In the earliest days of OHS, disputes of who was responsible for the payment of a workplace injury or illness was settled by litigation. Every US state eventually passed workers’ compensation insurance law to establish a no-fault system where responsibility for injury/illness payment nearly always falls upon the employer.
Full article: OHS expert witnesses in demand with new forms of litigation due to workplace injury disputes
Source: Safety Best Practices
Do we trust professional industrial hygienists’ judgment?
Anyone may call themselves an industrial hygienist and anyone may practice industrial hygiene. No license, certificate, formal education, or years of experience are required for someone to practice industrial hygiene in the United States. Whether IH is a profession, trade or practice is just semantics.
Full article: Do we trust professional industrial hygienists’ judgment?
Source: Safety Best Practices
Are long work hours unhealthy? The issue is more complex than it initially appears
Long working hours are now considered by the WHO/ILO to be the occupational risk factor with the largest attributable disease burden. WHO/ILO advise, “Protecting and promoting occupational and workers’ safety and health requires interventions to reduce hazardous long working hours.”
Full article: Are long work hours unhealthy? The issue is more complex than it initially appears
Source: Safety Best Practices
White Paper | 4 Steps tp Conducting a Job Hazard Analysis
Conducting a job hazard analysis helps both employers and employees identify potential dangers in the workplace, making it easier to prepare against occupational hazards, from the most common to the most severe.
Full article: White Paper | 4 Steps tp Conducting a Job Hazard Analysis
Source: Safety Best Practices
OHS professionals have an active role in diversity and inclusion within workplaces
CEOs Action for Diversity & Inclusion (1) state that “… diversity and inclusion are multifaceted issues and that we need to tackle these subjects holistically to better engage and support all underrepresented groups within business.”
Full article: OHS professionals have an active role in diversity and inclusion within workplaces
Source: Safety Best Practices
OHS pros need to consider all helpful vs harmful arguments
“First do no harm” is a fundamental ethical principle practiced among physicians and related healthcare professions throughout the world. OHS pros should be aware of its concepts.
Full article: OHS pros need to consider all helpful vs harmful arguments
Source: Safety Best Practices
Chemical risk communication with carbon dioxide as an example
OHS pros should know of chemical health and safety risk beyond the basics of what may be found in a safety data sheet.
Full article: Chemical risk communication with carbon dioxide as an example
Source: Safety Best Practices
Can PWFA transform how OHS is practiced?
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 1065, February 2021) is being fast-tracked into federal law. The bill has wide bipartisan support. President Biden campaigned on the law’s passage.
Full article: Can PWFA transform how OHS is practiced?
Source: Safety Best Practices
Does an abundance of titles hurt the OHS practice?
If the CIH and CSP are high-water marks for quality, what are the lowest quality OHS credentials? The constant flux of the unregulated OHS credential market along with hazy transparency and other issues e.g., no standard benchmark makes this an impossible question to answer.
Full article: Does an abundance of titles hurt the OHS practice?
Source: Safety Best Practices
Why is there OHS malaise in the U.S.?
Federal OSHA is stagnant and ill-prepared to regulate future risks. OSHA has only 1,850 inspectors to cover 8 million U.S. workplaces. OSHA has no regulations for rising concerns such as infectious disease, EMFs, psychosocial hazards, or ergonomics.
Full article: Why is there OHS malaise in the U.S.?
Source: Safety Best Practices