Every year workers across the United States suffer from injuries sustained from unguarded or inadequately guarded moving machine parts. The unguarded use of machines can lead to injuries such as: amputations, crushed hands and arms, lacerations, abrasions and blindness. It is estimated that approximately 18,000 injuries and over 800 deaths occur each year among workers who operate and maintain machinery. Knowing the basics of machine safeguarding can prevent you from becoming a statistic. Any machine part, function, or process which may cause an injury must be safeguarded. When the operation of a machine or accidental contact with it can injure the operator or others in the vicinity, the hazards must be either controlled or eliminated.

There are over 500,000 workers involved in some form of welding, cutting or brazing work. These are hazardous activities which pose a combination of both safety and health risks for employees. Welding, cutting and brazing are all very dangerous and proper work practices must be followed to avoid injuries, fires and even explosions. The safety and well-being of workers involved in welding, cutting or brazing is the impetus behind OHSA's regulations covering these activities.

16-page training booklet for the purpose of training employees regarding OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.

Approximately 32.8 million persons of Hispanic descent live in the United States, half of whom were born outside the United States (Therrien and Ramirez, 2000). By the year 2050, it is expected that Hispanics will constitute more than 25 percent of the total U.S. population and approximately 15 percent of the U.S. labor force. These estimates and the fact that 90 percent of Hispanic American men and 60 percent of Hispanic American women participate in the U.S. workforce strongly suggest a need for occupational safety and health information in Spanish. The growing presence of Spanish-speaking workers and employers in the United States and the unprecedented 12-percent increase in the overall rate of workplace fatalities among Hispanic workers in 2000 highlights the need to better communicate occupational safety and health information in Spanish to both employees and employers. To address this need the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is preparing a strategy for developing and disseminating Spanish-language occupational safety and health educational and technical material. To gather information necessary to create this strategic plan the National Research Council (NRC) was asked to host a workshop. The committee commissioned five white papers (see Appendices D-H) and organized a workshop on May 29-30, in San Diego, California. Safety is Seguridad: A Workshop Summary is a synopsis of the presentations and discussions at the workshop. It does not contain any conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions and recommendations in the white papers represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the committee or the NRC. It is intended as input to the NIOSH strategic planning in this area. Chapter 2 discusses the available information and identifies information gaps regarding risks and adverse events for Latino workers. Chapter 3 examines the available health and safety training resource materials for Latino workers, especially for those with little or no English capabilities; in particular, it discusses issues of the linguistic and cultural appropriateness of materials. Chapter 4 considers issues surrounding the assessment of existing materials and the development of new materials. Chapter 5 discusses the various means of conveying information to Spanish-speaking workers, again focusing on cultural appropriateness and ways of maximizing understanding. Chapter 6 summarizes the discussion in the prior chapters and presents some overarching issues raised by the workshop attendees.

Every organization must comply with occupational health and safety regulations. Yet it is frequently unclear which actually apply in a given real-life situation, plus the field is loaded with technical terminology and complicated regulations. Many managers, trainers, even safety and health professionals therefore find it hard to know how to comply, with exactly what. Written to make this important discipline more understandable, Concise Guide to Workplace Safety and Health: What You Need to Know, When You Need It systematically addresses, for each of the 34 topics covered, core issues such as relevant regulations, required program elements, and definitions of key terms. Organized for quick access to information, this handy reference book demystifies required documentation, training elements, medical requirements, recordkeeping, and more. Conveniently, the author uses the same 20-part format for every topic. For example, if you want to know only about the documentation required, you can immediately turn to a topic’s Section 9 (Written Documentation Required). If training requirements are the issue, simply go to a chapter’s Section 12 (Training Requirements). Also provided for each topic are links to quality background and training information, with sample forms and programs where available. The guide covers safety and health topics of interest to a wide cross section of industries and businesses. The author’s relaxed, yet focused approach and consistent format allow efficient access to a broad range of occupational health and safety information. The topics covered include not only those that are currently regulated, but also emerging issues such as injury and illness prevention programs, and the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology.