Category: Safety

Home Safety: Prevent Poisoning

poisonAbout 90% of poison exposures happen at home, making it the second leading cause of accidental death in the home.

Nonfatal poisonings are most common among children under 5 years old. The most common causes of these poisonings are:

  • Cleaning and household products
  • Personal care and beauty products
  • Medicines (especially dangerous are those with iron)
  • Vitamins
  • Plants
  • Lead and carbon monoxide

Try these strategies:

  • Know your poisons. It would be easier if every bottle that contained poison was marked with a skull and crossbones, as they are in cartoons.  Poisons come in many forms: cosmetics, garden products such as fertilizer, furniture polish, dishwasher detergent, and carbon monoxide from burning fuel.
  • Buy wisely. Purchase products with child safety lids, whenever you can.
  • Store safely. Put any product with a warning label up high and in a locked cabinet. Don’t keep medicines in your purse, pockets, or drawers. Keep products in their original containers. Do not use food containers for storage.
  • Watch your children. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most child poisonings occur when parents are cooking dinner or not watching their children closely for other reasons.
  • Follow directions on chemical products. Open a window when you are using them. Never mix household cleaning products together — bleach and ammonia mixed together create a toxic gas, for example.
  • Keep carbon monoxide outside. Have heaters, stoves, and fireplaces checked by a professional every year. Carbon monoxide can also enter the house through an adjoining garage. Never run an engine or car motor or use a barbecue in a garage.
  • Stay on top of medicines. Follow directions and measure carefully, keep track of when medicines are taken, and put them away right after use. Get rid of expired medicine by crushing or dissolving medications and adding them to old coffee grounds, then place them in a sealed plastic bag in the garbage can. Don’t flush them down the toilet unless the instructions say to do so. Monitor use of medicines prescribed for teens.

Post the poison control telephone number. Have it near every phone and store it in your cell phone: (800) 222-1222.

via Home Safety: Preventing Burns, Cuts, and More.

Protect the Ones You Love

protect-children-400x283Every parent wants to protect their children from harm and to keep them safe. We don’t want children to suffer any pain, whether it’s from a common cold or broken bone.

In an effort to raise parents’ awareness about the leading causes of child injury in the United States and how they can be prevented, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched the Protect the Ones You Love initiative.

Parents can play a life-saving role in protecting children from injuries. Protect the Ones You Love is dedicated to sharing information on the important steps parents can take to make a positive difference.

It’s important to take action, because most child injuries can be prevented.

Many people don’t realize it, but the numbers show that:

  • Injuries are the leading cause of death in children ages 19 and younger.
  • Each year, nearly 9 million children aged 0 to 19 years are seen in emergency departments for injuries, and more than 9,000 children die as a result of being injured.
  • Injury treatment is the leading cause of medical spending for children. The estimated annual cost of unintentional child injuries in the United States is nearly $11.5 billion.

via CDC – Injury – Safe Child Home.

