Occupational Health and Safety Books

This book is for the novice. Approach presented to developing an effective safety culture is heavily based on OSHA. Anything based on government requirements is minimalist at best. I was dissapointed in the book and regret purchasing it.

What the authors of this book provided, whether they realized it or not, was a "blue-print plan" for a new safety advisor, director, manager, or other safety professional, to get a safety program up and running from scratch for any organization. Especially chapter 10. If I would have had chapter 10 to follow as a guide when I was a new Safety Advisor, I would have had the instructions I so desperately needed at the time to help build the safest work environment possible. I had safety in the heart, but not the means to establish a safety plan. Simply put, one can take the Safety Culture book and build the perfect safety program for an organization. The book is a step by step blue-print. - Tommy Bristow

Author Roughton's book is remarkably clear and concise, affording a comprehensive perspective on the context and content of an effective safety culture.
Those interested in creating such a culture will understand that the emphasis on safety must become an integral part of the organization from top management to the operating worker. This book describes the path to that end, as opposed to simply describing a tool to be used and set aside.

This book is a wealth of information that emergency responders will be hard pressed to find complied anywhere else. The book cleverly adopts several widely used formats in presenting information unique to chemical and biological agents. These formats, which are familiar to emergency response personnel, allow for easy and rapid access to relevant hazard information. The Class Indexes are formatted to look like an MSDS, and the Agent Indexes are modeled after NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. Finally, the Alphabetical Index of agents is probably the most complete listing of agents and their synonyms that can be found.

The fact that it was published by CRC Press may have led me to set my expectations a bit high, and I felt let down by this handbook. There were some surprising deficiencies - CAS registry numbers were absent for some of the chemical agents, for instance. I was particularly disappointed by the section on the Novichok agents, which was essentially a repeat of the newspaper comments of Mirzayanov. On the plus side, it covers all the common CW agents, some uncommon CW agents (although the basis for their selection is unclear), some industrial materials and CW agent precursors, and a fair selection of BW agents and toxins for a total of 348 agents. On the minus side, it provides only very limited data on each, stacking them at more than 3/page. The class indexes contain some useful information, but are necessarily very general. The 100 pages of reprints of ERG guidlines are probably not needed. The section on weapon markings is interesting, but limited to US weapons only, and lacks illustrations. The first 110+ pages do contain a potentially useful list of synonyms, although again, the selection criteria are not clear. The glossary is reasonably complete. PPE data is only a single page. The sample collection section is vague about what to do with collected samples. Probably useful (along with FM 3-9) for poison control facilities and the libraries of emergency management agencies, but not laid out (hardbound, difficult to keep open to a page) or complete enough (volatilities,vapor pressures are given for only one temperature, for instance) for field use.

I once ordered a book from CBIAC on survivability of materials to CBW Agents. From all descriptions, I believed it to be something that discussed various materials and mechanisms of failure. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than a list of materials with a rating code.

Handbook is a bit better. However, don't purchase this if you are expecting to read a book on CBW Agents and wanting a better understanding of the topic. Handbook is written sort of like those manuals you find on any truck caring hazardous materials...a list of UN codes, chemical names, and safe distances for spills. Overall, the intent seems to be a presentation of CBW Agents in the same format as typically used for occupational health and safety (TWA's, etc.)

I applaud the author for his thoroughness. He described Nerve Agent GP (actually GP11) of the GV Series with information that is not readily available. As usual, the Novichok agents have been misrepresented as a class of chemicals (it's a technique), with no more detail than what has been previously described.

The first section of the book is an index of all the various nomenclature applied to CBW Agents (military symbols, trivial names, other designations etc.) Following this section is a series of brief excerpts on each agent. Nothing in-depth on these agents, and the toxicology information (if available) is pretty much limited to the No-Effect thresholds used for occupational health. Subsequent sections treat each broad category of agents with information typical in MSDS's - very generic.

What most readers will find difficult about this book is that it is likened to indexes to indexes, and then once you find what you are looking for - it's more generic than most readers would prefer.

This is a handy little book that, in a pinch can fit into a back pocket, or, into the pocket of a tool apron.

