At Safety First Consulting, the health and safety of your company is our priority.

Health and safety consulting, wsib claims, health and safety training ontario, occupational health and safety ontario, occupational health and safety training, construction safety training


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Effects Of Workplace Violence and Its Meaning

What is Workplace Violence?

Every person feels stress at some point in time. Sometimes you just lose your temper and wish to whack everything that lies near you, but that is obviously not a good idea. Being in a bad mood does not mean you have to ruin the environment. It will not only affect the workplace environment but also your reputation.

What is Workplace Violence?

Fierce actions taken during the working hours on company assets or co-workers is called as workplace violence. Violence includes threatening, abusive and unpleasant language, harassment, and etc. It is a severe issue and employer must run a framework that ensures calm environment. It may cause mental health to injuries to death.

What Are The Effects of Workplace Violence?

Following things are a few effects;

1. Severe Injuries
2. Life threat
3. Mental health issues
4. Health issues
5. Organization reputation
6. Asset loss

What Constitutes Workplace Violence?

Following are the principle reasons for workplace violence;

1. Working Extra hours.
2. Lack of appreciation.
3. Deadline pressure
4. Tax return
5. Delay in salaries
6. Analysis/ appraisal meetings
7. Non-stop phone calls during holidays

Sometimes the situation goes worse and increases the chances of physical violence in the workplace.

Role of OSHA

According to OSHA workplace violence is a serious factor no employer should ignore it. Every organization is required to register under workplace violence training program and attend the sessions. Workers have all the rights to work under a safe environment.

Why Safety First Consulting?

Safety First Consulting

Safety First Consulting provides a workplace violence training in Ontario. They are partners with many reputed groups, such as CHSC, CPTA, Habitat for Humanity Toronto, etc. They are a TSSA accredited training provider. Other services they run are;

  • Occupational Health and Services
  • WSIB Service
  • Health and Safety Training


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Meaning of a Safety Program

Why Safety Program?

Safety Program

Ideally every company is required to have a Safety program (policy) of some kind. Such safety programs are usually designed by the company itself as per their requirements. As an employer you are in the best position to gage the risks involved at the workplace. Such a Safety program is developed as per the OHSA regulations and to reduce the possibility of any hazards in the work area. It is also meant to answer the basic question of as to what is safety at workplace. To have an effective safety program it is necessary for the safety program to comply with OHSA regulations.

The safety program may include issues like how to handle a fire extinguisher or ladder in the correct manner. But this is being very generic and is something that applies to every workplace. What is the health and safety program for every profession? Is it the same?. For example that of a construction company is likely to include factors like how to handle heavy equipment like crane and hoists in the right manner. Besides it will include all the correct practices to follow while on the construction site premises.

The content of a Safety Program:

OHSA has developed a guide for the safety and health programs which is a very good start for any company. However these guides are not specific to any industry and are more generic guidelines that apply to all kinds of businesses (big and small). The safety program for your company needs to be to the point, such that it covers all the unique hazard issues in your workplace beside which it should be designed such that the employees can relate to it and utilize and implement it on a daily basis.

As a professional safety consulting firm, Safety First has been involved in advising several companies regarding the relevant topics to include. Some of the more common topics to include are mentioned here:

  • The main of any aim of any Safety program should be to keep the two important objective in mind and they are a safety program that provides maximum protection to the workers and at the same time causes a minimum amount of downtime.
  • It is also necessary that the safety program being developed complies with the OHSA regulations that are relevant to the scope of your work place.
  • An important point to remember that the safety program is a practical program that is intended to be used for the daily activities and work procedure. Hence it should also be simple, easy to understand and something that easily integrates into the daily work routine of the workers.

Where to start from:

In order to build a framework for a performance driven health and safety program, there are a few basic points to remember:

  • Strategic Planning: The strategic planning should be strong enough for you to be able to build measurable goals.
  • Written Policy: A formal written policy statement pertaining to health and safety of your organization can go a long way. What is better still, is to incorporate them into the operations manual.
  • Performance Measure: It is necessary to keep records of forms and EMR ratings but to keep tabs and to measure the health and safety key performance indicators is going the extra mile.

