Overexertion- an expensive injury

It's important for employers not to underestimate the costs of overexertion injuries. The insurance company Liberty Mutual estimates that overexertion injuries account for at least 25% of all worker's compensation claims. Back injuries are also often chronic problems, resulting in ongoing issues and many work days lost for the employee.

While OSHA has no specific regulations regarding pushing, lifting, carrying, and pulling, it does require that employers train on all possible workplace hazards.

If you have employees that lift, pull, or carry heavier objects on a regular basis, we recommend that you introduce Back and Lifting Safety into your regular training rotation. It's a great way to remind workers about hazards, and keep them mindful of their own health and safety.

Electrical Safety Training Now Available

Affordable Safety Training has released its Electrical Safety Training. Train your employees on the hazards of working with or near electricity. This is the perfect accompaniment to your lockout tagout training. Get yours today!

Can you use a crane hook for a fall protection anchor?

Todays question comes from a gentleman in the oil industry. He wants to know:

"Can I use a crane hoist hook as an anchor for fall protection?"

Here is OSHA 29 CFR 1926's response:

1926.502(d)(23)
Personal fall arrest systems shall not be attached to guardrail systems, nor shall they be attached to hoists except as specified in other subparts of this Part.

Subpart M does not mention the permissible use of hoists anywhere, and neither does the Cranes and Hoists standard. So the answer is no, that they cannot be used.

Does your state have an Occupational Health and Safety Program

If you're just starting a Safety Program for your business, it's important to keep in mind that your state might have it's own OSH regulations which may differ from federal standards. Here's a list of all the states that have established their own programs, known as plans. Only about half of states have their own Occupational Health and Safety plans.
If your state has its own OSH plan, check their website. State programs are approved and monitored by OSHA, and their standards must be at least as effective as the compatible federal standards. Many states adopt federal standards for most things, and then create additional rules for jobs or industries not covered by OSHA regulations.
Jurisdiction will vary state by state. States are in charge of all inspections and enforcement in industries covered by state rules, while jobs and industries covered by federal standards that have no state counterparts are still under OSHA jurisdiction. Most states with OSH plans have jurisdiction over everything except a few specialized industries and federal employees. There are a few states with plans that only cover public sector workers.
If your state does have its own OSH plan, take advantage of the resources it offers. States offer training and education programs, and some even offer free on-site consultations. All very valuable to small businesses trying to develop workplace safety programs on a budget.

Safety for Small Businesses

Creating a safety program for your small business can be intimidating. Anyone who's waded through OSHA standards knows just how murky they can be.
But luckily OSHA understands. They have a web site just for small businesses from their Office of Small Business Assistance. That's where you can find the easy-to-read guides for some common standards, as well as locate your local office, and download resources to help you come into compliance. OSBA also offers free on-site consultations.
While you're there, be sure to download a copy of their Small Business Handbook. It provides advice on determining your workplace hazards, general guidelines, as well as action sheets for starting a health and safety program.
Starting your safety program doesn't have to be as difficult as you thought, and there are plenty of resources out there designed with your business in mind. Start a program today, and keep your employees safe.

Hazard Communication Program

Most businesses, even office and retail, are required to have a Hazard Communication Program. Is your company compliant with the Hazard Communication standard?

Here is a helpful video explaining what you need to be compliant:

You can find the complete Hazard Communication solution for your business at Affordable Safety Training!

The Safety Dance

Everybody!

P.S. Spanish Confined Space Training and Spanish Forklift Safety Training are now available at Affordable Safety Training.

Personal Protective Compliance Kits

With so many accidents taking place,Safety should be our top concern
these days.You never know when the safety alarm ring on you, so better
stay prepared with your own gear called the Personal Protective Kit.

Designed in accordance with CDC and OSHA recommendations, Personal
Protective Kits contains everything necessary to clean up blood,
spills,and bodily fluids.

You can also create your own kit bag by using the following items
antimicrobial skin wipe, latex gloves and protective gown.

The Personal Protective Compliance Kit is the complete solution for
your business.Go for a Written program with he OSHA PPE Standards, it
should contain everything you need to start and maintain your program

An OSHA certified Kit can help you certify your employees to work at
heights. OSHA mandates that employees be trained on procedures,
methods of hazard control control, Personal Protective Equipment, and
the written programs that are specific to YOUR business. No outside
body or training video can do that. By provide everything you need to
create those programs, and the training outline shows you learn how to
incorporate those into your training. Once completed, you can certify
your employees to work with Personal Protective Equipment.

