Practical Facilities Tips, News & Advice.
How likely are you to see an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspector? The agency’s continually growing list of emphasis programs offers one clue. Then there are the OSHA standards the agency cites more often than others. OSHA recently announced its top 10 most frequently cited safety and health standards for fiscal year 2022. […]
Ensuring the safety of the people who occupy your facilities should be your No. 1 goal. A safe facility generally means that the people working there are doing better work. Those who come to work feeling safe can apply all their energy to the task at hand instead of worrying about whether something bad will […]
The construction industry fall protection standard remains the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) most frequently cited standard for the 12th year in a row, the agency announced on September 20. Patrick Kapust, acting director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented a list of preliminary figures for fiscal year (FY) 2022—the fiscal year ends September […]
It’s a logical assumption that having an intelligent layout for your facility can only be beneficial for the employees’ safety. The design and thinking behind a layout contribute much to how safe a workplace will be. WorkSafe Victoria in Australia states, “One of the best ways to prevent injuries and fatalities in the workplace is […]
In observance of the International Day of Clean Air on Sept. 7, Fellowes Brands announced results from a recent national survey that found only 36% of respondents describe the indoor air quality (IAQ) at their workplace as very clean. The survey of 1,120 American workers who work on-site and indoors for their employer also revealed that 91% of respondents agree clean […]
COVID-19 has profoundly altered the way we work and, as a result, the way building owners and employers operate office buildings and other workplaces. As they’ve quickly adapted, they’ve embraced three new trends in access control and visitor management: digitizing these systems and moving them to the cloud; streamlining them to be more frictionless; and […]
Several years ago, a restaurant worker died while performing one of his regular tasks—cleaning a restaurant’s kitchen floor. To clean the floor more effectively and efficiently, he decided to combine two incompatible cleaning agents: concentrated chlorine bleach and an acid-based cleaning solution. An example of an acid-based cleaning solution is ammonia; however, reports of the […]
More than two years since the COVID-19 pandemic made Zoom calls a reality and daily commutes infrequent, employers are still juggling their return-to-work options among fully remote, fully in-person, hybrid, flex space, and shared space approaches. And now, it’s a dual effort on the part of both HR managers and facility managers to retain current […]
A nongovernmental task force recently recommended that building owners begin taking four steps to address SARS-CoV-2 infection risks in schools and workplaces: verifying building systems are performing as designed, increasing outdoor air ventilation, upgrading air filtration, and deploying portable air cleaners where needed. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission’s Task Force on Safe Work, Safe School, and […]
Buildings are more complex machines than most people realize. Understanding how to read a Building Management System (BMS) to troubleshoot maintenance issues is in itself complicated and often difficult. Most tenants don’t know how to effectively read their energy or water utility data, nor do many have interest in these items unless they are the […]