Emerging Technologies Revolutionizing Workplace Safety

Technological innovations are rapidly reshaping the landscape of workplace safety. From AI-powered safety monitoring systems to wearable devices that track employee well-being, the possibilities are endless.

Weather conditions can have a significant impact on workplace safety. Unpredictable weather events, such as storms, extreme temperatures, or natural disasters, can pose serious risks to employees and operations. To ensure the well-being of your workforce and maintain a safe working environment, it is crucial to stay updated with the latest weather forecasts. In this article, we will explore the importance of monitoring weather conditions and provide tips on how to incorporate weather forecasting into your occupational health and safety protocols.

The Importance of Weather Forecasting

Risk Mitigation

Weather forecasting helps identify potential hazards in advance, allowing organizations to take preventive measures and reduce the risk of accidents or injuries. Effective controls protect workers from workplace hazards; help avoid injuries, illnesses, and incidents; minimize or eliminate safety and health risks; and help employers provide workers with safe and healthful working conditions. The processes described in this section will help employers prevent and control hazards identified in the previous section. To effectively control and prevent hazards, employers should: Involve workers, who often have the best understanding of the conditions that create hazards and insights into how they can be controlled. Identify and evaluate options for controlling hazards, using a “hierarchy of controls.” Use a hazard control plan to guide the selection and implementation of controls, and implement controls according to the plan. Develop plans with measures to protect workers during emergencies and nonroutine activities. Evaluate the effectiveness of existing controls to determine whether they continue to provide protection, or whether different controls may be more effective. Review new technologies for their potential to be more protective, more reliable, or less costly.

Operational Continuity

Accurate weather predictions enable businesses to plan operations effectively, preventing costly disruptions due to adverse weather conditions.

Reducing Lightning Hazards When Working Outdoors

Employers, supervisors, and workers should understand lightning risks, characteristics, and precautions to minimize workplace hazards. Lightning is unpredictable and can strike outside the heaviest rainfall areas or even up to 10 miles from any rainfall. Many lightning victims are caught outside during a storm because they did not act promptly to get to a safe place, or they go back outside too soon after a storm has passed. If signs of approaching thunderstorms occur, workers should not begin any task they cannot quickly stop. Proper planning and safe practices can easily increase lightning safety when working outdoors.

OSHA and NOAA recommend that employers and supervisors follow these lightning safety best practices for workers whose jobs involve working outdoors

The Importance of Weather Forecasting

Check NOAA Weather Reports: Prior to beginning any outdoor work, employers and supervisors should check NOAA weather reports (weather.gov) and radio forecasts for all weather hazards. OSHA recommends that employers consider rescheduling jobs to avoid workers being caught outside in hazardous weather conditions. When working outdoors, supervisors and workers should continuously monitor weather conditions. Watch for darkening clouds and increasing wind speeds, which can indicate developing thunderstorms. Pay close attention to local television, radio, and Internet weather reports, forecasts, and emergency notifications regarding thunderstorm activity and severe weather. Seek Shelter in Buildings: Employers and supervisors should know and tell workers which buildings to go to after hearing thunder or seeing lightning. NOAA recommends seeking out fully enclosed buildings with electrical wiring and plumbing. Remain in the shelter for at least 30 minutes after hearing the last sound of thunder. Commercial lightning detection and notification services are available to monitor for lightning activity. These notification services can send alerts when lightning activity develops or moves to within a certain range of a work site. In addition, these commercial systems can provide mapped locations of lightning strikes from an approaching storm. However, these systems cannot predict the first lightning strike. Consequently, it is important to watch the sky for storms developing overhead or nearby and get to a safe place prior to the first lightning strike. Portable and hand-held lightning detectors function by detecting the electromagnetic signal from a nearby lightning strike and then processing the signal to estimate the distance to the lightning strike. These devices typically do not detect all strikes, cannot predict the first strike, cannot provide the location of a strike, and are less accurate than the commercial detection and notification systems. In some cases, simply listening for thunder or watching the sky may be a better indication of a developing or nearby storm. For situations which require advance notice of thunderstorms, NOAA recommends monitoring forecasts and radar observations from either commercial weather services or NOAA to stay informed of changing weather conditions

Emergency Action Plan

Employers should have a written Emergency Action Plan (EAP), as outlined in 29 CFR 1910.38 or 29 CFR 1926.35. The EAP should include a written lightning safety protocol for outdoor workers. This lightning safety protocol should.