Benfits of a Confined Space Program

A confined space is a space which is large enough for a person to enter and perform the assigned work. The means of entry or exit are limited or restricted.
It is usually temporary place which is not designed for continuous human occupancy.Tanks, pits, silos, and sewers are just a few examples of confined spaces.

Every year workers die in confined spaces. These deaths typically occur for two reasons:

1. Employers and workers fail to recognize and control the hazards associated with confined spaces, and
2. Inadequate or incorrect emergency response results in the death of the initial entrant, the would-be rescuer, or both.

Atmospheric hazards and physical hazards may be present in confined spaces. Atmospheric hazards include oxygen deficiency or enrichment, flammable atmospheres, and toxic air contaminants. Examples of physical hazards include moving parts in mechanical systems, release of stored energy in hydraulic or pneumatic lines, electrical energy, engulfment by loose materials, and drowning.

It is important in an industry to imply safety measures by writing a Confined Space Entry Program

The Confined Space Training Kit provides all the materials you need to train Fall Protection Trainingyour employees on Permit Required Confined Space Entry.

Affordable Safety Training is committed to providing safety solutions to our customers at a price that every business can afford. We do everything possible to keep costs low. We provide all the materials in electronic format to minimize printing and shipping costs, and pass those savings on to you.


Confined Space Training Materials Contents

Confined Space PowerPoint: A complete PowerPoint for training your employees.
Confined SpaceTraining Outline: A guide to building your training program.
Participant Worksheet: Keeps participants active during training.
Quiz and Answer Key: Used to assist in evaluating the participants learning.
Certificate of Completion: Record satifactory completion of the training and certify your employees to enter Confined Spaces.

Dangerous dust conditions Causes Explosion

In a recent story, Explosion at Georgia Plant and Louisiani killed 13 people.

The fines would be the third-highest in the history of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and include $5 million for the explosion near Savannah and $3.7 million for the plant in Gramercy, La., where authorities found violations a month after the Feb. 7 blast in Georgia that injured dozens of workers.

The investigators are still probing in the cause of the Explosion and carefully evaluating OSHA’s findings.

An initial investigation traced the explosion to sugar dust that ignited like gunpowder in a basement area, used to load sugar onto conveyor belts to be transported for packaging, beneath the refinery's 100-foot storage silos.

Three refinery workers are now hospitalized with severe burnS.

OSHA's report comes days before a Senate subcommittee holds a Tuesday hearing on combustible dust hazards focused on the Georgia explosion.

In this scenario, there is a need to force OSHA to adopt stricter standards on dust hazards. OSHA officials say existing regulations already cover them and rushing to enact new ones won't necessarily make workplaces safer.

This incident could have been avoided by going for the Job Hazard Analysis Safety kit,

Does you construction site have a safety plan?

Every construction site needs a safety plan. Get yours here: Construction Safety and Health Program.

Slower is usually safer...

Its never a good idea to hurry in a hazardous environment, especially when working at heights. Observe our friend Goob as he learns this lesson....

Does your company have a fall protection program and fall protection training? We have a great program for you at http://www.affordablesafetytraining.com/index.html.

Work safe today--heaven can wait.

When was the last time, you walked across a busy lane trying to protect your ears from deafening noise emitted by the Jackhammers and drill Rigs. Just imagine the irony of the construction workers who have to bear that noise.

High decibels of noise poise a serious threat to health at the construction site.
Recently New York City adopted more restrictive noise regulations for construction work by announcing an amendment which needs to be followed by everyone mandatory. It consisted of rules for the level of noise emissions. This rule provided noise mitigation strategies that the employee shall utilize in order to have control over the noise.

Students from the University of Washington have researched and identified high noise exposure levels among construction workers, and found that there is little compliance with the noise exposure standards. They have also found that more employees are complaining of hearing loss. The study also evaluated that only 20% of the professional trainers or construction supervisors are actually delivering hearing conservation training to construction workers
This survey brings to the notice the negligence to work safety.

Construction Equipments like Jackhammers, Pavement breakers, auger drill rigs,
warning horn, tractors , soil mix drill rig , vacuum street sweeper, concrete saw ,Pile Drivers, impact hammers and other vibratory drivers.

