Tag: workplace safety

Designing Warehouses Around the Human Element

Warehousing is evolving faster than ever. Rising e-commerce demand, tightening labor markets, and increasing pressure to move higher product volumes in less time have pushed facilities to accelerate technology adoption. By 2027, an estimated 26% of warehouses are expected to be partly automated, yet in the race toward efficiency, many operators risk missing a critical […]

New Report Links Connected Strategies to Lower Workplace Fatalities

A new report from Avetta offers insights into how organizations are improving safety outcomes across increasingly complex global operations. Chiefly, it shows that while foundational supply chain risk management capabilities and improved visibility both contribute to fewer serious health and safety incidents, the most significant improvements—up to 97% lower workplace fatality rates—occur when these capabilities […]

The Safety Blind Spot: Where Workplace Protection Plans Are Failing in Critical Moments

Workplace safety programs have never been more sophisticated, yet when something actually goes wrong, many still fall short. Organizations have invested heavily in prevention, from training protocols to compliance systems. But when an incident actually happens, many are still unprepared for the most critical moment: the response. There’s a growing disconnect between the protections employers […]

A Closer Look at OSHA’s New Heat Hazards NEP

Summer is approaching, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has renewed its Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards National Emphasis Program (NEP) of outreach and enforcement. The new NEP replaces and updates a 2022 directive aimed at protecting workers from outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards, directing agency resources to where they can have the greatest impact […]

TV Show ‘The Pitt’ Highlights Real-Life Rise of Workplace Violence in Healthcare

As the latest season of “The Pitt” wrapped, viewers watched a familiar pattern unfold: healthcare workers navigating not only high-stakes care, but sudden, escalating workplace violence. Nurse Emma Nolan is first grabbed during a tense interaction, then later attacked in a confined patient room with no ability to call for help. In a separate incident, […]

Working Outside? Protect Yourself from Ticks!

Facilities management often includes landscaping and other outdoor maintenance. If you’ll be working outside this season, beware: Ticks are making their return fast and furiously. During Tick Awareness Week (May 3-9), the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) is warning about the potential health threats ticks pose and the best ways to keep these parasitic pests away […]

Back to Basics: Contractor and Temporary Worker Safety

Back to Basics is an article series that highlights important, but possibly overlooked, information facilities management professionals should know. Many workplaces are staffed by workers with different employers—a host company, contractors, and staffing agencies. If you own or operate a facility, you have complete responsibility for the health and safety of your own employees and a […]

OSHA Renews Heat Hazard Emphasis Program

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) renewed the agency’s Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards National Emphasis Program (NEP) on April 10. OSHA updated its 2022 NEP to protect workers from outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards, directing agency resources to where they can have the greatest impact by focusing inspections and outreach on industries and workplaces where […]

Common Overhead Door Failures That Create Safety and Compliance Risks 

Industrial facilities management isn’t just about keeping the lights on; it’s about ensuring the heavy machinery overhead doesn’t become a hindrance to safety or compliance. In high-traffic warehouses and logistics hubs, commercial doors serve as the primary gateways for revenue, yet they remain one of the most overlooked mechanical assets on the balance sheet. When these massive steel barriers fail, the impact goes beyond repair costs. Breakdowns can lead to […]

The Building Systems Nobody’s Securing

Editor’s note: FM Perspectives are industry op-eds. The views expressed are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of Facilities Management Advisor. I was on a call with an operations director at a big ag plant. She’d been running the place for years, knew her equipment inside and out. Her question was one I hear in […]