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Eye Protection, First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection

PAY ATTENTION TO TORNADO WARNINGS!

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As residents recover from the damage caused by the recent storms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges recovery workers, employers and the public to exercise caution during cleanup efforts. OSHA will be providing on-site compliance assistance to workers and the public about the hazards they may encounter, as well as the steps they should take to stay safe. Hazards involved in cleanup work may include exposure to contaminated water or food; heat exhaustion; downed electrical wires; carbon monoxide poisoning and electrical shock from portable generators, and dangers while tree-trimming or working at heights. 

According to the NOAA Satellite and Information Systems, here are the classifications of wind speeds: 

  •        EF-1 =   86-110 mph
  •        EF-2 =  111-135 mph
  •        EF-3 =  136-165 mph
  •        EF-4 =  166-200 mph
  •        EF-5 =  over 200 mph 

It is hard to imagine how anything remains standing in winds that strong. According to experts, there’s no wind on earth stronger than winds inside a tornado.  It’s amazing that more people escaped injury; they had advance notice that allowed them to be better prepared, due to correct weather warnings.  This serves as a reminder to all of us to do the following: 

  1.       Know the hazards of dangerous weather.
  2.       Pay attention to forecasts.
  3.       Have a plan to stay safe.  Think about what you will do in case of a natural disaster and be prepared. 

The storms that produced several tornadoes Sunday in Oklahoma and Kansas prompted an unusually blunt warning from the central region of the National Weather Service, which covers 14 states: 

“You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter,” it said. “Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals.”   

Pat Slattery, National Weather Service spokesman for the U.S. Central region, said the advisory was part of a new warning system being tested after a violent tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011, killing 158 people and injuring hundreds. 

Slattery said the new advisory was reserved for severe tornadoes with the potential to form into “supercell” storms, which produce powerful winds and flash flooding. Supercells are considered to be the most dangerous of four categories of storms because of the extreme weather they generate. 

A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assessment of the Joplin storm found that “when people heard the first tornado warning, they did not immediately seek shelter. They looked for a secondary source to confirm the tornado,” Slattery said. “That got some people killed.” 

For those emergency response workers and volunteers, be sure that you are wearing the appropriate safety equipment, for the hazards involved.  Have a good supply of fresh drinking water, hand sanitizer, and first aid supplies in case of cuts or scratches.  May Mother Nature slow down a little bit on introducing us to spring tornadoes.  We would prefer that they stay away completely.  It is doubtful that this will happen, so be prepared, and pay attention to warnings from your weather system.  They know what they are talking about!

Please note: I prepared this article yesterday, probably during the same time that the horrible tornado was rumbling toward Moore, Oklahoma.  Search and rescue workers and volunteers were scrambling to try to locate school children, as the tornado devastated two elementary schools.  Work continued through the night. The County Medical Examiner has released the number of dead, and then revised it, so through the day, we will have more accurate figures.  My article was  intended to help us pay attention to weather warnings.  Our county was in a tornado warning for several hours last night, but we escaped any damage in our small town. I don’t know about the other part of the county.

This is a very frightening season for those who live in areas prone to develop tornadoes.  Please pray for the parents, grandparents, children and all citizens of Moore, Oklahoma, many who have lost loved ones, and their possessions.  pb

 

Department of Labor; Reuters News Service

General Safety Issues

PORTABLE APPLIANCE TESTERS ADVICE – SHARE THE BURDEN IN THE WORKPLACE (GUEST POST)

When push comes to shove as they say, there’s no getting away from the fact that business and building owners are charged with the responsibility of maintaining the health and safety of their workers/occupants. Needless to say, this isn’t exactly the smallest of burdens to say the least and one that’s always likely to get on top of some – especially those in the business for the first time.

However, according to the professional portable appliance testers of the UK there are dozens of ways and means by which business owners can share the responsibility among any number of employees and thus ease the weight otherwise placed exclusively on their own shoulders. And while all the measures in the world can’t take away from the fact that they are ultimately responsible for what occurs and where, they at least stand to make their lives easier when it comes to addressing electrical safety.

Consider the following tips from the UK’s Portable Appliance Tester community serving the business world:

Educate

The foremost consideration of importance is that of education – as in helping workers better understand what PAT Testers are and what they do. Chances are that most will have seen plenty of those little PAT stickers gracing tested appliances across the business, but do they really know why they’re there or what they mean?

Unless you yourself have taken the time to educate them, chances are the answer is a no.

