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How Employers Can Provide Safety Training for Employees

By law, it is the responsibility of every employer to provide safety training to the employees, where it is necessary. Every workplace poses its own unique hazards. Therefore the training should include everything from general safety issues to hazard control. Similarly, the employees need to possess the skills required to be safe and prevent accidents. For providing safety training to employees, employers should first survey the workplace for safety concerns. All businesses need to provide general safety training about fire safety and other general hazard awareness. However, other instructions will have to be industry specific. Creating a safety committee or appointing a safety awareness officer should be the next step. This committee will have to be responsible for reporting hazardous work conditions, providing correct training to employees and making sure that workplace safety sheets are available in the prominent places. Employers should also check with the government regulat

Steps to Lodge a Complaint on Unsafe Working Conditions to OSHA

OSHA or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is a federal agency that overlooks the enforcement of safe work practices at work sites. These standards aim towards minimizing the likelihood of workplace injuries and accidents. It is mandatory to comply with the OSHA standards. If your company has unsafe working conditions, you should immediately report it to OSHA. 1.Follow the protocol. Usually, OSHA prefers it that you report all your work place safety concerns to the employer first. This will give your employer the chance to look into these matters and fix them. Many a times, the employers are not aware of the unsafe working conditions existing at the company. 2.If you find that your employer is not doing anything about your complaint or ignoring it completely, move forward with the complaint process. Go through the official website of OSHA and find out whether your workplace is covered by a federal program. 3.Make your complaint. There are a variety of ways through which

Regulations Laid Down by OSHA on the Use of Power Tools

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has laid down specific rules that have to be followed by all those who use power tools. All companies and businesses that make use of these tools are required to follow all the regulations put forward by the agency. There are many workplace risks that are entirely unavoidable. However, OSHA focuses on prevention of danger and thus states that simple equipments like goggles and gloves can make a huge difference in the safety of the employees. Workers should make use of these equipments when they are working with power tools. Also, all the employees that are going to work with power tools and machinery are supposed to undergo proper training before they start working with them. All workers using power tools should not carry the tool by its cord, as mandated by the agency. Also, the power cord should not be pulled out of its electric source by force. These cords should be kept as far away as possible from any type of sharp and heat emittin

Heat Stress & OSHA

If your workers work outdoors for long periods and are subjected to high temperatures or are actively involved in physically exhausting work, then they may be susceptible to heat stress. In such circumstances, your employees are required to undergo the OSHA trainings in order to combat heat stress disorders and to prevent any further occurrences. Heat stress and other heat related disorders can result in anything from a moderate headache to tiredness and moderate rashes to severe sunburns, skin cancer and in some cases, a fatal stroke. This is why it is very important to identify and then treat the symptoms as quickly as possible. Heat stress is an issue that should not be taken lightly at all! Most heat stress disorders are caused due to long exposures to the sun and other high temperatures that may cause dehydration. What’s more, sweating is also the body’s way of attempting to cool off but can result in a tremendous loss of vital fluids and salts that the body needs to be hydrated.

Fixed Ladder Safety Requirements as per OSHA

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was first formed with a view of reducing occupational injuries and deaths. The construction industry involves the use of ladders. Injuries and fatalities occur due to the use of these fixed ladders and thus OSHA has laid down certain requirements to ensure that ladders are safe to use. OSHA 10 hour construction training courses teach all about the ladders and their proper use. Every fixed ladder should have rungs of a certain diameter depending upon its material. For example, in case of wood, the rung should have a diameter 1 1/8th of an inch. This will ensure that the rungs don't get damaged during use. The rungs should also have a uniform distance of no less than twelve inches. Similarly, every point on the ladder should be able to withstand at least a 200 pound load. The maintenance of fixed ladders is a must. To resist rust and corrosion, metal ladders should be painted and treated. Likewise, the wooden ladders should be tr

Get To Know Your Scaffolding Equipment a Little Better

Scaffoldings provide a great deal of support to workers and employees during any construction process. These are important instruments, for they are used when work needs to be done at a height from the ground level. This scaffolding equipment is available in both, movable and stable structures, with rollers and wheels. However, the movable ones are more popular because of their flexibility. This simply means that there is no extra time and effort wasted, in dismantling the scaffold, when it needs to be shifted from one place to another. These scaffolds simply slide from the front to the rear and they can also be raised or lowered in accordance to the need at hand. There are basically three different types of scaffolding equipment that are easily available in the markets. They are: 1.The H-frame 2.The light and 3.The versatile Workers can easily perform all their tasks with the help of these types of safety equipment. But usually, workers are not aware about such scaffolding equipment a