Assigning Roles and Responsibilities:

The safety program should ideally be developed in such a way all the people involved understand their tasks and responsibilities without any ambiguity. Here are a few role and responsibilities that need to be clearly defined:

  • Leadership: As a leader the responsibility is higher. The leader not only needs to remain safe himself, but he also needs to guide the fellow employees and provide the necessary support. Thus it is imperative that the guidelines for the leader be quite exhaustive.
  • Employees: The safety program is essentially for the employees though it will include the safety of all personnel on the premises. The program can go on and on about what the employees should or shouldn’t do and the correct method of operating equipment. It will also contain the action required to take during emergency situations. But what is of utmost importance is to make sure that the employees understand that for the safety program to be successful I is necessary that every single employee has understood their responsibilities and adheres to them.
  • Safety Committee: At the end of the day this committee needs to assess how effective their safety program is and also make sure that the employees feel sufficiently motivated towards maintaining safety at the workplace. Besides which it also important to establish a decision making framework that has the ability address any safety concern, however small it may be.

The Process Assessment:

A workplace constitutes of the employees who are going about their tasks. But what are these tasks. For example in case of a construction site, the main objective is to construct the building. But this is the main task and it is divided into several sub tasks and further sub tasks as well. There is right way of performing each sub task and this is something that requires assessment. It is necessary to make sure that you are completely aware of the tasks being performed by the employees on a daily basis to be able to make sure that it is being carried out with all the necessary precautions and safety guidelines.

The quick and easy method of doing so is to make sure you possess the resources to perform correct information gathering in order to gather information. Perform an assessment of the current workplace on a department basis. And lastly it is also necessary to document all the processes at every step of the way.

The OSHA Safety topics that are considered:

The safety program being developed needs to be comprehensive and at the same time make sure it includes the following factors:

  • Administrative Safety: The safety program should also include administrative safety procedures, besides which they should also be enforced.
  • Exposure Control: In case an employee is exposed to any hazardous substance or involved in an accident the safety program should be able to cover the steps that are need to be taken to keep the damage to the minimum.
  • Personal Protection: The workplace environment and activities should be correctly assessed to make a comprehensive list of personal protective equipment that is required.
  • Facility Safety: The safety features need to be extended to all the management systems as well.
  • Tools & Equipment: It is very important that the employees are using the correct tools and equipment for the tasks and that they are using it correctly. This topic requires extra attention since doing so has the potential of preventing most of the accidents from occurring.
  • Behavioral & Attitude: A proper workplace environment is required to be maintained at all times. If it is a healthy environment that promotes safety, it will make sure safety is always the primary objective of all the personnel involved.

Addressing the Hazards:

All workplace are different and have a varying hazard level. Some workplaces are more risky than others. In general the construction sites are considered to high risk workplace. As per the statistics published in 2012 approximately 4606 construction workers lost their lives while on the job. This is a staggering figure which is way too high for comfort. In an even more recent incident that occurred in May 2014 at a mine in Turkey more than 250 workers lost their lives in a mining accident. These were workers from all round the world besides Turkey.

Thus the hazards of every workplace are different and need to be addressed in a unique method. All the tools, equipment and work procedure need to be analysed in detail. It is only after the analysis process that the proper workplace guidelines can be established that are in keeping with the OHSA regulations.

Training the employees:

A safety program is very useful in any organization but it is of little use if the employees do not implement it. Hence some level of basic training is required to make sure the employees get familiar with the workplace, the hazards involved as well as the safety procedures that are clearly established in the safety program.

At time such training is performed with the help of a professional agency on the site (workplace) itself. However several agencies also have the facility to provide off site training too. Safety Frist is one Safety consulting firm that is capable of handling either situation.

Documenting your efforts:

We have already established that having a safety program is highly beneficial. Having a safety program is one thing and making sure that it is working is another. By maintaining documentation of how the program complies with the OHSA requirements it is possible to do just that. Besides which documenting facts like the employee medical history, training and incidents also help.

