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Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) — Research for Safe Work

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Electrical professionals.
Logging.
Young workers.
Trucking.
Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE).
Hazard alerts.
Human Factors.
Surveillance (general).
Violence in the workplace.

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Electrical professionals

Carolyn Whitaker, "Electrical Best Practices: Reducing the Risk of Injuries." Electrical Safety and Arc Flash Handbook, Vol. 9, pages 46 – 49, 2012. Published by The Electricity Forum, Pickering, Ontario. Available at The Electricity Forum (electricityforum.com).

Naomi Anderson and Carolyn Whitaker "Electrical burns and mental health: Facts about the injuries that you don't see" (electrical-source.com), Electrical Source Magazine, May/June 2012 vol. 8 issue 3, pages 30 – 33.

Logging

92-04-2013
Timber Cutter Killed after Walking Under a Standing Cut Up Tree (269 KB PDF).

92-03-2013
Motorized Carriages Involved in a Fatality and a Serious Hand Injury (268 KB PDF).

92-02-2012
Hooktender Suffers Internal Injuries and a Broken Arm after Choker Breaks (389 KB PDF).

92-01-2012
Timber Cutter Suffers Broken Leg When Struck by Cut Tree Sliding Downhill (266 KB PDF).

Young workers

Vocational woodshop laborer suffers partial thumb amputation while cutting board (245 KB PDF).

Falling 700-lb Joist Breaks Laborer's Leg (229 KB PDF).

Bicycle Delivery Driver Dies after Colliding with Car (152 KB PDF).

See all of SHARP's Publications.

Trucking

FACE

71-120-2013 New construction narrative
Bulldozer Operator Caught Between Track and Fender (169 KB PDF).
Incident Date: February 4, 2010.

71-119-2013 New agriculture narrative
Orchard Laborer Crushed Between Grader and Semi-Truck (169 KB PDF).
Incident Date: September 27, 2009.

71-118-2013 New construction narrative
Deck Engineer on Barge Struck By Crane Counterweight (200 KB PDF).
Incident Date: June 24, 2010.

52-27-2013

New Fatality Investigation Report
Orchard Laborer Dies when Crushed Between a Motor Grader and Semi-Truck in Washington State (1 MB PDF / 4 min.) (#09WA04701)

See all of SHARP's Publications.

Hazard Alerts

81-8b-2012
Successful bathtub stripping with benzyl alcohol as an alternative to methylene chloride-based paint strippers (101 KB PDF).

81-8a-2012
Hazard Alert for Bathtub Refinishers: Deaths from Methylene Chloride. A one-page fact sheet on the deadly hazards of using paint strippers that contain methylene chloride (138 KB PDF).

47-21-2012
Hazards to Orchard Tractor and Machinery Operators (128 KB PDF).
47-21-2012 en Español
Peligros para los operadores de tractores y otra maquinaria en las huertas (133 KB PDF)

Human Factors

A Systems Approach to Improving Coffee Harvesting Work in Nicaragua
Objective: The aim of this study was to reduce the physical load on coffee-harvesting workers while maintaining productivity.
Background: Coffee is second to oil in commodity trading. Water is becoming scarce worldwide. The global virtual water footprint for one cup of coffee is 140 liters. Shade-grown coffee is one approach to reducing the water footprint.
Method: A participatory ergonomics approach was used during two Nicaraguan shade-grown coffee harvesting seasons to reduce the physical load on harvesters with the use of a newly designed bag instead of a basket strapped around the waist.
Barbara A. Silverstein, Stephen S. Bao, Steven Russell, and Kate Stewart "Water and Coffee: A Systems Approach to Improving Coffee Harvesting Work in Nicaragua” Human Factors, October 2, 2012. (http://hfs.sagepub.com/content/54/6/925.full)