Fatalities in the workplace

OSHA is charged with investigating catastrophes and fatalities in the workplace, inspecting workplaces, and establishing new safety and health standards and penalties. 

The BLS annually reports summaries on the major causes of fatal injmies in the total US workplace. These numbers are all occupations in the workplace (nonmilitaiy). There are some variations in the numbers from year to year. The average man on the street would not immediately think that roadway incidents have such a major impact in fatalities in-the-workplace . In 2012, roadway incidents accoimted for 25% of all workplace deaths. This trend is consistent as in 2011 highway incidents created 24% of the deaths. When one looks at fatahties from all transportation-type incidents that number is also consistent in the past few years. The death rate from transportation-type incidents has been high for years. It was the major cause of employee deaths and was 42% in 2012 and 41% in 2011. 

CSA Z1000-06 Occupational Health and Safety Management, is intended to reduce or prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace by providing companies with a model for developingand implementingan occupational health and safety management system. 

You may not think much about falls, but trips and falls often result in injury and lost time. Falls can even be fatal. In the workplace, there are many situations that contribute to falls ... 

In addition, a properly designed JHA is a good learning tool that you can use to evaluate incidents. Job-related incidents occur every day in the workplace. These incidents, which include injuries and fatalities, often occur because employees are not trained in the proper job procedures. One way to reduce these workplace incidents is to develop proper job procedures and train all employees in the safer and more efficient work methods. 

Siemiatycki, J. (1991) Risk Factors for Cancers in the Workplace, Boca Raton. FL, CRC Press Vicas, I.M. Beck, R. (1993) Fatal inhalational isopropyl alcohol poisoning in a neonate. Clin. 

Table 1-5 1995 Relative Risks of Fatal Accidents in the Workplace Using Mr. Toscano s Relative Risk Index...

The data on arsine concentration in the workplace atmosphere are relatively scant. Toxicity of arsine to humans was first demonstrated in 1815 when a German chemist accidentally inhaled arsine vapor during an experiment. He became ill and soon died. A case report indicated that exposure to arsine by inhalation for a few hours at a concentration of 10-32 mg/m might induce symptoms of poisoning, whereas exposure to 810 mgW for 30 min might be fatal (Romeo etal, 1997). It has been reported that concentrations of 23-970 mg arsineW were associated with fatalities (Morse and Setterlind, 1950). 

The Division of Vital Statistics reports that accidents are the leading causes of death for persons in their teens and up to age 45. In industry, there is no intent to kill or injure workers yet accidents kill and maim people. Many of the injuries reported as sprains and strains often involved the back. The incidence of fatalities and injuries (along with potential monetary losses) may increase as operations become more complex. The cost of accidents in the workplaces of the United States is approximately 150 billion annually. Some examples of costly accidents are ... 

Violence in the workplace is a serious safety and health issue. Its most extreme form, homicide, is the fourth-leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), there were 564 workplace homicides in 2005 in the United States, out of a total of 5702 fatal work injuries. See also Going Postal. 

Do not discourage employees from making reports and recommendations about fatalities, injuries, illnesses, incidents, or hazards in the woikplace, or from otherwise participating in the workplace safety and health program. 

In a news release concerning a grant made by Alcoa to the Foundation for Indiana University of Pennsylvania (lUP) to support a national forum on fatality prevention in the workplace, Dr. Lon Ferguson, chair of the lUP Safety Sciences Department, is quoted as saying, The reliance on traditional approaches to fatality prevention has not always proven effective. I extend Ferguson s statement to include serious injury prevention. 

The difference between a fatal accident and a near miss accident may onfy be a fraction of a second in time or a fraction of a centimetre in space. The information gathered from the investigation of near miss accidents assists us in introducing remedial measures to reduce potential hazards in the workplace. If we gather information about all accident and incident causes, we are able to take positive preventative action. 

Results achieved in recent years from attempts to reduce serious injuries and fatalities cannot be considered stellar. In 2007, a national forum on Fatality Prevention in the Workplace was sponsored by Indiana University of Pennsylvania in cooperation with the Alcoa Foundation. Attendance was great and the speakers provided good information, a large part of which suggested tweaking elements in existing occupational risk management systems. 

Ferguson, Lon. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, News Release on Forum on Fatality Prevention in the Workplace, 2007. 

Since the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act in 1970, the safety and health function has been primarily based on compliance and the myriad safety and health standards promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The standards developed during the early years of the OSH Act were primarily developed through review of other voluntary standards and recommendations by other organizations that were already in place. New standards were developed over the years through research and as a reaction to injuries and illnesses that had been incurred in the workplace. However, with numerous safety and health standards in place and being strictly enforced, the American workplace still experiences approximately 4000 fatalities on an annual basis, and workplace injuries and illnesses cost anployers many millions of dollars each year. 

Explosion and fire in the workplace that results in fatal/ serious injury accident at work High Senior manager Employees representative ROES Section managers Workforce Coroner Police HSE/local authority Trading standards Insurance company... 

While electrical fatalities have declined in U.S. workplaces and around the world as companies have implemented OS HA 1910.269, NFPA TOE Electrical Safety in the Workplace and the National Electric Safety Code (NESC), the worker fatality rate still can be improved. Most accidents could be prevented with three changes in company work practices ... 

The basic premise of this book is that all employers horrid establish a workplace safety and health program to assist them in compliance with OSHA standards and the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) (Section 5(a)(1)). Each employer should set up a safety and health program to manage workplace safety and health to reduce injuries, illnesses, and fatalities 1 a systerrtalic approach to safety and health. The program should be appropriate to conditions in the workplace, such as the hazards to which employees are exposed and the number of employees there. The primary guideline for employers to develop... 

It is our hope that through education, use, and referencing of this book by employers, employees, and students that accidents, injuries, and fatalities resulting from chemical exposures in the workplace will be prevented by increasing awareness of the risks that are inherent in the chemical industry and the steps that can and should be taken to minimize them. 

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