The Safety Brief

Counterfeit electrical products, such as circuit breakers and electrical panels, can cause a building to go up in flames. Hear how to spot the counterfeits.

Not just consumer products. There are fake electrical products now at the very heart of electrical safety in building construction. Wiring, infrastructure and switches—which detect a fault condition and interrupt current flow—are all being counterfeited and sold at hard-to-believe prices. In this podcast, Dan Clark explores the danger of counterfeits, and how to spot them.

See more, including examples and links: www.thesafetybrief.com/counterfeit-electrical-products

A hazard control hierarchy is simply the steps a company can take to reduce workplace hazards. Hear how to build a hierarchy of hazard control. PPE is the lowest on your list of worker safeguards. It’s the LAST barrier a worker has to injury. Other actions to reduce hazards come above PPE on a pyramid of steps.To keep employees safe, companies should consider these steps in their Hierarchy Of Hazard Control: (1) Elimination and substitution, (2) Engineering controls, and (3) Administrative/work practice controls, all before (4) PPE. All are all discussed in this podcast.

Snow shoveling heart attacks have caused 14 deaths this month, February, 2015, in Chicago alone. Hear why, and how to avoid them.We reported this danger at the start of winter, but it’s worth repeating. Snow shoveling is very hard on the heart. Clearing sidewalks and driveways can raise the pulse above recommended limits after only a few minutes of shoveling. The rate is so high, it’s beyond the safe range of healthy people, let alone the average person. Add the hazard from constricted blood vessels due to cold weather, and you’re looking at a heart attack.Also in this podcast, Dan Clark describes “heart attack snow,” and why heart attacks are so frequent. Hear how to avoid them at work, or at your house. 

Avoid the Fatal Four construction dangers. They kill more workers on job sites than any other. Listen and hear how to avoid them.Over 58% of construction fatalities in 2013 resulted from Caught-in/Between accidents; Electrocutions; Struck-By Object accidents; and Falls. In this podcast, Dan Clark details the statistics from OSHA.Dan also gives tips on what both employers and workers can do to avoid the Fatal Four.

See more, including links, at www.thesafetybrief.com/avoid-the-fatal-four

Every worker can benefit from these 6 jobsite posture tips. Learn how avoid stooping, squatting and twisting at the construction site or office. Hear what’s wrong with raising your arms above your head. Hear what’s wrong with conventional hand tools. Hear how poor posture and bad ergonomics can cause musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).Plus, in this podcast, Dan Clark gives you good info you can use about work shoes, and ergonomic hand tools. All in just 4 1/2 minutes!

Trench and excavation hazards are higher than general construction. Cave-ins kill two workers every 30 days. Hear how to keep workers safe in your big digs. In this podcast, Dan Clark describes trenching protective systems, including sloping, benching, shoring and shielding.

You’ll also hear tips from safety official and excavation expert Dan Taillefer about the dangers of interrupting utilities, vehicle traffic, weather and more.Also discussed are OSHA requirements on soil types (A, B and C), means of egress (ladders, stairs or ramps), and regular inspections by a competent person.

Contaminated work clothes should be washed or tossed. Only some can safely be washed at home. Others should be laundered at work, or deemed hazmat! When you drag your dirty carcass home after work, you could be putting family and friends at risk. Your work clothes can spread small, but dangerous, amounts of toxic material in the domestic setting.

Many substances are life threatening, so listen to this podcast as Dan Clark tells of the dangers. Dan gives details on how workers in some industries should wash their work clothes separately from other laundry. Also, in some industries, the work clothes should never leave the workplace. In extreme cases, the work clothing should be treated as hazardous materials.

Chemicals that cause hearing loss are called ototoxic substances. Hear how to protect workers from these common industrial chemicals. Loud sounds in the work environment aren’t the only culprit in hearing damage.

In this podcast, Dan Clark tackles ototoxic substances, which can march to your inner ear and give it a smack-down. Hear Dan describe the chemicals and metals, and how workers can stay safe around them.

Fiberglass ladders can be damaged by sunlight, exposing itchy fibers. Eventually, it weakens the ladder, which will need to replaced. In this podcast, Dan Clark talks with ladder expert Dave Francis of Little Giant Ladder Systems.

Dave explains the proper care and feeding of fiberglass ladders, and why UV damage can’t be repaired with coatings or sealers. Dave also gives a brief description of wood ladders, and why they are sometimes conductive.

Hot work, such as welding, by storage tanks is obviously dangerous. But even tanks which are seemingly empty or contain normally non-flammable substances are risks for explosions. In this podcast, Dan Clark tells the story of how a storage container of just water and fish residue caused an explosion and worker death during hot work.

Tanks should be continuously monitored for combustible gas, as the danger of flammable gases often increases from early morning to midday when tanks are heated by the sun. Dan also relays other recommendations from the US Chemical Safety Board and OSHA on preparing for welding, grinding, cutting and other hot work by storage tanks.