March is National Ladder Safety Month

Falls from ladders cause over 100 deaths and thousands of disabling injuries each year in the United States. These incidents also include injuries to nearly 900 workers in Washington State. Improper ladder use ranked 8th among the state’s top 10 workplace safety and health violations for all industries in 2019.

National Ladder Safety Month takes place every March to educate, train, and involve the public in preventing ladder-related injuries and fatalities at home and at work. The yearly observance began in 2017 as an initiative of the American Ladder Institute, the only approved developer of ladder industry safety standards in the country.

Yard Tractors and Harm Factors

Yard tractors are known by different names: terminal tractor, hostler, spotter truck, yard truck, yard jockey, yard goat, or mule. Whatever you call them, operating yard tractors where vehicle and pedestrian traffic merges puts their drivers at the center of hazardous conditions that can injure or kill. Use these tips to keep your employees safe when operating or working near yard tractors.

Always Expect a Train

Better regulations, enforcement, engineering, and training have greatly reduced train and motor vehicle collisions across the United States. In fact, Federal Railroad Administration data show collisions declined 83 percent from 12,000 in 1972 to 2,123 in 2017, significantly reducing fatalities and injuries. However, reaching zero collisions requires more education, especially on how to drive safely through railroad crossings.

While trains collide with trucks at railroad crossings far less than with cars, truck collisions can be much
more severe.Attempting to beat a train at a railroad crossing is always a bad decision that can cost your life. Trains are closer and faster than they may seem from a truck cab window. The average freight train traveling at 55 mph needs a mile or more to stop. By the time a train engineer sees you, it’s nearly always too late for them to fully stop before hitting you. The more you know about railroad crossing safety, the better prepared you’ll be to drive and thrive each day. Use the following tips to stay safe at railroad crossings.

Keep it 20/20 in 2020

March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month, a time to take action to prevent eye injuries at work. The annual observance began as an effort of Prevent Blindness, the nation’s leading voluntary eye health and safety organization, to provide eye safety education and injury prevention resources to employers.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that around 2,000 workplace eye injuries requiring medical attention occur each day in the United States. About 20% of these injuries result in missing one or more workdays to recover. Temporary or permanent vision loss are the outcome of 10-20% of total work-related eye injuries.