Yearly Archives: 2009

General Safety Issues, Uncategorized

ON THE ROAD AGAIN…..

I just can’t wait to get on the road again!  Let me tell you why: as I am working my way down the list of “dangerous jobs”, truck drivers have one of the highest fatality rates among risky occupations.  Truck driving statistics show that 30 out of every 100,000 drivers die each year.  This statistic includes those driving buses and other large vehicles, as well.

So, the next time I drive down the highway, I will be more careful than usual.  My reason: reports show that many of the accidents that trucks are involved in are caused by other drivers’ recklessness.  Seventy per cent of truckers who crash do so because someone else got in their way.

The FMCSA has a “Share the Road Safely” website that explains how car drivers, motorcycle riders, and other vehicles can make our highways safer by creating a better highway situation with the larger vehicles on the roads.

Here are some of their suggestions:

  • Pay attention to the road. Stay off your cell phone.
  • When passing a truck, don’t pull in front of the truck until you can see it in your rear view mirror.
  • Do not misjudge the truck’s speed at an intersection.
  • Don’t drive between trucks.
  • When you pull into oncoming traffic and see a truck coming, be sure you have room to accelerate sufficiently.
  • Realize that when you are involved in a crash with a large truck, your chances of survival are low.
  • Be careful when you see a truck is making a right turn.  It needs more space to complete the turn.  Most trucks have that warning sticker on the back of the truck.
  • Trucks have “No Zones”, areas behind and beside the truck where the driver has limited or zero visibility.  You must be aware of this and keep yourself at a safe distance.

Big trucks are very intimidating.  Maneuvering those large vehicles can’t be easy; have you ever looked inside an 18-wheeler? The instrument panels and controls are pretty scary to a novice.  Most truck drivers are very skilled and extremely patient.  But when they need to stop their vehicle, it takes more time than a car.  That is why you must not risk causing them to have to stop abruptly.

There are many other reasons that truck drivers experience accidents: inadequate training, not enough sleep, fatigue, driving at night, and dangerous driving conditions, such as inclement weather.  Truck drivers are required to follow the regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association, which designates the HoS (hours of service) they may drive within each shift.

The next time you go to the store, think about how many different types of trucks brought the goods that you need for your family.  Let’s help them “keep on truckin” by driving safely ourselves!

General Safety Issues, Uncategorized

DO YOU HAVE “HEIGHT-TRO-PHOBIA”?

Seriously, a fellow I worked with years ago, was telling some of us that he couldn’t stand heights!  There was no way he could climb, or stand on anything off the ground, and “height-tro-phobia” is the name he gave that fear.  I share “acrophobia” with him, as I don’t like heights, either. The weird thing is, I love to fly in planes and it doesn’t bother me at all, but I can’t stand to look down from the staircase at my daughter’s house!  Maybe you can help me figure that one out!

There are several occupations that require working at various heights, and these are considered some of America’s most dangerous jobs:

  • Electric Power Line Workers: These people work at high points and often have to position themselves at angles that make it hard to balance.  Power line workers wear special uniforms to keep from getting shocked and require special equipment to keep them balanced.  They also have to deal with a force to be reckoned with – electricity. Slipping, falling, and mechanical failure to equipment are just a few risks they have to contend with.  The next time your power goes down, think of what your friends at the power company are doing to restore electricity to the many homes that depend on them. Out of every 100,000 workers, 34 die each year.
  • Roofers: Some of the buildings and homes that they work on are extremely high.  In addition to the height, they have to carry heavy tools, walk and crawl to be where they can work.  Many times they must use safety harnesses to prevent them from falling, which may be restrictive for them to work to their full ability.  Risks they endure are high winds, skin cancer from too much sun, falls, and slipping off ladders. 35 roofers die each year per every 100,000 workers.
  • Steel/Iron Construction Workers: It makes me dizzy just thinking about walking on those steel beams while building skyscrapers!  It is extremely important that safety checks are stringent and performed often for these workers.  They wear protective gear, and depend on tethers and pullies, which must be maintained regularly.  Weather can be a dangerous factor for these guys.  Out of every 100,000 workers, 47 die annually.
  • Cell Phone Tower Workers: The statistics are very high: out of every 100,000 workers in this huge industry, 184 die each year. Cell phone companies are competing for higher towers and more towers to accommodate the demands of the public. Many times, the workers they hire are not fully trained and equipped to do the job properly.

Well, my hands are sweaty, just thinking about the jobs these folks do.  Most are experts in their fields and they all deserve our thanks.  Think of the things that wouldn’t be here without them!

