The Basics of Electrical Safety (Part 5)

If the worse should happen…

Do not touch a person who is being electrocuted, the odds are that you will become another victim rather than save the person.

To free the person who is being electrocuted look first for the source of source of power and turn if off.

If you cannot access the source of the power, [...]

The Basics of Electrical Safety (Part 4)

Protecting against the hazards of electricity

The old adage that the problem with common sense is that it is common enough holds true here. Most electrical injuries and fatalities could have been avoided with a little common sense and prevention.

Tips for working safely around electricity:

Make sure that GFCIs (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters) are installed in wall [...]

The Basics of Electrical Safety (Part 3)

Indirect Injuries

In addition to the direct injuries we have what we are calling “indirect injuries”. Indirect injuries are injuries that are caused by trauma as a result spasms or falls causes by an electrical jolt. Because electricity causes muscles spasms and because people react to electrical shock, many of the injuries are not a direct [...]

The Basics of Electrical Safety (Part 2)

Electricity and the human body

Direct Injuries

Direct injuries are injuries that are directly due to contact with electricity.

The severity of the injury will depend on three factors:

The path that the current takes as it travels through the body. One of the reasons that electricity is so often fatal is that the point of entry and the [...]

The Basics of Electrical Safety (Part 1)

Do you remember your last power outage? If you’re like most people than it didn’t take you long to realize how dependant you actually are on electricity. Can’t go online, can’t watch TV, can’t put in a movie, house starts getting cold, can’t cook, etc…

Electricity is an integral part of our lives and one that [...]

OSHA Partnership makes sense in harsh economy

With the economy being what it is at present, it might be time for companies to have another look at a little known and little used resource, namely OSHA partnerships.

An OSHA partnership is, quite simply, a great way to work in conjunction with OSHA to identify and eliminate potential injuries and fatalities on your job [...]

Looking for training material?

There is one question than I get more often than any other and that’s “Where can I get good training material?” So, whenever, I come across a good source, I’ve got to share it. This link, from West Virginia University’s Safety and Health Extension is one you are going to want to spend some time [...]

Personal Care = Shorter Recovery time

Apparently talk isn’t cheap after all! A new study put out by the IRSST (Institut de Recherche Robert-Sauve en Sante et Securite du Travail [The Robert-Sauve Institute of Research for Health and Safety in the Workplace]) which is available here, found that when physicians worked to communicate clearly with patients of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) the [...]

Being Safe In your Home

Fall isn’t that far away any more. We may have a few weeks of nice weather left but pretty soon we are all going to be spending a lot more time indoors.

While the outdoors has its share of hazards, your house has more than enough as well. A majority of personal injuries, especially to children, [...]

Can you say “Duh” part 4!

It seems like it was just last week that I wrote part 3 of this series (oh, sorry, it was a week and a half… my bad!) and I can honestly say that I wasn’t thinking that part 4 would be so soon but it seems that the capacity to spend money on studies that [...]