Top ten safety blogs you should be reading
Experts in occupational safety will often tell us that safety doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it’s a complex network of assessment, risk management, the right equipment, and well-trained workers.
For us here at MySafetySign, the same adage applies when it comes to staying informed about the safety industry, and we’ve steadily built our own arsenal of news sources and experts that keep us informed and inspired. And since the safety industry is wrapping up its annual National Safety Council 2013 Congress in Chicago, it seemed like a great time to share our toolkit of industry thought leaders and safety blogs.
Without further ado, here are our go-to reads each week. We think you should make them yours, too.
1) Research Spotlight and Washington Wire
Authorship: Published by Safety + Health Magazine
Common topics covered: Construction industry, OSHA, safety culture, workplace practices, industry news
Frequency of posts: Weekly
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
Safety + Health Magazine is bigger than a blog, but it’s a must-read source in the industry as the official publication of the National Safety Council. Many of their news articles are short, but the digital archives for the magazine are available and you can find much more there. However, their two blogs are both excellent reads on their own. Washington Wire covers the regulatory side by focusing on OSHA (and other relevant government entities) and their impact on the industries they cover, and Research Spotlight is a new blog that’s highlighting trends and issues in occupational safety and health research, which we’re really excited about.
Recent notable post: Barriers to injury reporting in construction
2) Knowledge at Work
Authorship: Published by UL Workplace, a division of UL
Common topics covered: Wellness, healthcare industry, injury and illness prevention, safety culture, risk management
Frequency of posts: Weekly
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
UL is a juggernaut in the safety industry – they’ve been a safety consultancy and certification company for over a hundred years. UL Workplace is the division that specifically focuses on software solutions, and publishes Knowledge at Work. Knowledge at Work often covers current issues in the news, like OSHA’s recent silica ruling. There’s frequent coverage on the healthcare industry, which after all has some of the highest workplace injury rates. KaW also talks about wellness and preventative health, too, in a variety of workplaces – not just the more visible construction or chemical spheres.
Recent notable post: EHS survey results – Do managers care more about production than employee safety
3) EHS Out Loud Blog
Authorship: Published by Penton
Common topics covered: Safety culture, OSHA, construction industry, chemical safety, emergency management
Frequency of posts: 1-2 posts per week
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
EHS Out Loud is the flagship blog for EHS Today, a subscription-based magazine and digital resource platform for environmental health and safety issues, and they’re a must-read in our feeds every week. OutLoud writes about topical news stories in the OHS realm, targeting their coverage slightly more towards safety consultants and management. The infographics they post (either their own or from elsewhere on the web) are a great way to communicate a complicated issue or illustrate startling new research.
Recent notable post: Should OSHA fine workers for unsafe actions?
4) COSHNet Blog
Authorship: Published by the National COSH Network
Common topics covered: Workplace practices, construction safety, OSHA
Frequency of posts: 3-4 posts per week
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
COSHnet Blog takes a strong advocacy position, and frequently highlights the difficulties facing workers when it comes to their own safety and health. The blog is published by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, which is a non-profit coalition of labor unions, health and technical professionals, and others interested in promoting and advocating for worker health and safety. COSHnet often editorializes about recent industry and federal regulations, focusing on the worker’s perspective or addressing the consequences of regulatory action (or inaction) for workers.
Recent notable post: Important strides in OSHA’s new silica rule, but advocates have a long road ahead
5) The OH&S Wire
Authorship: Published by the Occupational Health & Safety Magazine
Common topics covered: Behavioral safety, construction industry, OSHA, injury and illness prevention
Frequency of posts: Weekly
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
The OH&S Wire, a blog published as part of Occupational Health & Safety Magazine’s news and magazine services (some of which are subscription-based), has a casual tone and often highlights interesting initiatives elsewhere in the industry and those lead by government agencies. The blog focuses mostly on construction industry safety, although we enjoy reading their commentary on broader workplace issues. Their article archive is also a reliable source for commentary on all kinds of health and safety issues.
Recent notable post: Guilty until proven innocent: Questions regarding OSHA’s enforcement approach
6) ISHN Blog
Authorship: Published by the ISHN Magazine, part of BNP Media
Common topics covered: Construction industry, safety culture, OSHA, risk management, industry news
Frequency of posts: 1-2 posts per week
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
ISHN is a content producer and multimedia platform, focused on construction and environmental health and safety issues. One of the things we like about the ISHN Blog is their editorial voice – their authors are industry thought leaders and they’re writing for an audience of like-minded readers, so they’re often expressing strong opinions grounded in their own experience. The blog addresses current affairs, but it also takes long-view commentary on safety culture and workplace practices.
Recent notable post: Is your signage effective?
7) For Construction Pros
Authorship: Published by Cygnus Business Media
Common topics covered: Construction industry, traffic safety, risk management, safety culture, industry news
Frequency of posts: Weekly
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
For Construction Pros is actually several different blogs, all of which are well-targeted towards their own niche readers and thought leaders. Construction Toolbox is focused on project management and contractor issues, while Sustainable Snippets finds great stories on green design and construction. Along These Lines is another safety-related favorite, since it addresses the roadwork issues that so often involve safety professionals, but sometimes get overshadowed by the building construction industry in our feeds.
Recent notable post: How to educate a city about road work
8) SHP Online
Authorship: Published by the Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH)
Common topics covered: Behavioral safety, construction industry, chemical safety, corporate governance, hazardous materials
Frequency of posts: Daily
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
SHP Online is the digital home of Safety & Health Practitioner, which is the magazine for the venerable Institute for Occupational Safety & Health. IOSH is a global membership organization based in the UK and they provide information, thought leadership, and training materials for ESH professionals across the world. Their blog is one of our go-to sources for staying up to date on safety and health issues in UK and Europe. They focus on chemical safety and workplace safety practices, and they highlight news about enforcement efforts.
Recent notable post: Fire safety: ‘It’s not rocket science’
9) Intelex Blog
Authorship: Published by the Intelex software company
Common topics covered: OSHA, safety management, environmental management, industry news
Frequency of posts: 1-2 posts a week
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
Intelex is an EHS quality management software company based in Canada, although their blog has quite broad coverage and often focuses on US news. The blog features in-depth discussions on quality management techniques, and keeps up with industry news. They’ve got two great weekly features that we enjoy. The first is their Friday Safety Fact, where they take an interesting data point or statistic that’s been published recently and transform it with a neat visualization. The second is their weekly podcast, which is a casual but insightful take on the week’s environmental health and safety news.
Recent notable post: Change Management simplified! (Infographic)
10) COS Magazine
Authorship: Published by the Canadian Occupational Safety magazine
Common topics covered: Injury and illness prevention, safety culture, construction industry, workplace practices
Frequency of posts: 2-3 posts per week
Social media: Twitter
COSmag is published by the Canadian Occupational Safety magazine, and they have comprehensive coverage on current events that impact the industry, obviously with a focus on CCOHS, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. We like to keep up with our neighbors to the north when it comes to occupational safety and health issues. Often, there’s a big professional overlap between their safety issues and ours here in the U.S., and the blog has great commentary on perennial and shared concerns like fair workplace practices, road safety, and employee wellness issues.
Recent notable post: Mandatory drug, alcohol testing further restricted
It was tough compiling a Top Ten list from dozens of sources we frequent every week, so we’d love to hear from you! What are some of the great reads that we’ve left out? Let us know in the comments!
Category: News, News / New Products