My husband is building a garage. We had an inspector come out and he wanted some things corrected. Well, we thought this book might clarify a few things. It did not. The codes are all listed but they don't tell you what the specs. are on many things. Like code 300-5 Underground Installations. It tells you to refer to table 300-5. The table isn't in the book! I couldn't find it and neither could my husband. The tables are in numerical order, but it just skips over that one, and I suspect many others as there are numerical gaps. In my opinion, save your money and purchase something else.

As an electrical engineer I use the NEC code book everyday, but it it too big to carry around from site to site. This handbook is an excellent guide to the larger code book in a convenient small size. It can not replace the code book but when on the job and need to some of the more frequently used information, it is there or it directs you where to look in the code book. This book is not recommended as a stand alone resource, but is an excellent companion.

This is an excellent survey of the history and design of safety cards. I thought that the cards selected were an excellent choice and it would have been impossible for it to be comprehensive. Overall, an excellent book.

As someone very interested in information design and especially airline safety card design, I was hoping this book would have good samples of what the editorial review termed "the most interesting and imaginative of these safety cards."

Unfortunately, instead the entire book is apparently merely an only vaguely interesting set of reproductions of cards from Carl's collection -- chosen apparently on the basis of scarcity rather than interest. Thus we get two full pages of reproduction of a card from Air Ceylon which has nothing of interest to recommend it (unless you are really interested in Ceylonese typography).

The text (what little there is) unfortunately adds nothing to our understanding, as it is almost entirely about the history of the introduction of new airliners and has almost no interface with the actual (and very interesting) history of the development of the modern safety card, or the more general topic of safety and instructional graphics.

The most interesting aspect of this book for me was the few reproductions of pre-war cards, and comparing styles of commercial illustration -- but you can view better comparisons in almost any average book on the history of poster design.

In summary, get this book only if you want some nice reproductions of pretty average to poor safety cards from some small countries and short-lived airlines. I can spend at least 30 minutes each airline flight examining different aspects of the safety card, but this book didn't even hold my attention for an hour.

This book is in bad need of updating. If I had known, I would not have bought it. I bought this book to use in a project in culinary school, but I had to find information in other books because the information is so out of date.

The H.A.C.C.P After reading the book it changes my whole perspective on catering. I would like to no if you can give me some feed back on applying these safty regulations, if running a bussiness from home. And what requirements do you suggest for safe in house catering.

Excellent knowledge base for the DIY and pro. This series of books will show you everything you need to know to do it right the first time and pass those crucial inspections.

The book is awful. I cannot follow the format and don't understand what they are trying to communicate. There are a few bits of helpful information - but overall this book will do nothing for me. The "cute" drawings and jokes are not appropriate for a reference on electrical codes. And why dedicate so much space the the history of electricity?

Don't waste your money. Go with something professionally prepared. This flipbook was not.

If the purchaser actually needs to know the UBC reference numbers, they will need to do some searching, because all too often the Section number cited in the Code Check series isn't correct. I do not have a copy of the International Building Code so I can not judge how the actual references correspond to the citations listed here, but one wonders how the authors could get the UBC citations so wrong, so often.

Because the Code Check series cover residential applications of the Code quite well, I suggest it be used as a study aid for Code Students. Because the surface is designed to be erased many times without leaving ghosts, the student will need to make paper copies. If the sudent goes thru the lists, they should mark down the actual section references on the copy. When the student is finished, he or she will have a good idea of what the code requires for residences and how to use the UBC (or the California Building Code) to locate those requirements in the code.

I love the format of this book, simple, easy and I love the playful nature of the illustrations. Never have codes been more easy to understand.

This book is mostly general information. Many of the figures do not identify the wires e.g. hot, neutral, ground. The section on Grounding is many years out of date, and would present an electrical hazard if followed. Most modern homes nowadays use PVC piping thus rendering all this advice on this page useless and dangerous for the layman. Because plumbers use nonconductive material to make connection watertight, using pipes for electrical ground is outright dangerous. Do not use this book because some advice is good, but some is not. Not knowing what advice is the good one may put your life in danger.

The book was well written and easy to read. I found it helpful in my safety officer class.