Just please, while you’re up there looking down on us, work safely!

Source: Bureau of Labor

General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety

SIX TIPS FOR CONTAMINATION AND CLEANING DURING AN ILLNESS

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Since last spring, when the H1N1 virus began spreading throughout the world, health experts have issued all kinds of advice to help contain the illness.  Vaccine-makers have worked diligently to produce a vaccine that will prevent this type of influenza, one that differed from other influenzas by affecting younger, healthy individuals, in many cases.  The vaccine has been developed, and should be reaching its destinations very soon.

Viruses spread by touching something that has been contaminated by a person’s cough or sneeze droplets, which move through the air.  That virus can survive on surfaces (desks, counter tops, doorknobs, etc.) and infect the person who may touch it for 2-8 hours after being deposited on the surface.

Some tips that would be helpful in preventing the spread of germs by keeping things clean are as listed:

1.    Use chemical germicides such as chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, iodine-based antiseptics, detergents, soap.  These should be used in proper concentrations for the correct amount of time to be effective.

2.    Keep surfaces such as bathroom, bedside tables, kitchen counters and toys clean by wiping them down with household disinfectants.  Follow label directions.

3.    Wash bed sheets and towels used by infected person frequently, and tumble dry them on hot setting.

4.    If you are caring for someone who is ill, you may choose to wear a N95 respirator, to help filter germs.

5.    Immediately wash your hands after handling laundry or doing other tasks for the person who is ill.  Wash your hands often.

6.    If you work or attend school where soap and water/hand sanitizer is not readily available, take your own hand sanitizer with you.

We hope that in a matter of weeks, following the inoculations, the cloud of the H1N1 virus we have all been under will pass us by.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

Eye Protection, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection

DANGEROUS JOB-COAL MINING

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Coal mining is considered one of America’s top ten most dangerous jobs.  There are more than 50 countries that produce coal, China leading the list.  Suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapses, and gas explosions are just a few of the dangers that coal miners face, in addition to health risks, such as “black lung” disease.  Because China employs thousands more coal miners, their fatality rate is much greater than those in the U.S.

Coal produces more than one-half of the electricity for our nation.  In eastern states such as Kentucky, families of miners have been mining coal for generations.  Coal is the means of creating electricity, methanol, coke for steel manufacture, and fuel in power generators, referred to as steaming or thermal coal.  To make cement, extracts of iron from iron ore are used.

Through technological advancements, coal mining today is more productive than ever.  Computers furnish most of the safety monitoring systems, assisting the industry in keeping their workers safer.  PPE, such as hardhat lights, are standard equipment for miners.

The Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has many suggestions to ensure the safety of mines, such as gas monitoring, gas drainage, electrical equipment, better ventilation, reducing the risks of rock falls, and measuring unhealthy air quality.  One cause of fatal injuries is collapsing rock pillars, which support rock between the mine and surface.  When the coal is extracted from these pillars once the coal has been mined, the pillars sometimes fall, trapping miners inside.

Cold weather is another hazard, as methane builds along with the unnaturally low barometric pressure.  The MSHA notes that every mine must have its individual ventilation plan to keep methane at safe levels.  Proper air pressure differential is essential in order to carry the level of gas away from working areas.  There should be regularly scheduled hazard inspections of air shafts, air movements and escape routes.

As coal dust can cause explosions, constant maintenance must be done on equipment that could be a source of sparks.  No smoking or smoking materials are allowed, as common sense would dictate.

When mining accidents are announced on the news, we realize how hard and risky their daily jobs are.  Their families carry on with their lives, but worry that an accident could happen any time.   When something goes wrong, we observe the dedication on the faces of the rescue workers to get to their comrades and bring them out safely.  Coal miners work in very restricted areas; one man compared it to working underneath your kitchen table for several hours.  I think I prefer sitting behind my desk!  But I do appreciate the history behind this industry, and those persons who help keep America moving forward.

General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety

BE PATIENT, THE VACCINE IS COMING!

Hopefully, by now you have had your regular seasonal flu shot.  On October 5, the first doses of the H1N1 vaccine were administered.  Dr. Charles Miramonti, an emergency room physician in Indianapolis, was the first to receive the FluMist vaccine.  Other healthcare workers in Indianapolis and Tennessee that work directly with patients received their vaccine today, as well.

Initial shipments are small at this time; therefore, most of it is being given to healthcare workers who are exposed to persons with flu-like symptoms.   Mid-October is when the vaccines are scheduled to start rolling out.  There have been no red flags showing up in the several thousand volunteers who have been tested.

