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n the second day of 2011, the James Zadroga Act was authorized to broaden and renew funding and extend benefits to Ground Zero workers whose death was a result of exposure. These exposures were directly and indirectly caused by toxins present in the billowing clouds of dusts and smoke following the worst tragedy to happen on American soil in my lifetime. The tragic sickness of countless rescue workers continues to add heartbreak where there is little room for more. Protecting Emergency Response Workers: What Has Changed?
“Man is it hot out here.” As the site HSO (Health and Safety Officer), we hear and utter those words quite frequently during the summer. Working outside in 90 degree temperatures with high humidity levels is anything but comfortable. Who doesn’t look forward to the end of the work day when you can escape to an air conditioned environment with a cold drink or jump into the pool? It’s not just unpleasant — working in hot, humid temperatures can be very dangerous. If you don’t take extra care to rest and hydrate you can subject yourself to heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and the deadly heat stroke. So what can you do to protect yourself in hot, outdoor conditions while continuing to work.
Have you ever driven by a crew constructing a new house or installing a new roof? Have you noticed a guardrail system in place to keep workers from falling when working on the upper levels? Or have you seen a personal fall arrest systemsthat will lock and hold a falling worker like a seatbelt in your car? Most likely you have not seen either of these fall protection systems in place for residential projects! Nearly one residential construction worker dies each workday as a result of falls. OSHA believes that no job is worth a life. For workers employed by a mid-sized contracting group or a small crew engaged in house painting or outside repairs, OSHA has published a new directive which mandates the use of fall protection for all residential construction workers at heights of 6 feet off of the ground. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Fall Protection Policy for Residential Construction went into effect on June 16, 2011.
It’s summertime again… time for barbeques, bathing suits, and sunscreen. We all know we should protect ourselves from the sun damage to skin, eyes, and possible skin cancer. I remember as a child the only available sun lotion was 2, 4, and 8, and it was considered healthy to get a little red. A result of that latent exposure to the sun was Melanoma that killed my sister at age 47.When asked about potential occupational “overexposure” to sunshine, I had to ask: Is there more to know about protecting workers from sun exposure? What are the regulations and occupational exposure recommendations for exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation? Here are some answers ….
Since summer vacation usually means no kids in attendance, it is the time of year when schools generally address their big asbestos issues. So instead of students and teachers filling the classrooms, they are replaced by a range of very specific professionals that are required to get any asbestos inspections, removal, repair, encapsulation and enclosure done! Learn more about asbestos removal in schools including AHERA regulations.
In reality, information equals power. The more we know, the better decisions we can make. If we have only half the important details, we will make weak decisions. Let’s use some history to drive this home. Although the Allied Forces ultimately won WWII, overconfidence from the D-Day invasion and the quickness with which the Allies pushed the Germans eastward across France, caused Eisenhower to underestimate the tactical abilities and determination of Hitler’s army. This resulted in the disastrous Operation Market-Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. Because of lack of current data in the Market-Garden strategy, the Allies were not in Berlin by the end of 1944 as they expected. Instead, by December of 1944 the Germans had broken through into the Allies’ line of advance in the Ardennes and caught us ill-prepared. Poor intelligence cost tens of thousands of lives. This is perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of “not enough information”, but it makes the point. Amazingly, with the communication capabilities of today’s wireless, cellular, Internet and other “instantaneous” technologies, many choose NOT to use this power to gather all the project information that they can get.
Slips, trips, and falls aren’t at the top of anyone’s “most glamorous” EHS topics list. Many people perceive slips, trips, and falls as minor incidents resulting solely from either carelessness or clumsiness. Quite the opposite — slips, trips, and falls are a very costly and serious worker safety issue. In 2008, these incidents cost American businesses a staggering $13.67 billion in direct workers compensation costs. That’s more than any other cause and more than the combined cost of the third through sixth ranked causes.
At Emilcott, we frequently run into job sites with high potential for poison ivy exposure…think about the uncleared, overgrown or unkempt places that surveyers, highway workers, laborers, HazWOPER workers, engineers, inspectors, construction workers, and landscapers, often find themselves! Outdoor workers who can be exposed to poison ivy must know how to recognize, prevent and administer first aid.
OSHA has been busy throughout May 2011! The following is a summary of highlights of interest to Emilcott clients. In a nutshell, instead of putting the onus on employers to become more aware of OSHA, OSHA is streamlining existing rules to match other government agencies (radical!), listening to employers before leaping into new regulations, and looking at alternative messaging techniques to market segments that frequently fall in the cracks.
What scares me the most are the ticks that I don’t find, not the ones I do find. As a resident of New Jersey, I have noticed more ticks this spring than I can personally remember in the past few years. Maybe it’s because I have been in the field more (I’m a Professional Land Surveyor) or my dog is covering more acreage in the woods. Based on my own experiences, I tell anyone who ever has any symptoms of Lyme to get to a Lyme and vector borne disease specialist immediately
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