Trust Safety First when it comes to Safety:

Safety First Consulting

Safety first is one firm that is well placed to help organizations on the subject of OHSA. In fact Safety First has several occupational health and safety courses to offer so that the company management can have a better understanding of the same. Their team consists of certified health and safety consultant and an expert team of health and safety professional consultants with experience in businesses of all sizes and a wide variety of different industries as well. They are able to make sure that their clients are completely aware of the government legislation and regulations.

The professionals at Safety First Consulting can show you how to navigate the sometimes technical and often confusing OSHA regulations with health and safety program ontario. They can help you figure out what regulations apply in your workplace and what you need to do to comply.

 


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Safety Concerns for Electricians with Ladders

Not everyone associates ladders with electricians. However, the fact of the matter is that electricians also require ladders in several situations. Most of their major work is usually at a great height which would require a ladder.

Hence this article is meant for the electricians ladders and showcases how they can keep safe all times.

  • There are several types of ladders out there and many of them are useful to an electrician. The best type for an electrician is usually a step ladder. It is possible to use a step ladder for both indoors and outdoors.
  • The material of the ladder is also important. The ideal material is usually wood, aluminium or fiberglass.
  • The ladders have a feature where-in although they are foldable once they are opened and set in a place they can be locked in place. It is important to make sure they are locked in place every time you use them, no matter how minor the job might be.
  • The ladder should always be placed on a level floor. Even the slightest imbalance should be corrected with something reliable.
  • The topmost rungs of the ladder should usually be avoided since it is easier to trip or lose balance on those. This is especially true when using heavy weight.
  • It is a good idea to have someone supporting the ladder at all times. It also helps to face the ladder when climbing up or down the ladder.

Common causes of incidents with electricians ladders:

  • Slipping or losing footing on the ladder steps especially when on the top most steps is often the cause of an accident.
  • Lack of grip on the ladder while climbing.
  • No maintaining correct and safe position while on the ladder.
  • Placing the ladder on a slippery or uneven surface.
  • Not making sure the ladder is in good working order.

Safety First to the Rescue:

logo

Safety First is a occupational health and safety training firm that always put the people first and ensures their safety. Having been helping people with workplace safety since a considerable amount of time, they are the true experts. Besides which they have also begun providing training and support for employees working at great heights.


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Rights and Responsibilities of Workers in the Workplace

Rights and Responsibilities of Workers in the Workplace

It is an important thing for anybody to be healthy and safe, it is more concerned while you are working at your workplace. For this purpose worker’s roles and responsibilities are being important in the workplace. In many companies or institutes, there is much risk in their work type so in those situations rights and responsibilities of workers are increases.

What is worker’s role for making healthy environment in the workplace?

  • It is essential for any worker to have knowledge of legislative policies of the company and if he don’t have knowledge of it to ask your employer and seize knowledge of it.
  • It comes under workers job to wear all requisite equipment needed for their job.
  • Worker must occupy full training for using tools and if feel any hazard is risky then immediately inform to their employer.
  • Workers must join healthy and safe committee and play and important role to make healthy environment in the workplace.
  • Workers must be proactive for all situations in workplace if they doubt for any unexpected thing must call employer.

Rights of workers at the workplace:

When workers do work they must get some rights regarding their work and working period and if they don’t get benefits of those rights they have right to make complain to their employer.

  • If any worker gets an injury or illness connected with your work has a right to inform to employer and can get compensation for that.
  • Workers have a right to be free from any type of harassment in workplace and if feel uncomfortable can communicate with employer and solve the problem.
  • It is workers right to get loyal wages according to their type of work.
  • Workers must have a right to get some time for refreshment during their working time.
  • Workers have fully right to work in a smoke free environment which is important for their health.

Responsibilities of workers in the workplace are needed for healthy and safe workplace.

There are also some responsibilities of workers in workplace concern with their health if they will be aware for some situation there would be less possibilities for being unsafe and unhealthy.

