Weekly Toolbox Talk: Struck-By Falling/Flying Objects

You are at risk from falling objects when you are beneath equipment, scaffolds, etc., or where overhead work is being performed. There is a danger from flying objects when power tools, or activities like pushing, pulling, or prying, may cause objects to become airborne. Injuries can range from minor abrasions to concussions, blindness, or death. How to Avoid Hazards? Wear hardhats. Stack materials to prevent sliding, falling, or collapse. Use protective measures...

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Weekly Toolbox Talk: Slips, Trips and Falls (Fall Prevention)

Note to Supervisors: Read and prepare. Your objective is to point out the dangers of the most common – AND PREVENTABLE – causes of serious accidents. Explain practices to help avoid these types of accidents. You should hold this meeting on the floor so you can move around and point out and identify possible slip, trip and fall hazards. We have all experienced slipping, tripping, stumbling or falling. Usually the only result is that you feel silly, embarrassed, and perhaps got a scrape or...

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Who Will Rebuild After the Next Storm? Undocumented Workers, Unless We Break the Current Cycle

With the start of hurricane season, a reporter called to ask if we have the labor to rebuild from a major storm. My answer was immediate: No. Not even close. We still haven’t recovered from the last major storm — Harvey — because of a severe labor shortage in construction. Much has happened in the ensuing three years that has made the labor shortage more acute. Just months before Harvey, our Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 4, the “show me your papers” law, which, after a legal challenge...

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Weekly Toolbox Talk: War on Falls

The “War on Falls” was declared with only one thing in mind – to prevent injuries by eliminating fall exposures. Zero tolerance and suspensions are merely tools to deal with a violation after it occurs. The ultimate goal is eliminate the exposure in the first place. That can only be accomplished by each and every one of us understanding what is expected. Here are some of the reasons that have been documented through past violations: I just forgot I was just going to be...

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Engineering a resilient future after the COVID-19 pandemic

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Weekly Toolbox Talk: Floor Openings

Safely covering a floor opening with a piece of plywood requires more than just laying down the material over the hole, or even nailing it down. Total on the job safety means a total job of eliminating a hazard. Half a job or inadequate or incomplete jobs of covering holes in the floor. Why did it happen? Although originally nailed down with 8d concrete nails, a small piece of plywood over the hole wasn’t large enough to overlay it adequately. Traffic over it sprung the plywood and loosened...

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