The reality is hitting. In some ways I really don’t want it to end. It has been very good to me.
I feel so comfortable about it and so positive, that I am uncertain about the future. I don’t know what to expect.
What, 2016? Oh, you thought I was feeling uncertain about the new year?
Oh heck no. I feel great about what is coming in the new year – I was talking about my Safety Briefs blog posts. This year has been good, with lots of good information. But I have no real insight into what next year will bring.
![[Image courtesy of Flickr user Brian Reid via a Creative Commons license]](http://www.safetymatterstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/Tissue-by-Brian-Reid-e1450205028934.jpg)
[Image courtesy of Flickr user Brian Reid via a Creative Commons license]
Good gracious. Then yeah, I guess this is a bittersweet time for me. I will need a tissue or two as I mourn the loss of another year, but also cry for joy at all the blessings which have been bestowed on my family, my business, and especially to all my safety friends and colleagues out there.
Yes, I know the year is now coming to a close, so it is high time for me to write one final Safety Briefs blog for this year. No more sniveling or crying. There is no crying in baseball – or in safety. So let’s get to it.
Bioaerosol Protection
Of all the various materials that can contaminate the air at a worksite, so-called bioaerosols seem to be particularly tricky to provide adequate protection to workers. Fortunately, an OSHA research center in Canada may have the online tool you need to help determine the best respiration equipment you need for your industry and the specific bioaerosol you use.
The online tool is best used after a full risk assessment has been completed on your worksite in regards to workers and their exposure to the bioaersol material. Once that assessment is made, the online tool will take you through six steps to give you the best respiratory protection options available to you.
The six steps include determining your industry, the risk group, the air-uality control levels of the worksite, the intensity and frequency of bioaerosol use, plus allows the end-user to request an assigned protection factor (APF); this is then followed by the production of a comparison table of all the respirators that meet the criteria for adequate protection according to the APF and other factors.
Amputation Update
In 2006, OSHA put forth what was called a National Emphasis Program (NEP) about amputation injuries at worksites. This program was initially put together so OSHA would pay special attention in industry sectors where high amputation rates were present, compared to the overall industrial average. OSHA inspectors were tasked with evaluating problem worksites and to educate supervisors and managers about how to mitigate the risks of limb loss among workers who work around certain equipment which may cause such amputations.
Recently, OSHA introduced an update to the 2006 amputation NEP, and this update now encompasses all worksites in all industries where dangerous equipment is present and is used or maintained – equipment that has been known to cause amputations in the past, whether at that particular worksite or in that particular industry.
Now, OSHA inspectors are charged with conducting evaluations of these worksites and taking a hard look at the various ways in which workers are exposed to amputation risks around equipment (such as cleaning jams, cleaning or greasing equipment and parts and even locking equipment to prevent an accidental start.
More information can be found at the OSHA website.