  • It is workers responsibilities to be alert while doing work with hazing tools.
  • If there will be any unexpected thing happen in workplace which harms you and affects your work then immediately inform to employer.
  • Workers must wear equipments which are needed for work type.
  • It is workers responsibilities to behave politely with other workers and must not be any complain from your side.
  • Workers must not remove or change any part of machinery which may be harmful for your health.

So, these are responsibilities of workers to make healthy workplace.

How safety first helps you in your workplace?

Safety first

At safety first consulting workplace health and safety Ontario our main purpose is to give full training to workers for their work and what type of care must be taken when they deal with hazing tools. We have experience of eight years for doing this work and with passage of time we are succeed to make your workplace health and safety, we make health safety environment for both workers and clients.

Our fully dedicated and specialize team comes to your firm and evaluate your work procedure then accordingly gives training for working safely in different situations. They first identify the current problems of company and then take actions to prevent them give training to workers also give hand demonstration for different tools.

At safety first we create a set of fresh policies and for this we communicate with company’s management team and ensure that they are completely understand all legislative information. Everybody has a desire to work in a healthy and safe environment so we have described steps for making your workplace healthy and safe. At safety first we create and maintain a healthy and safe environment.


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Protective Equipment at Work Regulations

The right equipment to use at the workplace to stay safe and secure:

Right equipment for workplace safetyA workplace is where the main focus is on the job at hand. The firm will have the necessary resources depending on the type of business and the employees are meant to use their skills and expertise and perform their daily tasks. Although this is quite straight forward if done correctly the issue is that people often make mistakes.

Every professional has it’s hazards. Hence it is important to identify those hazards and take the necessary precautions. Besides the standard precautions taken by the company it also necessary for the employee to be prepared with any personal protective equipment that many be necessary. The fact of the matter is that any additional protective equipment needs to be provided by the firm to keep their employees safe.

Why is it so important:

Work place safety is a very important subject and should never be taken lightly.  There are some professions that are riskier than the others however there are likely to be hazards all work places.

Here is some statistical data collected over the years that will bring light to how important work place safety really is.

  • There were close to 1000 fatal accidents in Canada in the year 2012.
  • Furthermore the major number fatalities at workplace were in the construction industries and the least being in the communication and other industries.
  • Several other industries also had a high level of deaths from work place accidents like manufacturing, government services, transportation, mining, etc.

[SRC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/workplace-safety-by-the-numbers-1.2622466%5D

Protective Equipment at Work:

Due to the high number of fatal incidents at the workplace more number of firms take all the necessary precautions to prevent such incidents and decrease the number of fatal incidents. Having regulation personal protective equipment policy which ensure all the employees are provided the necessary protective gear and know how to use them goes a long way in making the workplace more secure.

However it is important to know what is the right equipment for the any given task and also the correct method of using it. Such policies can greatly reduce fatalities in the future.

Being Safe with Safety First:

 Safety Consulting

Safety First provides full workplace health and safety Ontario. Safety First in Ontario is a Canadian firm and their first priority is workplace safety. Their highly skilled team of certified safety professionals implement the highest level of health and safety practices in the construction workplace. In fact they also provide the best training.

Their team of registered professionals trainers (RPT) provide the correct guidance to establish a construction safety training system that abides by all the government regulations, legislation and standards and is tailored for your company. It is thus a little wonder that they have been so successful in the past and continue to do so.

Safety First Consulting offers a range of workplace safety supplies Canada available for order. Safety First Consulting offers a rich selection of Safety Supply Canada and similar products that will ensure a healthy and safe environment at your place of work.


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Workplace Safety and related issues

How many young workers are injured each year?

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Workplace injuries is a sad fact of life. Every year many employees are injured at their workplace and some are not lucky enough to survive the injury. Although it is true that some workplaces are more risky than other, it always pays to take all the necessary precaution while performing a task assigned to you.

