When operating heavy equipment there is the remote possibility of high-pressure hydraulic fluid jetting out from a cracked or punctured line. If this occurs, never try to stop the leak, but immediately turn off the equipment and call for service.

A recent video by the Fluid Power Safety Institute tells the tale of a mechanic who accidently had a finger exposed to high-pressure hydraulic fluid. To the mechanic, it felt as though he had been stabbed by a thin piece of wire. Although he went to an emergency room soon after the incident, the ER staff did not correctly diagnose the injury. That night, the mechanic awoke in excruciating pain and immediately...

Sun exposure is an often overlooked hazard when working on a construction job site. While we normally associate sun exposure to heat stroke and sunburns, the long-term effect of exposing the skin to solar radiation has more serious consequences.

Skin cancer is caused by long-term exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) light. Construction workers who operate heavy equipment, lay brick, wrangle rebar, form concrete and perform other tasks in the outdoors are exposed to the sun each day. Over time, the UV light causes DNA in skin cells to mutate and become pre-cancerous and, eventually, cancerous. On average, a person’s risk for deadly melanoma cancer doubles if he or she has had more...