The Hierarchy of Hazard Control gives employers and safety professionals a tool to effectively tackle their .

The International Labour Association states that over 2.3 million workers are severely injured each year. This means that they can’t return to the job after an accident or disease caught in the workplace.

This Infographic provides a basic, easy to understand description of the most effective methods of accident prevention, using the ‘hierarchy of hazard control.’ This is a system which can be applied to any industry. It ranges from complete accident prevention to the use of common PPE, e.g. hard hats, respirators.

The hierarchy is set from the most to least effective methods of hazard control:

1. Eliminating the risk of incidents and accidents.
2. Substitute one risk for another, e.g. one chemical for a less hazardous one.
3. Physically changing the workplace for hazard protection.
4. Training workers to perform their job more safely.
5. Right use of Personal protective equipment (PPE) and making workers aware about the different components of PPE.

Before deciding on the most effective form of protection, workers must be asked for their own opinion. Perhaps, there’s a rising temperature or noise at a certain time of day. This information can be gathered, then organized and examined to choose the most effective methods of protection or prevention.

It is a basic human right to return home safely from work; nobody should be killed or harmed in occupational accidents.

Safety should be seen as a basic right of everyone in the workplace. The economic effects that this can have on your company are also an important reason to make safety a top priority.

This Infographic simply describes:

• The most effective methods of accident prevention or reduction.
• How they can be accomplished.
• Common heavy industry examples.

Download this infographic to learn more.

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Construction, perhaps on a residential building site, is often an industry where young workers experience their first job. Suffering up to a 40% higher rate of non-fatal occupational injury than co-workers over the age of 25, makes the safety of young workers a top priority.

Some of the most common reasons for this increased number, are:

• Lack of training and experience
• Insufficient knowledge of the safety issues and their legal rights
• Enjoying more physically demanding work
• Not reporting any recognized health or safety hazards

The international majority of young worker occur in the farming sector and after this, construction, where young workers aged 15-17 are seven times more likely to suffer from a fatal accident. One 18-year-old worker was killed when he was cleaning out a portable mortar mixer on-site but had not been trained in straightforward safety procedures such as “lockout/tagout”. Beginning the day before, he became entangled in the mortar which had not been disconnected from its energy source before cleaning began.

Before a job is even advertised, it is vital to know which work cannot be performed by young workers under the age of 18, often due to the safety issues involved. Always mention any unsafe work and an age-limit clearly in the advertisement, making sure that any hazardous equipment or machinery is working well before a new job starts.

Before a young worker begins, it is vital that they have been provided with any health and safety training required, knowing their own rights. For example, their entitlement to fall protection if they are working from or above a certain height. Guard rails and safety nets are two of the most common forms of fall prevention and could have stopped a young 20-year-old carpenter from being injured, when he fell from the open second story stairway of an apartment building and suffered a skull fracture with serious brain damage.

If a supervisor is required to keep a young worker safe, then safety must remain their top priority as work begins. If a young worker feels that a certain job is unsafe then they should not be afraid to ask whether this work is necessary or if there a safer way of doing something. Also, young workers must consider the safety of others if they notice unsafe behavior or a hazardous on-site location, e.g. a busy area that is often packed up with random equipment or unused machinery.

This year, the World Day Against Child Labour has formed a joint campaign with the International Labour Organization (ILO), marking the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (SafeDay), which aims to improve the health and safety of young workers and encourage an end to child labor.

Click here to view a simple checklist, to provide an easy understanding of:

• Why young workers are the most vulnerable in certain industries.
• How a job should be advertised if it is considered suitable for young workers.
• The importance of health and safety training.
• How to remain safe after work begins and over time.

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As the use of eLearning continues to rise, some of the main benefits mentioned in this infographic, include the retention rate of information by 25-60%, compared to the classroom training rate of 8-10%. Other figures that are mentioned, show:

• The rate of money saved
• The lower rate of time taken.
• The lower rate of CO² produced.
• The lower rate of energy used.

One of the main benefits of eLearning mentioned in this infographic is the less time taken to carry out training using the blended learning approach. The time is estimated to fall by 60%, using different methods of training and deciding which training needs to be done on-site, or in a classroom setting, as well as training that can now be done through eLearning in an off-site location.  

Benefits of encouraging eLearning in the construction industry which can reduce the amount of time taken, include:

• A lot of training now doesn’t hold up the work being done on-site.
• Employees learn the work involved at their own rate.
• Many training managers provide training across multiple sites, which can now be provided online simultaneously.

eLearning continues to become a more important form of training that should be encouraged in all industries, as the level of adults using the internet and other companies using online training continues to rise. While 4% of companies in the US used some form of eLearning in 1995, by 2014, this level had reached 77%.

As the level of workers in the heavy industry now reaching retirement continues to grow and the level of young workers entering the industry continues to fall, this reveals the importance of making eLearning a more important form of training. In 2018, figures show that 98% of 18 to 29-year-olds in the US are using the internet, compared to 83% in 2005.

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Safety and health at work is everyone’s concern. It’s good for you. It’s good for business.

This is the message held by the Healthy Workplaces Campaign. Arranged by the European Agency for Safety at Health at Work (), this campaign aims to provide and encourage practical guides and tools to promote health and safety in the EU workplace. This year’s theme is based on how ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances’.

