Safety Net Blog

MEMIC's all about workplace safety blog since 2008! Easy-to-read safety advice combines with email delivery to give you a whole new way to keep your safety program on track. If you'd like to search a topic not listed, please use the overall site search at the top right.

Lock out tag out signs on equipment

Lockout Tagout - Stored Energy Considerations

Lockout Tagout (LOTO) is one of the most critical processes of any safety program. When done properly, LOTO eliminates and/or controls the accidental and unexpected release of hazardous energy that could result in serious injury or even death.

Manufacturing, Logging, General, Transportation, Retail, Electrical, Manual Material Handling, OSHA  •  April 11, 2018
chainsaw cutting tree

HAVS (and the Have Nots)

HAVS or hand-arm vibration syndrome is an insidious condition affecting the distal upper extremity.

Manufacturing, Construction, General, Manual Material Handling, OSHA  •  March 20, 2018
lights on

Powered Industrial Truck Pedestrian Safety Lights—What a Bright Idea!

According to a report published by OSHA, in 2015 there were approximately 96,785 incidents related to powered industrial trucks. With approximately 855,900 lifts in the US, roughly 1 in 10 forklifts were involved in an accident.

Construction, Manufacturing, General  •  September 15, 2017
torque tool thumbnail

Torque Tool Use

Recently I was asked about safe torque levels when using electrically, pneumatically, or hydraulically powered screwdrivers or wrenches. These tools are often used in assembly jobs in the manufacturing industry.

Manufacturing  •  September 06, 2017

For Metal Fume Fever—More LEV!

If the iconic actor Christopher Walken was welding galvanized steel, his classic phrase from the Saturday Night Live sketch"More Cowbell" might instead be “I got a fever and the only prescription is more LEV!” LEV, or local exhaust ventilation, is a...

General, Manufacturing  •  November 30, 2016

Off the Chain!

When celebrity judge Mel B shouts “Off the chain!” on America’s Got Talent she’s praising the act for a spectacular performance. When the same might be blurted out in a manufacturing facility using alloy steel chain slings to hoist large fixtures an...

General, Manufacturing, OSHA, Inspection  •  September 08, 2016

Tame the Beast Machine With Lockout/Tagout

The beast that is that cold, heartless machine with gnashing teeth, clamping jaws, and slashing claws has no respect for the hand that feeds. Poised and ready to pounce in an instant, its hardened steel mouth can tear savagely through soft tissue and...

Manufacturing, General, OSHA  •  May 26, 2016

Examining the Minor Servicing Exemption to OSHA’s LOTO Standard

The scope of OSHA’s The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) standard covers “the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment in which the unexpected energization or start up of the machines or equipment, or release of stored energy, ...

Manufacturing, General, OSHA  •  March 30, 2016

Crossing Over Conveyors

In the 21st century many companies have gone to great lengths to improve efficiency, product flow, and reduce ergonomic stress on the employees by installing conveyor systems. These newly installed conveyor systems may work as intended, but workers m...

General, Manufacturing  •  September 15, 2015

Hearing Conservation for Hearing Conversation

Ludwig van Beethoven’s ninth symphony (the Choral) is considered to be his finest work. Premiered in 1824, he had to be turned around at the end of conducting the symphony because his hearing loss was so severe he couldn’t hear the audience’s thunder...

Logging, Manufacturing, Construction, General  •  March 10, 2015

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