surf's up: safety through caution

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IEEE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT REVIEW, VOL. 39, NO. 4, FOURTH QUARTER, DECEMBER 2011 135 Surf’s Up: Safety Through Caution —LINDA KOSMIN LANGFORD EMR Contributing Editor IEEE DOI 10.1109/EMR.2011.2168309 THERE is an abundance of Web resources that delineate safety measures, debunk failure misconceptions, describe collaborative hazard reduction efforts, interpret diagnostic forensics, and advance best practices for thwarting fiascos. In addition to academic and government sites, there are private firms that have compiled noteworthy collections of open access research reports, technical manuals, and pragmatic engineering information. These digital libraries share many different document types including articles, book chapters, case studies, essays, images, reports, strategic plans, and theses. Many concentrate on present, past, and potential industrial accident scenarios. These serve to acquaint site visitors to mishaps that are possible when certain products, procedures, or processes are selected. They provide recommendations for accident avoidance and alert engineers, managers, and workers about the kinds of advanced training necessary for designing and operating devices associated with potentially hazardous systems. The following sites serve as examples of resources that promote precautionary steps to reduce failures. Association for Project Safety www.aps.org.uk/ Their focus is on risk management pertaining to health and welfare in the construction industry. Information shared among members can often be extrapolated to other industries as well Digital Library of the Commons dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/ This open literature gateway is a collaborative project that facilitates access to modern and historical articles and dissertations that have been published throughout the world. A search on the phrase “hazard reduction” produces references to articles and working papers evaluating risk mitigation management and safety tradeoffs. Themes are related to biodiversity, conservation, environmental development, and participatory management. Directory of Open Access Journals www.doaj.org/ Periodicals published throughout the world in various languages are included providing they are gratis, adhere to quality control, and are committed to

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Page 1: Surf's up: Safety through caution

IEEE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT REVIEW, VOL. 39, NO. 4, FOURTH QUARTER, DECEMBER 2011 135

Surf’s Up: Safety Through Caution—LINDA KOSMIN LANGFORD

EMR Contributing Editor

IEEE DOI 10.1109/EMR.2011.2168309

THERE is an abundance ofWeb resources that delineatesafety measures, debunkfailure misconceptions, describecollaborative hazard reductionefforts, interpret diagnosticforensics, and advance bestpractices for thwarting fiascos.In addition to academic andgovernment sites, there areprivate firms that have compilednoteworthy collections of openaccess research reports, technicalmanuals, and pragmaticengineering information. Thesedigital libraries share manydifferent document typesincluding articles, book chapters,case studies, essays, images,reports, strategic plans, andtheses. Many concentrate onpresent, past, and potentialindustrial accident scenarios.These serve to acquaint sitevisitors to mishaps that arepossible when certain products,procedures, or processesare selected. They providerecommendations for accidentavoidance and alert engineers,managers, and workers aboutthe kinds of advanced trainingnecessary for designing andoperating devices associated withpotentially hazardous systems.The following sites serve asexamples of resources thatpromote precautionary steps toreduce failures.

Association for Project Safetywww.aps.org.uk/

Their focus is on riskmanagement pertaining to healthand welfare in the constructionindustry. Information sharedamong members can often beextrapolated to other industriesas well

Digital Library of the Commonsdlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/

This open literaturegateway is a collaborative projectthat facilitates access to modernand historical articles anddissertations that have beenpublished throughout the world.A search on the phrase “hazardreduction” produces referencesto articles and working papersevaluating risk mitigationmanagement and safetytradeoffs. Themes are relatedto biodiversity, conservation,environmental development, andparticipatory management.

Directory of OpenAccess Journalswww.doaj.org/

Periodicals publishedthroughout the world in variouslanguages are included providingthey are gratis, adhere to qualitycontrol, and are committed to

Page 2: Surf's up: Safety through caution

136 IEEE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT REVIEW, VOL. 39, NO. 4, FOURTH QUARTER, DECEMBER 2011

digital distribution. This is oneroute to freely accessible articlesabout engineering studies,research collaboration, riskassessment, and safety analysis.

MySafetyLabelswww.mysafetylabels.com/

Here is an example ofan online source for viewingand purchasing standardizedand custom labels that complywith regulatory guidelines suchas those published by theAmerican National StandardsInstitute (ANSI), InternationalOrganization for Standardization(ISO), and Occupational Safety &Health Administration (OSHA).Site visitors can view examplesof a vast stock of competitivelypriced choices that clearly alertto dangers, foster precautionarymeasures, serve as reminders,and strive to mitigate mishaps.

The National Academies Presswww.nap.edu/

Website registrants canfreely download in portabledigital format (PDF) the morethan 4,000 reports collectivelyoffered by the U.S. NationalAcademy of Sciences, NationalAcademy of Engineering,Institute of Medicine, andNational Research Council. Forexample, many publicationsaddress security matters, ethicaldesign issues, risk management,engineering safety, accidentanalysis, structural integrity,lessons learned from pastcatastrophes, and technologicalhazard avoidance measures.Registrants are also offereddiscounts on book purchases

National Safety Councilwww.nsc.org/about_us/Pages/Home.aspx

The Council promoteseducation, leadership, andresearch activities to keepworkers as well as folks in theirhomes and communities outof unintentional harms way.Chapters in the United Statesoffer First Aid training. Somefocus on other courses for safetyprofessionals, emergency careInstructors, defensive drivingteachers, specialty vehicleoperators, and roadway workzone workers. Site visitors haveopen access to Safety & HealthFact Sheets on a broad rangeof topics such as distracteddriving hazards, safe use of cropprotection chemicals, canoeingcaution, and defensive bicycling.

The National Work Zone SafetyInformation Clearinghousewww.workzonesafety.org/

This organization col-lects, maintains and distributesfree information in support ofthe transportation constructionindustry. It provides anabundance of hyperlinks toprimary resources such asthose covering new technologies,accident and crash data, safetytraining materials, productmanuals, state agency plans,standards, specifications andbest practices. Also, it fosterspublic awareness and alerts toboth public and private outreachcampaigns.

“Prevention Through Design:Plan for the National Initiative”www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2011-121/pdfs/2011-121.pdf

This full text publicstrategic planning document waspublished by the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention,U.S. National Institute forOccupational Safety andHealth in November, 2010. Itoutlines objectives and methodsfor eliminating occupationalhazards and illnesses associatedwith workplace equipment,machinery, substances, andprocedures. Web addressesfor partner stakeholdersfocus on industrial hygiene,safety engineering, equipmentmanufacturing, constructionindustry, and medical fields.

Safety Linksjrm.phys.ksu.edu/Safety/safety.html

The J.R. MacdonaldLaboratory, Department ofPhysics, Kansas State Universitycreated this selective pathfinderof annotated hyperlinks toacademic, commercial, andgovernment safety informationresources.

Workplace Safety Guideswww.workplacesafetyguides.com/

Over fortyessays address best practices foravoiding injuries. Main categoriesinclude Back and MuscleInjury Prevention, IndustrialVentilation, Spray Painting,Roofing Safety, Scaffold Safety,Excavations, and Preparing YourOffice for an Earthquake.