Safety Topic · 320 articles
Workplace safety is essential for protecting employees and ensuring smooth operations. This section covers a wide range of safety topics, including hazards, risk management, and preventive measures. Learn how to identify risks, follow safety procedures, and maintain a safe and compliant work environment.
PPE is one of the most visible parts of workplace safety. Hard hats, gloves, goggles, hearing protection and respirators are easy to see during a site walk. What is less visible is whether the equipment was selected properly, fits the…
A risk assessment can be legally compliant on paper and still be almost invisible in the way work is carried out. That usually happens when the document becomes the end product rather than part of the decision-making process. It is…
TL;DR Around 1 million cases and nearly 60,000 deaths occur worldwide each year, most in tropical regions (CDC Yellow Book, 2024). England averaged 57 laboratory-confirmed and 89 probable cases a year from 2020 to 2023, peaking in summer and autumn…
TL;DR If the breaker is not confirmed open, do not rack it — racking a closed breaker onto a live bus is a leading arc flash trigger. If the equipment can be isolated upstream, rack it dead — an electrically…
TL;DR — Transformer Safety by the Numbers ~150 electrical fatalities a year. That's the US average from contact with electricity across all occupations (ESFI, 2025–2026 compilation). 74% of electrical deaths hit non-electrical workers. Of 1,940 electrical workplace fatalities from 2011–2023,…
TL;DR — The Numbers That Define the Hazard 1.0 µg/m³ — NIOSH recommended exposure limit for respirable carbon nanotubes and nanofibres, as an 8-hour time-weighted average (NIOSH CIB 65, 2013). 0.3 mg/m³ — NIOSH REL for nanoscale titanium dioxide, classed…
TL;DR If you're a large quantity generator (LQG), the on-site clock is 90 days, with no quantity cap but a dated start required on every container (EPA, 40 CFR 262.17). If you're a small quantity generator (SQG), you get 180…
TL;DR If your business produces, stores, moves or discards controlled waste, then you are a legal "waste holder" and the duty of care applies — there is no exemption for small firms. If you hand waste to a carrier, then…
TL;DR If your waste is non-hazardous controlled waste, a waste transfer note must be completed and signed by both parties before the waste is moved. If your waste is hazardous, a consignment note is required instead of a transfer note…
TL;DR Off-site moves are dual-regulated: hazardous waste transportation answers to the EPA (40 CFR 263) and US DOT (49 CFR) at the same time. If you package it, the waste must go in UN performance-oriented packaging authorized for its specific…
TL;DR Match PPE to the saw, not the season. Cut-resistant leg protection, a helmet with visor and ear defence, gloves, and protective boots are the baseline for any chainsaw work. Certified leg protection stops the chain by jamming it —…
TL;DR Inorganic arsenic in CCA carries an OSHA airborne limit of 10 µg/m³ (8-hour TWA), with medical surveillance triggered at half that level (OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.1018). Hexavalent chromium, also in CCA, sits at 5 µg/m³ (8-hour TWA) — among…
Every safety category is listed in the A–Z directory.