Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
The 2016 edition of the NFPA 72 Fire Code contains the up to date definitions that are in keeping with advancements in technology and processes. By adopting the changes in the updated NFPA 72, fire alarm system designers and contractors can avoid confusion with the proper installation, use, and operation of today’s systems.
Every so often there’s a facility-related story that is too strange to ignore. This week, there were two. Since it’s Friday, let’s have a weird news roundup.
October is National Protect Your Hearing Month! In workplaces where noise levels exceed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) action level of 85 A-weighted decibels (dBA) as a time-weighted average, employers must have a hearing conservation program. Along with reducing noise levels and noise exposures, selecting appropriate hearing protection, audiometric testing, and recordkeeping, employee […]
Many employers have questions about what specific footwear would best fit their foot protection programs. Experts at Safety.BLR.com® recently stepped in to answer two questions on the subject—see what they had to say, plus download a free guide from Tingley to get your program on firm ground!
The latest safety trend for construction workers may have been established by a New York City (NYC) law signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in October 2017. Local Law 196 set forth new training requirements for employees at certain construction jobsites. The requirement—a minimum number of hours of training on specific safety subjects for workers […]
When a major retail business moves to shutter its operations the impacts have major reverberations, especially when that business is the size of Circuit City, Borders Books and Music, or Toys “R” Us. In the case of the latter, the rapid closing of the toy giant left 31,000 employees without work and close to 800 […]
Despite OSHA’s 2014 rule strengthening provisions that require employers to inform the agency about work-related fatalities and serious injuries and illnesses, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that OSHA’s data on these incidents are deficient as is its assurance that employers abated the hazards that contributed to the incidents.
Below is a question that recently came in to our Safety experts regarding training frequency requirements for Aerial Lift Operators.
A series of explosions in three Massachusetts towns in mid-September resulted in one fatality and several injuries. The incident and the resulting investigations and pending litigation are a reminder of the costliness of failing to conduct proper maintenance and monitoring of equipment to ensure its safe operation and performance.
Three public interest groups have petitioned the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to order OSHA to lift its suspension of portions rule requiring employers to electronically submit certain information about injuries and illnesses that occur in their workplaces to OSHA. According to the petition, OSHA suspended the requirement to submit the information […]