The statistics in Ontario, Canada are astounding. As per them over 10,000 workers under the age of 25 make claims with the Workplace safety and insurance board (WSIB) due to their injuries caused while on the job. These are only the workers who have made claims because they are unable to work for some time due to their injuries. The number of cases being reported for injuries suffered at workplace requiring first aid treatment are equally high.

But that is not all, there are many injured workers who don’t even make the statistics since they either don’t wish to inform their employer or their employer doesn’t wish to WSIB claims with their behalf.

A viable solution:

Health and safety duties

There has got to be a solution to putting an end to the tens and thousands of young workers that are injured every year. To start with, they themselves should take the health and safety duties seriously. It I important for them to stay alert and develop an eye for such situations so that they can be prevented. For example if an instrument, device or machinery has malfunctioned it is important to fix it properly. If the employee makes a temporary fix without informing the supervisor he could unknowingly be setting the scene for a major accident down the line.

Why don’t some workers report injuries?

At time many workers do not even report an injury; there are several reasons why that may happen as listed here:

  • The employer is a friend or a relative and thus you hesitate reporting it.
  • The likely hood of the employer thinking that you are unfit for the job.
  • Making the mistake of thinking the incident is not very serious.
  • Making the mistake of thinking that it will create a bad impression of you.

Why should I report an injury or illness suffered at work?Injury or illness suffered at work

It is very important for the worker to realize the importance of reporting an injury suffered at the workplace. Here are few reasons why:

  • Any injury should be immediately treated in the correct manner, reporting the incident make it possible.
  • WSIB offer compensation for your injuries or illness and thus it is necessary to first report the injury so that it can set the balls in motion.
  • An incident once reported can be thoroughly investigated and all the necessary steps can be taken to make sure it does not happen again.

Physical Stress Injuries:

Physical stress injuries are the basic form of injuries and are easy to identify as well. The name says it all; they are injuries caused due to physical stress. A quick example is administrative assistant suffering from the carpal tunnel syndrome that is usually due to excessive typing, chronic back injury – generally observed in people who stock shelves at a warehouse, even nerve damage caused due to excessive use of a jack hammer.

Such injuries can be quite a pain, (a good pun) since it is not possible to make claims for such injuries and neither is it possible to sue the employer due to the strong compensation laws. There is a solution however that ever employee should be aware off in the form the worker’s compensation system. The way this worker’s compensation system works is that when just injuries do occur it is likely that you will be receiving treatment for the injury and not be able to perform your duties.

At this time you are entitled to a portion of your average earnings for the duration of the treatment. However it is important to remember that this is not an automatic process. Thus even in such injuries it is necessary to report the injury to the employer and in some cases even to the company’s insurer. This will start the ball rolling for the insurance claim procedures.

Once a claim is made it becomes mandatory to consult a doctor so that he can provide a detailed assessment report. This report is used by the insurance agency to determine if the worker is eligible for compensation. The compensations would generally be provided without any delay if the injury hasn’t been caused prior to working with the company. The worker can expect the following benefits:

  • Weekly compensation
  • Permanent impairment
  • Payment of medical treatment.
  • Vocational Rehabilitation.

Once back to work it is very important to takes steps that such an incident does not occur again. This is the duty of both the employer as well as the employee to make sure the workplace is ergonomically correct. Besides which it is vital to obey the advice given by the doctor regarding restrictions or limits to stay in until you have fully recovered.

Emotional/Mental Stress Injuries:

It is very difficult to prove emotional stress injuries, in fact it is almost impossible; as a result of which it is very hard to receive compensation for them. However the worker compensation laws do vary by jurisdiction some states do not cover claims for emotional stress at all. One of the main reasons is that it is extremely hard to figure out whether the emotional distress has been caused from some actions at work or was it due to some incident that occurred outside of work.

Making a Claim Under Personal Injury Laws:Claim Under Personal Injury Laws

At times there is an alternative available for the workers if the injury is not covered by the worker’s compensation. If the injury is of the nature of emotional distress or intentional infliction of emotional distress on the part of your employer or a co-worker, then it may be possible to file a personal injury lawsuit for the same. However there should be no ambiguity regarding the incident and it should be easy to explain and prove too.

