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Warehouse disaster fire and smoke

Determining Your Facility’s Disaster Risk Factors

As facility professionals, we pay close attention to newsworthy workplace disasters. Based on the scale and severity of these incidents, perhaps we assume they could not occur in our own organizations—after all, this is what we work to prevent. But the fact is, disasters can happen anywhere.

Will You Be Ready When the Next Storm Strikes?

It’s important for facility managers to be ready for any emergency, and that includes preparing for weather emergencies. So, when that dreaded alert from the National Weather Service pops up on your computer or phone: “Area Flood Warning” predicting storm activity such as high winds and heavy, sustained rainfall for your area, will your team […]

water sprinklers watering the lawn

Winterizing Your Irrigation System: What’s the Process?

In yesterday’s post, we took a quick look at professional and do-it-yourself (DIY) options for winterizing your irrigation systems, with a deeper focus on choosing the right equipment for the job. Today, we’ll take a walk through the process of winterizing, once you have all your equipment—including an appropriately sized air compressor—in place.

Low angle sprinklers in action.

Don’t Forget to Winterize Your Irrigation System

Property owners want to maintain a pleasant landscape for a host of reasons, such as attracting quality tenants or to portray themselves as a positive force for their community, among other reasons. Whether the landscape is beautifully ornamented or a simple, lightly planted green space, facility managers charged with maintenance and operations have come to […]

Marijuana (cannabis) buds and joints on a desk

Marijuana in the Workplace: Legalization, Testing Laws, and More

With more than 2,000 estimated growing facilities in the U.S., and with 5 times more employees than the coal industry, the cannabis (Marijuana) business is booming. Thirty-four states, along with the District of Columbia (D.C.), have medical marijuana statutes on the books. In addition, 10 states and D.C. have also approved it for recreational use, […]

Businesswoman holding her back in pain while working at her desk

Four Steps for Improving Workplace Ergonomics

It’s no secret that ergonomics programs often struggle to make an impact. All too often, they start off with a flurry of training and assessments and then fizzle out when people realize that there’s more talking about ergonomics than implementing ergonomics improvements. The ergonomics program starts to feel like more cost than benefit to management, […]

mold on a wall

A Checklist for Preventing Mold Growth in Your Facility

It’s been pretty damp lately in some parts of the country, given the dramatic amount of precipitation that fell in one form or another this past winter. For many parts of the country, spring is simply bringing more precipitation and the sun isn’t out enough to help deal with all the moisture. This leads to […]

fire alarm

Workplace Fire, is Your Organization Ready?

At 5:50 p.m. on May 9, 2015, with the workday wrapping up, a transformer exploded at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester, New York, 50 miles north of Manhattan. The sprinkler systems triggered, and emergency response crews scrambled, working to keep the fire from reaching the nuclear installation just 200 yards away. The […]

Office workers in surgical masks with coughing coworker.

Flu Protection: Respirators vs. Surgical Masks

The 2019-2020 flu season appears to be off to an early start, though we’re a long way off from the peak, which is typically hits in February. This can be a high-risk period for workers in healthcare facilities where sick people may be streaming in because of an extensive community outbreak. Healthcare employers are required […]