If this book was written at the 8th grade level, then it must've been proof read by an 8th grader. There are mistakes in this book that spell check could've fixed. As for content, George Carlin says that the "quality of our thoughts is only as good as the quality of our language." This book is so poorly written, I couldn't find anything of practical value. I can only hope that in the far distant future, historians will not judge our beloved job by the quality and content of this book.

The lessons presented by Dodson are grossly oversimplified and the book is an injustice to fire fighters who use it. In addition, it is only written to an eighth grade level. Save your money and maybe your life.

I found this book very informative, ignore Safety-Command's review. I attended David Dodson's 16 hour class during the FDIC conference in Indianapolis in 2005. The class was an overview of the book and the more important skill of learning to read smoke. Mr. Dodson also taught an Art of Reading Smoke class that was attended by over 1,000 people. This book is the basis for the FDSOA certification test. It is a must read for any Department who has not established procedures for implementing a scene safety officer. Read and learn. The book is simplified to better understand and function in the role of a Safety Officer.

The author documents the duties and responsibilities of theincident scene safety officer . in an understandable way , Great book.

I was disappointed upon receiving this book. I purchased it for the purpose of calculating my daily vitamin and mineral intake. However, the book doesn't consistently provide vitamin and mineral contents in standard doses. For example, Vitamin A content is listed in RE instead of IU. You can find the IU content listed in the very back of the book, but, that entails constantly flipping the pages back and forth after each food profile. Also, it is spread out over two pages, so you have to run your finger across two pages to make sure that you are on the same line; ditto with the Folic Acid content. It is indicated by a weird symbol; weird at least for a layman.

What really ticked me off about the book was some of the statements made about organic foods and herbal supplements. Statements, I am confident, are from the Dole Food Company's perspective. Example: The book states that organic foods are not anymore healthful for you than traditionally farmed foods. It is presumed that you cannot trust any source for organic produce; therefore it is just a big waste of your money. They also state that traditionally farmed foods are strictly monitored by the Federal Government and that herbicides, pesticides and insecticides are not only not harmful, but, that they are beneficially to our health by killing dangerous natural toxins. What a colossal joke! It's exactly something that I would expect from a producer of commercially produced produce, laden with harmful chemicals, many of which have wisely been banned by many (smarter) European countries. Nevermind the fact that traditional farming methods are ruining the soil, and in the long run, are not sustainable.

On the issue of herbal supplements, the book states that most herbal remedies have not proven to be of any benefit and are dangerous to boot. This is a supreme lie! Ginger settles my often queasy stomach. I take valerian on Sunday nights to help me unwind from a hectic weekend. Sage greatly eased some minor swelling that I had on my gums.

Scientists are realizing that conventional medications are only a band aid on a wound. They are beginning to seriously research medicinal plants with reputations for healing properties. Ginger, echinacea, garlic, culinary herbs, etc. have not only proven effective, but, have on many occasions, surpassed the results of conventional medicines, without the harmful side effects. The Government has not enforced the same standards of labeling on herbal supplements that it does with conventional medication. This makes it easier for disreputable companies to make wild health claims, such as promising to add three inches to your penis or increase your bra size or cure cancer. I think it goes without saying that anyone thinking about taking herbal medications should consult a healthcare practitioner knowledgeable in this arena and heed the same warnings and advice that you would with conventional medication.

If you just want simple food profiles, this book is acceptable. However, I found "The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition: How to Buy, Store, and Prepare Every Variety of Fresh Food" far superior.

I must disagree with the previous review. As I own both this book and the The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition mentioned by the reviewer, I do not believe them to be incompatible. While the two books are written from different health perspectives both provide ton of useful information.

I found this book to be extremely valuable and informative. Many of the complaints raised in the previous review misstate information in the book. For example, rather than categorically denying the value of organic foods the book states, "[n]utritionally, organically grown foods may not be significantly different from the same products grown with conventional farming techniques." Further, while the reviewer may have derived benefits from herbal remedies, it appears from the scientifically generated studies that there is little conclusive evidence that herbal remedies provide significant therapeutic benefits. These might be proven in the future, but they are not in existence at the present. But these criticisms miss the whole point of the book itself.

