Have you every heard of Safety Toolbox Talks?

If you are part of the safety team for your company or organization, this is a free safety resource exchange for safety professional.  The site give you all kinds of information and it is FREE!

From their website, “Safety Toolbox Talks was started in 2007 as a portal for safety professionals to share and exchange free safety topic resources . . . specifically Toolbox Topics, Toolbox Talks and other free safety resources. If you’re like so many companies these days, the daily safety meeting has proven very effective in reminding employees about the importance of safety in their daily tasks.”

Safety Toolbox Talks offers a wide  variety of topic which include:

• toolbox talks
• home safety
• driver safety
• safety videos
• safety news
• OSHA quick takes
• and much more.

With the safety budget shrinking, we need a place to get information and resources with as little cost as possible.  So check out Safetytoolboxtalks.com.  I think you will find it helpful and informative.

Recently I was working on updating our respiratory program, and training that both the employee and supervisor could easily understand and still meet OSHA 1910.134. How fortunate that on February 12, 2011 the DOL came out with a new training video.

The 33-minute video explains the major components of a respiratory protection program including fit-testing, medical evaluations, training, and maintenance. The video also discusses the difference between respirators and surgical masks, and features a segment on common respiratory hazards found in healthcare settings, including airborne infectious agents that cause diseases such as tuberculosis, pandemic influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), chicken pox, and measles.

Demonstrations also show how respirator use helps protect workers from exposure to airborne chemical hazards such as formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, which are used commonly in hospital laboratories to preserve tissue samples for medical analysis. These toxic substances can cause eye and nasal irritation, headaches, asthma, and other symptoms. Additionally, formaldehyde is a carcinogen and has been linked to nasal and lung cancer, with possible links to brain cancer and leukemia.

“Employers can’t rely on respirators providing the expected protection if they don’t train their workers on how to use them properly,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “This video is an important training tool that teaches proper respirator use and discusses employers’ responsibilities under OSHA’s respiratory protection standard.”

Intended for both employers and employees, the 33-minute video covers the main components of a respiratory protection program, the difference between respirators and surgical masks, and common respiratory hazards in health care settings – including airborne infectious agents that cause diseases such as tuberculosis, according to an OSHA press release.

The other night I was driving down a street and came to a large construction area where they were building a new bridge across the road.  As I looked up I saw 2 large generators suspended from the idle crane, swinging in the breeze.  This is a common practice to protect generators from being stolen.  NOT SAFE.

Recently there has been a number of crane incidents and deaths.  This has lead OSHA to propose new crane standards.  Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, said “This draft rule will both protect construction employees and help prevent crane accidents by updating existing protections and requiring crane operators to be trained in the use of construction cranes.”  In March The Compliance Resource Center published an article about which includes an 8 minute crane safety video from OSHA.

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There has been 2 recent, serious incidents and deaths involving cranes.  OSHA compliance is for cranes and derricks is found at 29 CFR part 1926.550.  Here is a link to an ABC news video describing recent crane incidents including the “The Big Blue” crane incident in Milwaukee.

The Crane Certification Association of America in Vancourver, WA purpose  is to promote crane safety, improve the certification profession and address the subject of crane safety in governmental forums.

In fulfilling its purposes, the Association shall have the following objectives:

• To develop and/or promote educational information for increasing the knowledge and capabilities of the membership.
• To develop and/or disseminate information and materials that will carry out the purposes of the Association and serve the public.
• To provide and/or support forums for the interchange and acquisition of professional knowledge among its members.
• To foster liaison with governmental agencies that implement such other programs and projects that are consisted with the purpose of the Association.
• To conduct its affairs in a manner that will reflect the standards, purposes and objectives of the Association.
• Provide testing for practicing crane surveyors.
• Provide a professional designation to all members who successfully pass the Certified Crane Surveyors (CCS) test.

Another association which promotes safety is the CMAA Crane Manufacturers Association of America.  The CMAA is part of of the OSHA Alliance Program.  

Here is a link to an 8 minute video about crane safety provided by OSHA and The Department of Labor.