In a recent issue of National Underwriter, Dave Lenckus gave readers 3 tips for controlling their organization’s workers’ comp medical costs. Much to our liking, the tips are ones we’ve been giving to our clients for years.

We’ve all had moments in our lives when we’ve narrowly avoided physical harm in the workplace.

To minimize workplace injuries and accidents—and potentially eliminate them—start by observing workplace operations, establishing procedures, and ensuring each employee is properly trained.

What do you do when you hire new people and how can you guarantee from a safety and health standpoint that they’re going to fit into your company and not become a safety and health liability?

According to OSHA, slips, trips, and falls constitute the majority of general industry accidents. They cause 15% of all accidental deaths, and are second only to motor vehicles as a cause of fatalities.

Our company, The Lawson Group, has been conducting various types of industrial hygiene exposure monitoring projects for many years. Typically we do the work as a result of some sort of complaint situation.

Although we have been in the Health and Safety business for almost forty-five years, we rarely get asked to look at office safety issues. While there is a perception that offices are relatively safe places to work, there are still plenty of ways for people to get hurt.

At home, leaky pipes are a nuisance. They decrease water pressure, cause property damage, and can foster the perfect conditions for mold growth. As a property or facilities manager, leaky pipes aren't just an annoyance—they could become the primary source of health and safety issues.

I want to talk a little bit more about OSHA. In the previous podcast, we talked about the whole aspect of an inspection, and what we caution a whole bunch of people to do is you should always be prepared to engage in an inspection, but you shouldn't run your life and or your safety program within your company just to mitigate an inspection.

If you have performed an asbestos survey and uncovered asbestos-containing building materials (ABCM) in your facility, home, or office, it’s critical that you take the right action. In doing so, you’ll ensure the safety and wellbeing of your workers or occupants, while at the same time complying with jurisdictional regulations.