Falls are one of the most frequent causes of employee injuries and are also related to several of OSHA’s top ten list of violations, especially in the construction trades.  Your responsibility as an employer is to provide the training and tools to prevent employee falls, whether this includes fall protection devices–such as harness and lanyards–properly erected scaffolding, safe ladder use, or simply good housekeeping.  If you don’t provide these things, you may end up “taking the fall” for your employees.

It takes a lot more than a thesaurus to understand the meaning of complex OSHA and EPA regulations.  The OSHA requirements for General Industry alone fill almost 1000 pages!  These extensive federal, state and local regulations can be difficult to follow, but the agencies sometimes provide guidance which may make the task a bit easier.  Remember that not knowing what’s needed is not a defense; what you don’t know can hurt you!  If you need help figuring out what applies to your operation, contact CPSE.  We’ve got what you need; expertise, proficiency, know-how, competence…

Warning signs can be a very effective way of preventing accidents, and in most cases these are required by regulation.  Requirements include signs for emergency egress, signs for machine and electrical safety, signs locating fire extinguishers, signs for safe chemical storage and use, and many more situations.  Many of the OSHA regulations have signage requirements.  Failure to have the required signs can result in injuries, property loss, and non-compliance.

Safety is very much a matter of attitude.  It’s important for your employee to know their limitations and liabilities, and to be open to new ideas and change.  Employees will “buy into” your safety program if they feel involvement and ownership.  An effective safety training program is one way to get this point across.