Three months ago, we launched a new challenge to make use of one of our nation’s greatest resources – the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of the American public. Innovation has always been inspired by economic and technological challenges in our communities, classrooms and businesses. At the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, we are committed to devoting that same ingenuity towards improving the safety and health of America’s workforce. We are always looking for better and more efficient ways to protect workers from injury and illness on the job.
New technologies have the promise of making our safety and health resources even more accessible for workers and employers. That is why I am excited about the progress of the Workplace Safety & Health App Challenge. Developers, students and anyone else with a little tech savvy and creativity have the opportunity to enter a contest to develop apps that demonstrate the importance of workplace safety and health, and help young people understand their rights in the workplace. Successful apps could take many different forms: interactive and informative games, social or professional networking sites, or data visualization tools that teach young people about safety and health hazards.
At OSHA, we recognized that we can leverage technology to help empower workers directly. For our nationwide outreach campaign to prevent heat-related illnesses, we created a mobile app to help workers stay safe while performing a hard day’s work outdoors. The heat safety tool allows workers and employers to view the risk level for outdoor work based on the heat index in their area; shows the signs and symptoms of heat illness; and provides first-aid information to save a life if heat illness strikes.
Every year, millions of young people are entering the workforce and deserve to know the rights and protections entitled to them. You can help us make that happen.
There is still one month left to submit entries to the Workplace Safety & Health App Challenge at http://www.challenge.gov/. The challenge is to use publicly available government information (i.e., DOL/OSHA data, NIOSH data, and other online government resources) to educate young workers on the safety and health risks in real work scenarios.
And there are prizes, too. A panel of judges that includes Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, co-hosts of the popular Discovery Channel show “Myth Busters,” will award $15,000 for the “Safety in the Workplace Innovator Award,” $6,000 for the “Safety and Health Data Award” and $6,000 for the “Workers’ Rights Award.” There is also a “People’s Choice Award” of $3,000 for the developer of the app that receives the most public votes on the website. The deadline to enter is September 16, 2012.
It’s clear that engaging the ingenuity of the public can make important inroads in addressing many of today’s important issues. The culture of workplace safety and health affects all of us, young and old, and it is inspiring to see the public take the mission of OSHA to heart, and to help America improve workplaces for today’s workers as well as future generations.
Dr. David Michaels is the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Your always looking for the same ingenuity towards safety Dr Michaels?
How about this ingenuity towards safety by protecting whistleblowers for workers are the front line of defence in preventing accidents correct?
The workers are in the trenches Dr Michaels and they know whats safe and whats not safe so why does DOL/OSHA/MSHA have a terrible reputation for protecting whistleblowers?
This has been an ogoing problem for years in DOL where even your own investigator general’s investigation of the whistleblower protection program that it has not worked for some 20 years.There was even a government watch dog group who stated this about DOL’s whistleblower protection program “Workes who contact OSHA about safety concerns are like lambs being led to slaughter” So i think thats a pretty poor review Dr Michaels don’t you?
Then DOL’s answer to this was just hire more 11(c0 investigators and just shuffle some responsobilites aroud in 11(c) with no changes to the program it self correct?
How can DOL justify this with so many millions of Americans out of work???
So you’re celebrating the perversion of tapping ingenuity to advance the stifling influence of communism?
It’s definitely time to stop reacting to the nonsense that emerges from (ostensibly) government agencies as if it is law. Only legislatures MAY make law. People like Dr. Michales need to be rendered powerless to do anything but make noise. Make bureaucrats actually compete in the marketplace so that people can choose whether to care about “expert” advise.
This is an excellent post regarding the safety and innovation.
How about this ingenuity towards safety by protecting whistleblowers for workers are the front line of defence in preventing accidents correct?
Thank you
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