Lead testing in the workplace: why is it so important?

For a long time, lead appeared to be something of a miracle metal. One of the earliest metals discovered by humans, it’s soft, malleable, and has a low melting temperature, making it perfect for a variety of applications. Back in the days of the Roman Empire it was used to build water pipes, aqueducts and even cooking pots (apparently to enhance the flavour of food!), whilst the ancient Egyptians used it as an ingredient in kohl, a cosmetic applied to the eyes. In more modern times, it was used in ammunition, ceramic glazes, paints and protective coatings.

Unfortunately, in the late 19^th century it was discovered that lead is actually incredibly toxic to mammals. A potent neurotoxin, it accumulates in the bones and soft tissues of the body. This can eventually lead to convulsions, coma and even death at dangerously high levels. This was a huge health hazard. For instance, it was often used as an additive in paint, which it oddly gave a sweet taste to. This made tasting lead paint very tempting for young children, leading to childhood lead poisoning becoming endemic in certain areas. It’s also since been theorised that the Roman’s fondness for lead hastened the Empire’s downfall!

Children are most susceptible to lead poisoning simply because their bodies are smaller. However, bans and regulations around the world mean children are now unlikely to come into contact with lead in their day to day lives. In fact, the group now most at risk of lead poisoning are adults working in the smelting, refining, alloying and casting industries.

Lead is impossible to smell, see or taste, so until symptoms of lead poisoning appear it’s hard to know it’s there. This means lead testing is essential in high risk workplaces to protect against long-term health problems. If it’s present, adequate guidelines should be put in place for the healthy, safety, and general wellbeing of the workforce. Paint Inspection Ltd have created this handy infographic which goes into more detail about the dangers of lead in the workplace…

 

The Economic and Health Implications of Workplace Stress

 

Did you know that about four in ten working adults, or 44% employees, said in response to a survey that their current job affected their overall health? In addition, more than four in ten people also mentioned that their job had a major impact on their family and social life, their weight issues, eating patterns and sleeping habits. This was found in a survey of working adults in the US, conducted jointly by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Work-related stress among employees is known to have an adverse effect on their health, the well-being of their family as well as economic implications for the business and the nation as well.

Stress Impacts the Health of an Employee

• Psychological Disorders – Depression and burnout, as a result of work-related stress, can have a negative impact on the health of a worker and can even affect personal relationships.  “It’s not just your body that is affected by stress, your relationships and overall life satisfaction are also significantly impacted,” says an expert at Nature’s Wellness.

 

• Alcohol and Substance Abuse – The onset of depression, due to workplace stress, has also been known to act as a trigger for alcohol and substance abuse in an individual. Working erratic shift timings, putting in excessively long working hours, taking up more than one job and constant job insecurity are some of the main reasons that drive people towards becoming heavy drinkers and using drugs for the perceived ‘stress-relieving’ effects, which any physician will tell you is a false notion.

 

• Chronic Diseases  –  Constant levels of stress, be it because of an inability to strike a perfect work-life balance or any other reason, can have long-term health complications, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.

 

How Workplace Stress Affects the Bottom Line

• Economic Costs of Workplace Stress –  In the United States, an estimated one million workers are absent every day from work due to stress, according to survey findings published by The American Institute of Stress (AIS). The AIS goes on to report that this last-minute absenteeism tends to cost companies, on an average, around $602 per worker each year, which in the case of large companies could even reach $3.5 million annually.

 

• Loss in Productivity –  It is interesting to note that loss in productivity is not only due to absenteeism but also occurs in the case of what is known as “presenteeism” or a situation where workers are reporting to work but are not working at their optimum levels because of stress-induced medical conditions like depression.

 

• Workplace Injury –  Whether it is an individual’s inability to handle stress or the prevalence of stressful working conditions, it could lead to low levels of concentration and result in workplace injuries. In fact, in 2014 alone, there were more than 3 million work-related injuries and more than 4,800 occupational fatalities, costing the US exchequer a sum of $50 billion, according to Glorian Sorensen, Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

 

The AIS survey findings cited above estimate that the US economy loses over $300 billion annually on account of absenteeism, reduced productivity, workplace accidents, healthcare costs and workers’ compensation. It, therefore, becomes important for employees experiencing work stress and the company they are working for to work in tandem and find ways to lower stress through identifying the causes and working on solutions. This in turn would have a positive impact on the well-being of the employees and the financial health of the business.

 

How Criminals Think – 4 Tips to Help You Stay Safe

Winning is rarely an accident.

The best sport teams in the world work hard to get there. I.m not talking about simply practicing hard. Winning requires studying the opposition.

Sports teams can usually predict their opponents’ reactions. They can counter these actions to limit the opponents’ success.

