Latest Safety Content Feed

Ladders are still a safety issue

Jared Rader — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:38:17 -0500

Strange as it may sound, I am still regularly called to investigate accidents involving ladders. In the workplace, OSHA, in 2011, ranked ladder violations eighth with a total of 3,244.

GFCIs — What they are and are not

Jared Rader — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 08:30:49 -0600

Editor: Leland Teschler

Fuses and circuit breakers are included in an electrical circuit to prevent an electrical overload from damaging property, such as your house. But the electrical current needed to kill you is much lower than the amount that will cause the fuse or circuit breaker to burn out or “pop” and interrupt the electrical current flow.

Machine without e-stops, interlocks injures worker

Jared Rader — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:02:59 -0500

A worker at a poultry plant was injured when she got too close to a mechanism for stapling turkey bags. There were no interlocked safety gates or emergency-stop (e-stop) buttons on the machine when the accident happened.

Serious vibration and missing guard factors in hay-grinder accident

Jared Rader — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:39:19 -0500

From the safety files of Lanny Berke: A man was injured when part of the hay grinder he was operating broke free and struck him in the chest. The grinder was running without a drivetrain guard at the time of the accident.

Beware of unsafe guards

Jared Rader — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:25:27 -0500

One of the basic concepts of machine guarding is that a guard must not become a hazard or contribute to hazards. Thorough hazard analyses easily identify hazardous guards. Ideally, preliminary hazard analyses at the equipment manufacturer will identify and resolve guarding problems before they affect users.

From the Safety Files: Student burned by inadequate safety instruction

Jared Rader — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:12:17 -0500

A 10th-grade student was badly burned while grinding metal in his school’s metal shop when sparks ignited his clothing. He was unsupervised when the accident happened and was wearing minimal protective equipment.

Prosthetics technologies become safer and more reliable

Jared Rader — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:06:26 -0500

When accidents result in serious injury, amputations are not uncommon. My columns usually focus on factors that lead to injuries with little mention of an injured person’s recovery.

Lathe operator killed when guarding system fails

Jared Rader — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:38:40 -0500

A lathe operator was fatally injured when the bar stock he was machining came loose and struck him. The bar was guided and guarded by a pneumatic bar feeder which had not been properly secured.

Building Safety into Machine Guarding Equipment

andrew.davidson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:45:15 -0500

A worker from an outside company was severely burned after he stepped into molten zinc while installing an exhaust duct. Inadequate instruction about the hazards of the equipment and a lack of safety warnings and devices contributed to the accident.