Are you looking for ways to engage attendees during annual safety training refreshers? Have you ever considered setting up mock spill scenarios for participants to clean-up during training?
Hopefully everyone is staying warm and safe during the blizzard! At times when people are entering facilities after walking through the snow, it is prudent to remember to address the potential for slips, trips, and falls.
Are there any new pieces of equipment in your labs that need a job safety analyses conducted on them to evaluate potential hazards? In an ideal setting, EHS personnel are notified when new equipment is purchased so set-up, hazards, proper procedures, and waste can all be evaluated.
Remember that as of January 1, 2015, the OSHA reporting requirements for severe work-related injuries and illnesses have changed. All employers under OSHA jurisdiction are now required to report all work-related fatalities within eight hours, and all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations, and all losses of an eye within 24 hours.
Establishing and maintaining a well-organized and compliant environmental, health, and safety program should be high on the priority list for all companies. The level of the program necessary depends on many factors, however all employees should be encouraged to make safety a priority.
Any facility issued a radioactive materials license by The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's (MDPH) Bureau of Environmental Health’s (BEH) Radiation Control Program (RCP) is required to maintain records in accordance with 105 CMR 120.
As I am sure you are aware by now, September has been designated as National Biosafety Stewardship Month by the NIH, and The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a memo requesting a “a government-wide ‘safety stand-down’”.
In accordance with various regulations, many facilities require EHS training for all new employees upon hire and annually thereafter. It is great to have an established and informative training program in place, but do you remember to inform your employees of new hazards introduced into the workplace?
All employees should be thoroughly familiar with the emergency response procedures established for your facility. In addition to training and emergency information being posted, have you considered developing a ‘bail out binder’ to take with you in the event of an evacuation?
OSHA requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers. This includes providing work environments that are free of ergonomic hazards.
It is important to keep your Emergency Action Plan or Contingency Plan up to date. Don’t wait for the plan to fail in an emergency situation before you update it.
Did you know that approximately 33 percent of people exposed to laboratory animals as part of their job develop symptoms of allergies? And, about 10 percent of exposed individuals have symptoms of animal-induced asthma?
