Preventing Accidents at Work

In order to prevent serious accidents, everyone must become aware and involved in their own safety, and supervisors, managers, and on up the line must also know and practice safety in practice and controls.  Be aware of what areas your work is most hazardous in.  Review resources and available information.  Take training in your area or areas you supervise.  Learn from accidents that have happened in the past. Use flyers and distributions to get out the message about safety.  Ask questions of Safety Engineers at SLAC.

• What you can do to Prevent Accidents and Reduce Days Away [pdf] A 5-page set of questions sorted by work types.  Compiled for the 2004 Talk & Walk.

Resources

In addition to the websites listed here, ES&H personnel are always available for advice and questions about any specific types of work or area control questions.  See the Contact Webpage or use Printable Resource List [pdf]

• SLAC Occurrence Report Log 
  The current yearly log of incidents at SLAC that were reported to the DOE and corrective actions for them.

• Job Hazard Analysis and Mitigation (JHAM) Program
  JHAM is SLAC's process for planning work, spotting hazards, and reducing risk to workers. It includes such resources as the JHAM form and instructions, Area Hazard Analysis forms and instructions, and Frequently Asked Questions.

• SLAC's Talk & Walk: Reducing Accidents in 2004
  The resources on this site contain pamphlets and worksheets designed to help reduce accidents, such as the aforementioned Prevent Accidents list, Top Accidents at SLAC, and the Accident Analysis and Prevention (AAP) Score (a listing of all of a large number of accidents which are analyzed by asking specific questions).

• Close Call Process Information
  A close-call is an unplanned incident that does not cause personal injury, property damage, or release to the environment; but under the other circumstances could have easily done so. This page gives information on how to report close-calls, and why such reporting is important. 

Job-Focused Information

• Office Workers:  People working mainly at desks through the day tend to have injuries and accidents such as Repetitive Stress (tendonitis or carpal tunnel) or back injuries. See the Medical website for information on Ergonomics.  Office workers should be careful on safety with daily activities such as holding handrails when using stairs, caution against over-loading circuits with power strips, proper lifting when moving computers, use caution when crossing the street, appropriate use of space heaters [pdf], be careful of heavy objects on high shelves, use Earthquake bracing in the office, and don't block exits. 

• Research Workers:  People working with research jobs tend to have both general accidents (back injuries) and ones specific to the fields they're in -- for instance chemical burns or electrical shocks. Pay special attention to Personnel Protective Equipment for your field.

• Industry Workers:  People working with industry jobs such as machinists or carpenters tend to have accidents of back injuries and equipment incidents specific to their field. Pay special attention to being safe on ladders, lifting heavy items in a way that doesn't hurt your back, and the Personnel Protective Equipment for your work hazards.

Training

• ES&H Training:  ES&H safety courses provide workers with additional tools to prevent some of SLAC's most common and debilitating accidents.  Some of the courses cover Back Safety, Ergonomics for Computer Workstations, Preventing Industrial Repetitive Motion Injuries, and Stairway and Ladder Safety.  You can sign up for classes at the Registration page. 

• OSHA Presentations:  OSHA has many useful presentations and training aids that are downloadable and relevant to many different fields of work.  ES&H recommends these presentations.  Some of the areas OSHA covers are: Forklifts, scaffolding, respiratory protection, and workplace violence, construction, General Industry, Flammable Liquids, and Electrical Hazards

Flyers and Distribution Safety Help

• Injury Prevention Presentation [pdf]
  Manager and Supervisors Presentation by John Cornuelle, February 2006
• Staying Safe at SLAC [pdf]
  - written for the SLAC Guesthouse, this brochure goes over basic safety principles and SLAC information.
• Falls and Strains [pdf]
  - a tri-fold brochure that focuses on falls and strains as the most common injuries at SLAC in the last two years, and prevention suggestions.
• "Five Steps to Ladder Safety" [pdf]
  This two-page, illustrated, flier-style list of reminders helps workers perform ladder work safely.
• Eyewash Safety Pamphlet [pdf]
  A one-page, illustrated set of quick safety information for eyewashes.