Noise mitigation strategies should be utilized and implemented at all levels to ensure a safe and healthy environment for employees, nearby residents and the pedestrians.

Some organizations are working hard to develop practical ways to prevent hearing loss in construction, and one of them is to buy a Hearing Conservation Training kit from AffordableSafetyTraining.

This training program contains the materials for company Hearing Conservation Training. It contains a training outline, Power Point lecture, participant worksheet, quiz, and certificate of completion at a low cost of $39.99 only.

The best part is every product at AffordableSafetyTraining comes with a 30 day money-back guarantee. So If this product does not meet your business need, just return it for a full refund! For more information log on to www.affordablesafetytraining.com

Alabama company cited for safety violations in plants

OSHA fined Energy Absorbtion Systems $115,000 for violations including:


* Failing to use lockout tagout procedures.
* Not using machine guards on equipment.
* Lack of a Lockout Tagout Training Program.

Here is the story:
Alabama Company Cited For LOTO Violations

Having lockout tagout procedures and training is a good way to avoid a $115,000 fine!

Here is a good source for Lockout Tagout Training, Written Programs, and Procedures:
Lockout Tagout Compliance Kit

Working safely is like breathing - if you don't, you die.

Over the past few months, a lot of cases on construction site deaths have been reported. Recently there were construction deaths at the job site in Miami, Las Vegas and New York City. Edgar Malloy, an employee from Las Vegas was found bleeding from the fan blades of a rooftop cooling tower as work went out at the Henderson offices.

It was reported that Malloy went up to the roof to check a problem with one of the cooling towers used for air-condition, Investigators believe he accidentally reactivated the cooling tower in course of resetting the unit's vibration sensor. On actually engaging the sensor, the fan started up, and his jacket and right arm became entangled. The spinning blades crushed his right elbow and fractured his skull.

Malloy's fatal mistake came when he climbed inside the tower without shutting off power to the unit, a procedure known as "lock out, tag out." For people who work on such electric-powered equipment, they should be made aware about the importance of a powering down equipment before working on it.

The traumatic death of Malloy has given an insight on the importance of workplace safety. A tragedy that could have been avoided with safety modules containing proper Lockout Tagout procedures.

One of the main causes of the death was the lack of adequate equipment and safety procedures for work inside the cooling towers used to air-condition the City Hall.
During the investigations of Malloy's death, one Henderson it was confirmed that the firm had "no safety system in place."

At a workplace, there is always a need of a OSHA certified safety training module. A Lockout Tagout kit was missing at the job site, which could have protected against unintentional startup of the equipment.

One should be Better a thousand times careful than once dead. And At Affordable Safety Training, they just do that. They provide low-cost and effective safety Solutions through safety training presentations, written programs, and safety compliance kits.

The safety training presentations and kits from AffordableSafetyTraining are being adhered by thousands of employees.

Jeremy Norton owner of Affordable Safety Training says that "Our safety kits help improve safety and communication.

The kit offered by AffordableSafetyTraining.com contains Lockout Tagout presentations, Lockout Tagout Training Outline, Participant Worksheet and a Quiz and Answer Key.

For more information on the safety kits logon to www.affordablesafetytraining.com

Accidents hurt - Safety doesn't

"It goes without saying that any accident is one accident too many."

The death of a young worker at a building material supply store near Edmonton recently has raised questions about the safety norms implemented in our vicinity.

Mitchell Tanner, 16, was killed on June 7 at the Rona Building Centre in St. Albert. According to media reports, Tanner was a passenger on a forklift, which was being operated by a 17-year-old, when it tipped over and crushed him. The incident is still under investigation by police and provincial officials.

Neither of these young men employed were trained and did not undergo prior training non the forklift. A tragedy that could have been easily avoided with proper Forklift Safety procedure

Most effective and efficient safety programs provide step-by-step training propagating safety measures incase of accidents. They also provide Training kits needed to train the employees on Accident Investigation.

At AffordableSafety.com, you can purchase The Fall Protection Compliance Kit which is the complete solution for your business.

One such Forklift kit is the one provided by AffordableSafetyTraining which provides all the materials like PowerPoint presentations, Outline, Participant Worksheet, Quiz & Answer key & Certificate of Completion and comes at just $79.99.

For more information on the product and kits, log on to www.affordablesafetytraining.com