Occupational Health and Safety Books

This book started me on a long research project which ultimately lead to my MA thesis. Companies so frequently avoid dealing with employee safety and medical problems that there is a discernible pattern. Cherniak's dedication to fact-finding is inspirational. The story is spell-binding and frightening. While the Hawk's Nest issue dates back 70 years, the situation exists today - companies still disregard the needs of employees and government proteciton agencies still avoid meaningful action.

As a safety and health practioner whose strongest ultra specific technical competency is in the area of respiratory protection, I was searching for this book for several weeks. I wanted to know the particulars of how several hundred workers could die within a few months - on a jobsite - and no one go to jail for such actions. I was also seeking this book for inclusion in evidence on several matters soon being brought before this country's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The book is the perfect length, as I completed it in about five evenings. Its style is very readable and offers its reader the perfect blend of research rolled into a documentary format. Because I have devoted countless hours at the National Library of Medicine, The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, etc. I fully appreciate the hundreds - if not thousands - of hours Dr. Cherniak devoted to research. How many boxes in musty court record archives did he examine ? Read the book's bibliography and you will have some degree of understanding of his enormous effort. Better yet, track down the original (primary) sources and read these as well. The book provides an excellent analysis of the United States corporation involved in the project. For this reason alone, it is well worth reading.

Human Error Causes and Control
Folks, I just read a wonderful book titled Human Error Causes and Control. I highly recommend it for the chapter as it discusses and provides mitigating techniques for the primary cause of all accidents, the human. George Peters (past System Safety Society President) and Barbara Peters (his daugher) have written this must read. It can be purchased on Amazon for 79.95 new and 64.94 used."

Human error is a part of daily life - but it can kill or maim, so is cause for concern and control attempts, too. That's where HUMAN ERROR: CAUSES AND CONTROL comes in: it blends useful ergonomic details with ideas on human contributions to error, covering theories and applied methods and using examples to explore the idea and field of human error management. From constructs that help optimize human performance and achievement to chapters discussing data analysis and modeling, college-level courses on human error management will find this very appropriate for classroom discussion and text assignments.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

Howlett uses familiar incidents to demonstrate proven operational strategies. The author explains the failures that led to accidents at Three Mile Island, the Exxon-Valdez, Chernobyl, Titanic and others. More importantly he explains what is needed to avoid similar tragedies in your own operations. It's the industrial operators bible.

The Industrial Operator's Handbook should be part of every industrial operations training program. The focus of this book is failure analysis and preventative procedures. Training, communication, the art of turnovers, and the importance of building a strong team are all covered. Employee's find the book easy to read because they can relate to the conditions that lead to accidents.

WONDERFULLY WRITTEN. VERY INSIGHTFUL AND INFORMATIVE. A GREAT ADDITION TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE BASE, WHETHER VIA COLLEGE OR PERSONAL/ SELF- EDUCATION WISE.

If you are interested in the Environmental Technology field this book is a great introduction to the basics of Environmental Technology. This book is used as a textbook in many Intro to Environmental Technology classes. I took Ann Boyce's on-line class, Introduction to Environmental Technology, where her book is intergrated into great discussions and projects. If you are interested in taking the class that goes with this book just visit the college website and check out the on-line classes section!

I read this today and I completely agree. This is a great resource and should be used by everyone involved with keeping our children safe.

"The Jane's School Safety Handbook is one of the finest resource guides available on safe school planning, and it will be a catalyst for schools meeting the mandate of California Senate Bill #187--The Safe School Planning Process. We are putting them in every school in the Los Angeles Unified School District."

--Willie F. Crittendon, Administrator for School Operations and Safety, Los Angeles Unified School District

The Jane's School Safety Handbook is a MUST for anyone interested in school safety. There is a wealth of practical, easy to understand information packed into this small book. Written by some of the best national experts in the field, this comprehensive book outlines what to do -- from planning to recovery, and includes many helpful checklists and sample letters.

A unique feature of this handbook is a section of case studies that clearly demonstrate that a crisis can happen to anyone. These real-life experiences "highlight the limitations of profiling and the importance of comprehensive crisis planning, prevention, response and recovery plans." As a school distict crisis-responder, I found this book to be most helpful. It is appropriate for both beginners and those experienced in crisis/emergency response. Don't wait for a crisis to happen before you read this book.

This book presents a refreshing, straightforward approach to laser safety. The authors have written the material in such a way, that a person with little or no laser experience can establish a safe working laser environment. Unlike other laser safety manuals, this book provides hands on advice and practical tips without bogging the reader down with trivial information. I highly recommend this book for anyone who will be working in a laser environment.

This book should be a required-reading for new as well as experienced users of laser devices who work in close proximity of laser beams. It points out clearly and succinctly the danger that a beam of laser may posses. Even a very low power may cause permanent damage to unprotected eyes. The book is certainly worth its price.

I really like this book. There are around 10 intro marketing textbooks, and they're almost all either (co-)authored by Kotler, or shameless rip-offs of his books.