Possible Disability Claims:

Social security disability claims for job related stress and anxiety do exist in some states, however they too are very hard to pursue.

Action Plans:

As a employee it is necessary for you to aware of the basic issues surrounding making of claims and the consequences. This not only applies to physical injuries that are very easy to claim for, but also includes the other injuries that are harder to prove like emotional stress at work.

Thus the first thing to do is to tell someone about the stress related issues. In addition to which it is also necessary to discuss the issues with the supervisor and even make a formal report. Every company will have some form of document format structure in place which should be followed while making a report. These documented reports help down the line since they become evidence. However there is a time limit to filing a claim, it must be filed within 60 days from the date of the event.

In cases like these, the more the details you have the easier it becomes to claim. For example you can maintain a journal to make a note of the time and place and nature of incident. It is not a good idea to trust your memory with so much data. In addition to this talking to a trusted co-worker and asking them to make a note of their observations will help the case too.

Being Safe with Safety First:

Safety First

Safety First provides full workplace health and safety service. Safety First in Ontario is a Canadian firm and their first priority is workplace safety. Their highly skilled team of certified safety professionals implement the highest level of health and safety practices in the construction workplace. In fact they also provide the best training. Their team of registered professionals’ trainers (RPT) provide the correct guidance to establish a construction safety training system that abides by all the government regulations, legislation and standards and is tailored for your company. It is thus a little wonder that they have been so successful in the past and continue to do so.

Safety First Consulting Professional Corporation is a licensed paralegal firm regulated by the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC). Our paralegal team provides a widespread WSIB claims Ontario management system that is designed to reduce and control an employer’s costs associated with workplace injuries and illnesses. Our pro-active program begins at the point of occurrence and continues to the final resolution of the claim with a rapid response.

Safety First consulting plays an important role in making sure every workplace is safe. Even when it comes to high risk workplaces like a construction site, their highly trained and certified safety consultants take up the task to ensure that everyone present at the workplace is aware of the importance of staying secure and not taking any unnecessary risks.

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The professionals at Safety First Consulting can show you how to navigate the sometimes technical and often confusing OSHA regulations. They can help you figure out what regulations apply in your workplace and what you need to do to comply. Just know About us, take one of our classes, or request a Contact us form.

About the author

Sophie MooreSophie Moore is a Digital Marketing Analyst, in charge of many digital marketing projects that involve SEO, Social Media and mobile web strategy. Moore has a background in IT, strong experience on website development and web interface, degrees in both traditional and digital marketing at Duke University, North Carolina.

Moore has a wide experience of internet projects and keeps herself up to date with the latest technologies and trends. Moore always explains that social media is her passion, SEO a motivation and a dynamic challenge where she is involved every day.

Learn more about her at her personal site. Follow her on Twitter, on Google +Sophie or become a friend on Linkedin

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Accidents or Injuries in the workplace

Accidents in The Workplace:

Accidents in the workplace:

Accidents occur when you least expect, they occur without warning and are never a good thing. The best and only way to remain safe at the workplace is to take all the necessary precautions and also make sure that you are fully aware of the correct method going about things. For example if the task is to operate a crane, you need to make sure that have the training necessary to do so. Besides which it can’t hurt to read up regarding the possible things that can go wrong while operating a crane. It is true that some workplaces are more hazardous than others. The number of reports of constructions accidents are higher than accidents at other offices. But that doesn’t mean you should not take all the necessary precautions.

The fact of the matter is that ignorance can also sometimes lead to accidents; since if the worker is not aware of the hazards and consequences of his carelessness he is likely to takes things lightly. Take a chemical lab for example. If the laboratory technician is unaware of the consequences of not handling the toxic chemicals correctly he is likely to make fatal mistakes. On the other hand the worker who is fully aware of the dangerous consequences of mishandling the toxic chemicals will think twice before being careless. As the saying goes “Fear is the foundation of safety”.

