In some parts of the world insect-borne Lyme disease, malaria, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and West Nile disease are prevalent.  Many occupations like landscapers, loggers, farmers/ranchers, golf course grounds keepers, construction, surveyors, railroad, pest control, mining, and parks and recreation are at serious risk of having employees develop dangerous insect-borne diseases.

A company called “Insect Shield” has developed a process that makes clothing insect repellent!   It works on mosquitoes, fleas, flies, ticks, and dozens of other potentially dangerous insects.  Their clothing has been proven effective in various studies.  Their treated garments will withstand up to 70 washes.  Many employers and even the United States military are now using this new insect repellent clothing.

If your employees work out of doors, you need to check out this revolutionary new safety product.  Click here to see a video on how it works.

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A chemical hazards guide that I often take with me into the field is The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards.  It is intended as a source of general industrial hygiene information on several hundred chemicals for workers, employers, and occupational health professionals.  The information found in this guide will help users recognize and control occupational chemical hazards.

The Pocket Guide includes:

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NIOSH has published a free, downloadable, five part “eye safety checklist”.  Click here to download a printable copy.

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Here’s a tragic story about a terrible accident that happened to a temp (temporary) employee.  The name of the story is “Temp employees  more likely to succumb to workplace hazards“.   It’s written by Jim Morris and Chip Mitchell, and is published by NBC News.com.  Please click here to read this shocking and horrifying report.

Hopefully, articles like this will help to remind us all that even temporary employees are entitled to the same comprehensive safety training and protection that full time employees receive.

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Above is a photo of my favorite hearing protection - the QB2HYG by Howard Leight.  For most Safety Professionals (and others who are not in noisy areas all day) this may offer the best combination of protection, comfort, ergonomics, and price!

This unique type of hearing protector was specifically designed “for for people who are exposed to intermittent noise”.  Most safety people I know divide their time between the office and the work-floor.  Also, we move around allot, going from quiet areas to noisy areas and back to quiet areas.

When I was an company EHS Manager I would typically spend 30 – 50% of my time on the work floor.  These banded ears plugs are perfect for folks like us who are regularly doffing and donning their hearing protection throughout the work day.

What I particularly like about this specific model is that it is:

• Super fast on and super fast off
• You don’t touch the ear plugs with dirty fingers
• 25 NRR rating (23 and 27 NRR models are also available)
• The brightly colored band is highly visible showing all that you are wearing your hearing protection
• The wearer almost always gets a perfect fit (difficult to partially insert them like with regular ear plugs)
• Because the fit is often better, the noise reduction achieved is often better
• The end of the plug does not go as deeply into the ear canal as a regular ear plug
• Less wax build up on the plug
• Easy to see if an employee is wearing their hearing protection
• The plug will not touch dirty surfaces when set down
• The foam plugs at the end of the band are easily replaced
• Can reuse the same unit for weeks without changing the foam plugs - just wash them off
• I’ve used the same banded ear plug unit for over four years with daily washings and monthly plug replacement
• Just hang them on a hook or nail when not in use

While we do like this particular type of hearing protection, we must remind you that all hearing protection must be selected based upon a thorough and professional assessment of the actual workplace noise exposures that the worker is exposed to.

Over the years I have used dozens of different types of hearing protection.  These days, this is the only type of hearing protection that I own.  I like them so much that I wear them whenever I’m doing consulting work in a noisy workplace, or mowing the lawn or using power tools at home.

Click here or here to purchase these terrific hearing protectors.

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Often, we are asked what our favorite safety products are.  We are not a consumer products testing agency.  Our product opinions are not formulated in a lab; rather they are based upon subjective opinions derived from actually using the product in the field and on the work floor.

Buying safety shoes can be confusing because there are literally thousands to choose from.  We’ve tried many and have found wide differences between them.   We’ve seen cheap $39 shoes that are available from giant department stores.  We’ve also seen some very expensive, premium quality shoes for hundreds of dollars.   Our favorite (pictured above) is priced at $178 from Amazon.com .  We believe it represents a good value.

What we like about this specific model is that it has:

• slip-resistant soles
• electrical hazard resistance and a steel toe
• it’s light weight
• has leather uppers
• ankle support
• fast on and off
• comfortable wearing for an entire work shift
• good arch support
• memory foam that conforms to your foot
• certified as meeting ASTM F2413-11
• American made

In addition to the above features, this shoe also has built in “soft” metatarsal (instep) protection.   Because they use a “soft” instep protector, the wearer can more easily bend and climb than if a “hard” metatarsal protector were used.  If you are going to wear safety shoes you might as well go all the way and wear one that protects your metatarsals as well as your toes!  These soft and flexible metatarsal protectors only weight two ounces and greatly increase your protection.

While we do like these shoes, we must remind you that safety shoes must be selected based upon a thorough and professional assessment of the actual workplace safety hazards and exposures that the worker is exposed to.

