August 2025 Safety Roundup
This blog series serves as a monthly highlight of recent news/updates in the safety industry, including airport, construction, events, and general safety news.
To keep you informed about recent and current safety highlights, we’ve compiled some of the most pertinent updates and national stories here to keep you updated on all things safety.
This month, we’ll highlight Back to School safety tips, why PPE needs to be more inclusive, how a Brisbane airport could have benefited from using plastic barricades during an evacuation, and OSHA Safe and Sound Week.
In OTW news, we’ll tell you all about our Back to School Sale, recent events OTW was honored to appear at, and… our annual Photo and Video Contest!
Table of Contents
1 – 5 Back-to-School Safety Tips Administrators Must Know
2 – PPE ‘fashion show’ highlights need for a safe fit for women
3 – Confused passengers evacuated from Brisbane domestic airport and told to rescreen after metal detector fault
4 – OSHA Safe and Sound Week
5 – OTW News and Featured Products
How to Build a Back to School Safety Plan
The first day of school is quickly approaching (or is already here!) for schools across the country, and administrators must be prepared to welcome students, staff, and faculty. A large part of their preparation should include a full school safety plan that touches on the most important aspects of keeping students and faculty safe and facilitating a smooth start to the year.
Here are six elements you shouldn’t miss when prepping a school safety plan:
- Maps
- Meeting Points
- Safety Equipment
- Emergency Materials
- Designating Roles
- Safety Policies
And here are 5 Back to School Safety Tips Administrators Must Know when building out their plans.
- Assess and update safety protocols
- Leverage technology for enhanced communication
- Implement access control measures
- Enhance surveillance with smart cameras
- Integrate panic button technology
Emergency tech, panic buttons, and directional barricades (our Back to School Sale is on right now, by the way!) are especially useful to integrate, as the potential for disaster is, unfortunately, on the rise nationwide. These additional safety measures can make all the difference when responding to an emergency, should one happen. It’s always better to be overprepared than underprepared, and these tips can help ensure safety is a top priority at your school!
PPE ‘fashion show’ highlights need for a safe fit for women
In Orlando, FL, the end of July saw safety experts, advocacy groups, and more flood the American Society of Safety Professionals 2025 Conference + Expo. The main event? The catwalk, showcasing the latest in personal protective equipment (PPE) specifically fitted to women. For decades, PPE has been a one-size-fits-all, and it often does more harm than good. Loose/baggy clothing or equipment (gloves, etc) can be hazardous, with the potential for catching or snagging on heavy equipment, while too-tight PPE is uncomfortable, distracting, and unsafe. While the catwalk showcased women in PPE, the issue doesn’t only impact women: any worker who is differently sized or shaped than “standard” may have trouble finding PPE that fits them well.
“The real question is: is the PPE that you’re procuring and buying and using creating hazards rather than preventing them?” asked panelist Amy Roosa, founder of The Safety Rack (an advocacy group focused specifically on women’s PPE).
PPE manufacturers are starting to get on board, thanks to OSHA’s 2024 standard that requires construction employers to provide properly fitting PPE for all employees. At OTW, we are continually working to close the gap and are currently exploring PPE solutions to introduce to our product line, providing additional construction safety support.
Confused passengers evacuated from Brisbane domestic airport and told to rescreen after metal detector fault
Across the world, the Brisbane airport experienced a major metal detector snafu, one that forced a rescreening of the entire terminal of people and delayed many flights. At first, a security breach was declared, and thousands of people were evacuated from the building, only to be called back in and stopped once again at security. The sheer mass of people caused confusion and slowed screening time, delaying the entire airport by about two and a half hours. In the end, the fault lay with a malfunctioning scanner, and business resumed as usual after the delay.
This was an unforeseen event, but the airport could have benefited from having plastic barricades on hand to define lines and decrease confusion. Both pedestrian barricades (easily stored and quickly deployed) and low-profile airport barricades (usually used airside but perfect for a quick fix indoors too) can be connected to form a continuous line or stationed around the perimeter of the area in question. Creating a queue would likely have lessened the crush of people trying to make it through screening and guided them along more effectively, thus decreasing the delay time overall.
OSHA Safe and Sound Week
Held each August, OSHA Safe and Sound Week “recognizes the successes of workplace safety and health programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe” (OSHA). This year, the week of awareness was held from August 11-17 and focused on emergency preparedness and response in the workplace. OSHA provided resources and activities to help businesses plan and promote events to highlight the safety week.
Workplace safety and preparedness are essential, especially in industries where the risk of injury or fatality is high.
Not able to participate or missed the official week? Resources are still available at the link above, and OSHA encourages you to create your very own Safe and Sound Week whenever works best for you!
—OTW NEWS—
Back to School Sale
Our annual Back to School Sale is on! School barricades are perfect for defining queues for lunch, directing visiting traffic to the gymnasium, or for special events. They’re also essential for parking lot delineation, separating spectators from athletes, and more!
The possibilities for use are endless with OTW school barricades.
Save up to 15% on pedestrian barricades when you mention our crowd control sale!
Annual OTW Photo and Video Contest
And, drumroll, please… the annual OTW Photo and Video Contest is finally here! Submit your best shots of OTW barricades in action – pedestrian, construction, and traffic… we want to see them all! First place in each category, Crowd Control and Airport & Construction, will win a cash prize and a feature on our blog, with honorable mentions claiming a spot in the blog as well.
Our team eagerly awaits the photo and video contest every year, and we can’t wait to see what you all have in store for us in 2025 📸
Enter HERE with your photos and videos for the 2025 OTW Photo and Video Contest!
Recent events
OTW had the opportunity to sponsor several events over the past few months, and we were excited to see our pedestrian barricades in action at RockStock AND Metcon!
RockStock, with the Nation’s Best Tribute Bands, used our pedestrian barricades as delineators between the stage and concert-goers, as well as for sectioning off VIP and lawn seating areas.
Metcon Rush, held in Hagerston, Maryland, lined their competition mats with pedestrian barricades as the perfect separator between athletes and spectators. They didn’t have to worry about scratched floors or fear anyone leaning on the barricades, as they are durable, sturdy, and gentle on indoor floors!