Accidents or Injuries in the workplace can occur through many hazards:

Workplace accidents and injuries occur due to many different reasons and it is important to identify them early. There are several ways to identify these workplace hazards as listed here:

  • A walk through conducted at the workplace is an ideal method of detecting the potential hazards.
  • Communicating about the risks factors with the workers.
  • Learning from past failures is the one the best things you could be doing make sure such accidents never occur again. It is also a good idea to have a good read of the accidents that have occurred in similar situations in the past.
  • It is one thing to check a workplace hazards and it is another making sure it is safe and secure on a daily basis. There is no alternative for regular maintenance and doing a quick check of all things concerned prior to starting it. In addition to which continuous monitoring can be good too.

Furthermore it is necessary to maintain a record of the detailed process which includes a manual handling regulations and the code of practice for manual handling too. Besides this it is vital that a risks involved and found are properly accessed. Here are a few typical risk factors:

  • Type of the Work: If the job involves working in a fixed posture for a prolonged period of time it can greatly increase the risk of injury.
  • The workplace arrangement: A workplace needs to fit the task it is designed for. Under no circumstances should a workplace be selected without properly accessing it. For example a cramped or poorly designed workplace will increase the risk of injury since it forces the people to work in awkward postures.
  • Weight of an object: A lot of care should be taken while lifting heavy loads since it increases the risk of injury.
  • Location of an object: Special care is required to be taken when dealing with sensitive material or heavy material that can easily injury you and place you in a hospital care for a month or so. There is a correct method of doing everything and usually there is only one correct method. Doing things in any other way can have a very bad outcome.
  • Duration and Frequency: Repetitive tasks can quickly take a toll especially when done for a long duration of time. If the tasks handling heavy objects the problem is further compounded. Again there should be an official guidelines book that is maintained by the company. This is one place you where you should be able to find the correct method or operating instructions for the task at hand.
  • State of the Object: Make sure the equipment beings used are of good quality and have some certified standard. When dealing with situations that place the life of many people at risk opting for sub standard equipment is out of the question.
  • Unconventional loads: In an ideal world there exists a proper system to the heavy objects that are to be loaded. But in the real world if often happens that the loads are difficult  to grasp and can even be slippery.
  • Dealing with people and animals: When dealing with other elements that are alive like other people and animal it is vital that the design consistency be maintained.

Having correctly accessed the workplace hazards it is the duty of the employee to take the necessary steps advised by the workplace safety consultant or the person responsible for the assessment. If proper methods are followed to identify the hazards as well as when the hazards are assessed in a thorough manner we can figure out how to prevent accidents in the workplace? Here is a list of a few common factors that require attention or change:

  • Changing of the task: If a hazard has been identified and after assessing the risk it is found to be highly risky to perform certain task then it is the duty of the employer to modify the task. It should be modified such that the risk is eliminated after which it should be reassessed for any additional hazards.
  • Nature of object:  At time it is found that the object is not fit for transfer due to its size, weight, or improper packing of toxic substance. Such objects should be sent back for repacking either into smaller packages or more protective packing as the situation warrants.
  • The Workspace itself: The workspace should always be fit for the task at hand. Besides using ergonomic furniture and similar methods it is also essential to take care of some more basic issues like not crowding a workspace. The workspace should never have more people that is optimally required. It may be possible to squeeze in the furniture to save space but packing more people than recommended in a small workspace is not advisable.
  • Making use of mechanical aids:  Whenever the task demands it, it is advisable to make use of mechanical equipment like wheelbarrows, conveyor belts and even cranes and forklifts.
  • Changing the nature of the task: Do not hesitate to change the nature of the task. For example on an extremely hot day if the workplace environment is very hot and humid, there should be a system in place to detect this and make the necessary modifications to the work schedule. This may mean increasing the frequency of the breaks and providing more breaks as well as making sure the worker remain hydrated and even cutting down the working hours for that day.
  • Training them: Ignorance is the biggest culprit. Educating the workers on the hazards involved, how to remain safe and training them on the correct method carrying out their work is what will save lives.

