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Safety Article for May: "QuickTips" from QuickTakes - National Electrical Safety Month

In observance of National Electrical Safety Month, OSHA is taking the opportunity to remind employers and employees about electrical hazards in the workplace and possible solutions for those hazards. Click here to read more. (05/05/07)

SCATS Safety Tip for May: Recording Injuries on the OSHA 300 Log when Physician Recommends Restrictions but no Restricted Work is Available

An employee is injured at work and placed on restricted work by a physician. The employer is not able to accommodate the employee in a work restriction and sends the employee home. Should the employer follow the physician’s mandate and record the injury as restricted work, or because no restricted work was available and the employee was sent home, must the injury be recorded as days away from work? Click here to find out the answer. (05/05/07)

North American Occupational Safety and Health Week Slated for May 6-12

OSHA and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) will kick off a week dedicated to transportation safety on May 7 in Washington, D.C. North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week is a joint venture with the United States, Canada and Mexico to raise awareness of occupational safety, health and environmental programs among employers, employees and the public. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., will launch the event at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Department of Labor. (05/05/07)

Youth Job Safety Campaign Focuses on Construction

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., and key construction industry stakeholders launched the agency's 2007 Teen Summer Job Safety Campaign during an April 17 event at Thomas Edison High School of Technology in Silver Spring, Md. Now in the second year of a five-year campaign, OSHA is striving to reduce work-related injuries among teenagers by teaching them on-the-job safety early in their careers. The multi-year project focuses on industries in which young people are likely to work during their high school and college years. This year's campaign focuses on construction. OSHA debuted its "Construction: Build a Safe Work Foundation" Web page featuring resources to educate young employees, parents, employers and educators about workplace safety. (05/05/07)

Tragedy Turns Attention to Workplace Violence

Five faculty members were among the 32 people murdered April 16 on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The Virginia Tech massacre has renewed the focus on whether employers can and should do more to reduce the likelihood of violence at the workplace, especially in a low-risk occupational setting. Click here to read more. (05/05/07)

All About OSHA Now Available in Spanish

OSHA's updated and refurbished informational guide All About OSHA is now available for download from the agency's Web site in Spanish. The guide is designed in a brochure format, rather than the standard magazine-style design, and provides a broad overview of OSHA and its operation. OSHA's mission, who is covered by OSHA, state programs, enforcement activities, standards setting, reporting requirements, cooperative programs, and whistleblower procedures, are just some of the topics covered within the brochure's pages. Printed copies will be available through OSHA's publications office. (05/05/07)

New OSHA Whistleblower-related Fact Sheet Available

OSHA posted on its Web site a new fact sheet entitled "Filing Whistleblower Complaints under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act," which explains how the Act provides civil and criminal protections for employees in publicly traded companies as well as their contractors, subcontractors, or agents. The Act prohibits employers from firing, demoting, harassing, or taking other adverse action against employees for providing information to their supervisors or the government relating to securities fraud. (05/05/07)

Voluntary Protection Programs Activity

Visit "recent approvals" on the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) page of OSHA's Web site to see the latest list of employers recently approved for new or continued participation in VPP. We encourage you to examine the entire VPP site to learn more about OSHA's premier cooperative program. (05/05/07)

SCATS Safety Tip for April: Good Accident Prevention or Good Luck?

"Of course I have a good accident prevention program! I’ve been in business for over 20 years and never had a fatality." Do those words sound familiar? Safety professionals hear those words all the time. Many of them can tell you horror stories of employers who may have said the same thing until one day their "luck" ran out. These examples were taken from OSHA Fatal Facts (www.osha.gov) and from inspection data on OSHA’s
website www.osha.gov. Click here to read more. (05/05/07)

Safety Article for April: Bush Order Extends Federal Workplace Safety Initiative

President Bush extended through fiscal year 2009 the federal government's initiative for Executive Branch agencies to reduce occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities within its ranks. Originally launched in 2004 and scheduled to run for three years, the Presidential Safety, Health and Return-to-Employment (SHARE) Initiative has helped the federal government make great strides in reducing injury and illness case and lost production day rates, and in substantially improving the timely filing of injury and illness notices. The President reaffirmed his commitment to improving workplace safety and health conditions for federal employees by allowing additional time for agencies to build on the momentum they have already developed. Click here to read more. (03/25/07)

Free Safety Training Classes Available!

SCATS updates their training classes every quarter. The current list is for April to June. Click here to see what's available. (03/25/07)

Safety Article for March: 'QuickTips' from QuickTakes

October - autumn colors, cooler weather, shorter days and, by the way, National Fire Prevention Month. Click here to learn more. (03/25/07)

OSHA Recognizes Spanish and Youth Online Outreach Training Programs

OSHA's Outreach Training Program recently recognized two new 10-hour online outreach training programs that meet the criteria outlined in OSHA's Online Training Guidance and are the first to be developed and accepted for a specific audience. CareerSafe's 10-hour general industry and construction courses target young employees, while OSHA Campus' 10-hour construction course accommodates Spanish-speaking employees. OSHA's Outreach Training Program is the agency's primary way to train employees on occupational safety and health matters. Over the past three years, more than one million employees received outreach training. Click here to learn more. (03/25/07)

New Page on Chemical Food Flavoring

OSHA has developed a new safety and health topics information page for employers and employees involved in the use or manufacture of chemical food flavorings. Flavorings-Related Lung Disease is posted on the agency's Web site and highlights links to OSHA standards, describes health effects, and offers safety and health resources for controlling associated workplace hazards. Click here to learn more. (03/25/07)

New Fact Sheet Available on Fall Protection

Employers and employees involved in working in and around aboveground storage tanks will benefit from a new fact sheet, a product of the Safe Tank Alliance with OSHA. Fall Prevention for Aboveground Storage Tanks describes how to ensure employee safety by recognizing fall hazards, developing prevention priorities, and using protective equipment. In addition, the fact sheet highlights safe climbing practices, specialized training, and other safety and health tips. Click here to read more about fall protection. (03/25/07)

Latest OSHA QuickCard Highlights Safe Driving Practices

Employees who use motor vehicles for work stand to benefit from a new QuickCard available on OSHA's Web site. Safe Driving Practices for Employees offers tips to ensure employee safety while operating a motor vehicle. This resource is a companion document to Guidelines for Employers to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes. Printed copies of the card will be available through OSHA's publications office next month. Click here to learn more about motor vehicle safety for your employees. (03/25/07)

Removal of Information from BLR

All information from Business and Legal Reports has been removed from this website due to the terms of their license and copyright agreements. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause our users. (01/13/07)

Safety Article for January: Best Readers' Safety Tips of 2006

In this week's issue we are highlighting the best of our readers' Safety Training Tips. Over the past year, readers have sent in safety tips to us to share in our Readers' Corner section. These tips have been informative, creative, and successful ways to improve safety training. Click here to read more. (01/01/07)

SCATS Safety Tip for January: Household Breathing Hazards

We hear a lot about respiratory protection in the workplace and the efforts of employers to protect employees from respiratory hazards such as smoke, mists, dusts, fumes, vapors and gases. But what about protecting our breathing when we are not at work? Perhaps you have said to yourself, "I’m not really exposed to respiratory hazards when I’m not on the job." Sound familiar? Let’s take a moment and look at some examples of breathing hazards that can commonly be found around the house. (01/01/07)