Use Disinfectants Wisely

The Great Clean Up by zepfanman.com via flickr.com

An extended winter season means concerns about spreading cold and flu in your buildings are higher than ever. This excerpt below is from an article on cleanlink.com about using disinfectants wisely, and with less risk. 

Cold winter weather, now gripping most of North America, usually means cold and flu season is here and likely sticking around for a few months.

Many cleaning professionals may be asked to use disinfectants this time of year more frequently than at other times. While disinfectants can be helpful because of their ability to kill germs and bacteria, they also can pose a risk to cleaning workers, building users, and the environment.

Charlotte Products/Enviro-Solutions, a manufacturer of traditional and green cleaning products, has offered the following tips on how to use disinfectants wisely:

-- Use only disinfectants that have been registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the EPA registration will be clearly printed on the label.

To read the full article, visit cleanlink.com

Caring More Deeply About Safety

Safety Sign by David Person via flickr.com

"How can we get workers to care about safety?" might not be the right question to ask to improve organization safety, says Terry Mathis in an article on EHSToday.com. 

Leaders of organizations constantly are reminded that safety must start at the top. They also have learned that it can't stop there – it must permeate all levels of the organization.

More and more leaders want to know how to do that – how to turn a workforce on to its safety potential. As one executive put it: "What is the key to getting workers to care more deeply about safety?"

This question illustrates the root of the problem: We're asking the wrong question! Why have we assumed that workers don't care enough about safety, and that making them care more is the solution? Of course workers care about safety. They are the ones who get injured when it doesn't work. Their families are the ones who have to learn to live on reduced pay and juggle medical bills while nursing a breadwinner back to health.

Read the full article on EHSToday.com. 

Safety Maturity: Three Crucial Elements of Best-in-Class Safety

Three by Hub via flickr.com

When safety is seen as a pointless expense, instead of how business is done, it can create unnecessary downtime and threats to worker safety. What does it look like when a company excels at both safety and business? Read an excerpt from EHSToday.com on this topic below. 

The human cost of occupational accidents is vast. Worker safety is a fundamental human need and requirement in industrial settings. It protects workers, prevents unnecessary downtime and satisfies standards compliance.

However, plant-floor safety long was viewed as a costly obligation that added little value to operations. Today, best-in-class manufacturers realize that combining employee behavior, procedures and technology enables them to go far beyond simple compliance to deliver improved productivity and dramatically lower injury rates.

Every manufacturer's approach to safety is unique and dependent on factors ranging from vertical market, company size and operations, potential hazards and regional safety standards. Looking beyond the makeup of a company's safety programs and examining the larger trends of the best performers can provide valuable insights into what can be accomplished when safety is implemented holistically, with consideration to a manufacturer's larger operations.

Read the full article on EHSToday.com. 

Good facilities and IT boost employee happiness and productivity

Photo by Ryk Neethling via flickr.com

When it comes to worker morale, the place where they work might matter more than just more money or other factors, according to a survey of office workers in the UK. Read the full story on at FMJ.co.uk. See an excerpt below. 

New research has found that temperature, lighting, noise and quality of IT facilities can affect the happiness and productivity of office workers.

The research* from a UK-based engineering, IT and facilities services firm sought to identify which factors most affect well-being and productivity in the workplace. It found that more than half (59%) of respondents felt that noise, lighting and temperature are key for their happiness in the workplace. In comparison, about a third (31%) believed that the right hardware, software and networking drove satisfaction in the office.

When it comes to productivity, however, over half (53%) of respondents believed having a good IT set-up is crucial, compared to over a third (35%) who thought that having the right bricks and mortar provisions is most important.

Read the full article on Facilities Maintenance Journal. 

Using Fall Protection Equipment Properly

Climbing White Tiger by Dean Croshere via flickr.com

Even though SkyPro and the SkyPro Mini greatly reduce the risk of fall when cleaning windows on buildings, it's always a good idea to brush up on fall protection best practices. Start the New Year off on a safe foot with this article by Craig Firi on the Construction Business Owner website.  

In 2011, the leading cause of worker fatalities on construction sites were falls, accounting for 251 deaths. Fatal falls are often the result of a lack of proper safety gear or the misunderstanding or misuse of equipment. The effectiveness of fall protection equipment, no matter how durable or reliable, is compromised when workers don’t use it correctly.

To ensure the safety of their at-height teams, construction companies must get serious about fall protection equipment and learn what systems and components are ideal for each job. Safety gear is not one-size-fits-all, nor does one product fit all applications.

You should be familiar with the following four functional categories of fall protection equipment:

Fall arrest – If any risk that a worker may fall…

Read the full article at Constructionbusinessowner.com.

Happy Holidays!

We hope you're enjoying relaxing and spending time with family and friends.

Best Wishes,
Sky Pro

Christmas Lights by Alcion via Flickr.com

OSHA Rules to Plan for in 2014

OSHA updates are on the horizon. EHSToday.com covers the expected rules changes so you can get a head start on planning for the upcoming year. 

Twice a year, OSHA publishes a regulatory agenda as a way to keep the regulated community informed regarding upcoming activity. The latest edition was issued in July 2013 and includes a list of 26 rules in various stages of development as well as milestones scheduled for completion in 2013.

While the progress on these OSHA rules is hypnotizingly slow, it is important to stay informed because OSHA offers the regulated community the opportunity to provide feedback and input during the rulemaking process. The agency also provides extensive supporting analysis – mandated by Congress – that can help an EHS manager get a head start on assessing his or her organization's readiness for these new or changing rules. The following are summaries of three rules that OSHA is working on that should be considered when planning for 2014 and beyond.

Read the full article on EHSToday.com.