No matter what industry you work in, you want to know that you’re going to be safe and healthy while you’re on the clock. Generally, OSHA regulations and other safety guidelines provide a solid basis for workplace safety across multiple industries, however, there are a few safety tips you can use to keep both yourself and your coworkers as safe as possible. Remember to recommend these safety tips to your fellow employees next chance you get and keep your workplace healthy.

Wear Proper Protective Gear

Almost every major manufacturing or warehouse job has some degree of protective gear that should be worn, and more safety requirements can be found across other industries as well. While some of these requirements can seem irritating or unnecessary at times, they’re vital to keeping you safe on the job, especially if something should go wrong while you’re working. Lack of proper fall protection remains the number one most frequent OSHA violation. If you accidentally slip and fall at work, you’ll want to be protected; be sure you’re properly wearing any gear that’s required to complete the job.

Keep Equipment Properly Calibrated

In any manufacturing job, one of the primary things to keep an eye on is the state of the equipment and materials that you’re working with. Equipment that isn’t well-calibrated could be a potential hazard on the job site. For example, if you use refrigerated trailers to ship your goods, make sure they’re calibrated to their optimal temperature range. Even in a best-case scenario, improperly calibrated equipment can lead to losses for the company due to misinformation or bad readings. Be especially careful when working with potentially dangerous materials like gases. ISEA recommends more frequent gas calibration testing if environmental conditions that could affect instrument performance are suspected, such as sensor poisons. ISEA allows for less frequent calibration verification under certain conditions, but the interval between testing should never exceed 30 days.

Renew Licenses And Review Training

While guidelines for operating different pieces of machinery are different depending on the equipment in question, many regularly used machines will require licensing or training in order to safely operate. After all, while most people working in a warehouse might know how to operate a forklift, the average person outside of that environment wouldn’t know where to start. Even if you think you’re a pro at handling all types of machinery your job requires, it’s important to update yourself on safe handling of machinery on a regular basis. Be sure to renew any licenses or certifications that your job requires for safe handling of equipment, or you may find that your clearance to use the machines you need has expired. For example, forklift operators must be trained and authorized, a process that requires renewal every three years. While you might still technically know how to safely operate a forklift after that three-year time span, you’ll want to keep your authorization up to date just in case. Besides, technology can change, and sometimes you may learn a thing or two about a new feature on your regularly-used machinery.

Remind Others About Inspections

Unfortunately, one person can only do so much to make their workplace a safer environment. Not every employee is able to change a workplace to make it safer and healthier for everyone on a larger scale, but you can at least help remind those around you about steps they can be taking. For example, when was the last time your supervisor scheduled inspections for your workplace? It’s possible that your company could be overdue for an inspection or regular building maintenance. For example, make sure that any heating or cooling systems you have in your workplace are clean and up to date to ensure comfort of everyone on the job. At the very least, HVAC systems need to be inspected twice yearly for maximum efficiency. If you suspect something might be out of date or wrong in the building you work in, find out who you can talk to to address the problem as soon as possible. Bringing up issues on the job is important to keeping both you and your coworkers safe and healthy while at work.

Health And Safety Making Businesses Better

Overall, while individual employees can only do so much to improve the health and safety of a company, more people working together can keep a job site safe. Even though the average workstation has shrunk to 39 square feet on average, safety is still a must. Talk to your coworkers today and suggest these tips so you can help keep everyone you work with safe.

When you consider the amount of time and money it takes to sell a house, sprucing up your own home (even if you’re not moving soon) can seem like a great idea. But you have kids! And keeping a whole family distracted while you work on DIY home makeover projects is a daunting task.

The solution? Get the whole family involved in some simple DIY home makeover projects. Here are a few to get you started.

Painting the Walls

You’ve had the same white walls in your house for years now. And while they might still look fine, you and your family want a little bit of color in your lives! This is an excellent opportunity to get the whole family involved in a home improvement project. Have a family discussion about which room you’ll paint, what color you’d like to use, and when the job will get done. Assigning tasks like taping over trim, door, and window frames can be assigned to older children while clearing items out of the room and laying down drop cloths can safely be taken care of by your younger kids. After all of that is taken care of, the whole family can get to painting. Just leave the precision work to someone with a steady hand.

