Melissa J. Ruminski

United States

Editor at Safety+Health Magazine

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safetyandhealthmagazine.com

Articles

Editor’s Note: A closer look at SIF prevention

2 weeks ago | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

When I sat down to write this Editor’s Note, I tried to remember when I first became aware of the concept of serious injury and fatality prevention – or saw the acronym “SIF.” And, in truth, I couldn’t recall. So, I went to the Safety+Health website and clicked on the earliest issue available online: January 2013. Sure enough, SIFs are mentioned in a column. I then went to our file server and checked content from 2012. SIFs were written about that year, too.
Editor’s Note: Your response is appreciated

1 month ago | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

If you’re a regular reader of Safety+Health (and if so, thank you), you’re probably familiar with our Job Outlook survey. This year, we’re trying something a little different: We’ve taken elements of the Job Outlook and added questions to create what we’re calling the State of Safety. The new questions ask about safety culture, leading/lagging indicators, technology, and current and future challenges. I hope you find them interesting.
Editor’s Note: The right fit

2 months ago | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

I don’t know any women who haven’t felt frustration at one time or another when trying to find clothes that fit properly. Sizing among manufacturers is incredibly inconsistent, and a size that fits us perfectly in one brand can be either too large or too small in another. And as someone who’s over 6 feet tall, finding sleeves and pants that are long enough has been a challenge for me since high school. In the past decade or so, though, more tall sizes have become available.
Editor’s Note: Keep those stories coming

Jan 26, 2025 | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

Home » Editor’s Note: Keep those stories comingEditor's Note CEOs Who "Get It" National Safety Council Safety profession Safety professionals Every February, we introduce you to another group of the National Safety Council’s CEOs Who ‘Get It’ – leaders who demonstrate a personal commitment to worker safety and health. For NSC, “personal” is a key word. It’s echoed in the council’s Safety is Personal initiative, which has continued into 2025.
Editor’s Note: Two ‘staples’ of safety

Nov 23, 2024 | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

I’ve been to the National Safety Council’s annual Safety Congress & Expo so many times that I can’t remember at which one I first met Richard Fairfax. A former director of enforcement programs at OSHA as well as deputy assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, Rich was a welcome presence during many presentations of OSHA’s Top 10 most cited standards, sharing data as well as his insights.
Editor’s Note: How’s your voice?

Oct 26, 2024 | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

You may find this amusing coming from someone who writes a monthly column, but I don’t care for the sound of my own voice. I mean it literally, though. To my ear, my voice is wildly inconsistent, ranging from a thin, pinched sound when I’m stressed to a raspy baritone when I’m fighting a cold or allergies. I also tend to talk too fast. Many years ago, I was tapped to moderate my first Safety+Health webinar.
Editor’s Note: Reaching across generations

Sep 21, 2024 | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

Maybe it’s the amount of time I spend on social media, but I sometimes find myself dismayed by the number of posts I see that try to pit generational groups against each other. Gen Z vs. millennials vs. Gen X vs. baby boomers … you’ve probably seen the posts, too. Someone from a particular group dislikes, derides or dismisses the values, habits and opinions of another generation. At their worst, they’ve led me to question the value of placing people into groups.
Editor’s Note: Quick, easy and helpful

Aug 24, 2024 | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

Most of the content you read in Safety+Health is written by our team of associate editors. Barry Bottino, Kevin Druley and Alan Ferguson are busy reporting news, hosting our monthly podcast, moderating webinars and producing feature articles. Although the writers can – and do – report on anything, they each gravitate toward certain news beats and topics. Take Alan, who’s responsible for a lot of our coverage of regulation and legislation.
Editor’s Note: What can we do for you?

Jul 27, 2024 | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

Every year, Safety+Health dedicates a large portion of one issue to coverage of the NSC Safety Congress & Expo. And every year, I use my Editor’s Note that month to invite safety and health pros to stop by the S+H booth at the show and talk with us. Some people want only to say hello or let us know they read the magazine. We love that. But we also welcome thoughts on what readers like or dislike – and what we can do better.
Editor’s Note: Heat safety in focus

Jun 22, 2024 | safetyandhealthmagazine.com | Melissa J. Ruminski

Home » Editor’s Note: Heat safety in focusEditor's Note Editor's Note Heat Heat Illness Heat protection Heat stress Heat stroke Heat-related illnesses Keeping workers safe in the heat has been one of the occupational safety and health community’s most talked-about topics over the past year. And with record-setting temps occurring in many parts of the country in 2023 and experts predicting more of the same for 2024, it’s certainly one of the most urgent.