Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional

Regularmente las empresas y las agencias de gobiernos subcontratan trabajos a otras para propiciar una economía para ambas entidades. Esto trae también la responsabilidad al patrono contratante de salvaguardar la seguridad y salud de los empleados de la empresa contratada, primordialmente indicándole a esta última los riesgos que su empresa tiene para los empleados de la otra. Además como dueño del establecimiento PR-OSHA puede emitirles citaciones y penalidades por violaciones a las normas de seguridad y salud ocupacionales encontradas durante una inspección de cumplimiento a sus facilidades usando la sección 6 h de la ley 16 de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo de Puerto Rico. Considerando esto, recomiendo requiera estos documentos a las empresas que subcontrate para labores en su empresa. Considere estos documentos como una guía que no representan un total cumplimiento con la ley 16 de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo de Puerto Rico. 1. Copia del Programa de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacion...

Inquietante corolario del desarrollo de las nanotecnologías, las nanopartículas se infiltran de modo inédito en el cuerpo humano y otros organismos vivos, obligando a los profesionales y los consumidores a revisar las medidas de prevención sanitarias, explican los expertos. Los profesionales que participan en la elaboración o producción de esos nuevos materiales, que serán dos millones hacia 2015, son los más expuestos a la inhalación de esas partículas, al menos dos a tres veces inferiores a 100 nanómetros, o sea un diezmilésimo de milímetro. Las nanopartículas, sumamente diversas en cuanto a sus propiedades químicas, tienen como rasgo común una muy débil masa, que sin embargo ocupa, proporcionalmente, una superficie considerable."Cuando más se divide a la materia en trozos pequeños, más reactiva es y, por lo tanto, más peligrosa", indicó Daniel Bloch, médico laboralista en la Comisión de Energía Atómica (CEA) francesa, en una conferencia concedida en París en el Observatori...

Safety meetings present you with one of your best opportunities to get a lot of work done quickly and efficiently. They can also help you develop your employees' commitment to health and safety by giving them the chance to take part in decisions that affect their work environment. Types of Safety Business Safety meetings can be held for different reasons: a) Communicating policies and regulations (new or changed ones). b) Providing employee training (to perform jobs safely). c) Problem solving (i.e. performance observations, job hazard analyses, etc.). d) Discussing department-level safety matters. Develop an Agenda There are several reasons^o developing a written agenda for safety meetings: 1) Plan the meeting (to get something accomplished). 2) Plan the topic (key points to discuss). 3) Estimate time (stay within time limits). 4) Stay on track (keep discussion focused). 5) Create a business-like atmosphere (establish a sense of purpose or expectations). 6) Schedule the meeting (s...

La reglamentación de OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1030 sobre Patógenos en la Sangre fue emitida el 12/6/91 como una norma concerniente a los riesgos de infecciones en el lugar de trabajo. Dirigida a adiestrar, proteger y reducir la exposición de empleados a el virus inmunodeficiencia humana (HIV), el virus de la hepatitis B (HBV), el virus de la hepatitis C (HCV) y otros patógenos en la sangre. Los patógenos en la sangre (Bloodborne Pathogens o BBP's), son viruses, bacterias y parásitos u otros fluidos corporales de personas infectadas. El contacto directo con sangre infectada o fluidos por empleados puede causar infecciones, enfermedades serias, o en raros casos hasta la muerte. Los tipos de fluidos corporales son: sangre, lagrimas (Tears), saliva, orina, semen, leche materna (Breast milk), secreciones vaginales, fluido cerebroespinal (fluido alrededor del cerebro y cordón espinal), fluido alveolar, fluido de los sacos aéreos en los pulmones (fluid from the air sacs in the lungs), fluido sino...

Chief Gary Morris drew up these guidelines, which he encourages other departments to adopt, to improve safety among his crews. 1. All members are responsible for their own safety and the safety of personnel working with them. 2. All members are responsible for continuously identifying unsafe conditions and are authorized to report such conditions. 3. If it looks unsafe, feels unsafe, don't do it. Communicate it up, down, and across. 4. Any member is authorized to say no to unsafe practices or conditions: stop, talk, and decide 5. All command organization officers are responsible for accepting, and appropriately acting upon, all safety-related information to make the incident site safer 6. Communication of safety-related information to officers in the command organization is critical - and is two-way. 7. Command organization officers must continually keep all personnel working for them well informed of changing conditions and safety matters. 8. Command organization officers shall no...

By FireRescue1 staff (2/8/08) STILLWATER, Okla - Fire chiefs should work to create a department culture of safety, rather than risk, to reduce LODDs (LODD = line of duty death), according to a new report. The study by Oklahoma State University features best practices based on research conducted over the last two years. It was funded by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Public Entity Risk Institute. The document promotes the idea that leadership and management can reduce risks to firefighters. "The current U.S. fire service culture must change and place a higher value on personnel safety in order to achieve the goal of reducing firefighter deaths and injuries," it said. "This shift in values can only be achieved through leadership." The report recommends best practices culled from U.S. and UK expert panels and NIOSH reports for minimizing risk. These range from ensuring that all firefighters are equipped with properly functioning radios, to appointi...

The death of Baltimore fire cadet Racheal M. Wilson earlier this year proved to be a wakeup call for the city's fire department. An investigation revealed the training exercise in which she died was riddled with errors - but, it appeared, no one dared voice their concerns to superiors about it. Within the Baltimore Fire Department, the tragedy brought to a head the longstanding issue of firefighters being afraid and even unable to challenge supervisors over safety. Firefighters there are now actively encouraged to speak out about unsafe conditions. But with many departments still lagging behind, the fire service as a whole will remain riddled with unnecessary deaths unless proactive measures are taken, according to Gary Morris, former Seattle Fire Department fire chief and the current chief of the Rural/Metro Fire Department for Maricopa and Pinal Counties in Arizona. It was in Seattle that he first introduced a policy for safety best practices. He loosely based it on the British ...