Back injuries are a major cause of missed time – only second to the common cold! The majority of back injuries occur during lifting tasks and these injuries can be very costly for companies in lost productivity and insurance claims. In the short term, a back injury can cause serious discomfort and pain for the

In any organization where there is a regime of accident and incident reporting, there exists the potential for under or over reporting. This means that the value of the reporting is diminished considerably. After all, you can’t fix what you don’t know about and often “near accidents” are the precursors to serious injuries. When underreporting

A safe working environment is a condition or state, it is not necessarily an event like an incident of an accident. This means that the low number of incidents or accidents doesn’t mean that the workplace is particularly safe. What really counts is the process of safety because it is an integral part of everyday

When we think about our daily routines, many people sit more than they stand throughout their day. We wake up in the morning and we sit to read the newspaper and drink our coffee. We leave for work and we sit in our cars or public transit each way. Once we get to work, most

There is no national data available on the number of workers killed each year by contact with uncontrolled hazardous energy. However, during the period between 1982 through 1997, the National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOSH) investigated 1281 fatal accidents as a part of its Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program, (FACE). The FACE program was

Setting out to modify or change the safety culture in a workplace is a daunting task. Working against you is the custom, practice and habits that have been built up over the years. However, this is not your biggest challenge. The biggest challenge lies in the belief system that occupies everybody’s mind. Again, this has