Dairy Worker Safety If you work with dairy animals or work in and around dairy operations, make sure you’ve been trained to recognize potential hazards and prevent possible injuries or illnesses. Get training on specific safe work practices for each task, material, and equipment. Know what personal protective equipment (PPE) you should wear for certain jobs and what safety precautions to follow when handling chemicals or when in areas of hazardous atmospheres. Most dairy worker injuries include strains and sprains, fractured bones, slips, trips, and falls, and animal-related illnesses. When disturbed, cows and bulls can move quickly with lots of momentum and...

Dermatitis Dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin from exposure to an irritant. The degree of inflammation is affected by the type of skin (pigmentation, dryness, hairiness), age, sex, season of the year, history of previous skin disease or allergies, and personal hygiene. Although one exposure to a substance may be enough to cause a skin reaction, workers can become sensitized through prolonged and repeated exposures to a substance. The delay can be as short as a day, but can be as long as several months. Generally, causes of dermatitis are chemical, mechanical, physical, or biological. Chemicals can produce reactions ranging from chemical...

The Ten Commandments Of Good Safety Habits In most everything we do, we find a "trick" to make the process easier and faster. After we develop these tricks, they become work habits in our everyday activities. Developing everyday safety habits can keep you injury free through the year. Here are ten safety habits to live by: Set Your Own Standards. Don't be influenced by others around you who are negative. If you fail to wear safety glasses because others don't, remember the blindness you may suffer will be yours alone to live with. Operate Equipment Only if Qualified. Your supervisor may...

The Basics of Safety Through Several Years  Accident Investigation Through many years of accident investigation and research in the field of accident reconstruction, leaders in the field of occupational accident prevention have concluded that there are specific reasons why accidents occur. They found that worker safety is dependent on worker behavior and human factors. They developed ten safety rules and, while some of you may have heard them before, they are worth repeating: STAY ALERT - and stay alive. The more awake a worker is, the less likely he or she is to get hurt. If you are unsure how to...

Hurry Up Can Hurt Sports cars competing over race courses marked with racing stripes. People who race on the job are marked with cuts, bruises, and bandages.There are places to race and places not to race. Speed belongs on the race course, not in the workplace. Almost everyone has been guilty of speeding through a job. We forget, until it's too late, that "hurry up can hurt." In just about every instance, hurrying on the job does not do much to increase productivity. Usually, it is simply an easy way to get a job done—get a tough job out of the way—or try...

Safety & Security After Hours Last one out turn off the lights!" If only it were that simple. In today's work environments, whether it's a fixed facility or a temporary job site, after hours safety and security is an important responsibility that shouldn't be overlooked. This involves more than just turning out the lights. A good approach is to use a checklist, to ensure that everything is checked for safety and security. The list can be customized to suit your own operation, and may include the following: Perimeter Fencing and Gates Vehicles and Machinery Roof Top Access Dumpsters and Recycle Bins Area...

Develop And "Sell" Your Safety Solutions The best ideas for improving the work environment often come from the people who are most affected by what happens in that environment-the workers. But how can employees effectively create solutions to their workplace safety problems, communicate their ideas for improvement to management, and have those ideas be seriously considered? Two tools are needed; a structured approach to solving problems and a way to submit formal suggestions. A Five-Step Approach to Solving Problems: Identify the Problem. Perhaps you already have a specific, perplexing safety problem in mind. It may be a piece of equipment or a...

Do You Know Someone New On the Job? The average person changes jobs eight times in a lifetime. How many different companies or different jobs have you worked? Do you remember how it feels to be the new kid on the block? How many times have you changed from a laborer to a carpenter, or from an ironworker to a welder, then to a leadman? Every time you have made on of these changes, you’ve faced a higher probability of being injured on the job. Studies show that in heavy industries up to 25% of injuries, or 1 in every 4 workers,...

Safety And Your Supervisor Is job safety important to you? Some people will say yes right away. Others may feel differently, at least when this question is first posed. But survival and avoidance of pain is a basic instinct for all. You may say that safety isn't important to you, but just wait until you get hurt. At that time, I'll bet you will think differently. Safety does not just happen. Remember the old adage, if something can go wrong, it will. We must work to make things happen right; that is, in a safe manner. But one person cannot do this...

Everyone Is Responsible For Safety Safety is everyone's responsibility! As an employee, you should: Learn to work safely and take all rules seriously. Recognize hazards and avoid them. Report all accidents, injuries and illness to your supervisor immediately. Inspect tools before use to avoid injury. Wear all assigned personal protective equipment. On the other hand, it is management's responsibility to: Provide a safe and healthy workplace. Provide personal protective equipment. Train employees in safe procedures and in how to identify hazards. Everyone must be aware of potential hazards on the job: Poor housekeeping results in slips, trips and falls. Electricity can cause...