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Good morning! Remember, being an EHS professional is like being a lifeguard, but instead of saving people from drowning, we’re just trying to keep them from tripping over their own shoelaces! So, let’s dive into some safety tips to keep us all afloat!"
THIS WEEK’S TIPS
This week’s safety upgrades:
Radiofrequency (RF) energy
Human Factors and Ergonomics
Lone Workers and Extreme Heat
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This Weeks Professional Development Tip
SAFETY WEEK
Safe + Sound Week: Celebrating Workplace Health and Safety
Every August, Safe + Sound Week recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and provides information and ideas to keep America's workers safe. Organized by OSHA, NIOSH, the National Safety Council, and other organizations, this year’s event will take place from August 12-18.
Focus on Job Hazard Analysis
This year, Safe + Sound Week will provide resources for businesses on Job Hazard Analysis. Successful safety and health programs can proactively identify and manage workplace hazards before they cause injury or illness, improving sustainability and the bottom line. According to OSHA, participating in Safe + Sound Week can help businesses start, energize, or recognize their safety programs.
Participation and Resources
All organizations committed to safety are welcome to participate. Last year, more than 3,900 businesses helped raise awareness about workers' health and safety. To learn more about last year's engagement, check out the event archive.
Businesses can register for this year's Safe + Sound Week and access materials and activities for tailboard meetings or safety toolbox talks by visiting the Safe + Sound Week website.
Engaging Challenges
Included on the Safe + Sound website are various challenges to help develop safety and health programs and engage workers:
Safety Shuffle: Encourages workers to do a “job swap” to gain a fresh perspective on identifying hazards. Promotes skill and knowledge sharing between workers and managers to find and fix hazards.
Halt a Hazard: Regularly set aside time for workers to identify and rank safeguards to keep safety and health hazards under control.
Speak Up for Safety: Review workplace safety reports with employees to improve workplace safety and health.
Lead With Safety: Managers are challenged to show how they lead with safety in mind by selecting a safety or health issue and taking action to address it.
Visit osha.gov/safeandsound/activities to learn about all the available challenges and how you can share your results with others.
Safe + Sound Week is an opportunity for businesses to recognize their commitment to workplace health and safety. By participating, organizations can enhance their safety programs and create a safer work environment for all employees.
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ERGONOMICS
The Importance of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E) in Workplace Safety.
Safety in the workplace is not a "one size fits all" scenario. Each industry has unique risks that require tailored solutions, making Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E) crucial. Organizational leaders are responsible for protecting their staff and customers, yet they often overlook the advantages of HF/E in ensuring safety. A robust safety culture involves understanding risk factors and implementing preventative measures from a human factors perspective.
Understanding HF/E
HF/E is an interdisciplinary field that studies human interactions with the environment, including physical, cognitive, social, and organizational aspects. The primary goals of HF/E are to improve safety, reliability, health, comfort, and productivity. It examines tasks across all industries—from construction to data entry—focusing on tools, handling methods, body postures, and physical elements like lighting, air quality, and noise levels. Cognitive aspects, such as mental workload and decision-making, are also considered.
Building a Safety Culture
A robust safety culture is essential, where employees perceive safety as a core value and see leadership prioritizing it over competing goals like productivity. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) identified a failing safety culture at Boeing, highlighting a disconnect between senior management and frontline employees. This issue is not limited to aviation; healthcare organizations often trade off between safety and clinical productivity, leading to potential medical errors due to factors like staff fatigue and workload.
Addressing Systemic Factors
Blaming individual errors overlooks broader systemic issues, such as poorly designed systems, a culture prioritizing productivity over safety, poor communication, and inadequate training. A hierarchical structure can create a power distance between employees, leading to hesitancy in speaking up. Reducing this power distance and encouraging feedback from all employees leads to safer systems. Proactive safety cultures identify and mitigate potential hazards before accidents occur, integrating safety considerations into planning, design, workflows, policies, and training.
Integrating HF/E in Design
Integrating human factors into the design process is crucial for minimizing safety risks. This involves considering the physical and cognitive abilities, limitations, and skills of end-users. Environmental factors like noise, temperature, lighting, and task sequence must also be considered. Engaging with end-users and stakeholders for feedback and conducting testing throughout the design process ensures products and systems are safe for use.
Leveraging Technology
Technology, such as augmented reality, self-driving vehicles, and wearable technology, is increasingly used to improve safety. For example, hospitals use sensors to track hand hygiene compliance, motivating employees to engage in this safety practice.
Conclusion
Embracing HF/E positively impacts individuals, organizations, communities, and society. Misconceptions that safety and ergonomics require expensive solutions can be dispelled by recognizing the effectiveness of simple, low-cost measures like posture modifications. Employers must prioritize the human side of their employees, considering safety's impact on end-users and customers to build a safe and efficient work environment.
STATE SAFETY
Arizona’s Worker-Safety Agency Audit
A recent federal audit reveals that Arizona’s Division of Occupational Health and Safety (ADOSH) is conducting more workplace inspections but still falls short of federal goals. In fiscal 2023, ADOSH conducted 540 inspections, nearly 200 more than the previous year but still below the target of 975. The audit notes this improvement but states that the number of inspections remains insufficient to adequately protect workers from hazards.
