You’ve probably seen it many times in science fiction movies: a robot goes berserk and wreaks havoc on its human masters. While real life is not quite that dramatic, and today’s industrial robots may not be as amazing as their counterparts from the movies, those robots are quite capable of causing injuries and damage. Robotic devices have become a fixture …

It was one of those steamy July afternoons and the crew was waiting for the concrete trucks to arrive and pour the large pad they had just finished framing. They planned to work more quickly than usual, because they knew the concrete would start curing faster than normal, there were several truckloads, and they didn’t want to spend the afternoon …

Many construction sites include an enforcer who is widely disliked. His mission? Spot workers who are violating the site’s safety rules and ensure they are called out and penalized. Often described by many names (some unprintable), this enforcer is most often known as the safety “cop.” In the workers’ eyes, he takes on the characteristics of Barney Fife of TV’s …

Safety professionals frequently promote the benefits of having a positive and proactive safety culture. Upper management’s perception of their company’s safety culture may be that they have a decent safety culture, when in actuality they do not. The reality is that every company and every jobsite has a safety culture, good or bad — it’s just that some companies are …

Kids enjoy jumping from “high” locations. You probably jumped off of playground equipment, tree limbs, or small hills — and probably walked away with the scrapes and bruises that demonstrate the hazards. As adults, falling can be frightening. We rarely fall deliberately, and the surfaces that break our falls these days are less forgiving than grassy fields and playground surfaces. …

On the surface, ventilation is a simple concept. When we want more fresh air, we can open a window or a vent, or turn on a fan. At worksites, proper ventilation is one of the most important controls that can be used. In simple terms, it’s a way to control the quality of the work environment using flowing air, whether …

At most companies’ facilities,  you have to stop to identify yourself and explain why you’re there. The reasoning is clear: the company wants to make sure that the only people who enter are those who belong there. It pays to take a similar approach with the contractors who will work on your organization’s projects. Only those who meet your organization’s …

Sealing and installing insulation has long been a part of construction projects, but has become more important with the desire for greater energy efficiency. Whether the goal is a greener structure or simply a tighter building envelope, properly installed insulation and sealed joints to prevent air infiltration is a key factor. Sealing and insulating are generally straightforward processes, and as …

Scaffolds and their components are among the most common features on construction sites and in industrial settings — and one of the most inherently dangerous. Workers take them for granted and fail to give them a second thought. While they may be ordinary and utilitarian, when they fail, it’s usually in dramatic, newsworthy ways. Although scaffolding systems may not get …

Spray painting and sandblasting serve two entirely opposite functions, yet from a safety standpoint, they create many similar hazards for workers. Both operations rely upon the use of compressed air to spray a material across surfaces, but while spray painting is normally used to apply a coating to those surfaces, sandblasting uses the material to either remove its current coating …