

Last year, the ASSE Foundation gave nearly
$180,000 in scholarships and grants. The awards program has grown every year
since 1990. This year on Sweetest Day, Oct. 20, we want you to make safety your
sweetheart. There are many ways to partner with the ASSE Foundation:

The Safety Matters Fund is
our big-picture fund, aimed at building a culture of safety upheld
around the globe by a

Cintas Corp. is relaunching its Cold Crew Contest to recognize workers in the U.S. and Canada who withstand tough winter working conditions. Contestants should submit their story and tell how their Carhartt workwear plays an essential part in their jobs. Entries will be accepted until Feb. 28, 2013, and winners will receive free merchandise and a grand-prize trip for two to the 2013 CMA Music

Six coal miners and five metal/nonmetal miners died in
work-related accidents from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2012, according to MSHA.
Although mining deaths and injuries have reached historic lows, more has to be
done to prevent fatalities, says MSHA’s Assistant Secretary of Labor Joseph
Main. “Workplace examinations for hazards, pre-shift and on-shift, can identify
and eliminate hazards that kill

Spending hours using an iPad or other tablet can cause neck
and shoulder problems, according to experts at the Harvard School of Public
Health. A simple shift in viewing angle can change everything, according to a
recent report
from Harvard Health Letter, which offers tips for preventing pain when
using a tablet or computer.

Holding a tablet computer too low, say on the lap, forces
the neck to

A report conducted by U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and U.S. Fire Administration shows that from 2008 to 2010, an estimated 40% of residential fires were caused by cooking equipment. In addition, home heating and cooling equipment was a leading cause of fire fatalities in the home. CPSC urges all consumers to install smoke alarms on every level of their homes, and to create and