This Healthy Workforces Campaign applies the term ‘dangerous substance’ to any gas, liquid or solid substance that can be seen as a health and safety risk in the workplace. One serious example is the unloading and opening of freight containers which have been fumigated with chemicals to kill pests before shipping begins. The fact that most of these containers are never labelled and the health risks involved aren’t explained, is an example of why this theme is an important one to investigate.

The main goals of this Healthy Workplaces Campaign, include:

• Increasing awareness of the risks involved with these dangerous substances and explaining any misunderstandings that are commonly held.   
• Promoting any practical tools and other practices capable of eliminating or substituting dangerous substances used.
• Raising awareness of any risks and methods of protection involved in carcinogen exposure.
• Targeting specific groups of workers, perhaps inexperienced or some exposed to high, unsafe levels of these substances and providing them with tailored information on relevant safety practices.   

Some of the reasons why this is such an important theme can be seen by figures mentioned in the infographic, such as:

• How many deaths occur each year due to cancer caused by carcinogen exposure in the workplace?
• How many EU enterprises have to deal with exposure to hazardous chemicals or biological substances in the workplace?
• How many people believe their industry is not doing enough to deal with these problems and encourage a healthy workplace?

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Accounting for 19.9% of US work deaths in 2016, this confirms the importance of all companies in this industry in developing a strong safety culture for construction workers. In 2016, the number of workers in the US construction industry rose to 10.3 million, constantly rising since 2012, when this number had dropped to 8.9 million. As these figures continue to rise, the number of deaths occurring on-site has also grown from 849 to 985. 

The large % of these deaths are a result of one of the Fatal Four, which in many cases, could have been prevented. They include being struck by, or caught in between an object, also electrocution and most commonly, falling from heights. The main cause of these falls are a lack of unprotected edges which can be easily provided, also, the absence of hard hats, which should always be worn on-site.

These unprotected platforms are listed as the standards which are most commonly violated, with something as easy as a warning sign used for a certain hazard, perhaps chemical being another.

Certain OSHA regulations and standards which must be kept to and could prevent future accidents or fatal injury include providing workers with the relevant OSHA training for their job, making sure that any injuries and illnesses are recorded and stored.

Penalties in 2016, have also grown and a fine of over $12000 could now be given if serious violations are recorded once, compared to $7000 the year before, with repetitive or willful violations sometimes reaching over $129,000. This is an overall rise of 78% since 1990, when these figures were last adjusted.

This infographic contains important, constantly growing figures from 2016, investigating:

• The % of workplace deaths of construction workers, which occur in this industry.
• The number of deaths, which were a result of the Fatal Four.
• How these deaths could have been prevented with improved health and safety regulations.

Download this infographic to learn more.

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Workers are exposed to a variety of power plant hazards if the right preventative steps are not taken. Unsurprisingly, the biggest concern is injuries related to electrical hazards. In the US, from contact with power lines every year. While the common conception may be that electrocution is the biggest concern, the majority of electrical injuries in power plants are actually burns related to ‘arc flashes’. They are incredibly dangerous because of the massive currents created in power plants.

Some of the most common power plant hazards are electrical shocks and burns, boiler fires and explosions, and contact with hazardous chemicals. Keeping your workers safe is a constant challenge. A mistake in a power plant can easily be fatal. The National Safety Council estimates that an electrocution death costs an employer approximately $1 million. No amount of money can cover the costs of a family’s grief. It is both the employer’s and  worker’s responsibility to ensure that a workplace is as safe as possible.

The best step you can take to keep your workers safe from power plant hazards is to implement the hierarchy of controls that are designed to ensure a safe workplace. These controls are listed in order of effectiveness and these should form the basis of your workplace safety strategy.

Hierarchy of Controls for Power Plant Hazards

• Elimination – Physically removing the hazard – this is the most effective hazard control. Consider moving a power control station from a raised platform to ground level to remove the risk of falling.
• Substitution – This is the second most effective hazard control and involves replacing something that produces a hazard (similar to elimination) with something that does not produce a hazard.
• Engineering Controls – These do not eliminate power plant hazards, but rather isolate people from hazards by employing a physical barrier that protects workers from a hazard. Examples include machine guards, railings, or locked-out machines.
• Awareness – Provide information to enable workers to make safe decisions that lead to more efficient processes. Provide clear and obvious signage, specific machine training, and other education.
• Administrative Controls – Administrative controls change the way people work. You can implement specific policies to limit employee exposure to power plant hazards.
• Personal Protective Equipment – PPE is the least effective means of controlling power plant hazards because of the potential for damage or misuse to make it ineffective. Arc-rated clothing and fall harnesses should be used in power plants depending on a worker’s role.

Contractors need to receive proper training to work in power plants. This should be done when they are onboarded so that they are aware of power plant hazards, and how to avoid them, before they step foot on-site. Safety orientations should be site-specific and tailored to a worker’s role. An online contractor management system allows you to conduct orientations for workers based across multiple sites, while keeping a uniform quality standard.

Take a look at our Infographic for a detailed and visual representation of the electrical hazards at power plants and what steps you and your workers should take to ensure safety on-site.

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Working at heights is a risky job, even more so when you don’t know the proper rules to abide by. Is your harness strapped on correctly? Did you inspect your safety gear before getting to work? There may be many rules to follow, but it is important to keep in mind that without these your life may be in danger when on the job.

Download the infographic and learn:

• The number of deaths in the recent years from falling at heights
• The do’s and don’ts of working while at a height
• How to minimize the risks of falling

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Every site has their own rules, each specific towards their hazards and dangers. Download your free poster to hang in a common area or lounge for all workers to see basic safety rules!

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