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There are four basic types or classes of fire extinguishers, each of which extinguishes specific types of fire. Newer fire extinguishers use a picture/labeling system to designate which types of fires they are to be used on. Older fire extinguishers are labeled with colored geometrical shapes displaying a letter designation.
Back injuries cause municipalities to spend thousands of dollars each year for medical treatment of workers or for permanent disability. Delivery of public services are also adversely affected by injured or absent workers.
Oklahoma’s staggering economy is causing decision makers in every municipality to look for ways to stretch budget dollars. This means that the safety of your workplace is becoming more important than ever. Workplace injuries are becoming more expensive and in turn affect the “bottom line” of every municipal government.
Sometimes safety isn’t foremost in our minds. For some, a severe injury to an employee is a remote possibility and hardly worth worrying about. For others, the risk of injury seems out of proportion to the financial rewards that can be gained. The justification of this reasoning is “if something happens, insurance will cover it.” Still others believe that there is no way to get the job done safely without spending money they just don’t have.
The belief that municipal decision makers must choose between working safely and maintaining an already strained budget is a wrong paradigm. Here are seven things decision makers can do to reduce the risk of worker injuries without adding prohibitive cost:
Is your Municipality contemplating a reduction in force due to a budget shortfall? Does your Municipality have more than 20 employees? Is your Municipality offering a severance or early retirement agreement to employees over the age of 40 in exchange for a release of legal claims? If so, the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act ("OWBPA") applies.
Did you know slips, trips, and falls are second only to automobile accidents in causing personal injury? On stairways alone, falls result in over 2 million disabling injuries annually. There are thousands of minor injuries caused by slips, trips, and falls each year. These facts are no less true in Oklahoma cities and towns. Most alarming is the fact that more than 1000 deaths are recorded each year due to falls on the job. Today’s discussion will cover what we can do to prevent slips, trips, and falls in the workplace and at home.
What can be said about protecting your eyes? It is pretty basic: “You would be very foolish indeed if you did not protect your eyes at all times while on the job.” Your eyes, one of the most important organs on your body, yet we take them for granted and fail to protect them perhaps more than any other body part. Thousands of eye injuries occur annually to municipal workers.
Is your Municipality drug testing employees? If so, are you complying with State and Federal laws? Although employers are not required to drug test employees, the Oklahoma Standards for Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Act[i] (“Act”) allows employers to drug test applicants[ii] and employees[iii] under certain conditions.
The following article is taken from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Fatal Facts newsletter. It proves that unauthorized entry into sewer manholes is always extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal.
There is absolutely no reason for anybody to get hurt, disabled, or killed while using a ladder or scaffolding. Yet it happens every day. Somebody steps on the safety label that says, “This is not a step!” and ends up with a broken leg. Another worker puts a rock under one of the legs because the ladder is just not quite stable enough. On the way to the hospital grimacing in pain with a broken arm they state “maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.” On another job, a guy reaches out just a bit to far and … well… he’s no longer with us. Virtually every single ladder or scaffolding accident could and should have been prevented. It only takes a little bit of common sense, SAFETY SENSE, to prevent an accident from occurring. Stick to the following simple rules to ensure that you or a co-worker is never injured while using a ladder or scaffolding.
Each year serious injuries and deaths occur in the workplace as a result of unsafe jack, stands, lifts, and hoist use. Although safety responsibility for these devices must be shared between employer and employee, the ultimate responsibility for safety lies with the individual worker. Even where there is close supervision, the worker makes the final decision on how to do the job.