I own a pair of these shoes.  After breaking them in, I find that they are so comfortable that I wear them when mowing the lawn and when hiking in the outdoors.

Click here to buy the men’s model, and click here to buy the woman’s version of this safety shoe.

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Howard Leight makes my favorite types hearing protection.  Click here to download their eight free hearing conservation posters.

One of my favorite all time posters is Howard Leight’s ”Earplug Fitting Instructions” poster (above).  This is the best such poster I have ever seen!  You can print it in two sizes – 8.5 x 11 inches, and 22 x 34 inches.  This poster is visually appealing and covers:

• Selection
• Proper fit
• Acoustical check
• Removal
• Maintenance

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Click here for 16 free, downloadable, safety posters from the WCB (Workers’ Compensation Board) – Alberta.  These high-quality, full-sized, colorful posters address the following subjects:

• Eye protection
• Hearing protection
• Housekeeping
• Modified work
• Respiratory protection

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I am often asked these four questions on hard hats:

     1.  Are hard hats required for this job?

     2.  What type of hard hat do I need?

     3.  Are stickers & paint allowed on hard hats?

     4.  Can hard hats be worn backwards?

In the USA, OSHA’s General Industry standard uses vague and non-specific language where it talks about where hard hats are required,  it reads -  “The employer shall ensure that each affected employee wears a protective helmet when working in areas where there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects.”  I determine if there is a potential for injury to the head from falling objects by: 

• performing an hazard assessment survey of the area in question to determine if it is possible for overhead objects to fall onto an employees’ head.
• evaluating historical OSHA recordable accidents and workers compensation claims to determine if there have been prior head injuries from falling objects striking an employee.
• interviewing employees in the area to determine if there have been near miss incidents where objects have fallen to the floor at a location where employees periodically frequent.

What type of hard hat should be worn?   The OSHA General Industry standard says -  “Head protection must comply with any of the following consensus standards: ANSI Z89.1-2003, ANSI Z89.1-1997, and/or ANSI Z89.1-1986.”   So, to determine what type and class of hard hat you need to review a copy of  ANSI Z89.1-2003 .  For readers in Canada, your hard hats will need to comply with CSA Z94.1.

As far as painting hard hats or applying stickers to them, OSHA has an official interpretation document on this subject.  My advice has always been to not paint or apply stickers to hard hats.  Hard hat manufacturers offer hundreds of styles of hard hats these days.  If, for example, employees want to wear hard hats that look like NFL football helmets, they can purchase them that way from the manufacturer without needing to modify them.  Also, most larger hard hat suppliers offer custom imprinting of hard hats by the factory.

Many workers like wearing hard hats backwards, but is doing so acceptable to OSHA?   In the USA, OSHA will accept the wearing of hard hats backwards if the hard hat was designed by the manufacturer to be worn backwards.   These days, many hard hat manufacturers offer models that are designed to be worn both frontwards and backwards.  

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Those bright yellow and orange high visibility vests aren’t just for roadway construction crews any more.  I’m seeing them worn all over the place in business and industry these days.  Employers have discovered that in certain high hazard work areas, it’s a good idea to have employees wear high visibility vests to provide an extra measure of protection. 

Below is a listing of six situations that I feel require the wearing of  high visibility vests:

• All new production employees should be required to wear safety vests.  I successfully implemented such a policy at two different companies.  We required new employees to wear the safety vests during the first 30 calendar days that they worked for the company.   Management did not have to enforce this policy, because the experienced employees came to believe in the policy so strongly that they enforced the rule themselves!
• Certain handicapped or disabled production employees should be required to wear safety vests.   At one company I worked for we had  some factory employees who were deaf.  The area where they worked was extremely dangerous.  If  an imminent danger were to occur, the deaf workers could not hear the warning shout, the alarm, or the horn.  We required the deaf employees to wear high visibility vests.  The other workers would watch out for the vest wearing deaf workers and give them an extra wide berth when working near them. 
• All employees who work in areas where there are inside powered industrial vehicles should be required to wear safety vests.  One company I worked for had a factory in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  Here, the provincial safety regulations require that employees who work in a warehouse (or in any area where fork trucks operate) wear a high visibility vest. 
• All employees who work outside the building in an area where moving vehicles are present should be required to wear safety vests.  This would apply to: grocery store shopping cart retrievers, parking attendants, car dealership sales-persons, airport curbside attendants, and yard workers who load trucks or move outside  inventory.
• All plant visitors should be required to wear safety vests.   This would include: accountants doing inventory, customers, contractors, office employees who travel through production areas, and vendors (even the guy who fills the pop machine).
• Accident repeaters should be required to wear safety vests.  First, you need to define who is an accident repeater.  For example, anyone with two or more recordable injury accidents in the preceding 24 month period.  The repeater should wear the vest until their record improves to the point where they no longer qualify as an accident repeater.

Amazon.com sells over 1,400 different types of safety vests.  Many cost less than $10!  To order, just click on the below Amazon ad and do a search using the words “high visibility safety vest”.

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