A FREE web-based resource that offers interactive tools and evidence-based resources to design effective worksite obesity prevention and control programs, including an obesity cost calculator to estimate how much obesity is costing your company and how much savings your company could reap with different workplace interventions.
Includes some good health related materials like tips for healthy snacks at meetings and links to state programs where they exist.
Check it out at www.cdc.gov/leanworks
CAT has some really nice safety materials free for the asking or as it goes on the internet, free for the taking. The one this illustration comes from nicely covers the general hazards of operating just about any kind of forklift.
It includes Safety Information for Operators, a sample Pre-operation checklist, and Information for Employers which applies specifically to OSHA regulations, but certainly addresses best practices concerning task training on MSHA sites with such equipment.
Download the PDF, print it out, and use it for a toolbox talk for operators or anyone who works were forklifts are used.
To supplement it you may want to use the fatalgram and investigation for a Coal fatality that involved such a piece of equipment. It happened on the surface of an underground mine, but the hazards apply to just about any mining or construction site.
Click here for: CAT Forklift Trifold (pdf)
MSHA has issued an alert to call attention to the fatalities that have occurred other than those at Upper Big Branch which of course has received much attention. A variety of posters are available on the MSHA site.
“Eight miners are dead because they were struck-by moving or falling objects. Roof falls and rib rolls crushed 7 miners. Six miners were killed working in close proximity to mining or haulage equipment. Three more miners lost their lives in explosions and fires; another miner was killed when he was caught inside rotating machinery; a contract miner fell to his death, a contract truck driver was killed when his truck went through a berm and over a highwall, and a miner drowned. Eight of the dead miners were contractors. Each life lost is a tragedy for a family, a mining operation, and a community.” – from the statement by Joe Main.
Click here for: MSHA Page with Links to Posters
MSHA’s Approval & Certification Center (A&CC) Customer Service Newsletter provides information of general interest to equipment manufacturers and others involved in the mining community. It is published twice yearly – in January and July.
The July issue is now available.
Click here for: July 2010 Newsletter (pdf)
Two recent fires occurred that involved front-end loaders. These fires proved very dangerous to miners and fire fighters because the off-road tires exploded, resulting in a dangerous release of energy. Large off-road tires can throw debris 900 feet when they explode. Although the exploding tires did not injure anyone during these accidents, one front-end loader operator received burns and injuries when he jumped from the loader
Click here for: Safety Flyer (pdf)
Because the Caterpillar operator manuals and other literature say that you must replace seat belts after three years, you may have to replace perfectly good seat belts. MSHA can enforce such requirements from manufacturers.
We can debate that for a long time, but let’s start back a step. Are you replacing seat belts when they become damaged or worn? While CAT’s policy may have created this firestorm (which is before the courts somewhere I’m told) it should at least lead us to take a good look and start by replacing seat belts that should be replaced. For that CAT has a very nice little tool. It’s a toolbox talk that provides a checklist that reminds us that it’s more than the webbing that should be examined. You can download the pdf file below. Why not give a copy to each of your operators (CAT equipment or not) and be sure that these lifesaving devices will function when called upon. I’ve also included an online checklist from an Australian aftermarket supplier.
If you are going to replace that seat belt and want to do it with something other than one from the manufacturer, be sure to meet the requirements of 30 CFR 56/57.14130(h) and 56/57.14131(c). They should have a tag on them showing adherence to the latest versions of SAE J386 or SAE J1194 standards. Check out the MSHA links below.
Resources: CAT Seat Belt Toolbox Talk, Seat Belt Safety Checklist, 30 CFR 56/57.14130, 56/57.14131, MSHA 2003 Final Rule seat belt update
ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration this week launched its annual roof fall prevention awareness program aimed at reducing the high number of roof falls that occur in the nation’s underground coal mines. Statistics show that more accidents and injuries from roof falls occur during the summer months than at any other time of year. As temperatures rise, humidity and moisture increase underground, making it easier for a mine roof or rib to fall.
“Underground roof falls continue to be a leading cause of coal mining fatalities,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “Miners and mine operators are urged to pay attention to roof conditions – not just in summer, but throughout the year.”
Since 2000, there have been 69 coal mining fatalities attributed to “fall of roof or back and fall of face/rib/pillar/side/highwall.” During the agency’s Preventive Roof/Rib Outreach Program, also known as PROP, which runs through September, MSHA personnel will advise operators to examine roof that has weathered due to humid air; communicate immediately with miners when they observe adverse roof conditions; install supplemental support when conditions warrant; scale loose roof in the face area where miners work; and consistently follow the approved roof control plan for their mines.
Beginning this week, federal mine inspectors will distribute educational information including posters and hardhat stickers to remind the coal industry about potential hazards and suggested remedies. MSHA officials will speak directly to miners about the problems warmer weather causes for underground mines and present them with pertinent statistics about the increase in accidents during the warmer weather months.
Click here for: MSHA Press Release (pdf), PROP page
Vacation travel and road work seem to go together. Make sure you and others are safe this season with the ASSE Work Zone Safety Brochure. Just click on the link to download the pdf file that you can print and post or distribute. It’s loaded with safety tips for workers and travelers alike.
Here's wishing you and your loved ones a very happy and SAFE holiday season. Click HERE to visit holidaysafety.org for some great safety materials.
The National Safety Council has been in the news several times this Summer about it's support on banning cell phone use by drivers. A new site at www.deathbycellphone.org has some convincing materials including the story of two families who lost members to an accident that involved the other driver using a cell phone. There are also some interesting statistics. In fact each year over one hundred times as many people die in cell phone related accidents than died in Metal Nonmetal mines last year.