Despite the increase in inspections, the audit found that ADOSH issued significantly higher fines for safety violations, with the average fine for serious violations being $3,441, aligning with the national average. ADOSH has seen leadership changes recently, including a new director and new leadership at the overseeing Industrial Commission of Arizona.
The agency, responsible for enforcing health and safety standards for about 3 million workers in Arizona, faced criticism for a decline in inspections and low fines from 2017 to 2021, attributed to staffing shortages and high inspector turnover. This criticism was highlighted in media stories and echoed by families and safety advocates at a meeting with the Industrial Commission, where they demanded more inspections and higher penalties.
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health acknowledged improvements in ADOSH’s operations but stressed the need for more inspections and quicker enforcement actions. Dave Wells from the Grand Canyon Institute emphasized the importance of inspections, as workers often fear retaliation for reporting unsafe conditions. The audit showed ADOSH found fewer serious violations than the national average, underscoring the need for better identification and correction of such violations.
ADOSH Director Brian Hudson acknowledged the audit's findings and highlighted ongoing efforts to fill vacancies and increase the number of compliance inspectors. The audit covers the federal fiscal year from October 2022 to September 2023, with reports typically released the following summer.
Rat Disease Kills 4
A rodent-borne disease, hantavirus, which can be fatal and has no cure, has prompted a health warning in the US after causing several deaths. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, cases of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a severe respiratory illness, are rising. From January to early July, seven cases were confirmed in Arizona, three of which were fatal. Additionally, California reported two cases and one death. Symptoms include fever, headache, and muscle aches, quickly progressing to difficulty breathing. Hantavirus is primarily spread through contact with infected rodent urine, saliva, or feces and is not transmitted between humans. It is commonly found in deer mice in the Grand Canyon state but can be present throughout the southwestern US where rodent activity occurs.
The last reported case in Coconino County was in 2016. The syndrome was first detected in 1993 among a Navajo tribe on the Arizona-New Mexico border, resulting in a significant mortality rate. Public health officials advise residents to follow specific clean-up procedures if they encounter rodent activity, such as disinfecting rodent droppings and nests, sealing and discarding them, and preventing rodent entry into homes by sealing holes and using traps. Dr. Aaron Glatt emphasized the importance of disinfecting and avoiding contact with rodent waste to prevent infection. This warning follows concerns earlier in the year about the potential spread of the "zombie deer disease" at Yellowstone National Park.
ENERGY EXPOSURE
New Radiofrequency Safety Guidelines by EH&S
The University at Washington’s Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) has released new guidelines to protect workers performing tasks on rooftops with wireless cellular antennas. The new guidelines were implemented to address and mitigate the risks associated with exposure to radiofrequency (RF) energy emitted by wireless cellular antennas, particularly for workers performing tasks on rooftops. The key points include:
1. Worker Safety: To protect workers from potential health hazards related to radiofrequency radiation, such as thermal effects and potential long-term health risks.
2. Regulatory Compliance: To ensure compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, which mandate safety standards for exposure to electromagnetic fields.
3. Preventing Overexposure: To prevent overexposure to radiofrequency energy by providing clear safety protocols and training, ensuring that workers understand the risks and how to minimize them.
4. Awareness and Training: To raise awareness among workers about the hazards of radiofrequency energy and provide necessary training to safely work in environments with active antennas.
5. Site-Specific Safety: To tailor safety practices to specific locations where wireless cellular antennas are installed, ensuring that all unique risks are adequately addressed.
6. Proactive Safety Measures: To establish proactive measures, such as maintaining a minimum distance from antennas and disabling transmitters before work, which help to prevent accidental exposure.
7. Enhanced Safety Culture: To foster a culture of safety within the university, ensuring that all departments and units prioritize the health and safety of their personnel.
RF Health Risks
Exposure to radiofrequency (RF) energy can lead to biological effects, which are typically categorized into "thermal" and "non-thermal" effects. Thermal effects result from the heating of tissue by RF energy. It has long been understood that very high levels of RF radiation can be harmful because of their ability to heat biological tissue rapidly, much like a microwave oven heats food by causing the water molecules in food to vibrate and heat up. Exposure to high RF intensities can increase body temperature and potentially cause tissue damage, especially in the eyes and testes, which have limited blood flow to dissipate excess heat.
On the other hand, the effects of low-level RF exposure, which do not produce significant heating, are less clear and remain unproven. These are referred to as "non-thermal" effects. Although some studies have reported various biological effects from low-level RF exposure, subsequent research has often failed to replicate these findings. Furthermore, since much of this research is not conducted on whole organisms, it is unclear whether these effects pose a significant health risk to humans.
There is a general agreement within the scientific community that more research is needed to determine the generality and relevance of non-thermal effects. Meanwhile, standards-setting organizations and government agencies continue to monitor the latest experimental findings to validate their accuracy and to determine if updates to safety limits are necessary to protect human health.
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