Common workplace accidents:

Accidents do occur at a workplace no matter how many precautions we take. Here are some disturbing statistics that were made public. As per these statistics in the year 2012 approximately 4600 workers were fatally wounded in workplace accidents. That figure is rather high especially since it was as recent as only 2 years ago. But that is not all, more than 250 miners lost their lives in an accident that occurred in a mine in Turkey. This occurred as recent as May 2014 in an incident that involved miners from all around the world besides Turkey.

When accidents do occur they are often on a large scale and take many lives. Though it is hard to be prepared for every kind of accident at times a little timely maintenance or proper training can go a long way as can knowledge of some of the common workplace accidents. In case of the recent mining disaster Turkey the sad truth is that repeated requests for reviewing the safety of the project were ignored. Here is a list of some common workplace accidents:

  • Slip and trip injuries
  • Back injuries due to lifting objects or bad working environment
  • Forklift truck incidents.
  • Scaffolding accidents
  • Vibration white finger
  • Asbestos related disease
  • Industrial Dermatitis disease
  • Electrical accidents at workplace.

When an accident occurs:

There are more precautionary measures taken these days than ever before. There are several safety agencies that help keep the professional workplaces safer that before. Safety First is one such firm that helps make sure all concerned are properly trained and all the workplace hazards are properly identified. They also run regular drills to keep the employees alert and prepared with emergency procedures in case accidents do occur. But when accidents do occur here are some of the common things to remember that can make sure your receive the appropriate cover and support:

  • Inform your employer first: In case of an accident the first thing to do is to make sure you receive immediate treatment from the first aid kit at the workplace. Depending on the seriousness of the injury it may also require you to be transported to a hospital on an emergency basis. However under any circumstance it is vital that you inform the employer about the incident at the best and earliest suitable opportunity. In order to stake a claim and for the claim to be valid it is required that the injury or disease be reported to the employer close to when the incident occurs.
  • Seeing the Doctor: When you do make a claim for compensation due to workplace injuries, your application will be assessed on  bases of the fact that it was reported to the employer on time as well as the doctor’s report. Thus it is not only important to visit a doctor but it is also a must that you make sure the doctor submits his report of findings to the appropriate authorities as well.
  • Reporting the Injury to the WSIB: The WSIB (Workplace safety & Insurance Board) needs to be informed about all the workplace accidents in Canada, especially those for which you intend to stake a claim. There is a special “Form 6” made available by the WSIB for situations like these. There are several advantages of doing this as the first available opportunity. The incident will be fresh in your mind and this will help you fill up the form in a more thorough manner.

About Safety First Consulting:

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Accidents and injuries that do occur at a workplace are by no means  a good thing but they are a fact. There are statistics released every year on this topic and the number of fatal incidents are too high for comfort. Thus Safety First is one firm that is determined to put an end to such loss of life. They have several certified and well qualified as well as experienced safety consultants with a trained eye who can help secure your work place as well as provide all concerned with the necessary training and general awareness.

Safety First consulting workplace health and safety ontario plays an important role in making sure every workplace is safe. Even when it comes to high risk workplaces like a construction site, their highly trained and certified safety consultants take up the task to ensure that everyone present at the workplace is aware of the importance of staying secure and not taking any unnecessary risks.

The professionals at Safety First Consulting can show you how to navigate the sometimes technical and often confusing OSHA regulations. They can help you figure out what regulations apply in your workplace and what you need to do to comply. Just know About us, take one of our classes, or request a Contact us form.

About the Author

Sophie MooreSophie Moore is a Digital Marketing Analyst, in charge of many digital marketing projects that involve SEO, Social Media and mobile web strategy. Moore has a background in IT, strong experience on website development and web interface, degrees in both traditional and digital marketing at Duke University, North Carolina.

Moore has a wide experience of internet projects and keeps herself up to date with the latest technologies and trends. Moore always explains that social media is her passion, SEO a motivation and a dynamic challenge where she is involved every day.

Learn more about her at her personal site. Follow her on Twitter, on Google +Sophie or become a friend on Linkedin

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