By first giving workers an idea of what PAT Testing actually is, you stand a much better chance of driving home its importance. And what’s more, as soon as any given employee realises what a PAT sticker means and why it is of value, there’s a pretty good chance their future observations will be more astute and help pinpoint where they may be missing or no longer valid.

It’s not a case of teaching the whole workforce how to use a Seaward Primetest 100, but rather just conveying the basics of why PAT Testing is of such mandatory importance.

Involve

Next up, the brains behind the UK’s health and safety services cannot strongly enough convey the importance of getting as many workers as possible personally involved in electrical safety initiatives at work. Again, it isn’t a case of teaching everyone up to degree standard, but rather building safe and workable habits for the long term.

Annual or one-off training sessions are as dull as dishwater and never fail to depress. As such, it is a much better idea to champion day-by-day initiatives of a more gradual and on-going nature than blast workers with all the facts and figures all at once. Part of the important PAT process is a simple thorough visual inspection of all electronic appliances before and ideally after use – try to work this into a daily checklist of duties for everyone. In addition, provide the necessary materials or points of contact for even the slightest concerns to be voiced and thus help bring problems to light when and they may occur.

And another great tip is to think about periodically sending workers from different areas of the business to carry out their own inspections of areas they don’t primarily work in – chances are they will be much pickier and thus highlight problems others may have missed. It’s all a case of structuring and delegating a few simple day-to-day checks that become second nature in no time at all.

Interact

What never fails to fail is the kind of system whereby a boss or building owner talks the hind legs off everyone about how great it’s going to be, only for that to be the last mention of visible effort pertaining to it. By contrast, what never fails to work is genuine and thoughtful interaction whereby one-on-one contact is made with workers and building occupants on a regular basis to demonstrate that the subject really is of importance to everyone.

What’s more, next time the inspectors make a visit armed to the teeth with their Seaward Primetest 50 arsenals, give those already involved in the various safety initiatives plenty of time to see the process in action and ask questions. Some would argue this is time better spent elsewhere, others would say it’s a small price to pay for electrical health and safety awareness at work.

Listen

Last but not least, perhaps the most important thing of all to remember is the way in which the channel of communication needs to be two-way and encouraged. You can lecture a staff-force until blue in the face about the value of electrical safety and the merits of the Primetest 100, but everyone knows that lectures of such a kind tend to go in one ear and out the other unless the content is put into practice.

So, open new channels of communication by installing suggestion boxes, offering incentives for any positive ideas implemented and consider appointing at least one individual per department to monitor electrical safety, perhaps on a rotating basis.

Build the channels of communication strong enough and to a large extent you might just find that much of the responsibility is taken entirely out of your hands.

 By Francesca Holmes

Francesca Holmes is a private electrical engineering tutor from Weymouth who specialises in competence with the Seaward Primetest 50 and its various component devices. When not campaigning for a safer UK workplace, she is a keen sailor and doting mother of f

Thanks, Francesca, for this information about the importance of employees understanding the hazards associated with electrical testing.  When dielectric personal protective equipment is needed, please refer to Texas America Safety Company, for quality products.

General Safety Issues

HOW TO HELP A CHILD WHO IS BEING BULLIED (GUEST POST)

By Marcia Hall of GoNannies.com

Though bullying is certainly not a new problem that children face, in recent years it has escalated to a level that children have never before experienced. Parents whose children are being bullied often do not know how to help, however, there are many things that can be done to support, comfort and assist the child through this troubling time.

Stay connected with the child’s friends by allowing and encouraging him to have friends over. When parents encourage their child’s friends to spend time at the house where parents can witness the type of interactions that occur, parents are able to better appreciate the world their child lives in. This will also help encourage the child to open up and share more experiences and feelings with his parents.

Give your children a break from the pressures of their social media life.  One of the reasons bullying today is so alarming is that a good majority of it does not happen in person, but instead occurs virtually through social media sites. Because of this, a good way to help protect your child from the sorrow of cyber bullying is to create a “turn off time” in the house.  This is the time that all phones, computers, tablets and desktops get turned off for the night.  With this rule in place, your child at least has a time when he is not allowed to see or hear any hurtful comments.  It may not make the comments go away, but being forced to turn everything off for a while will make difference and give him some respite from the attacks if he is a victim of cyber bullying.

Fully listen to the child’s side of the story. Sometimes parents hear part of the story and assume they know the rest. It is very important to a child’s emotional stability to be fully heard by at least one person.  When a child can trust that his parents will listen to him fully no matter what, it gives him the strength to be honest about the issues he’s facing.

