Safety – Page 17 – Risk Management 365

Selling a Poison: Liquid Nicotine for E-Cigarettes

A dangerous new form of a powerful stimulant is hitting markets nationwide, for sale by the vial, the gallon and even the barrel.

The drug is nicotine, in its potent, liquid form — extracted from tobacco and tinctured with a cocktail of flavorings, colorings and assorted chemicals to feed the fast-growing electronic cigarette industry.

These “e-liquids,” the key ingredients in e-cigarettes, are powerful neurotoxins. Tiny amounts, whether ingested or absorbed through the skin, can cause vomiting and seizures and even be lethal. A teaspoon of even highly diluted e-liquid can kill a small child.

But, like e-cigarettes, e-liquids are not regulated by federal authorities. They are mixed on factory floors and in the back rooms of shops, and sold legally in stores and online in small bottles that are kept casually around the house for regular refilling of e-cigarettes.

Evidence of the potential dangers is already emerging. Toxicologists warn that e-liquids pose a significant risk to public health, particularly to children, who may be drawn to their bright colors and fragrant flavorings like cherry, chocolate and bubble gum.

via Selling a Poison by the Barrel: Liquid Nicotine for E-Cigarettes – NYTimes.com.

OSHA’s 2013 Top Ten Most Cited Violations

The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards following inspections of worksites by federal OSHA. OSHA publishes this list to alert employers about these commonly cited standards so they can take steps to find and fix recognized hazards addressed in these and other standards before OSHA shows up. Far too many preventable injuries and illnesses occur in the workplace.

1926.501 – Fall Protection
1910.1200 – Hazard Communication
1926.451 – Scaffolding
1910.134 – Respiratory Protection
1910.305 – Electrical, Wiring Methods
1910.178 – Powered Industrial Trucks
1926.1053 – Ladders
1910.147 – Lockout/Tagout
1910.303 – Electrical, General Requirements
1910.212 – Machine Guarding

via Top Ten Standards.

OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard

OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030 applies to all persons who may reasonably anticipate contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials in the course of their employment. This includes contact with skin, eyes, mucous membranes or contact from piercing the skin. The focus of the regulation is the creation of a written exposure control plan that describes how the employer will protect employees from exposure.

via OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030 – Quick Tips #105 – Grainger Industrial Supply.

Tornado Preparedness and Response

Preparedness

Preparedness involves a continuous process of planning, equipping, training and exercising. Planning for tornadoes requires identifying a place to take shelter, being familiar with and monitoring your community’s warning system, and establishing procedures to account for individuals in the building. Employers may need to obtain additional equipment and/or resources (e.g. Emergency Supply Kits) identified in the plan. In addition, workers need to be trained and plans need to be practiced to ensure that personnel are familiar with what to do in the event of a tornado.

Planning

Identifying Shelter Locations

An underground area, such as a basement or storm cellar, provides the best protection from a tornado. If an underground shelter is unavailable, consider the following:
Seek a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible
Stay away from doors, windows, and outside walls
Stay in the center of the room, and avoid corners because they attract debris
Rooms constructed with reinforced concrete, brick or block with no windows and a heavy concrete floor or roof system overhead
Avoid auditoriums, cafeterias and gymnasiums that have flat, wide-span roofs.
Personnel should also be aware of what to do if caught outdoors when a tornado is threatening. Seek shelter in a basement or a sturdy building. If one is not within walking distance, try to drive in a vehicle, using a seat belt, to the nearest shelter. If flying debris is encountered while in a vehicle, there are two options: 1) staying in the vehicle with the seat belt on, keeping your head below the windows and covering it with your hands or a blanket, 2) if there is an area which is noticeable lower than the roadway, lie in that area and cover your head with your hands.

Accountability procedures

The following steps are recommended to help ensure the safety of personnel if a tornado occurs:

Warning Systems
Tornado Watch – Tornadoes are likely to occur in the watch area. Be ready to act quickly and take shelter, and check supply kits. Monitor radio and television stations for more information.
Tornado Warning – Imminent threat – A tornado has been sighted in the area or has been indicated by radar. Take shelter immediately.
Your local emergency management office can provide information about your community’s tornado warning system.
Develop a system for knowing who is in the building in the event of an emergency
Establish an alarm system to warn workers
Test systems frequently
Develop plans to communicate warnings to personnel with disabilities or who do not speak English
Account for workers, visitors, and customers as they arrive in the shelter
Use a prepared roster or checklist
Take a head count
Assign specific duties to workers in advance; create checklists for each specific responsibility. Designate and train workers alternates in case the assigned person is not there or is injured

via Tornado Preparedness and Response – Preparedness.

No Lockout/Tagout Can Be Fatal

Worker killed at Michigan molding plant

A worker was crushed to death March 5, 2014 in an industrial accident at a plastics molding plant in Shelby Township, Mich.

The victim was attempting to clear an obstruction from a press machine at about 6 a.m. when he was fatally injured, according to a news release from the Shelby Township Police Department.

“The machine cycled to stamp a part and crushed the victim,” the release says.