Criminals do this with you. They study your home and workplace. They know your weaknesses. If they know how you or your security system will react they can counter or bypass it.

Do you now the criminals that are studying you?

You’ll build a safer environment if you think the way they do.

Consider these viewpoints. It will help you build a stronger offensive.

1. How Daily Activities Put You in Danger

Criminals are opportunists.

They know which situations are more beneficial to them. They look for:

• People who aren’t giving attention to their surroundings
• Premises with a lot of traffic so they can disappear in a crowd
• Roads that lead to highways for a quick getaway

Here are two general activities that criminals take advantage of.

Moving or Renovating

When you’re moving or renovating you’re preoccupied. There’s a change in routine and you give less attention to security.

It’s easy to see which buildings owners prepare for a move. Moving vans, boxes and bubble wrap outside are tell tale signs. The same relates to building supplies. Chances are your security system is disconnected if you’re busy with a construction project.

Criminals take note.

They can highjack a moving truck or follow it to your new premises. While your security system isn’t in place they can easily break in and rob you.

They can partner with moving company employees or construction workers. These individuals can leave your doors unlocked or allow certain boxes to disappear.

Driving

Many attacks or high-jackings take place in the early evening. On your way home from work you’re tired and distracted. Your reactions are slow.

This makes you an easy target. Before you can call the authorities criminals can overpower you.

Stay in control by being extra vigilant in these situations. Criminals are trained to read human behavior. If they see you looking around they’ll most likely back off.

Now think. What other activities at home or at your office make you and easy victim?

2. Criminal Communication Methods

It pays off to be observant.

Criminals notice where we let our guard down. Luckily they sometimes do too.

Many criminals work in syndicates. They have to communicate with each other but what methods are safe to them?

• Talking via Smartphones creates proof of their criminal activities.
• There are usually members of the public who know one or two petty criminals. Crime organizers don’t want to be seen with petty criminals. The connection can get them caught.

So what’s their solution?

Have you ever driven past a premises with odd features on the exterior of the walls or lawn? These can be signs criminals create to signal others in the syndicate. While one group finds ideal targets others break in.

Signs include:

• Markings on walls
• Stacked garbage
• Broken plants

Each sign represents a unique feature. This can show robbers where women stay alone or where large dogs are.

You can protect yourself by removing signs and checking your vulnerabilities. If you realize there’s a syndicate in your area improve your security.

3. Out of Sight

If your backyard can’t be seen from the street’s secure right? Wrong.

Privacy gives criminals time. They may not be able to scout properly beforehand. But if no one can see what they’re up to they have time to figure out how to gain access to the building.

Don’t assume any area of your premises is secure. Installing adequate security features built by professionals is vital. This relates to doors and windows. Steel doors or security grilles take a while to get past. If they didn’t know these features were there before entering the premises they won’t be prepared to deal with them.

Criminals know they’re at risk if they take too long. Waste their time so they have to give up in the end.

4. Acting Skills

Don’t think you’ll recognize a criminal for what he or she is.

They’re corrupted enough to hurt or steal from others. They can put up a good act too.

Criminals know what groups of people garner sympathy from the public:

• Widowed women
• Religious groups
• Charity foundations

Criminals even use children in their syndicates.

Don’t open a door to someone you don’t know. Not even if they seem to be in trouble. They want access to your premises.

Security cameras even fake ones are an excellent deterrent. No criminal wants irrefutable proof that can be used in court.

The more you understand criminals the more you can limit their actions. Be on the offence instead of defending. It’s possible to win the fight against crime. Let no criminal take advantage because one player neglects his or her duty. Make sure everyone on the premises is part of your plan.

Things to Remember While Handling Industrial Lifting Equipment

 

It is important to follow the necessary safety tips when you are dealing with different industrial lifting equipment in various lifting operations at your workplace. The lifting gear products and other lifting devices are heavy in weight as they carry bulky loads. It is essential that you should use your equipment correctly so that it will last long and your workplace will be safe enough for you, your employees and accessories .

It becomes an easy go to carry secure lifting practices if you follow below tips to use lifting equipment safely-

• Never exceed the capacity of your product

For safe results, a prescribed load value called Working Load Limit (WLL) has been defined for every device in the lifting environment, exceeding it may lead to negative results. If you load above the WLL, you are putting a device under strain that can result in its irreversible damage and even a fatal injury to the site workers.

It can also cause swing of a load, load damage and destruction to the structures and people around the workplace. It is suggested that you must have a knowledge about weight of the load that has to be lifted so that you can select the best equipment for your task.