When a child shares an incident of bullying, respond with loving concern rather than trying to immediately fix the problem. Often, when parents first hear about a bullying incident, their initial reaction is to quickly find a solution.  This can frustrate a child who simply wanted someone to know what he is going though.  Avoid instantly coming back to him with simple “solutions” or even cliché’s that will do nothing to help the situation.

Ask the child how he wants to be helped before jumping in to fix the problem.  Many times children really just want a shoulder to cry on and are not looking for parents to help them fix anything.  Parents should have a discussion with their child before they come up with any solutions to the problem.

Validate the child’s emotions.  No matter what, the child is looking for someone to tell him it is ok to be worried, angry and even scared about being bullied.  Parents can validate these emotions by sharing stories from their own childhood and making sure the child knows that he has done nothing wrong.  Above all else, a child should walk away from his parents knowing that what he said is confidential and safe with them.

Rather than making blanket statements, ask the child questions to help him look at the issue from a different perspective.  Questions are the best way to help a child discover his own feelings about the situation at hand.  Choose questions that will help him think not just about how he feels about what happened, but also why he might feel that way. “Tell me more about that.”  “Why do you think that hurt you so much?” “How did everyone around you respond?” “What can you do to change the situation?” “What do you want to do about it?” These are a few questions that can help lead the child to discover how he really feels and what he wants to do about the situation.

Avoid being too directly involved in any issues your children has with their peers. Most parents want to not only help the child fix the problem, but also to fix the problem themselves.  While there is most definitely a time to talk to teachers and principals and to advocate for the child in other ways, the best and most effective thing a parent can do to help a child who is being bullied is to lead the child to his own conclusions about how to address the situation and then support and encourage him when he follows through on those actions.  Becoming directly involved can not only be embarrassing for a child, it also make the situation much worse.  In addition, it does not teach the child how to respond to these types of situations in life.

No parent wants their child to be bullied, but finding the right balance of love, observation and action can help a child not only get through the difficult events that are inevitable in childhood these days, but actually become a stronger and more resilient adult because of them.

General Safety Issues

ARE YOU A GOOD LISTENER?

Don’t you just hate it when you are telling something really interesting (to your spouse) and they are not even tuned in?  My husband says he doesn’t have to look at me to hear what I am saying, but it’s pretty hard to figure out if he is really listening to me when he’s watching a ballgame, or reading the paper!  When it comes to safety, however, we really should pay attention.  Our health and safety leaders are specially trained to help us all stay safe on the job.  Truly listening to the lessons they teach at work takes a skilled ear.  Communication skills, such as listening, are very important in the workforce.  There is a difference between “hearing” and “listening”.  You must focus with your ears, and your head, eyes, body, and heart.  What they are trying to teach you is for your own good. 

A transactional leader has a different approach than a transformational leader.  Both play very important roles.  The transactional leader is task-oriented and focuses on regulatory compliance.  He/she preserves the existing conditions and practices of the company, and is more likely to focus on the work than the worker.  A transformational leader prompts results in which the workers’ values coincide with the leaders’ values.  This type of leader is personally engaged with the worker and cares about them.  He/she focuses on both the work and the worker. 

I can remember going to safety meetings because they were required; I probably had other things on my mind; however, it was up to me to take the minutes, so I had to pay attention!  The thing was, though, most of the other employees were there because they either had to give a report, or it was mandatory.  Listening is a two-way deal.  The safety leader should listen to the employees when they tell them about any hazards on the job – after all, they are the ones who see them first-hand.  A good leader can prepare a message all day long – but it has to catch the attention of the others and deal with things that are of importance to their safety.  He must emphasize the importance of on the job safety supplies – how to wear it, and take care of it.  Otherwise, they may get injured because they did not pay attention.  OSHA has standards for all types of on-the-job hazards.  If company leadership doesn’t pay attention and insist on 100 per cent compliance, and an injury occurs, there could be fines to the company, and lost time from productivity. 

Listening is also a good skill to learn at home.  Your children may be trying to tell you something important, but you may be too busy to hear what they are saying.  Figuring out what teenagers are telling you is very important, and takes some “reading between the lines.”  Listening is a skill to have with your friends, too.  We all have so much to tell a good friend that we are just waiting for our turn to talk, rather than really taking note of what their news is.  A good friend who listens is truly a gift.   

If you have watched Undercover Boss on CBS, you have seen bosses in action, actually going out on the job and finding out what their employees go through to make money for the company, and earn their living.  They find out that it is a different world out there than sitting behind the desk making executive decisions.  Most have shown a very caring attitude for their employees after this experience. 

So, please “listen” to this advice:  pay attention at work, home, and play.  Stay safe and follow your safety leaders.  They know what they are talking about.