Tag Archives: mexico

General Safety Issues

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH NAOSH WEEK?

North American Occupational Safety and Health Week strives to focus the attention of employers, employees, the general public, and all workplace safety and health partners on the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace, at home and in the community.

NAOSH Week is led by the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), and Labour Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). NAOSH Week continues to be a truly continent-wide event, celebrated in Canada, along with North American partners: Mexico and the United States.

How to Make Safety a Habit in Your Workplace
North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, May 4-10, is a time in which attention turns to the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace, at home and in the community. This year’s theme is Make Safety a Habit, and organizations all over North America are promoting their activities. If you are looking for ideas on how to celebrate health and safety at your workplace, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has a few suggestions: participate in a Steps for Life Walk in your community; watch the new free webinar Healthy Workplaces: A Team Effort; listen to podcasts for safe work tips; or display posters to promote health and safety messages. Observed annually, North American Occupational Safety and Health Week, or NAOSH Week happens during the first full week of May. Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day (OSHP Day) falls on the Wednesday of that week. Each year, American Society of Safety Engineers offers employers and co-workers the opportunity to recognize the outstanding efforts of their occupational safety health and environmental professional through our “Salute your Safety Professional” initiative. American Society of Safety Engineers urges everyone to get involved in NAOSH Week in an effort to better educate the public about the positive benefits a safe workplace provides not only for workers, but for their families, friends, businesses, their local communities and the global community. Our neighbors to the south –  Mexico, also participates this week of health and safety promotion in businesses. Thousands of companies in our continent support this important event. 

Make Safety a Habit is the theme that explains it all. If workers get in the habit of ensuring their equipment is in good shape, and follow all their safety training, it will be a much safer environment for all. Let’s let that apply to our homes and communities, too!

 Source: Canadian Society of Safety Engineering; American Society of Safety Engineers

  
General Safety Issues

NAOSH WEEK – MAY 6 – 12, 2012

NORTH AMERICAN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH WEEK – May 6 – 12, 2012 

NAOSH (North American Occupational Safety and Health )Week occurs every year during the first full week of May to raise awareness about occupational safety, health and the environment and safety, as well as health and engineering professions.  The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) joined with the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering (CSSE) and partners in Mexico to promote awareness in North America during NAOSH Week. This is one tool the almost 100-year-old ASSE and its 32,000 SH&E members use throughout the year to promote occupational safety, aimed at preventing injuries and illnesses. Several organizations representing thousands of businesses have partnered with ASSE and CSSE to support NAOSH Week, including U.S. federal agencies such as the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 

NAOSH Week began in 1997.  Canada originally began observing Occupational Safety and Health Week in 1986.  During the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) talks in 1997, the representative from Canada suggested that Mexico and the United States become involved in a similar endeavor.  Hence, this continent-wide event got its start. 

Each year ASSE urges everyone to get involved in NAOSH Week in order to better educate the public about the positive benefits a safe workplace provides not only for workers, but for their families, friends, businesses, local communities and the global community 

Wednesday, Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Day is observed.  This began in 2007, with the goal of honoring occupational safety, health and environmental professionals who have dedicated their lives to protecting people, property and the environment.  

Occupational Safety and Health Professionals are dedicated to focus, reinforce and strengthen workforces to concentrate on staying safe and healthy on the job.  Among their many requirements are teaching things such as:

  • Team building and commitment.
  • Establishing safety committees.
  • Creating a safety-minded culture.
  • Improving attitudes toward safety.
  • Increase cooperation among workers.
  • Further understanding of the benefits of working safely and remaining healthy.
  • Reduce workplace injuries and illness.
  • Catastrophe awareness and preparedness.
  • Proper ergonomics in the workplace.
  • Fleet safety classes.
  • Preventing roadway crashes.
  • Mining safety.
  • Transportation safety. 

Safety Professionals encourage safety committees to ensure that company employees are properly trained and aware of the hazards presented in their particular job duties.  One very important piece of the safety puzzle is seeing that workers have the correct type of P.P.E. (Personal Protective Equipment).  Whatever P.P.E. is required, i.e., hardhats, ANSI safety glasses, gloves, fall arrest systems, etc., should fit correctly and always used when on the job.  Employees should understand the importance of taking care of their protective equipment and know when it should be replaced.

There are many ways of working safely and not taking chances.  We must endeavor to stay safe at work and on the job.  This is a good time to encourage new safety and health activities during NAOSH week, and thank the professionals that encourage safety. 

 

Source: NAOSH.org; Canadian Society of Safety Engineers

 

General Safety Issues

A SERIOUS THREAT

In November, the Texas Department of Public Safety released this warning to parents: Mexican cartels and gangs are recruiting in Texas schools and towns.  This is true not only in Texas, but other states that share a border with Mexico.  The Texas DPS is warning parents across the state to be aware of these violent organizations that are recruiting Texas youth in our schools and communities with the prospect of cars, money, and notoriety.  They send the message that if they get caught, the sentence will be minimal.

These cartels are constantly seeking new ways to smuggle humans and drugs into Texas and the U.S., and now use state-based gangs to support their operations on both sides of the border.  Juveniles that live along the Texas-Mexico border are particularly susceptible, due to the poverty level that their small cities have.  In 2008, teenagers from the counties along the Texas-Mexico border accounted for 9% of the population in the state, but 18% of the felony drug charges and gang-related arrests.

There are drug cartels operating training camps near the border.  They train recruits, ranging from Mexican Army deserters to American teenagers to carry out many assignments, including murder.  Young persons have no idea what they are getting into; they are risking their lives for the promise of riches.  Many do it to bring in money for their families.

Steven C. McCraw, director of the Texas DPS, warns: “As these dangerous organizations seek to co-opt our children to support their criminal operations, it is more important than ever that parents be aware of these risks, talk to their children and pay attention to any signs that they may have become involved in illegal activities.”

The U.S. Border Patrol has started a program this past year called “Operation Detour”.  Part of the operation is a film presentation that is shown to high school students, depicting the graphic side of what happens to youth who get involved with cartels.  The program will be expanded along the entire US-Mexico border.  Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and the District Attorneys in Texas border counties are working together to detect, disrupt and deter Mexican cartel-related crime along the Texas-Mexico border.

For the safety of our young people, parents must get involved if they suspect their kids are taking part in illegal activities.  The United States has a lot of work to do to curtail the demand for drugs and stop the flow of drugs into our country.

Source: Texas DPS