Notable Upcoming Safety Events/Dates
International Worker’s Memorial Day
April 28 is International Workers’ Memorial Day (Workers’ Memorial Day in the U.S.A. and National Day of Mourning in Canada). The victims and their families who have been killed or harmed in the workplace, deserve our support and prayers.
On Friday, April 28 the IATSE International Moment of Silence, commemorating International Workers’ Memorial Day will be observed. Workers and Locals are asked to pause at work, their local offices, or wherever they are and stop for a moment of silence.
Links that may be helpful in commemorating this day are below:
Canadian National Day of Mourning
NAOSH Week – May 7-13, 2017
The North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH) is a week dedicated to raising safety and health awareness in workplaces throughout Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Many things can be planned for this week such as posting safety reminders on employee bulletin boards or articles in Local Union newsletters. Others include having more safety meetings at work or holding safety trainings during this week. NAOSH week is a great time to have a class.
If you have a training person, use the “Intro to OSHA” module from the OSHA 10/GES curriculum to put on a class. It has great information about OSHA and how to report hazards. Contact us for more information or simply fill out the application for this curriculum here.
More information on NAOSH week can be found at these links:
www.asse.org/newsroom/naosh/what-is-naosh-week/
Annual Fall Safety Stand Down – May 8-12, 2017
As part of raising safety awareness during NAOSH Week, OSHA has put together a fall prevention campaign, the Annual Fall Safety Stand-Down. Falls from elevation make up over a third of the deaths in construction workplaces. The worst part is these deaths are preventable. This campaign is meant to focus on this high-risk issue to reduce the number of people hurt. While certain IATSE workers are more exposed to working at heights than others, basic elements of fall-protection, such as safe use of ladders apply to many IATSE workers in all crafts, and they will find these resources useful.
OSHA has developed several resources, including “toolbox talks”, that may be used throughout the safety awareness week and beyond. Toolbox talks are outlines for short 5-10 minute talks on identifying and responding to common hazards, short videos, and handouts (including inspection checklists). There are also posters and other promotional materials.
You can get information by following these links:
www.osha.gov/stopfalls/index.html
www.osha.gov/StopFallsStandDown/calendar.html
www.osha.gov/StopFallsStandDown/resources.html
OSHA Safe & Sound Week – June 12-18, 2017
A proven method of creating a safer workplace is for a company to have a health and safety program. The program is a plan that employers make to try and eliminate hazards at work. A program uses some specific elements like employee participation, good communications, and training to achieve the goals of safety.
For more information follow these links:
www.osha.gov/safeandsoundweek/
Heat Illness Prevention Campaign
Excessive heat is always a potential hazard to workers. Possible harm includes death. Having water, rest, and shade are the simple steps to prevent problems. A heat prevention program also requires that emergencies are planned for, and that employees receive training. This summer, be aware of the heat and ask your employer about their heat prevention program. For more information: www.osha.gov/heat
OSHA provides a plethora of resources including posters and other hand-outs; www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/edresources.html
There are training tools and a social media toolkit with sample tweets, hashtags, etc. that can help increase worker awareness around this completely preventable form of workplace illness: www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/trainingresources.html
OSHA also has a Heat Safety Tool app for both iPhone and Android Smartphones: www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/heat_index/heat_app.html
The TTF offers safety and training resources to all IATSE workers, locals, and employers. Our staff can assist you, no matter what your training needs may be. Information, including a downloadable guide to setting up a training program, may be found here.