Encyclopedia of Foods is not a scientific study of farming techniques or illness remedies. It is a book about some possible ways to maintain a healthy diet. It is a book about the different types of foods and their places in a healthy diet. The book describes a multitude of foods and gives a great deal of information on the history of cultivation, nutritional benefits, and selected methods of preparation for them. It is a general text and not a scholarly work produced for nutritionists or other healthcare professionals. It also has several chapters devoted to explaining healthful diets, nutrients, and the relationship between some types of illnesses and diet. As a layman with a long interest in fitness, exercise and nutrition I found it to be very informative and will be a great help to me in selection what I eat in the future.

I would highly recommend this book as a great source of general information on healthy diets and foods.

I was disappointed upon receiving this book. I purchased it for the purpose of calculating my daily vitamin and mineral intake. However, the book doesn't consistently provide vitamin and mineral contents in standard doses. For example, Vitamin A content is listed in RE instead of IU. You can find the IU content listed in the very back of the book, but, that entails constantly flipping the pages back and forth after each food profile. Also, it is spread out over two pages, so you have to run your finger across two pages to make sure that you are on the same line; ditto with the Folic Acid content. It is indicated by a weird symbol; weird at least for a layman.

What really ticked me off about the book was some of the statements made about organic foods and herbal supplements. Statements, I am confident, are from the Dole Food Company's perspective. Example: The book states that organic foods are not anymore healthful for you than traditionally farmed foods. It is presumed that you cannot trust any source for organic produce; therefore it is just a big waste of your money. They also state that traditionally farmed foods are strictly monitored by the Federal Government and that herbicides, pesticides and insecticides are not only not harmful, but, that they are beneficially to our health by killing dangerous natural toxins. What a colossal joke! It's exactly something that I would expect from a producer of commercially produced produce, laden with harmful chemicals, many of which have wisely been banned by many (smarter) European countries. Nevermind the fact that traditional farming methods are ruining the soil, and in the long run, are not sustainable.

On the issue of herbal supplements, the book states that most herbal remedies have not proven to be of any benefit and are dangerous to boot. This is a supreme lie! Ginger settles my often queasy stomach. I take valerian on Sunday nights to help me unwind from a hectic weekend. Sage greatly eased some minor swelling that I had on my gums.

Scientists are realizing that conventional medications are only a band aid on a wound. They are beginning to seriously research medicinal plants with reputations for healing properties. Ginger, echinacea, garlic, culinary herbs, etc. have not only proven effective, but, have on many occasions, surpassed the results of conventional medicines, without the harmful side effects. The Government has not enforced the same standards of labeling on herbal supplements that it does with conventional medication. This makes it easier for disreputable companies to make wild health claims, such as increase your bra size or cure cancer. I think it goes without saying that anyone thinking about taking herbal medications should consult a healthcare practitioner knowledgeable in this arena and heed the same warnings and advice that you would with conventional medication.

If you just want simple food profiles, this book is acceptable. However, I found "The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition: How to Buy, Store, and Prepare Every Variety of Fresh Food" far superior.

This book would be fantastic except there are way too many errors - especially for a book about statistics and statistical error.

This book should cost 1/10 the price because you have to go through and find and correct all the errors - especially frustrating when using this text in a class.

I would have never made it through my fall statistics course without the use of this book. The book is very easy to read and follow. The examples are very useful and helped me study for my quizes and exams. Well worth of every penny - especially if you are a poor college student. This is one book that will stay on my bookshelf and not back to the college bookstore for buyback.

Jack Daugherty has put a ton of effort into gathering lots of algorithms and relationships describing human exposure to chemicals. One would have to look in a numerous different places to come up with all the information concentrated in this one book. Anyone who models human exposure potential would benefit from owning it. Indeed, Chapters 8 and 9 are worth the price of the book.

"With the clear explanations presented in this text, even a novice will be able to practice the art of exposure assessment"

Although the idea for the book is well conceived, the manner in which it is carried through is not. Mr. Daugherty has the bad habit of utilizing terms he has not defined, switching gears in the middle of discussions and other irritating habits.

He also has a rather bad habit of pontificating, which is not required in a book of this type.

Not nearly as useful as I would have liked.