Creating the Ultimate Outdoor Space

There are countless DIY home makeover projects you can conduct in your outdoor space. If someone in your family loves to golf, consider adding a personal putting green in the yard for them to practice. You might be able to DIY this one, but professional installation only takes about a week to complete, too. Want to live a more sustainable lifestyle? Consider starting a vegetable garden. Not only will this help your family be more self-sufficient when it comes to produce, but it will also allow your kids the opportunity to experience the feelings of accomplishment that come with growing their own food from seeds. A flower garden can have the same effect! Or consider a whimsical fairy garden! And as an added bonus, all of these projects can really spruce up the look of your lawn.

Getting Organized

More often than not, the most effective DIY home makeover projects don’t require any complicated equipment at all. Consider the fact that condos undergo regular inspections to ensure they’re up to code. Why shouldn’t your home do the same with an organizational code? The best part is that there’s nothing stopping you from making this a family-wide project. Not sure where to begin? We’ve listed a few key steps below:

• Pick a room to declutter and start sorting your items into broad categories (toys, craft supplies, etc.).
• After everything is sorted into category piles, decide what will stay and what needs to be thrown away.
• Utilize clear plastic containers and any shelving you have to sort items. Be sure to label your containers.
• Have everyone pick a “category” pile and organize those items accordingly.
• Determine a routine to keep your space organized.

With these simple steps, you can have every room in your home organized in no time flat. And considering that the average home has almost 300,000 items in it, the sooner you can get started on your organization project, the better. In addition, this exercise can help teach your kids good organizational and cleanup habits. So not only will you have a cleaner house now, you can ensure you’ll have a clean house for years to come.

Beautifying your home doesn’t need to be a complicated or extremely expensive venture. And considering that the average American moves every five to seven years, why spend so much time and money on home makeover projects anyway? With these DIY projects, you can be efficient, save money, and get the whole family involved. When you think about it, there’s no need to wait for a disaster like water damage to strike in order to beautify your home. Which one of these projects will you try first?

Radiation has several very important uses. Radiolabeling allows us to track the path of certain drugs in the body (most commonly with tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen), thereby playing a key role in drug development; foodstuffs are irradiated to eliminate any bacteria or viruses that may be present; and x-rays are used in computerized axial tomography (CAT) or computed tomography (CT) scanners, helping doctors locate and identify tumors, size anomalies, or other physiological or functional organ problems.

One of the most recognizable uses of radiation is in the treatment of cancer — but a new contender has entered the race. Conventional radiation therapy (which uses x-rays) is notoriously hard on the body; entire bodily systems are affected by the treatment rather than just the tumor, leading to a number of agonizing side effects.

Proton therapy, however, has gained popularity due to its ability to target the tumor with precision; essentially, it is a type of radiation that stops at a very specific point in the targeted tissue. Just as magnetic card readers pull very specific data, proton therapy targets a very specific area. Because surrounding healthy tissues are left mostly untouched, the painful and uncomfortable side effects are significantly lessened.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have performed a review (the largest of its kind) focused on evaluating whether or not patients undergoing radiation therapy at the same time as chemotherapy experienced serious adverse events within 90 days to scientifically prove the case for proton therapy.

“We looked at grade three side effects — including pain or difficulty swallowing, difficulty breathing, nausea or diarrhea, among others — often severe enough for patients to be hospitalized,” said the study’s lead author Brian Baumann, M.D., an adjunct assistant professor of radiation oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Our clinical experience is that concurrent chemoradiation therapy patients treated with protons, rather than photons, tend to have fewer side effects. While there is some literature supporting that finding for several disease sites, we did not expect the magnitude of the benefit to be this large.”

The results were staggering: 11.5% of proton patients experienced a grade three or higher side effect, compared to 27.6% of the photon group (conventional radiation). A weighted analysis of both groups found that the relative risk of a severe toxicity was two-thirds lower for proton patients compared to photon patients. With such targeted treatments, costs may be more affordable for patients in the future, as well. Considering how widely salaries can vary, even for engineering professionals, this could be a great move forward. In terms of comfort levels, proton therapy is far more bearable than traditional photon radiation.