The victim died at the scene before police and fire personnel arrived.

via Worker killed at Michigan molding plant – News – Plastics News.

“While this is still under investigation by MIOSHA it’s obvious this machine was being worked on with out following Lockout-tagout procedures. Unfortunately this time it was fatal.”

Tips to Survive Spring Break

If you are a college student, you are probably counting down the days until spring break. Here are 12 spring break tips to keep you safe while you’re having fun away from school.

1. Don’t be stupid in the ocean.

If you are going to be swimming in the ocean, do you even know what rip currents and rip tides are? These strong currents can quickly carry you out to sea if you aren’t careful and how you swim out of these currents is counterintuitive. Talk to a lifeguard about swimming conditions before getting in the water.

2. Protect your location on social media sites.

Sharing too much information on your location on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare may endanger your safety, warns the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. Adjust your privacy settings and use your best judgment when checking in on Facebook and Foursquare. Be cautious about revealing personal information and location through status updates or tweets with Twitter trends like #SpringBreak and #SB2012./p>

3. Consider travel insurance.

Unfortunately, most student health policies don’t cover individuals once they leave U.S. soil. Stephanie Kaplan, Her Campus co-founder, recommends that students obtain a good travel insurance policy that covers illness, injury and emergency evacuation coverage.

4. Create a code word.

Create a secret signal or code word to let your friends know when you are uncomfortable and need them to intervene. When you are with friends, arrive together and leave together. Establish a place to meet in advance if you get separated.

5. Don’t drink in a hot tub.

Forget about all those MTV videos that makes drinking look essential for a hot-tub experience. Alcohol can dilate blood vessels and lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. The effects of drinking are felt faster and stronger if you’re sitting in a hot tub.

6. Before traveling get up-to-date on your vaccines.

That advice comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Click on the CDC’s vaccine quiz to find out if you need to be vaccinated.

7. Take a copy of your passport.

There is no worse way to end a vacation than to discover that your passport has been stolen or lost.

8. Practice safe drinking.

Never leave your drink unattended. If you lose sight of it, order a new one. Don’t accept drinks from people you don’t know or trust.

9. Tan safely.

To prepare for a beach destination, opt for spray tanning or self-tanning instead of a tanning bed. The risk of skin cancer is too great to spend time at a tanning salon.

10. Don’t stay on the first floor.

Avoid first-floor hotel rooms because they are bigger targets for thieves. If you bring your laptop, keep it in a hotel safe.

11. Carry phone numbers and cash.

On spring break, carry emergency cash and the phone numbers of cab companies. Keep in your wallet the address of the hotel or rental property that you are staying at.

12. Consider an alternative spring break.

Many schools and religious organizations offer alternative spring break options, including networking retreats and community service trips. Choosing one of these alternatives should make your parents happy.

via 12 tips to survive spring break – CBS News.

Safe Patient Handling

Rates of musculoskeletal injuries from overexertion in healthcare occupations are among the highest of all U.S. industries. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that in 2011, the rate of overexertion injuries averaged across all industries was 38 per 10,000 full time workers. By comparison, the overexertion injury rate for hospital workers was twice the average (76 per 10,000), the rate for nursing home workers was over three times the average (132 per 10,000), and the rate for ambulance workers was over six times the average (238 per 10,000). The single greatest risk factor for overexertion injuries in healthcare workers is the manual lifting, moving and repositioning of patients, residents or clients, i.e., manual patient handling.

via CDC – Safe Patient Handling – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Operator Error Kills Two Men in Crane Accident

Fatal Boom Overturn

Two men in Arizona died when the lift they were using to paint the outside of a prison building overturned.

The boom was almost fully telescoped and had been raised to its maximum elevation when it tipped over backwards indicating that reports of it being on a slope of more than five degrees have some substance.

Incidents like this should never happen, one of the most basic aspects of any training stress the importance of setting up aerial lifts on firm level ground, yet this is the second incident this week involving people operating on a slope.

via Fatal Boom Overturn – Crane Accidents.

Protect Your Eyes From the Sun

Follow these tips to protect your eyes from the sun all year long:

Sun damage to eyes can occur anytime during the year, not just in the summertime, so be sure to wear UV-blocking sunglasses and broad-brimmed hats whenever you’re outside.
Don’t be fooled by clouds: the sun’s rays can pass through haze and thin clouds.
Never look directly at the sun. Looking directly at the sun at any time, including during an eclipse, can lead to solar retinopathy, which is damage to the eye’s retina from solar radiation.
Don’t forget the kids and older family members: everyone is at risk, including children and senior citizens. Protect their eyes with hats and sunglasses.

via The Sun, UV Radiation and Your Eye Health – Eye M.D.-approved information from EyeSmart.

What are the elements of a safety and health culture?

All individuals within the organization believe they have a right to a safe and healthy workplace.
Each person accepts personal responsibility for ensuring his or her own safety and health.
Everyone believes he or she has a duty to protect the safety and health of others.

via Safety and Health Management Systems eTool | Module 2 – Safety & Health Culture.