As stated in the past, ones to receive the vaccine are:

  • pregnant women,
  • young people, age 6 months to 24 years old,
  • persons under age 64 with risks of complications from influenza,
  • healthcare workers,
  • caregivers of newborns.

It is up to each state health department to determine how many doses will go to their local doctors, clinics, schools and drugstores.  Within a few weeks, there will be enough for everyone.

Until it is available in your area, be patient, and do everything you can to avoid sick people, stay out of crowds if possible, and keep washing your hands.

Source: AP

General Safety Issues

TIMBERRRRRR!

For those brave souls who make their livings in the logging industry, “Timber” is a very familiar word to warn fellow workers that a tree in their area is being felled.  According to NIOSH (National Institute for Safety and Health), logging has been one of the most consistently hazardous industries, with a fatality rate 23 times higher than the rate of other dangerous occupations.  The Bureau of Labor statistics show that there are 81 fatalities per 100,000 workers.

According to Eric Johnson, editor of Northern Logging and Timber Processing magazine, mechanized equipment has helped to make logging safer.  Loggers now often sit in steel enclosed cabs of big machines, rather than working with chainsaws on the ground.  Controls send chain saws out onto tree trunks from a safer distance.  Heavy machines and equipment are used to cut trees to be transported to a log mill.  Logging contractors are hired by industries such as agriculture, commercial businesses, industrial plants, and government agencies, as well as individual homeowners.

Listed below are just a few of the obstacles that loggers have to contend with, according to OSHA:

  • Injury from chain saws
  • Working with massive weights
  • Falling, rolling, sliding trees and logs
  • Rough terrain
  • Inclement weather
  • High winds

Loggers can get crushed when trees fall in the wrong direction.  Large broken branches from up in the treetops often fall unexpectedly as the trees come down.  These are called “widow makers”.  Medical care is often very far away, so in the event of an injury, it takes a long time to get the attention the worker may need.

Logging companies must follow OSHA regulations in great detail.  Workers must be properly trained, and provided with appropriate PPE: gloves, hardhats, safety glasses, and face protection, as well steel-toe boots.  Well-stocked first aid kits should be at each work location and in each worker transportation vehicle.

We give our logging workers a big “High Five”!  It takes special folks to do what they do.

First Aid Safety, Respiratory Safety

H1N1 EMERGENCY WARNING SIGNS

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Hospital emergency rooms in cities are routinely full of sick persons; but these days they are overwhelmed.  Nightly news reports indicate that they are overrun, and many times the wait for persons to be seen is several hours.  People who are experiencing flu-like symptoms should first contact their physician if possible before going to an emergency room.  Sitting in a room full of sick people would seem to be more of a risk of exposure.

The first doses of H1N1 vaccine should be arriving soon; however, there are certain groups that will be first to receive it: children ages 2 to 3, pregnant women, healthcare providers, and persons with underlying health problems.  The H1N1 flu is mild for most individuals.  However, as advised by the Centers for Disease Control, watch for these signs that urgent medical attention is needed:

In children, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

  • Fast breathing or trouble breathing
  • Bluish or gray skin color
  • Not drinking enough fluids
  • Severe or persistent vomiting
  • Not waking up or not interacting
  • Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
  • Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

  • Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
  • Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
  • Sudden dizziness
  • Confusion
  • Severe or persistent vomiting
  • Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough

By this time, hopefully, you have taken the regular seasonal flu shot.  It won’t prevent the H1N1 virus, but experts recommend that you take it before the H1N1 vaccine is distributed.

Source: Centers for Disease Control

First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Home Safety Products

NATIONAL FIRE PREVENTION WEEK, 2009

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National Fire Prevention Month, which officially began in 1922, in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, has been the longest public safety and health campaign in United States history.  The National Fire Protection Association has designated the week of October 4 – 10, 2009, as National Fire Prevention Week, with its focus on burn awareness and prevention, as well as keeping homes safe from fires.  This year’s theme is “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned!”

Here are some facts from the NFPA regarding home fires in 2008 in the United States:

  • There were 386,500 home fires, resulting in 2,755 deaths.
  • Fire departments responded to home fires every 81 seconds.
  • The kitchen is the leading area of origin for home fires.
  • Unattended cooking is one of the main causes.
  • Bedrooms and family/living rooms are the area of origin in home fires that result in death.
  • Smoking materials cause 1 in 4 fire deaths in the U.S.
  • One of four victims of fatal smoking-related fires is not the person who started the fire.
  • Furniture, mattresses, or bedding are usually the materials that catch on fire from someone smoking carelessly.
  • Space heaters cause far more fires and loss than central heat; the main reason is there are materials too close to them that can burn.
  • Electrical wiring, switches, outlets, lamps, light fixtures, and lighting equipment are also major causes of home fires.
  • Smoke alarms can cut your chances of dying in half in a reported fire.  It has been found that in more than one-half of responses to house fires, smoke alarms were present, but had no batteries, or had been dismantled because of their noise.
  • Not enough American households have a fire escape plan and practice it.
  • There were 320 deaths and $542 million in property loss last year as a result of intentionally set home structure fires.  One-half of the people arrested for arson were under age 18.

