Jennifer Yario

You’re at work wiping down commonly used surfaces. Three minutes after you’re done, a co-worker comes in and touches the surface briefly. “It’s probably still clean,” you think. “I don’t need to wipe it again.”

When it comes to products being misused in the workplace, many people may not think of lighting-related items, but it’s happening and employers need to pay attention. Misuse “is probably the biggest issue employers and workers face” when it comes to workplace lighting and flashlights, says Dawn Dalldorf-Jackson, director of sales, industrial division, at Streamlight Inc.

Signs and labels are one of the quickest ways to convey safety messages to workers and visitors. Safety+Health spoke with Colwin Chan, group product manager for Avery Industrial, to find out what’s new in the area of safety signs, what customers are looking for when it comes to labels and what’s on the horizon.

COVID-19 has dominated the world the past year, and employers have been challenged to protect their workers from exposure to the coronavirus while keeping operations up and running.

When dropped from height, even small objects such as hand tools can cause serious injuries to workers below. So how can these injuries be prevented? Experts from several leading safety product manufacturers told Safety+Health that tethering systems should be part of employers’ work-at-height programs.

Failure to control hazardous energy; a lack of equipment, training and/or maintenance; and now COVID-19 are just some of the hazards that put plant workers at risk of injury or illness.

It’s been nine years since the Fall Protection – General Requirements Standard (1926.501) moved to No. 1 on OSHA’s Top 10 list of most cited violations, knocking off the previous top-spot holder, Scaffolding (1926.451). And it has stayed in the top slot ever since. Why? Experts who spoke with Safety+Health had some thoughts to share on the subject.