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Work Alone Safety:  Driving

7/7/2015

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While professional drivers share the road with many travelers, other drivers do not always consider the risks these lone workers face.

Operating large trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles for the transport of materials can be a dangerous job. With many in this sector out on the roads alone, who’s sending help to your team when an incident occurs? Is roadside assistance enough?

Remember, to get the job done, your employees work long hours - often in high-risk environments that requires the utmost attention to detail.

Here we explore some of the most dangerous driving scenarios facing your employees and how you can ensure their safety, regardless of location.

Driving Against the Clock ... It’s Difficult to Stay Alert 


Lone drivers often travel for long periods of time on unpredictable terrain, risk fatigue or potentially fall asleep behind the wheel. Your other teams may be responsible for operating large equipment, transferring and shipping products to the public-facing environments, which requires a high degree of alertness.

From crude oil haulers to warehouse personnel, you are responsible for the safety and well being of all of your employees who may be susceptible to accidents, health events and interaction with the public.

You need to ensure the right safety measures are taken to protect your most valuable asset—your employees—when they are facing their most dangerous situations.

Hazards Drivers Face on the Road


Regardless of where an employee is driving—whether it’s on a long stretch of highway, up a mountain or between sites—drivers of all types of transportation and transit vehicles can be challenged by heavy loads, inclement weather, other drivers and unpredictable members of the public.

Let’s take a deeper dive into a few industries with risky travel situations:

  • Transportation: This sector can pose many risks, with employees responsible for delivering goods and services to the public. Long shifts and physically challenging duties—like heavy lifting and hazardous working environments—contribute to employee fatigue. The U.S. Department of Transportation reported fatalities rose to nearly 4,000 in 2013, including truckers, occupants in vehicles that collided with large transport trucks and pedestrians. More than 32,000 highway deaths for all types of vehicles were also reported the same year.
  • Government: All layers of government deliver a broad range of public services including transportation and transit. Your teams often work in public-facing environments, facilitating transit services and risk run-ins with unstable or injured civilians. In June 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in the United States reported almost 6,000 state and local government transit and intercity bus drivers were injured at work. Incidents occur that put many workers on disability, sometimes short-term and, in many cases, for life.
  • Natural Resources: Forestry is a risky business to work in. Long-haul logging professionals are not only responsible for transporting massive loads—they are often required to drive on remote, dirt roads that are not easily accessible. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), logging has been one of the most hazardous industries in the United States year over year. In 2010, the logging industry employed nearly 100,000 workers and accounted for 70 deaths. The CDC reports the excessive risk for fatal work injuries emphasize a need to prioritize research and intervention programs to make this industry less hazardous.
With so many situations that put your teams at risk, it is imperative you get up-to-date on workplace safety legislation, technology and best practices.

Contact Blackridge Solutions to find out which work alone safety solution best fits your organizations requirements.

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Work Alone Safety:  Outdoors

7/2/2015

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Many in the industry do not consider employees working outdoors, but potentially nearby others, as lone workers—but some of the most dangerous working conditions for your employees are outdoors, when they’re out of sight and sound from others.

Working in isolation is common across multiple industries, and when work duties call employees away from their colleagues, lives are at risk if a safety accident, injury or physical assault occurs.Do you have the right procedures in place to send an emergency response to your team when an incident occurs?

To get the job done, your employees work long hours - often in high-risk environments with unpredictable elements that require an utmost attention to detail. Let’s explore some of the most dangerous outdoor situations facing your employees and how you can ensure their safety, regardless of location.

Working Outdoors - Awareness is Key


Lone workers are just as prone to risks outdoors as they are while driving or working in remote locations—whether high in the sky on scaffolding or excavating—sometimes a hard hat just isn’t enough.

Conducting operations at construction sites, outdoor pumps, camps and high voltage electrical sites can be hazardous too. While you may have robust safety policies in place for your teams, are you factoring all of the risks your employees may face outdoors?

Hazards Lone Workers Face Outdoors


Regardless of where an employee is located outdoors, workers in a variety of industries can be challenged by the elements they face and equipment they use to complete their work.

Engineering & Construction


Construction, one of the most dangerous industries to work in, poses many risks in outdoor environments. From site supervisors and foreman to operators and architects, you are responsible for the safety and well being of all of your employees. Your teams may work on-site thereby becoming prone to the “fatal four” hazards in the construction industry—falls, caught between objects, electrocutions and struck by objects.

For structural engineers, site superintendents and foreman, working in an environment with many moving parts, employees use heavy-duty equipment and materials to get the job done. In 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States reported 20% of occupational fatalities were in construction, and the UK’s Health & Safety Executive reported 31% of workplace fatalities were also construction-related.

Thousands of incidents occur annually that put construction workers on short and long-term disability—many are never able to work again due to their injuries.

Oil & Gas


This is the case in Oil & Gas, Natural Resources and Utilities sectors as well. From geologists and land surveyors to loggers and miners, even electrical engineers risk their lives everyday, working in dangerous environments outside.

Development and preservation of the environment are primary objectives for organizations in Natural Resources—your job is to protect your employees from dust and chemical inhalation every day, even when working outdoors. And geologists, land surveyors, inspectors, loggers and miners work outdoors too.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in the United States has already reported 10 worker fatalities in coal, metal and non-metal mining for the first three months of 2015. The International Labor Organization (ILO) reports that mining remains the most hazardous occupation in the world.

Utilities


Your teams often work alone for extended periods of time up high on power lines. Working with high voltage power lines and equipment can be hazardous.According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), electrical-related incidents are the No. 1 cause of workplace fatalities in this industry. A study published by the National Safety Council in the United States reports hundreds of workplace fatalities and thousands of injuries occur each year due to electrical hazards alone.

Further, incidents occur in other utility industries with outdoor operations, including water and natural gas sectors—often resulting with workers on disability, and sometimes these incidents are fatal.


To learn more about how you can help keep your employees safe, contact Blackridge Solutions at:  (778) 686-5799 or [email protected]

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