Category: Safety on the Road

Winter Safety – prepare for winter

Holiday TipsWinter is a wonderful time of year. Spending time with your family, the many holidays, the New Year, snow and the warmth from a fireplace all remind us of the upcoming season. But, as with any time of the year, there are specific things we need to be aware of to keep our family safe and injury-free.

  • Home fires are more prevalent in the winter months than any other season. Cooking is the leading cause of all winter residential building fires. Other winter fire hazards include space heaters, fireplaces and candles.
  • The cold weather increases your chances of getting frostbite or hypothermia. Between  the years of 1999-2004, an average of 647 people died each year from hypothermia.
  • In 2009, over 16,000 Americans were treated for head injuries in emergency rooms because of playing winter sports (skiing, sledding, snowboarding, snowmobiling).
  • Fatal crashes were 14% more likely to happen on the first snowy day of the season than on days following. It takes drivers a few days to regain their sense of driving in this weather.
  • According to the CDC, most carbon monoxide poisonings happen in January; the second most in December. Carbon monoxide detectors save lives, but less than one-third of American homes have one installed.

via Winter Safety – prepare for winter, driving tips.

Drowsy Driving Prevention Week — November 12–18, 2012

Drowsy driving has been identified as a major factor compromising public health and safety . In the general population, nearly 5% of respondents to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System reported that, at least once in the preceding 30 days, they had fallen asleep or nodded off while driving . Results of a questionnaire administered at truck inspection stations in several U.S. states indicated that 28% of commercial motor vehicle drivers acknowledged that at least once during the preceding month, they had fallen asleep while driving . Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths among youths aged 15–24 years , and drowsy driving has been identified as one type of teen driver error . Given the prevalence and dire consequences of drowsy driving, CDC encourages parents, educators, health-care providers, and the general public to learn more about healthy sleep practices that can combat drowsy driving.

Additional information is available online from the National Sleep Foundation at http://www.sleepfoundation.org and from CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/sleep.

via Announcements: Drowsy Driving Prevention Week — November 12–18, 2012.

Cell Phone Policies of Companies with Best Fleet Safety Performance

Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) fleet benchmarking study of companies with a combined fleet of 350,000 vehicles found that policies banning all cell phone use while driving were common among  companies with the best fleet safety performance:

  • 83% of fleet safety leaders banned all cell phones, versus 43% of other companies.
  • 17% of fleet safety leaders allowed hands-free use, versus 57% of other companies.
  • 83% of fleet safety leaders responded to policy violations with disciplinary action, and 50% percent include termination as a disciplinary response.

via Employer Policies, Distracted Driving Resources, Free Cell Phone Policy Kit.

What Can Safety Learn from Lean?

If you think lean is only for manufacturing, look it up on Wikipedia. You will find that lean principles, lean thinking and lean tools have been adapted and applied to everything from service industries to software development and now are being used to reduce the greatest waste of all: workplace injuries.

via What Can Safety Learn from Lean? | Safety content from EHS Today.

Construction Safety and Health

Construction workers build our roads, houses, workplaces, and repair/maintain our nations physical infrastructure. This work includes many hazardous tasks and conditions such as work at height, excavations, noise, dust, power tools and equipment, confined spaces and electricity.

via CDC – Construction Safety and Health – NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic.

The Dangers of Distracted Driving

WHAT IS DISTRACTED DRIVING?

Distracted driving is any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving. All distractions endanger driver, passenger, and bystander safety. These types of distractions include:

  • Texting
  • Using a cell phone or smartphone
  • Eating and drinking
  • Talking to passengers
  • Grooming
  • Reading, including maps
  • Using a navigation system
  • Watching a video
  • Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player

But, because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction.

via Distracted Driving | Facts and Stats | Texting and Driving.

Adult Seat Belt Use Saves Lives

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people age 5 – 34. Adult seat belt use is the single most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes. The percentage of adults who always wear seat belts increased from 80% to 85% between 2002 and 2008. Even so, 1 in 7 adults do not wear a seat belt on every trip. Primary enforcement seat belt laws make a big difference in getting more people to buckle up.

In 2010, 19 states–where 1 in 4 adult Americans live–did not have a primary law.

via CDC Vital Signs – Adult Seat Belt Use in the US.

Walking Safely

Safety is a shared responsibility for all road users, including drivers and pedestrians. The following are some tips to improve road safety for pedestrians.

Safety tips for pedestrians

Be safe and be seen: make yourself visible to drivers

  • Wear bright/light colored clothing and reflective materials.
  • Carry a flashlight when walking at night.
  • Cross in a well-lit area at night.
  • Stand clear of buses, hedges, parked cars or other obstacles before crossing so drivers can see you.

Be smart and alert: avoid dangerous behaviors

  • Always walk on the sidewalk; if there is no sidewalk, walk facing traffic.
  • Stay sober; walking while impaired increases your chance of being struck.
  • Don,t assume vehicles will stop; make eye contact with drivers, dont just look at the vehicle.
  • If a driver is on a cell phone, they may not be paying enough attention to drive safely.
  • Don,t rely solely on pedestrian signals; look before you cross the road.
  • Be alert to engine noise or backup lights on cars when in parking lots and near on-street parking spaces.

Be careful at crossings: look before you step

  • Cross streets at marked crosswalks or intersections, if possible.
  • Obey traffic signals such as WALK/DONT WALK signs.
  • Look left, right, and left again before crossing a street.
  • Watch for turning vehicles; make sure the driver sees you and will stop for you.
  • Look across ALL lanes you must cross and visually clear each lane before proceeding. Just because one motorist stops, do not presume drivers in other lanes can see you and will stop for you.
  • Dont wear headphones or talk on a cell phone while crossing.

via walkinginfo.org: Walking Safely.

Older Drivers – How Aging Affects Driving

As people get older, their driving patterns change. Retirement, different schedules, and new activities affect when and where they drive. Most older adults drive safely because they have a lot of experience behind the wheel. But when they are involved in crashes, they are often hurt more seriously than younger drivers. Age-related declines in vision, hearing, and other abilities, as well as certain health conditions and medications, can affect driving skills.

via NIHSeniorHealth: Older Drivers – How Aging Affects Driving.