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Improving Wisconsin worker safety should be one side effect of a new public service campaign aimed at making workers aware of the hazards of trespassing on mine property.

When you think of hazards in the workplace, you probably think of vehicle accidents, falls, and construction accidents. While those types of events injure many people, mines also pose a hazard.

Workers from industries unrelated to mining are sometimes injured in mining accidents, and this program should raise awareness of the problem affecting both workers and recreational enthusiasts. 

Richard E. Stickler, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, explains, “There are about 500,000 abandoned mines and another 14,000 active operations throughout the United States.” According to Stickler, “Many of them contain hidden hazards and, for those not trained to work in mines, the outcome can be deadly. That’s why we urge workers, hikers, bikers, rock hounds and swimmers to ‘Stay Out — Stay Alive.’”

Both workers and people who love the outdoors may not realize the hazards posed by mines. Many people only associate mine accidents with collapses shown on the news. But most mine accidents aren’t the collapses that are publicized. Instead, the majority of mine accidents happen to outdoor recreation enthusiasts, children, and even workers in industries other than mining.

The numbers tell the story. Since 1999, over 200 people have died due to accidents involving mines. Both active and abandoned mines are a hazard. Sadly, sometimes children wander into mines to play and are injured. In other cases, workers from industries other than mining have fallen into mine shafts or encountered other hazards on mine property.

All-terrain vehicle drivers often like to ride around old mines. But these mines may have unstable piles of loose material left behind. If this loose material collapses, it may cause the all-terrain vehicle driver to experience a potentially deadly rollover. 

Safety precautions do pay off in terms of Wisconsin worker safety. Last September, a worker doing renovations at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, slipped from a steel beam six stories above the ground. A fall from such a height is almost always fatal, but this worker didn’t suffer a scratch, according to the OSHA report. The employee of National Riggers and Erectors, in Michigan, was wearing full safety protection including a fall harness. He was back at work shortly after being rescued. Less than 2 months later, on the same project, a second worker slipped from a beam. He, too, was saved by his safety protection equipment including safety harness. OSHA regulations for the project required 100% use of fall protection above a height of 6 ft. Strict enforcement by OSHA likely saved these two worker’s lives.

If you have any doubt that OSHA saves lives, here’s more proof. An OSHA official removed three workers from a construction project in the Cleveland area just minutes before a roof collapsed. OSHA Compliance Officer Joe Schwarz and building inspectors were responding to an anonymous complaint when they paid an unexpected visit to the worksite on Normandy Park Road. A preschool was being constructed at the site. The exterior walls were up and half of the roof had been built. However, Schwarz quickly noticed that the building was not properly braced.  This placed the workers on high beams as well as those inside the structure at risk. Schwarz quickly issued an order to stop work.

Minutes later, the walls collapsed and the roof fell in. While OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, often enforces rules about Wisconsin worker safety, most don’t have such immediate and dramatic results. Fortunately, due to Schwarz’s quick thinking, none of the workers was killed or even seriously injured.

In only 18 months from 1918 until 1920, more than 50 million people died. The cause was the flu, in what is considered the most recent major influenza pandemic. It was called the “Spanish Flu.” In some countries censorship prohibited publication of stories about the flu, but not in Spain. The Spanish press published more stories about the epidemic. Many of the people who died in this pandemic were healthy, fit young adults.

Why should employers and employees care about ancient history? Because it just might happen again… and OSHA wants you to be prepared.

According to a recent OSHA alert, whether you are an employee or an employer, you should include a plan for a worldwide influenza plague in the emergency plans at your workplace.

Most healthy adults develop some resistance to the ordinary influenza virus, and it doesn’t represent a dangerous illness. It is just annoying and uncomfortable. This ordinary influenza can be a health hazard in some groups of people, like those susceptible to illness, the elderly, and the little children.

It is not the same with an influenza pandemic, as explained in the Wisconsin OSHA alert. A new variety of the virus emerges and no one is safe. A pandemic could have a greater effect on the global economy than a terrorist attack.

Fortunately, today there is no flu pandemic and no new varieties of the virus have appeared. And the cyclic flu that occurs during fall and winter is not dangerous.

Some personal tips to stop a pandemic or avoid being infected, include the following: using disposable tissues to cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing, washing hands frequently, staying at least 6 ft. away from a sick person, and of course not going to work or to school if you are infected.

Guidelines to stop contagion in the workplace can include installing drive-thru windows between customers and employees, using conference calls instead of meeting, or allowing some workers to do their jobs from home.

According to a recent Wisconsin OSHA report, in every workroom, the floor must be kept clean and dry to prevent accidents. In the places where wet processes are inevitable, platforms, mats or gratings should be used to avoid slips.

According to OSHA, 15 percent of all deadly accidents in the general industry are caused by slips, trips and falls. These standards approved by OSHA for passages apply to all permanent places of work. There are some exceptions such as agricultural, domestic and mining operations.

Hallways and other spaces where people walk are one of the areas to be included in a plan. For example, aisles must have enough room to allow two people to pass each other. In addition, the aisles should be sufficiently wide if mechanical handling equipped is used. If aisles are not sufficiently spaciousness, it can be a dangerous problem if an emergency occurs and people need to exit the building quickly. A lot of slip, trip and fall accidents happened when people are rushed in an emergency.

To prevent this kind of accident, the key is a strong safety awareness program. According to Wisconsin OSHA standards on this subject, a good measure is to update the Slips, Trips and Falls posters and put them in visible areas.

Housekeeping is one the most underestimated tasks in the prevention of slips, trips, and falls. The workplace in general must be kept in a sanitary condition, clean and orderly. That includes all the places for workers’ use, like corridors, storerooms and service rooms. Holes, splinters and protruding nails, and loose objects must be removed from every aisle, workspace and floor. Corridors and aisles shall be in good condition, and with no obstacles that can be dangerous. Another awareness measure to be considered is to put appropriate signs in permanent passageways and aisles.

According to a recent Wisconsin OSHA report, in every workroom, the floor must be kept clean and dry to prevent accidents. In the places where wet processes are inevitable, platforms, mats or gratings should be used to avoid slips.

According to OSHA, 15 percent of all deadly accidents in the general industry are caused by slips, trips and falls. These standards approved by OSHA for passages apply to all permanent places of work. There are some exceptions such as agricultural, domestic and mining operations.

Hallways and other spaces where people walk are one of the areas to be included in a plan. For example, aisles must have enough room to allow two people to pass each other. In addition, the aisles should be sufficiently wide if mechanical handling equipped is used. If aisles are not sufficiently spaciousness, it can be a dangerous problem if an emergency occurs and people need to exit the building quickly. A lot of slip, trip and fall accidents happened when people are rushed in an emergency.

To prevent this kind of accident, the key is a strong safety awareness program. According to Wisconsin OSHA standards on this subject, a good measure is to update the Slips, Trips and Falls posters and put them in visible areas.

Housekeeping is one the most underestimated tasks in the prevention of slips, trips, and falls. The workplace in general must be kept in a sanitary condition, clean and orderly. That includes all the places for workers’ use, like corridors, storerooms and service rooms. Holes, splinters and protruding nails, and loose objects must be removed from every aisle, workspace and floor. Corridors and aisles shall be in good condition, and with no obstacles that can be dangerous. Another awareness measure to be considered is to put appropriate signs in permanent passageways and aisles.