Optimizing EHS Programs

By Mike Hoonhorst, AEP Due to the nature of our jobs as consultants, we often find ourselves on an airplane, traveling across the country, and even across the world.  And with the holiday season in full swing, you too may find yourself flying soon.  Almost all of us have probably said, “I cannot wait to […]

Description: All Source Security Container USA has developed a 2-wheel glider that can be easily attached or detached from shred carts or bins to improve maneuverability. This is a cost-effective retrofit solution in lieu of replacing existing bins with 4-wheel options. Ergonomic Benefits and Features: Two additional wheels reduce push/pull forces when transporting single or […]

By Blake McGowan, CPE Demonstrating the value of your ergonomics initiative and calculating the return on investment (ROI) for specific engineering improvements have become common requests for many safety professionals. Unfortunately, many of us struggle to even begin to justify improvements, let alone choose a meaningful calculator to demonstrate the benefits of improving workplace conditions. […]

OSHA unveiled a new tool today to help companies determine if employee injuries and illnesses are recordable or not. Called the OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor, it is powered by elaws®, interactive e-tools provided by the Department of Labor that provide information about federal employment laws. Essentially, the OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor is an optimized injury and illness […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report, yesterday, on its investigation of OSHA’s Whistleblower program. Entitled “Whistleblower Protection: Sustained Management Attention Needed to Address Long-standing Program Weaknesses,” the report found OSHA has not done enough to improve its program and protect whistleblowers. In response, OSHA issued a statement that said it agreed with the […]

Recent studies on the influences and benefits of social networks suggest that an establishment looking to improve employee health and safety as well as workplace efficiencies would be wise to respect and harness the power of social networks. For all the reasons a hospital or construction company might choose to manage their MSDSs online, the […]

OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule, 29 CFR 1904, has been center stage in the EH&S world as of late. We’ve had the recent implementation of a national emphasis program (NEP) on recordkeeping due to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that revealed underreporting,  and now we have an OSHA proposal on the floor to revise future injury and […]

We have been doing a lot of work lately with the delivery logistics and route distributions industry.  As ergonomists, we rely heavily on scientific data when making recommendations to optimize human performance.  We would like to highlight an example of somebody making our job easier for a change. When performing a review of hand truck […]

On a recent post at NAEM’s GreenTie blog, Alex Pollock asked for our thoughts on the “demise of the Industrial Hygiene profession as we know it.” He noted changes in staffing, reliance on “EHS generalists” and changes to the profession over the past 20+ years. It is my experience that the changes within the IH […]

I am surprised at the increasing number of presentations, discussions, and blog posts using 5S and ergonomics synonymously. As Lean programs begin to realize that good ergonomic design can reduce waste of motion, many people are making a leap assuming they are one in the same. The two are very distinct. Occupational ergonomics (as defined […]