Month: June 2012

Fireworks Safety Tips

Fireworks can be very dangerous. Here are some safety tips:
  • Use fireworks outdoors only.
  • Obey local laws. If fireworks are not legal where you live, do not use them.
  • Always have water handy. (A hose or bucket).
  • Only use fireworks as intended. Don’t try to alter them or combine them.
  • Never relight a “dud” firework. Wait 20 minutes and then soak it in a bucket of water.
  • Use common sense. Spectators should keep a safe distance from the shooter and the shooter should wear safety glasses.
  • Alcohol and fireworks do not mix. Have a “designated shooter.”
  • Only persons over the age of 12 should be allowed to handle sparklers of any type.
  • Do not ever use homemade fireworks of illegal explosives: They can kill you! Report illegal explosives to the fire or police department in your community.

Let’s celebrate our nation’s heritage on the Fourth of July, but celebrate safely. via Welcome | The National Council on Fireworks Safety.

The Cost of Risk Formula

For those that run a business the “cost of risk” formula needs to be understood and managed because it directly effects the bottom line.

The formula looks like this:

Cost of Risk = Insurance (transfer risk to an insurance company by paying a premium) + Retention and Deductibles (The business portion of any loss of uninsured loss) + Inside Admin Costs (internal staff the handle safety training, claims handling, etc) + Outside Services ( Loss Control, Outside Experts, Health Coaches, Employee Assistance Plans) + Indirect Costs (Loss of productivity, Loss of Key Salesman resulting in Lost Customers, Absenteeism)

This formula is like gravity… it’s there whether you like it or not. Manage it and you thrive but mismanage it will cause you to fall hard.

Young Worker Safety and Health

In 2010, there were approximately 17.5 million workers less than 24 years of age, and these workers represented 13% of the workforce. Young workers have high occupational injury rates which are in part explained by a high frequency of injury hazards in workplaces where they typically work (e.g. hazards in restaurant settings associated with slippery floors and use of knives and cooking equipment).  Inexperience and lack of safety training may also increase injury risks for young workers. And, for the youngest workers, those in middle and high schools, there may be biologic and psychosocial contributors to increased injury rates, such as inadequate fit, strength, and cognitive abilities to operate farm equipment such as tractors.

via CDC – Young Worker Safety and Health – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Stay Safe in Extreme Heat

Heat related deaths and illness are preventable yet many people succumb to extreme heat. People suffer heat-realated illness when their bodies are unable to compensate and properly cool themselves. Here  are a few tips to stay safe from extreme heat.
  • Elderly people 65 years and older, infants and children and people with chronic medical conditions are more prone to heat stress.
  • Air-conditioning is the number one protective factor against heat-related illness and death.
  • During conditions of extreme heat, spend time in locations with air-conditioning such as shopping malls, public libraries, or public health sponsored heat-relief shelters in your area.
  • Get informed. Listen to local news and weather channels or contact your local public health department during extreme heat conditions for health and safety updates
  • Drink cool, nonalcoholic beverages and increase your fluid intake, regardless of your activity level.

via CDC Extreme Heat | A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety.

The High Cost of Injuries at Work

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that approximately 3.3 million serious work-related injuries and about 4,300 fatalities occurred in 2009. The human cost of preventable workplace injuries and deaths is incalculable. However, according to the 2010 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, the direct cost of the most disabling workplace injuries and illnesses in 2008 amounted to $53.42 billion in U.S. workers compensation costs, more than one billion dollars per week.

via Injury and Illness Prevention Programs.

How to spot a drunk driver

While we work hard to turn cars into the cure and eliminate drunk driving forever, families must continue to be vigilant on our roadways.  You can help protect your family from drunk drivers by looking for these signs of intoxication among other motorists:

  • Quick acceleration or deceleration
  • Tailgating
  • Weaving or zig-zagging across the road
  • Driving anywhere other than on a road designated for vehicles
  • Almost striking an object, curb, or vehicle
  • Stopping without cause or erratic braking
  • Drifting in and out of traffic lanes
  • Signaling that is inconsistent with driving actions
  • Slow response to traffic signals (e.g. sudden stop or delayed start)
  • Straddling the center lane marker
  • Driving with headlights off at night
  • Swerving
  • Driving slower than 10 mph below the speed limit
  • Turning abruptly or illegally
  • Driving into opposing traffic on the wrong side of the road

via MADD – How to spot a drunk driver.

What Is An MSDS?

A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is used by chemical manufacturers and importers to convey both the physical hazards pH, flashpoint, flammability, etc. and the health hazards carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, etc. of their chemicals to the end user. MSDSs are a critical component of the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administrations OSHA Hazard Communication Standard. This standard mandates that workers have a right to know what hazards are associated with the chemicals they use in the workplace. Both manufacturers of chemicals and employers with chemicals in their workplace, must be in compliance with this regulation as it is the most often cited violation by OSHA, with fines of more than $70,000 per violation per instance.

via Material Safety Data Sheet, MSDS requirements – Learn More, MSDSWriter.com – the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard.

Seat Belts Save Lives

Although safety belt usage continues to increase, many groups of people, especially teens, still are not buckling up. In 2009, 67 percent of the passenger vehicle occupants ages 13 to 15 killed in motor vehicle crashes were not using restraints – the highest percentage out of all age groups. Keep your family safe by always buckling up and setting an example that will have a lasting impact on your children.

via Motor Vehicle Safety – Distracted Driving, Teen Driving, Aggressive Driving.

Workplace Safety – Accident/Incident/Near Miss Investigation

One of the best ways to avoid further accidents is to understand how an accident occurred and how to avoid that type of accident in the future. The accident investigation is a tool. The goal is not to lay blame. The goal in an accident investigation is to:

  • Satisfy legal requirements (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health? NIOSH, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration?OSHA)
  • Find out what happened and determine immediate and underlying or root causes.
  • Rethink the safety hazard.
  • Introduce ways to prevent a reoccurrence
  • Establish training needs.
  • An accident, a near miss and an incident should all be investigated.
  • Accident investigations are a tool for uncovering hazards that either were missed earlier or require new controls (policies, procedures or personal protective equipment).
  • Near-miss reporting and investigation identify and control safety or health hazards before they cause a more serious incident.
  • Incident investigations should focus on prevention.

ACCIDENT — an undesired event or sequence of events causing injury, ill-health or property damage.

NEAR MISS — near misses describe incidents where, given a slight shift in time or distance, injury, ill-health or damage easily could have occurred, but didn’t.

INCIDENT — an incident is an unplanned, undesired event that hinders completion of a task and may cause injury or other damage.

via Workplace Safety Toolkit.

Spot the Tot -Prevent “Backover” Tragedies

Preventing “Backover” or “frontover” tragedies

Danger can come from any direction, and parents must be aware of the risk of “backover” or “frontover” incidents. Many of these preventable injuries and deaths occur in driveways or parking lots when drivers are unaware children are near vehicles. Tragically, these drivers are often family members or friends of the injured child.

Parents, caregivers, drivers, and kids can all do their part to make sure that children do not share the same space as vehicles.

  • Walk all the way around your parked vehicle to check for children – or anything that can attract a child like pets or toys – under or behind your vehicle before getting in and starting the engine.
  • Accompany young children when they get in and out of a vehicle.
  • Identify and use safe play areas for children away from parked or moving vehicles. Block driveways so cars cannot enter and exit.
  • Designate a safe spot within a driver’s sight for children to wait when nearby vehicles are about to move.
  • Firmly hold the hand of each child when walking near moving vehicles and when in driveways, in parking lots or on sidewalks.

via Spot the Tot.