Mitigate Risk: Hazards Ahead

We’ve all seen them as we are driving to work. The blinking lights or black-and-yellow striped diagonals that tell us we need to dodge some roadwork, street sweepers or a closed bridge up ahead.

Unfortunately for us, not all hazards that cross our path are lit up like the Las Vegas Boulevard.

At work, an obsolete fluorescent light headed to the garbage can is not honking its horn to turn back around before its mercury ends up in our waterways. A computer battery will not flash its lights to warn you of its heavy metals.

This is where awareness and communication put you back in the driver’s seat.

Take California, for example. A comment shared in the Waste Watchers program that cleaning liquids were stored unsafely in electrical rooms at the state capitol prompted an investigation that ended with the items in question being removed and custodians reminded of safety protocol. The workplace now has a significantly reduced risk of fire and exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Start the conversation®

Take a close look around your workplace and take note of what items are harmful, need to be disposed of properly, should be replaced with an alternative or are simply posing a risk to your team.