Identify employees at risk

The biological monitoring program has been designed for three main purposes 1) to identify employees at risk of adverse health effects from excess, chronic exposure to cadmium 2) to prevent cadmium-induced disease(s) and 3) to detect and minimize existing cadmium-induced dis-ease(s). 

Remember that effective hazard analysis leads to effective hazard control or correction Identify employees at risk of exposure and evaluate control measures Establish a baseline to be used throughout a continuous or ongoing process Use inspections to identify and assess hazards in each work environment Determine potential hazard severity and possible effects on workers Evaluate PPE effectiveness... 

Serious considerations of alternative materials Adequate containment of identified carcinogens Medical screening of employees at risk ... 

DOE O 440.1A, 4(i) 48CFR970.5223-1 4.1.1 Hazards associated with all activities involving chemicals that could put the employee at risk of injury or illness shall be identified and evaluated before purchase. 

The aim of proactive job surveys is to identify specific jobs and processes that may put employees at risk of developing WRMDs. Job surveys are typically performed after the jobs identified by the previous two surveillance components have been rectified. Job surveys of all jobs or a sample of representatives should be performed. Analysis of existing records will be used to estimate the potential magnitude of the problem in the workplace. The number of employees in each job, department, or similar population will be determined first. Then the incidence rates will be calculated on the basis of hours worked, as follows ... 

One approach builds somewhat on concepts found in TQM and related management schemes. This approach seeks to identify key at-risk behaviors. It seeks to engage managers, supervisors, and employees as a team in the process of reducing them. 

Integrating behavior-based safety into the management system to identify and recommend solutions for employees at risk Identify management behaviors that may be systemic in nature Recognizing successes and achievement of the management system... 

The Regulations introduced a control framework by requiring assessment of the extent of the problem, by carrying out noise surveys to identify work areas and employees at risk control by engineering measures, isolation or segregation of affected employees supply and use of protective equipment and administrative means and monitoring by reassessment at intervals to ensure that the controls used remain effective. 

But, there may also be a down side for behaviorists if the Krause premise is broadly accepted. Some safety professionals may rationalize that if the concentration should properly be on improving the interrelationship between people, equipment, materials, and the work environment, why are behaviorists needed at all They may conclude that operational efficiency requires that such interrelationships be approached directly through the means available in good safety management, rather than through a costly employee observation system. Obtaiiung the knowledge of the workers to help identify hazards and risks would continue to be an important part of those endeavors. 

Nothing at this company is more important than the health, safety, and well-being of our employees and their families. This company s safety leadership team believes that identifying and reducing risks will prevent all forms of accidental loss. As an organization we are determined to achieve our vision of reducing the probability of illnesses and injuries to our company family, visitors, and the communities and environment in which we operate. 

Preventative maintenance is needed to identify potential failures before employees are put at risk of injury. Worn or defective parts need to be repaired or replaced and adjustments need to be made at set intervals to ensure the press will continue to work safely, in particular those parts that could cause danger if they failed or deteriorated such as brakes, clutches, guards and safety-related parts of the control system. 

Site management should designate a responsible person(s) to monitor the weather and initiate the shelter-seeking process when appropriate. A protocol should be in place to notify you and your co-workers who may be at risk from a lightning threat. Depending on the number of employees involved, a team of people may be needed to coordinate the sheltering plan. Safe locations should be identified beforehand, along with a means to route you to those locations. 

One way to differentiate between employees who have priority needs for training and those who do not is to identify employee populations that are at higher levels of risk. The nature of the work will provide an indication that such groups should receive priority for information on occupational safety and health risks. 

One method of identifying employee populations at high levels of occupational risk (and thus in greater need of safety and health training) is to pinpoint hazardous occupations. Even within industries that are hazardous in general, there are some employees who operate at greater risk than others. In other cases, the hazardousness of an occupation is influenced by the conditions under which it is performed, such as noise, heat, cold, safety, or health hazards in the surrounding area. In these situations, employees should be trained not only on how to perform their job safely, but also on how to operate within a hazardous environment. 

Pick up almost any safety literature today and you will see an article discussing behavior-based safety. Each author has a different opinion on the use of behavior-based safety and how to implement the process. Nowhere will you find a discussion of integrating the process into the existing management system. In many cases, as the behavior-based process is presented, the process stands out like a sore thumb. Since there is such an emphasis on behavior-based safety, many managers think that this will solve all safety issues. It is important to remember that no matter how it is presented, the behavior-based process is only one element of your management system and should not stand alone. For example, there are still hazard recognition techniques, employee participation, and other types of efforts that must be used to identify hazards. You must remember that behavior-based safety does not catch all of the hazards since it focuses only on employees habits (at-risk behaviors). The JHA is the one method that can be used to help find and correct other hazards outside of behavior. Refer to Chapter 15. 

Understanding at-risk behaviors helps in identifying and understanding what safe behavior looks like. What would you observe if an employee was doing a specific task safely What would you observe if an employee was doing a task at-risk Think about the effects of the pyramid that we... 

According to Geller, in a total safety culture, everyone feels responsible for safety and pursues it on a daily basis. At work, employees will go beyond the call of duty to identify hazards and at-risk behaviors. Then... 

Employees are on the front lines for exposures. Routine health surveillance may help identify and mitigate possible health risks to employees at the earliest stages. Workplace monitoring programs may be useful for characterizing exposures. New surveillance strategies and tools... 

Employers having employees who are at risk of bloodborne pathogens exposure are required to prepare a written exposure control program. The plan must evaluate routine tasks and procedures in the workplace that involve exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) identify workers performing such tasks and use a variety of methods to reduce the risks. 

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