EH&S Insider Blog

According to OSHA, employers must "...record and report work-related fatalities, injuries, and illnesses." Standard 29 CFR Part 1904.5 gives details about how to determine whether an illness/injury was work-related. This has always been somewhat complicated, as there are a variety of circumstances that can create gray areas about how or when an employee was injured or taken ill.  Given the fast-spreading nature of COVID-19, OSHA recognized the difficulty in determining whether an employee contracted the disease at work. In April, the organization issued a memorandum about when companies should report COVID-19 cases among their employees. At the end of May, OSHA made an important update.

  (EMR) Experience Modification Rate: Explained An Experience Modification Rate (EMR) has a significant impact on the worker's compensation insurance premium of a business. The EMR is a metric that insurers use to calculate worker's compensation premiums; it takes into account the number of claims/injuries a company has had in the past and their corresponding costs. An EMR of 1.0 is the benchmark average -- if your company's EMR number is lower than average, (e.g. less than 1.0), your worker's compensation premium will be lower than average. An EMR number greater than 1.0 will result in a higher than average premium.

Near miss reporting provides a company with invaluable insight about potential hazards as well as important data for risk calculations. However, when workers don't report near misses for whatever the reason, the total value of the information collected becomes less credible and can leave gaping holes in the data collection process. Here are 8 reasons why near misses are not getting reported:

What is Stop Work Authority (SWA)? Stop Work Authority (SWA) is a program designed to provide employees and contract workers with the responsibility and obligation to stop work when a perceived unsafe condition or behavior may result in an unwanted event. A key element of a Stop Work Authority Program is a detailed set of written procedures. They will help ensure that every SWA event works consistently and as intended.

Introduction E-Learning programs have experienced a significant rise in popularity in recent years as people from all over the world and from all walks of life begin to appreciate the advantages offered by learning online. Although the approach has become extremely popular among students of all types due to its convenience, E-Learning is also very effective. A meta-analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Education found that students in online conditions performed better than students who learned the identical material through traditional classroom instruction.