Ivan Most Coordinates occupational safety program in New England

Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health Ivan Most, Sc.D., P.E., is coordinating a National Machine Guarding program in New England.  The program aims to prevent injuries from machines with moving parts.

Funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the project is led by David Parker of the Minnesota-based Park Nicolett Institute, which has created a partnership with Maine-based workers’ compensation insurer, MEMIC. The company will recruit customers in the precision machining industry to participate in the program.

The National Machine Guarding Program builds and expands upon previous work in the Minnesota Machine Guarding Study. In the current program, a machine safety intervention is delivered to metal fabrication businesses in various regions of the U.S. The purpose is to help small businesses prevent machine-related injuries through: 1) establishing and maintaining safety programs; 2) implementing applicable standards and guidelines for machine safety, and, 3) developing sustainable skills such as self-auditing to identify and control hazards.

The program is targeted to businesses with at least five but no more than 150 employees. If proven effective, these measures could form the basis for new practice guidelines with widespread applicability.



 

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