Workplace Culture

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on workplaces, as levels of operation change or even cease due to lockdown measures, and employees find themselves more geographically spread out than ever. Unfortunately, these challenges may also reveal gaps in our EHS management system that we didn’t know about before.  During “normal” times, we […]

What is Risk? In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its widespread social, financial and economic impacts, I’d like you to take a moment right now to think about what ‘risk’ means to your business. Seriously, just take a moment. Your business’s unique risk exposure will ultimately depend on a wide variety of factors including […]

The concept of active workstations is becoming increasingly popular in today’s office environments. With everything from exercise ball chairs to balance boards and standing desks, new products are constantly being introduced and marketed to buyers with claims of improving productivity and physical fitness. The treadmill desk was first put on the market in 2007 and […]

OSHA workplace injury and illness reporting season is already upon us, and there’s no better time for employers to take a step back and review their injury and illness recordkeeping practices — not only to make sure you’re in compliance, but to evaluate whether you’re capturing the most accurate possible injury and illness data in […]

The term musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is widely accepted in the world of ergonomics to indicate damage associated with conditions that ergonomics guidelines seek to prevent. But what is a musculoskeletal disorder, and how does it occur? In a study by Barbe et al., the extent of the MSD development process in muscles, tendons, bones, ligaments […]

2019 is winding down, and if you’ve been cost-conscious about your EHS budget throughout the year, you might be fortunate enough to find yourself with some funding still available. Unfortunately, many businesses take a “use it or lose it” approach when it comes to their annual budgeting processes, and unused funding this year often translates […]

The job of an EHS professional is never over. There’s always work that needs doing, including an ever-growing list of tasks we need to complete to address risks and maintain effective workplace safety programs. Making life more difficult, the work has a way of multiplying. Sometimes, it seems that for every item we cross off […]

Having an ergonomics initiative is pretty common these days, but how effectively are companies able to demonstrate value beyond just health and safety metrics? When ergonomics is done right, everyone benefits, not just safety; from operations to engineering, from leadership to investors. My colleague, Blake McGowan, explains  how ergonomics can lead to quantifiable enhancements in […]

Welcome to the sixth and final installment in our “Intro to HazCom” series! If you missed our previous posts in this series or want to refresh your memory, just follow the hyperlinks to read about the basics of HazCom (Parts One and Two), the challenges of chemical container labeling (Part Three), the requirements for a […]

In the previous installments of our “Intro to HazCom” series, we went over the basics of HazCom (Parts One and Two), tackled some of the challenges of chemical container labeling (Part Three), and discussed how to develop a solid written HazCom plan (Part Four). If you missed any of these, don’t worry! Simply click the […]