According to the National Safety Council, approximately 12,000 accidental deaths occur each year due to injuries sustained because of a fall. While the most important issue here is lives lost, another issue is the associated economic loss for not only families of fall victims but for organizations.

But there is hope. With the right preparedness, most of these cases can be avoided.

An article entitled "Prevention of Slips, Trips, and Falls" in the April 2008 issue of Facility Safety Management magazine references the Canadian Centre for Occupational Safety and Health, which suggests three general ways to avoid slips, trips, and falls from happening:

• Understand how fall accidents happen
• Identify trouble areas
• Eliminate or minimize hazards of falling

The article goes on to give specific examples and provide more detail, but by simply applying proper safety signs and labels to areas and surfaces where these types of accidents occur, many of these types of accidents can be prevented.

DuraLabel offers many supply options to assist you in safeguarding your employees from slips, trips, and falls. And secondly, DuraLabel wants to prevent your organization from suffering economically as a result of this type of tragedy.

Effective label and sign-making supplies for preventing slips, trips, and falls include:

• DuraTag Supply (as shown in the "CAUTION: Slippery When Wet" sign above)
• Phosphorescent Supply (for emergency backup when light sources fail)
• Continuous Vinyl Supply (for general safety label and sign-making tasks)

DuraLabel: Click... Print... Solve!

Labels: Hazard Prevention, Safety Labels / Safety Signs, Workplace Safety

posted by Daniel E - 3:15:00 PM - - Permanent Link to This Article

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You are an excellent safety manager. For quite a while now, you have not seen or reported an accident or injury in the workplace, and you certainly have not seen any litigation as a result of your negligence to maintaining a safe workplace environment. Congratulations on a job well done! You must be doing everything right... right? Certainly, recent history has been your advocate. But have you considered that you might be getting by on sheer luck and fortunate happenstance?

Beware the perils of complacency!

During times of relative peace and prosperity, it is easy to become complacent and even careless when it comes to our responsibilities. With times, circumstances, environments, policies, and people constantly changing, what is required is continual inspection and stewardship of our workplace environments. One can never be too careful when it comes to workplace hazard prevention.

In an article entitled "Familiarity Breeds Success" in the March 2009 issue of Occupational Health & Safety, Linda J. Sherrard discusses the importance of avoiding complacency as it relates to workplace safety:

"Become familiar with the work environment and the language of potential hazards. This should be more than a once-a-month, 10 minute walk-through! It takes years to really learn a workplace and all the hazards to which employees may be exposed. "

Specifically, being aware of the need for and properly using personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential to workplace hazard prevention.

• Are your employees wearing correct PPE?
• Should your employees be wearing more PPE items?
• Do your employees (including temporary employees, interns) understand specific hazards related to their jobs?
• Do you have a process set up for employees and/or supervisors to request and replace PPE items?
• Have you considered shared items (e.g., an employee may damage or break a faceshield and hang it back on the rack for the next employee to use)?
• Have you considered glare as a hazard (Glare causes mishaps and injuries, fatigue, eyestrain, headaches, aggravation)?

When it comes to workplace hazard prevention, move beyond the basics. Don't just prepare enough to get by, even if your employees have been safe and injury-free as of late. And don't allow shrinking budgets to stand in the way of what is most important in the workplace: the safety of your employees and yourself. Take precautions, become familiar with all of the hazards in your workplace with which employees may be exposed, and take PPE seriously. You'll continue to discover successful results as a reward for your sustained efforts!

Related posts:

Top Ten OSHA Violations in 2008
Guide to Required PPE - Yours Free!
Safe Workplace Blog

Labels: Hazard Prevention, PPE, Safety Labels / Safety Signs, Workplace Safety

posted by Daniel E - 8:50:00 AM - - Permanent Link to This Article

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