We hope these facts make you a little more aware of the danger and destruction of home fires.

I have seen first hand in our own neighborhood, the result of a person’s smoking and falling asleep: he died, as well as two innocent persons in the home, his wife and grandchild.  Many of the firefighters were young men, and had not had to deal with death from a fire before this happened.  It was a very devastating time for the family, firemen, and community.

Other articles you may wish to review are “Don’t Get Burned”, “Preventing Home Cooking Fires”, and “Fire Extinguishers”, which you may find helpful.

General Safety Issues, Uncategorized

MEN DO LOOK GOOD IN PINK!

Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, you will probably see a lot more people wearing pink.  For the past twenty-five years, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, has promoted awareness and education regarding breast cancer, which is the most common cancer in women, with the exception of skin cancers.  The estimate for 2009 is that 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women, and 1,920 cases in men will be diagnosed.  Men have breast tissue, and can get breast cancer, even though it is not as common as in women.

National public service associations such as the America Cancer Society, medical associations, and government agencies have all joined together in promoting breast cancer issues.  Breast Cancer Awareness Month is also observed internationally during October, with many charities raising funds for research.  According to the National Cancer Institute, age is the single most important risk factor.  Other things to consider are:

  • Family history;
  • Body weight;
  • Lack of physical activity;
  • Alcohol consumption;
  • Smoking;
  • Consuming unhealthy foods;
  • Alteration of certain genes.

Women over 40 are urged to get an annual mammogram, and follow up every year.  Physicians or mammography centers can show women how to do self-exams, as well.

Surprisingly, one-half of breast cancer cases show up in women over age 65; therefore, they should continue getting mammograms through their 70’s.

You will see all types of benefits and activities in October, promoting this very important issue that affects thousands.  If you see a man wearing pink, tell him “thanks”.  Chances are he has a mom, grandmother, wife, or daughter that he hopes won’t have to face breast cancer, or that he knows someone who is fighting the battle.  There are over 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in our country, thanks to the hard work that cancer research and medical technology have provided.  These survivors are to be commended for their courage.

Eye Protection, First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Respiratory Safety, Uncategorized, Weather Protection

ARE YOU SNEEZING YET?

With Fall approaching, several of us will have our fair share of either allergies or sinus problems.  Ragweed and all kinds of pollen are floating around like crazy right now!  It doesn’t really sound like a big deal, but either one can cause health problems.   Allergy symptoms are often confused with a cold or flu.  Allergies are the immune systems’ reaction to generally harmless substances and continue off and on, much longer than a cold.  Animal fur, fabrics, smoke, fragrances (candles or perfume), and many outdoor plants are just a few of the culprits that bother those with allergies. (I’m getting choked up, just thinking about it!) Allergic reactions to certain foods can often have serious results.

Symptoms of allergies are:

  • Sneezing
  • Watery eyes
  • Repeated ear and sinus infections
  • Loss of smell, taste
  • Hoarseness
  • Coughing
  • Wheezing
  • Cold symptoms that last more than 10 days without a fever

Sinuses are air-filled spaces behind the forehead, nasal bones, cheeks, and eyes, with openings to the nose, and serve as conditioners that filter and humidify the air.   If the sinuses become blocked, miserable headaches occur, as well as these other symptoms of acute sinusitis:

  • Nasal congestion
  • Greenish nasal discharge
  • Facial or dental pain
  • Eye pain
  • Night cough
  • Fever
  • Sore throat

Here are some suggestions if you are plagued by sinus or allergy problems:

  • Ask your doctor to prescribe the proper medication to keep allergy/sinus problems under control.
  • Avoid smoke and irritants that increase your chance of developing sinus/allergy difficulties.
  • Check the pollen counts in your area before you go outdoors.
  • Use a saline mist spray to keep sinuses healthy.
  • If you work in dusty environments, use a respirator.
  • If you are prone to allergies, protect your eyes with goggles or wraparound glasses.
  • Do not take antihistamines that could cause drowsiness while driving or working.