Inform supervisors and workers to take action after hearing thunder, seeing lightning, or perceiving any other warning signs of approaching thunderstorms.
Indicate how workers are notified about lightning safety warnings.
Identify locations and requirements for safe shelters.
Indicate response times necessary for all workers to reach safe shelters.
Specify approaches for determining when to suspend outdoor work activities, and when to resume outdoor work activities.
Account for the time required to evacuate customers and members of the public, and the time needed for workers to reach safety.

Under the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), employers are required to provide their employees with a place of employment that “is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.” The courts have interpreted OSHA’s general duty clause to mean that an employer has a legal obligation to provide a workplace free of conditions or activities that either the employer or industry recognizes as hazardous and that cause, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to employees when there is a feasible method to abate the hazard. This includes lightning hazards that can cause death or serious bodily harm. During storms or high winds, OSHA prohibits: • work on or from scaffolds (29 CFR 1926.451(f)(12)); • crane hoists (29 CFR 1926.1431(k)(8)); and • work on top of walls (29 CFR 1926.854(c)). In these situations, scaffold work may continue only if a qualified person determines it is safe and personal fall protection or wind screens are provided. Crane hoists may continue only if a qualified person determines it is safe. Helpful Resources • Lightning Safety on the Job (weather.gov) • National Fire Protection Association (NFPA): • NFPA 780: Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems, 2014 Edition, www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/documentinformation-pages?mode=code&code=780 • National Lightning Safety Institute, lightningsafety.com • Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Protecting Airport Personnel from Lightning Strikes, onlinepubs.trb.org/ onlinepubs/acrp/acrp_iop_004.pdf Contact NOAA For information on lightning safety, or to obtain data, educational and outreach materials, and posters, visit NOAA’s lightning safety website: Lightning Safety Tips and Resources (weather.gov). Contact NOAA at wrn.feedback@noaa.gov. Examples of data

Employers Should Consider Protective Clothing that Provides Warmth

Employers must provide personal protective equipment (PPE), for example, fall protection, when required by OSHA standards to protect workers’ safety, and health. However, in limited cases specified in the standard (29 CFR 1910.132), there are exceptions to the requirement for employers to provide PPE to workers. For instance, there is no OSHA requirement for employers to provide workers with ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other items, used solely for protection from weather, such as winter coats, jackets, gloves, parkas, rubber boots, hats, raincoats, ordinary sunglasses, and sunscreen (29 CFR 1910.132(h)(4)). Regardless of this, many employers provide their workers with winter weather gear such as winter coats/jackets and gloves.
Learn more about PPE requirements and how to design an effective PPE program: Personal Protective Equipment (OSHA Safety and Health Topics Page).

Prior to beginning any outdoor work, employers and supervisors should check NOAA weather reports (weather.gov) and radio forecasts for all weather hazards. OSHA recommends that employers consider rescheduling jobs to avoid workers being caught outside in hazardous weather conditions. When working outdoors, supervisors and workers should continuously monitor weather conditions. Watch for darkening clouds and increasing wind speeds, which can indicate developing thunderstorms. Pay close attention to local television, radio, and Internet weather reports, forecasts, and emergency notifications regarding thunderstorm activity and severe weather.

National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month. This year’s campaign theme is “Preparing for Older Adults” and will focus on preparing older adults for disaster, specifically older adults from communities that are disproportionally impacted by all-hazard events, which continue to threaten the nation.

Commercial lightning detection and notification services are available to monitor for lightning activity. These notification services can send alerts when lightning activity develops or moves to within a certain range of a work site. In addition, these commercial systems can provide mapped locations of lightning strikes from an approaching storm. However, these systems cannot predict the first lightning strike. Consequently, it is important to watch the sky for storms developing overhead or nearby and get to a safe place prior to the first lightning strike. Portable and hand-held lightning detectors function by detecting the electromagnetic signal from a nearby lightning strike and then processing the signal to estimate the distance to the lightning strike. These devices typically do not detect all strikes, cannot predict the first strike, cannot provide the location of a strike, and are less accurate than the commercial detection and notification systems. In some cases, simply listening for thunder or watching the sky may be a better indication of a developing or nearby storm. For situations which require advance notice of thunderstorms, NOAA recommends monitoring forecasts and radar observations from either commercial weather services or NOAA to stay informed of changing weather conditions

OSHA Unveils New Regulations for Heightened Workplace Safety...

OSHA Unveils New Regulations for Heightened Workplace Safety...