The National Safety Council (NSC) has been urging companies to take "aggressive" measures to protect its workers from COVID-19.
The organization recently polled its members about the pandemic, 70% of which indicated their workforce is still reporting to a facility or job site. In a subsequent statement released April 2, NSC President and CEO Lorraine Martin said, “In partnership with our employees, we as leaders must be vigilant as we grapple with a workplace safety issue we’ve never seen and face the challenge of protecting those on the front lines. In occupational safety, the onus to protect workers from all hazards, all the time, falls to employers, full stop. In this time of global crisis, we need to understand the critical responsibility we have to our workforce." Click here to read the entire article. While some federal, state and local governments are changing enforcement priorities to lessen the enforcement burden on employers during the Coronavirus pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) regulations remain in full force.
The agency recently released an updated version of its guidance on protecting workplaces, called Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. Developed in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), it contains recommendations regarding safe work practices and personal protective equipment based on different levels of exposure and other risk factors. Click here to read the entire article. Contractors will be required to pay a hefty sum for failing to abide by new Covid-19 construction safety measures. Police are required to monitor construction sites in Florida's Miami-Dade County, for example, and will shut down any site that fails to enforce distancing requirements.
According to The Lien Zone, distancing requirements include attending morning meetings 10 at a time (and holding them outdoors), not sharing tools, leaving work boots at the site, and staggering shifts. Most importantly, construction employees are required to keep six feet apart. Click here to read the entire article. One crisis facing healthcare professionals and other workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic is having enough PPE to protect themselves against the virus. OSHA has issued interim guidance to help address nationwide shortages of disposable N95 filtering face piece respirators (N95 FFRs).
The guidance advises employers to reassess their administrative controls, engineering controls and workplace practices to identify any changes that could lead to a decreased need for N95 respirators. Click here to read the entire article. When life-or-death conditions are part of your job, and people across many parts of your organization rely on your leadership and expertise, stress management becomes an essential skill that many in this profession are used to deploying with ease. But sometimes, the unexpected happens, life gets scary, and even the strongest and bravest among us feel the weight of it.
In these situations, it’s OK to admit you’re overwhelmed. In fact, it’s often the first step toward feeling better. Here are 10 free resources that could help you alleviate stress and refocus your energy. In ways great and small, we all play a part in helping prevent the spread of COVID-19. A new OSHA poster highlights 10 measures employers and safety professionals can take to foster a cleaner, healthier workplace and help prevent workers from contracting the virus. Click here to read the entire article.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced today that it has postponed the 7th annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, originally scheduled for May 4-8, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be rescheduled this summer. Click here to read entire article.
While some federal, state and local governments are changing enforcement priorities to lessen the enforcement burden on employers during the Coronavirus pandemic, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) regulations remain in full force.
The agency recently released an updated version of its guidance on protecting workplaces, called Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. Developed in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), it contains recommendations regarding safe work practices and personal protective equipment based on different levels of exposure and other risk factors. Click here to read the entire article. |