Hats of to Roger Best for coming up with a book that's truly different. The approach is refreshingly down-to-earth, almost nerdy, including a lot of frameworks for financial or qualitative analysis that would be useful to any marketing manager in his or her daily life. Although it can be used as an introductory marketing textbook, you'll find a lot of material here that you don't find in Kotler and Kotler-clones, so I also recommend it to people who've had an intro marketing course, and who want to move beyond the basics. Likewise, this would be a great book for practicing marketing managers who've been out in the field a couple of years, and want to brush up on the basics, without wading through the usual definitions and useless frameworks in other intro textbooks.

The entire book is in black and white, lacking the usual fancy graphics, and it is only about half the length of other textbooks. I actually find that refreshing, and it is an extension the substance-over-hype approach behind this book.

This is a great book for managers who want to understand marketing better. It is truly customer-focused and performance-oriented. I teach Marketing in EMBA classes in the US and in Switzerland, and the students love this book, together with the applications.

Great read. Easy to follow and use. Terrific reference. Not wordy or obtuse like most books on the subject

Not wordy, vague, or obtuse like most books on the subject. A quick read and great reference.

Trevor Kletz's book is a summary of a lifetime of lectures on the subject of process safety. It is a fascinating collection of observations and ideas distilled from his many books on the subject. I always prefer material that has gone through the fire, which has served as presentation material for courses and training. He has a clear message, which is defined succinctly in the appendix of the book: "An atlas of safety thinking." Here, he defines the four guiding principles explained throughout the book: 1) intensification; 2) substitution; 3) attenuation; 4) and, simplification. For example, attenuation can be explained by saying if you can't eliminate the risk, maybe you can reduce it by changing the physical conditions: e.g. lower the temperature or pressure.

There are numerous examples in this small book. I found the paragraphs on nitroglycerine amusing. He described how operators worked with huge batches of material on one-legged stools to keep their attention keen. You'll have to read the book yourself on how they improved the process. Today, making nitroglycerine is probably the safest process in the munitions industry because inertia equates with mortality.

Trevor (I've emailed him a couple of times) comments frequently about inertia to change. He asks clearly why the oil industry and others continue to use large distillation columns without considering Higee distillation. Higee columns are much smaller making inventories of flammable chemicals small as well. Trevor's comments are well-supported; they remind me of an earlier innovator in business philosophy, another man I deeply admire: W. Edward Demming. Some of you may know him as the founder of modern quality science. He quickly realized that applying statistics to production lines did little to enhancing quality. Teaching the engineers did little to improve products. They were well aware of problems. Changing the mindset of managers is necessary. And, so it is in chemical engineering. We must look to new ideas if we are to reduce costs, shrink our carbon footprint, and cut environmental damage. Our major competitors, Europe and the Chinese are already thinking this way, don't you think it is time for us? Trevor reports that the Chinese are working on their version of Hi-Gee. Shouldn't we be working on ours?

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I think some explanations are needed on its title. According to the preface, the book was first published under the name of

* Cheaper, Safer Plants or Wealth and Safety at Work(1985)

and extended to the new title

* Plant Design for Safety - A User-Friendly Approach(1991)

and 70% expanded to the latest title

* Process Plants: A Handbook for Inherently Safer Design(1998).

The Aamzon's title may not be updated, but I got the latest one. It's slim(about 200 pages) and very readable.

This book was first published in 1977 and the Second Edition is dated 1990. It would be easy to dismiss it, therefore, as dated, but the fact is that dryers haven't changed and there is a lot of very useful information to be found inside this small book. The structure of the book is that a chapter is devoted to each dryer type with an introduction, then: Hazards; Potential Ignition Sources; Safety from Explosions; Process Specification; Equipment Specification; and Operation and Maintenance. The information is all based on research that is clearly described and footnoted. The information on screening and testing is dated, but does offer the reader useful insight into an approach that is still pertinent even if the protocols have changed.

While this book does not preclude the necessity to follow NFPA 85 and other relevant codes, it does offer a lucid and insightful analysis of the problems that are unique to dryers. This book is recommended to anyone seeking help with the protection of dryers from the explosion and related fire hazard.

John Abbott has assembled an excellent working text for operating engineers who dry solids. I would venture to say that if you don't buy this book, and your position depends on operating dryers safely, you are endangering your people.

The book begins with a detailed description of tests necessary to estimate hazards. The tests require the first four chapters. Chapter 5 is the heart of the book with safety instructions applicable for all dryers. The remainder of the book dispenses specific advice for several dryer types including: rotary dryers, spray dryers, pneumatic dryers, fluid bed dryers, etc. The appendices cover basic tests for combustion properties of dust.

As always, even for good books, there are improvements that could have been made. I have two suggestions, should the author ever decide to publish a 3rd edition:

* Better graphics; and

* Recommendations on instrumentation and controls.

In particular, it would be nice to see a CAD-style graphic detailing recommending siting of temperature probes and other instruments. Process control schemes for specific dryers, and perhaps, taking the discussion to the next level, asset management plans for monitoring problems with the dryer temperature and flow controls. Also, an appendix on a safety inspection sheet for a dryer would be useful.

As is often the case, the European or English safety standards are better than those in the states. My hat is off to the AIChE for making this book possible. This book should probably be considered, even if you are planning to purchase one of the expensive books on dryer design, such as Williams-Gardner (1971) or others.

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