Wire ropes are critical components of cranes and play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and efficiency of crane operations. To extend the life of these ropes and maintain their strength and performance, it is essential to regularly lubricate them. (more…)
As an experienced safety consultant, I am called on to investigate a wide range of premises liability incidents. One common premises liability incident that often results in serious injury is a fall on a painted walking surface.
Slip and fall accidents can be devastating, causing serious injuries and even death. To prevent these accidents, it is important to ensure that walking surfaces, including painted ones, are slip-resistant. In this article, we will discuss the various methods for treating painted walking surfaces to make them slip-resistant. (more…)
As an experienced safety consultant, I’m called on to investigate a wide range of premises liability incidents. One common premises liability incident that often results in serious injury is a fall on an improperly painted or maintained walking surface.
Slip and fall accidents are a common occurrence and can lead to serious injuries and even death. Painted surfaces are one of the most (more…)
Visibility aids, such as lighting, reflectors, and fluorescent material, are marketed to vulnerable road users (VRUs) like pedestrians and bicyclists as a way to enhance their safety on the road. These visibility aids increase the VRU’s contrast within the roadway environment therefore increasing their visibility. However, increasing visibility does not necessarily mean enhancing conspicuity. For example, the key difference between a visible pedestrian and a conspicuous pedestrian is that a visible pedestrian is distinguishable from their background whereas a conspicuous pedestrian “grabs” the driver’s visual attention. (more…)
There are various visibility aids marketed for vulnerable road users (VRUs). Here, the term VRU is used to describe unprotected road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists. Visibility aids are designed to increase a VRU’s contrast within their environment, making them more distinguishable from the background to a driver. These visibility aids can include both active and passive ways to increase the VRU’s contrast, therefore their visibility. As the name implies, active visibility aids actively transmit light and are powered by a source (i.e., battery powered bicycle headlights and taillights) while passive visibility aids passively reflect light coming from outside sources (i.e., fluorescent, and retroreflective clothing).
There are a wide variety of active visibility aids to choose from on the market. For example, (more…)
From a young age, many children are typically drawn to things that are fast. Fast toys, fast race cars, sports that require speed. Is it possible that “feeding” this desire tends to make many of us resist, whether consciously or subconsciously, the request or demand to “Slow down!” once we’ve grown up, even when we know that it is the right and wise thing to do? Now couple this with the natural tendency of most businesses to push for more productivity by doing things faster and more efficiently. This can be dangerous when we take this combination into a workplace where forklifts are a necessary and integral part of the day-to-day operations.
Race cars are designed to go fast, and they rely on a properly trained and experienced driver to complete a race successfully and safely. Forklifts are designed to lift and transport heavy loads, and they also rely on a properly trained and experienced driver to (more…)
How far away from a hazard should you stay? Your parents or grandparents would probably have told you to stay far away, but what are you to do when a hazard is present, and you must work around or near the hazard? And what exactly is a hazard? ISO 12100 Safety of machinery – General principles for design – Risk assessment and risk reduction defines a hazard as a “potential source of harm.”
Where would a designer of a machine or product start if they wished to protect the user from a known hazard? Consensus standards are a great place to begin the quest for safety. (more…)
As the temperature outside slides from the cold to the “bitter” cold range on the thermometer, most people tend to turn the heat on inside their home. Some homes, however, do not have whole house heat or sufficient heating capacity and therefore the occupants may rely on portable space heaters. Portable space heaters, used properly, can be a good choice to warm a small area of a home. Unfortunately, while they can warm your cold and tingling hands and feet, they can also warm nearby materials to the point of ignition. (more…)
In my two previous blogs, we first discussed wet sprinkler systems (Wet), the most basic and most common fire system type followed by dry sprinkler systems (Dry), which are a bit more complicated. Ratcheting up another level, in this last edition on sprinkler systems, let’s take a look together at preaction and deluge systems. These can be complex and variable, so we’ll operate at the 30,000 ft level. (more…)
Across industry and construction sites, there are times when employees of different employers are working side by side, or at least on the same site at the same time. Some industry examples are when chemical plants have contractors on-site for routine maintenance or during process shutdowns for major overhauls or repairs. OSHA refers to these as multi-employer worksites. In December of 1999, they revised their citation policy which allows for more than one employer at a worksite to be cited for conditions that violate OSHA standards. (more…)
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