June is National Safety Month

19 Jun June is National Safety Month

Unintentional injuries can occur in the workplace, in the home or anywhere else. The costs to the people affected, businesses and the economy on the whole are significant. In fact, it is currently estimated that unintentional injuries end up costing American citizens and their employers $730 billion. This works out to a cost of $6,200 per household, according to a press release by the National Safety Council.

The National Safety Council put out a press release announcing that June will be National Safety Month. Safety in the workplace is a particularly challenging area, both for employers and employees. Between the various workplaces in the nation, the level and types of hazards that employees face vary wildly. In some situations, injuries occur because employers deliberately neglect safety regulations that are designed to keep employees safe.

Staying Safe in the Workplace

There are some things you can do to take control of safety in your workplace. Preventing injuries at work oftentimes comes down to being aware of the common hazards that get people hurt or killed in their workplaces and that, in some cases, could have been prevented with a little bit of employee input. Here are some things you should never do in a workplace, even if your employer specifically asks you. If your employer insists that you perform any of these unsafe actions, you should report it to OSHA or another authority:

• Climbing without fall protection gear
• Operating equipment on which you have no training
• Working in a noisy area with no hearing protection
• Not being offered eye protection when it is required
• Being asked to handle unsafe substances without training
• Being asked to enter a confined space without trying
• Performing maintenance on dangerous equipment without a valid lock-out/ tag-out procedure

Unfortunately, many American workers are asked to perform these types of duties every day. They can not only end up causing injuries, they can end up causing death. Machines that get turned on while somebody is working on them, confined spaces that suddenly fill up with toxic gases or liquids and equipment being operated by people who are incompetent are all very real, very lethal hazards.

If an employer asks you to take an unreasonable risk and you were injured, contact an attorney. Safety awareness is important but, just as important is being able to take action against a negligent employer who got their employees hurt simply to increase their profits.