Safety Updates

“We need to talk,” said Ralph, the plant manager. “What’s going on?” asked Alice, the supervisor. “We just got slapped with a lawsuit from Matthew, that contract worker who suffered a severe lung injury when he was exposed to hazardous welding …

Continue Reading about Company sued over lack of adequate ventilation for hazardous welding job

Summary: A 41-year-old staff member was horribly burned after he was buried underneath a load of hot asphalt that landed on top of him after he’d finished repairing the hydraulic line that controlled the lift gate on the back of a dump truck. The …

Continue Reading about Crew member was still alive as hot asphalt seared his skin

Safety insight: If you think that a crew member might be impaired by drugs or alcohol, remove the person from the workplace right away and send him or her home. You don’t want someone suffering an injury due to substance abuse. What happened: A man …

Continue Reading about Should drunk man who fell from ladder receive comp?

At first glance, you might think that robots make our workplace safer. After all, robotic devices can perform repetitive tasks without suffering musculoskeletal disorders. And robots can lift heavy loads and not experience back injuries. In reality, …

Continue Reading about Safety meeting blueprint: Robotic equipment

Incident summary: An employer’s job hazard analysis was of little value to a crew member who suffered fatal head injuries during a dangerous job because the analysis was written in English but the worker spoke only Spanish. What happened: In order …

Continue Reading about English-only hazard analysis didn’t help Spanish speaker

Incident summary: Unaware of the hazards posed by a permit-required confined space, a worker was overcome by a hazardous gas, and then he fell headfirst into a pit filled with animal body parts and waste. What happened: A staffer was assigned to …

Continue Reading about Man tumbles into pit filled with animal waste, drowns