• Try to find the center of gravity for the loads

No matter which type of load you are carrying, it is necessary to check its center of gravity. You may have heavy, even or uneven loads, but in all cases the center of gravity allows stopping the load from falling from height to cause an accident. If you want to test the center of gravity of a load, the best practice is to lift it few inches off the ground and then stop. If the load falls, it means there is less harm.

• Use a back up safety method in case primary method fails

There might occur situations when you have accidentally overload your industrial lifting equipment or not finding the right center of gravity of the load. In such cases, you may end up dropping of load from a great height. Load arrestors can result as a good alternative for such scenarios to halt the considerable load and prevent accidents. It is thus always a good habit to connect a load to a load arrestor to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

In a Nutshell

 The aforementioned factors are of great help in providing assistance to the people so that they can safely handle variety of industrial lifting equipment and myriad of lifting gear products. Read these tips and implement them wisely whenever required.

Author Bio

 Author is an experienced engineer at Bishop Lifting Services who is fond of imparting his creative writing skills among the worldwide passionate people of lifting equipment industry. He shares information about lifting gear products and other industrial lifting equipment.

Understanding the Connection Between Productivity and Safety

Love them or hate them; safety regulations are here to stay. There is mounting evidence to show the connection between worker productivity and safety programs. Safety programs decrease sick leave/pay, and compensation claims. It also increases employee turnover and decreases absenteeism. According to safety experts Dexters, obvious benefit is that employees work their best when healthy, but it also boosts their motivation.

For example, the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment in New Zealand has shown the connection between productivity and safety. The material handling sector has seen productivity increase 85% and a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 10.

Keeping the work environment safe and healthy increases productivity, reduces sick pay costs and injury costs, and reduces production delays. This generally means more profits and a better level of cooperation between employees and management. Employees feel better about management when they feel that management is looking out for their best interests.

Encourage Safe Behavior

Of course there is a difference between telling employees to be safer, and actually enforcing safety precautions. Sometimes it is inconvenient and time-consuming for employees to follow safety procedures, so it’s important to get employees to stick to the plan while still having managers breathing down their necks about meeting quotas on time. Employees may feel they have to cut corners in order to get everything done on time. Managers should be realistic about their targets to allow for employees to follow proper safety procedures. Safety works on every level.

Managers should try to balance the incentives with the expected outcome, which typically involves boosting productivity while still focusing on safety. There are a few ways to do this, such as gift cards, cash rewards, and employee-of-the-month plaques. Unfortunately employees may be tempted to cover up hazards to meet requirements and get their hands on the rewards. This reduces the peer pressure of having to report incidents and leads to even worse safety standards.

The main way to promote workplace safety programs and encourage employees to follow them is through education. Focus on the benefits of positive employee behavior without focusing on rewards. There are several steps in this education process including training employees. Employee training is the main way to teach employees how to avoid accidents and incidents.

How often an employer educates employees about safety depends on the employer. While training can be done as often or as little as an employer wishes, it’s best to train them at least once each month. When an employee isn’t trained often enough, it leads to complacency. Employees will be extra safe following training, but this quickly fades as they get complacent. If an employee isn’t regularly trained and educated it can lead to accidents.

 

Conclusion

As you can no doubt see, there is a clear connection to keeping a workplace safe and increasing productivity. Healthy employees are happy employees, and happy employees are productive employees. Safety increases profits by increasing sales and decreasing costs of injury claims. All in all, workplace safety is best for all involved.

 

Safety Tips when Working at Height

Working at height is responsible for a high proportion of accidents in the workplace and it is imperative that as part of the drive to reduce such accidents that all those who work on MWPs and other such equipment are fully trained on PASMA and IPAF accredited courses. There are a great variety of courses available from many excellent center across the UK that target people who use different machinery or who are involved in working at height at various levels. This is, of course the number one recommendation when advising how to work at height without putting yourself at risk – be properly trained. Let’s take a look at some of the other ways in which employees can work at height more safely.

Assess the working environment before getting started

This should be standard practice, but often the pressures of getting cracking override your common sense and this basic rule is ignored. There are 3 key steps involved in ensuring your working environment for the day is safe.

1. Look around to spot any hazards that relate to falling from height. Are you (or others) using ladders, scaffolding or will you be working on roofs that may be unstable? Is there a risk of items falling from height?

2.  Assess who of your team is most at risk from each hazard and make sure everyone is aware of the potential risks on site, mitigating them where possible.

3. Make sure that there is a regular review of the site and any precautions that were in place before are still adequate.

 

Eliminate working at height wherever possible

This might sound obvious, but too often accidents happen when working at height when there would have been a safer way to get the job done. The fewer people who are placed in high risk working situations the better.