Home Safety Tips

Here are a few tips to keep you and your family safe in your home.sleeping_child

  • Sound the Alarm: Install smoke detectors on every floor of your home and carbon monoxide detectors near sleeping areas. If already installed, test them! Tip: Replace the batteries every daylight-saving time change.
  • Avoid Overload: Check for overloaded extension cords – usage should not exceed the recommended wattage.
  • Don’t Get Tippy: If young children are in the home, bookshelves and other furniture should be firmly secured with wall brackets to prevent tipping.
  • Paint Safe: Check walls for loose paint. If re-painting, do so in a well-ventilated area and consider VOC-free paint.
  • Childproof, Childproof, Childproof: Check your local library or online for complete lists of childproofing suggestions and see our Virtual Home Safety Tour for more ideas. Areas of particular danger include outlets, appliances, electronics, stairs and windows.
  • Cover Outlets: Cover all unused outlets to prevent children from sticking a finger in the socket.
  • Watch Cord Placement: Extension cords should not be placed under rugs or heavy furniture, tacked up or coiled while in use.
  • Get Grounded: All major appliances should be grounded. Be sure to check your ground fault circuit interrupters regularly.
  • Plan Your Escape: Practice a fire escape plan with your family where you identify two exits for every room and what to do with young children.
  • Give Your Air Heater Some Space: All air heaters should be placed at least three feet from beds, curtains or anything flammable.
  • Keep Extinguishers Handy: Place all-purpose fire extinguishers in key locations in your home – the kitchen, bedroom and basement. Be sure to check expiration dates regularly and know how to use them safely.
  • Create a Safe Exit: In addition to alarms and extinguishers, consider an escape ladder if your home has two floors. Keep emergency numbers and contacts readily available by the phone.
  • Unplug Appliances: Unplug appliances and electronics when not in use and store them out of reach.
  • Go New in the Nursery: Check that all painted cribs, bassinettes and high chairs were made after 1978 to avoid potential lead paint poisoning.
  • Cool Your Jets: Set your water heater below 120 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid potential burns and to save energy.
  • Put Away Medications: Take medications and medical supplies out of your purse, pockets and drawers, and put them in a cabinet with a child safety lock.
  • Look for UL: The UL Mark appears on products that have been tested, verified and inspected for safety. Make sure to look for it to keep your holidays safe and bright.

via Home Safety | Home Safety Tips | Home Safety Checklist | Safety at Home.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

ppeOSHA requires the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels. Employers are required to determine if PPE should be used to protect their workers.

If PPE is to be used, a PPE program should be implemented. This program should address the hazards present; the selection, maintenance, and use of PPE; the training of employees; and monitoring of the program to ensure its ongoing effectiveness.

PPE is addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, marine terminals, and longshoring.

via Safety and Health Topics | Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Safety Tip – Safe emergency exit routes

left-emergency-exit-sign-s-5569

Knowing how and when to get out of a building is critical in an emergency situation. All employees should be properly trained on emergency exit procedures, and evacuations should be routinely practiced.

Having a successful evacuation is dependent on having reliable exit routes. OSHA requires every workplace to have at least two evacuation exits or more depending on the size of the facility or workforce.

To keep exit routes safe, OSHA offers the following tips:

  • Keep exit routes free of all clutter, equipment, locked doors and dead-end corridors.
  • Be sure to keep highly flammable furnishings and decorations at a safe distance from emergency exits.
  • Post signs along the walls indicating safe evacuation routes and be sure paths are well-lit.
  • Arrange exit routes so employees will not have to travel past high-hazard areas unless absolutely necessary.
  • Clearly label doors that can be mistaken for an exit with a sign reading “Not an exit” or indicating the room’s purpose, such as “Closet.”

via Safety Tip Safe emergency exit routes.

Consider the Principles of Ergonomics in the Office

A large proportion of the American public goes to work every day in an office environment without considering the ergonomics of the equipment they use. There are large a proportion of people working at a desk without giving due consideration to proper ergonomics as they work with ergonomically incorrect keyboards and mice. Working at a computer on a regular basis can cause the same type of stress on your body as other physical labors and in an effort to prevent such injuries from occurring, companies need to consider the principles of ergonomics.

via Ergonomically Correct Mice and Keyboards: the Many Benefits.

Carbon Monoxide Danger

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless, and toxic gas, which is predominately produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-containing materials. Incomplete combustion occurs when insufficient oxygen is used in the fuel (hydrocarbon) burning process. Consequently, more carbon monoxide, in preference to carbon dioxide, is emitted. Some examples of this are the following: vehicle exhausts, fuel burning furnaces, coal burning power plants, small gasoline engines, portable gasoline-powered generators, power washers, fire places, charcoal grills, marine engines, forklifts, propane-powered heaters, gas water heaters, and kerosene heaters.

via CDC – Carbon Monoxide – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections

Change is never easy and old habits are tough to break. Since preventable healthcare-associated infections (HAI’s) affect one in 20 patients, the healthcare community – from the C-Suite to the front line – must come together to change practices that allow HAIs to impact the quality and safety of patient care.

via CDC – Blogs – Safe Healthcare – Behavior Change in Healthcare to Break Old Habits and Prevent HAIs.