Perhaps the most important lesson we’ve learned in 35+ years in the electrical industry is that those who work with electricity are at risk in any and every environment, whether a building is under construction, has been open and occupied just one day, or is 50 years old and has never had an incident: Electrical […]
Top 10 lists have been a favorite of late-night comedians for years, but no one did them better than David Letterman. If you enter “David Letterman Top 10 lists,” into Google, you’ll find dozens of websites, news articles and YouTube videos detailing years of Letterman’s top 10s. His lists always seemed to keep audiences in […]
Two often overlooked steps in an Arc Flash Study are the Coordination Study & Mitigation Strategies. Simply put, these are the steps that actually make the electrical system safer and reduce risks. There are many reasons that companies implement an arc flash study. They can include compliance, corporate policy or even insurance requirements. But let’s […]
Imagine this scenario: “Tom,” is a new employee in your plant’s maintenance department. As the plant supervisor, you ask “Joe,” your maintenance supervisor, to help Tom learn the job and show him the ropes. You specifically tell Joe, “Remember to show him how to de-energize the machines before he works on them.” So Tom shadows […]
When safety violations and citations are looked at separately, it’s easy to assume that they don’t happen very often. But that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, a handful of citations announced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during a three-day period in May indicates that safety violations happen quite often, and it’s […]
No, this is not a sermon. Well, perhaps it is…. It’s amazing to me that many facility managers and maintenance supervisors still think they don’t need to worry about workplace safety. You might be one of those who says, “Arc flash won’t happen to me,” or “There’s little chance of something happening in our facility.” […]
This month, we focus on a rather unique OSHA citation that points up the fact that every employer – regardless of the nature of their products or services – is subject to OSHA inspections, citations and fines. It also reinforces the fact that no employer is immune from potential hazards related to electrical safety. Case […]
What do Alabama, Illinois and New York all have in common? All are states where companies have been cited in recent months for workplace safety violations, including the employers’: failure to train employees in safety procedures; failure to require employees to adhere to safety procedures; encouraging employees to ignore safety procedures; failure to properly label […]
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration recently cited a Missouri manufacturing company after the death of a 58-year-old maintenance worker who was pinned between a scrap metal table and a railing. OSHA said the company failed to prevent the table from lowering unintentionally. The citation resulted in a penalty of $272,250. Specifically, OSHA issued three […]
We frequently use our blog to highlight OSHA citations resulting from accidents and injuries related to problems with electrical safety. Many of the incidents we have highlighted in this space could have been completely avoided. Unfortunately, they occurred because employers failed to follow, or failed to require that their employees follow, some fairly simple safety […]