Never overload or overreach on ladders

A very basic, but essential rule of thumb is that anyone using a ladder should not take up items that will mean they exceed the highest load stated on the ladder. Obviously, this does not mean it is safe to carry heavy weights under the maximum load limit and common sense should be applied. Also, while on ladders your navel should remain inside the stiles and at any given time once you have reached working height you should maintain both feet on the same rung.

Use the right tools for the job

Part of your IPAF training should have taught you how to make sure that you choose the right equipment for each job that involves working at height. The choice between a ladder for instance or scaffolding, mobile access tower or powered access equipment is often dictated by the height you are required to reach. If you conclude that the height is above that safely reached by your ladder or scaffolding then you should rent or suggest the rental of suitable MWPs or other powered access equipment. When the equipment is being chosen, you must ensure that it is stable enough and strong enough to support the weight of whoever will be using it. Any protection around the edge should be strong enough to prevent a fall. Do not start a job with equipment that you strongly feel is inadequate.

Inspect and maintain equipment

All equipment used in working at height should be routinely inspected and maintained appropriately. This includes personal protection equipment such as lanyards and ropes.

This little mini guide to your ideal equipment check system is useful.

(a) Examination – checking for faults, damage, wear and tear or dirt

(b) Testing – make sure your equipment works properly before use

(c) Cleaning –  all equipment works best if kept clean

(d) Repair

(e) Replacement

 

Innovative Ways to Promote Workplace Diversity and Inclusion

 Promoting workplace diversity and inclusion has become an important focus area for companies, big and small. While the realization to do so occurred only recently, the good news is that a lot is already happening, with companies like Intel pledging $300 million for their diversity-related outcomes by 2020 and Apple earmarking $50 million towards non-profit organizations supporting women in technology.

Why Diversity Matters

For business success in this increasingly interconnected world, embracing diversity in the workplace is the need of the hour. A diverse workplace can help a company attain profitability in new markets, which is becoming a reality because of the many expansions, mergers and acquisitions occurring all over the world. Some other benefits of encouraging inclusion and diversity in the workplace is that the idea, once executed, will breed creative thinking, result in innovative outcomes, and expedite the process of problem solving because of a range of expertise that a diverse talent pool tends to bring in.

Solutions to Foster Diversity and Inclusion at the Workplace

• Counter Any Resistance to Change – Any attempt at organizational change is almost always met with resistance from some quarters, be it acceptance of new ideas or shattering age-old stereotypes around gender, race, religion, color, etc. It is, therefore, important to introduce a diversity training workshop that sensitizes everyone in the organization to the need and importance of having such a diverse workplace.

 

• Strengthen your Orientation Program  It can be a daunting task for anyone new to settle into an organization where they are not in a majority,  be it because of a skewed sex ratio amongst the employees or because of a language barrier. Your company orientation program must, therefore, look at assigning mentors in such cases. A great example to reinforce this point is a study conducted between 2011 and 2015 by the University of Massachusetts, where it was found that female Engineering undergraduates without mentors felt increasingly anxious, under-confident, and out of the place through the year than girls who were assigned mentors.

 

• Promote Diversity in Leadership Positions  Remember, good practices must begin at the helm! When talking of leaders, we have always heard about a visionary leader, a dynamic leader, an innovative leader, but very seldom do we hear about a collaborative leader.   So, unless you have a diverse Executive Leadership that understands the real need and benefits of diversity, an all-inclusive and progressive workforce would remain a distant dream.

 

• Improve Communication  Men in leadership roles have an important role to play, especially when it comes to shattering gender-based stereotypes that prevent the free flow of thoughts and ideas within an organization. They need to become patient and active listeners, and never adopt an authoritarian attitude when it comes to women at their workplace.

 

• Focus on the Granular Details  Focusing on very small aspects of your organization, especially highly visible ones, can present a lot of improvement areas. Ever thought of providing multilingual safety and warning signs and labels? For instance, experts at Clarion Safety Systems say, Safety labels need to be quickly and easily understood, so people can gain immediate awareness of hazards and avoid accidents and injuries. With increasing diversity in workplaces, you have to take into consideration whether or not your audience reads English. While signs and labels may be a small detail, they can go a long way in reinforcing safety policies due to their high visibility.

 

• Analytical Insights  Important analytical insights, captured over a period of time, analyzed and implemented, can deliver rich dividends that can help streamline the performance of any business. Big data presents a treasure trove of information and must be explored to assess the quality of past hires, so that any emotional biases during the interview process can be addressed with the help of tangible data.

 

These are easy to implement solutions that can go a long way in enabling your vision of creating a workplace environment that is diverse and inclusive. This is something that should not be seen as just a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative but a practice that will yield better and more profitable business outcomes going forward.