Safety Moment Volume 1, Issue 1
J ANUARY 12, 2010
Safety Comes in a Can: I can, You Can, We all can be Safe Special Points of Interest:
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Safety Comes in a Can, I can, You Can, We all can be Safe
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National Blood Donors Month!
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Teens and Cell phone use
Courtesy of the US Army
W
elcome to a “Safety Moment” our new safety, wellness, and environmental newsletter. We hope to supply you with different slogan or awareness “mantra” each issue. These short quotes or sayings are the jumping off point for all of us to bring safer behavior, better compliance, and a more interactive culture to our company family.
and to help give you the tools you need to effectively and consistently manage those EHS elements that are under your management control. This is a tool like any other and its usefulness depends on how you the audience, use it. To this end a few guide lines. This newsletter is not meant for you to print and post. It is meant to be read, put into your own words, and shared with your staff. Only you know your individual coworkers and what they respond to.
Each issue we will provide you with news briefs, Howtos, and guidance of various topics to give you talking Included in future issues of points to use with your staff this news letter will be a
place for you to ask questions on topics both from the news letter and about individual issues you may want a second view point on. We only ask that you keep your questions as general as possible for the other readers and because we can not give specific legal advice. So let us start with the idea that we CAN always be safe, and that we can and will work to get there together.
Protection—Our Mandate Preparation—Our Means Prevention—Our Goal
National Blood Donors Month
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oday, blood transfusion is something we almost take for granted, but there is actually quite a bit of controversy surrounding this health matter. US blood banks no longer accept donors who have spent time in Britain or Europe in an attempt to prevent transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human form of "mad cow disease." The FDA continues to rec-
ommend that any males who report any homosexual activity be banned from making donations. Women with heavy periods are often anemic and people with low hemoglobin levels are not accepted as blood donors. Only people over the age of 17 and weighing more than 110 lbs. are eligible to donate blood. Other requirements for donors change frequently and the American Red Cross has up-to-date
information about who is eligible to give blood and this organization reminds us that January is Volunteer Blood Donor Month. In 1997 World Health Organization (WHO) introduced proposals for unpaid, voluntary blood donation policies to be adopted internationally, and today, most blood is donated by volunteers. AABB (which is not an
Inside this issue: Winter Driving Caution
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Carbon Monoxide
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National Teen Driving Statistics
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Q&A
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N ATIONAL B LOOD D ONORS M ONTH the world. If you are anticihonestly. China’s Ministry of pating surgery, you may want Health has adopted an agto consider autologous blood gressive policy to boost its supply of safe blood, and donation, or replacement reports increasing blood donation, One pint Of which is donating its donated blood from 22% in 1978 blood to yourself. blood to over 85% today. There are profesCan save three sional donors who Lives If you don't know get paid for blood donations. As where to go to donate, AABB's website prothings stand now, blood donation is on the honor sysvides a nifty locator helper if you click this link. tem; it is up to the donor to disclose their health history
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acronym for anything) asks us to start out the year remembering the importance of donating blood. With the busy rush of the holidays, the supply of blood to save lives due to trauma or illness gets depleted. AABB states that one pint of donated blood can save three lives! AABB is seeking to standardize procedures for transfusion medicine in blood banks around
T HE N ATIONAL S AFETY C OUNCIL I SSUES R EMINDER TO B RACE FOR C OLD B LAST
I
tasca, IL – An arctic wind blast is expected to impact many parts of the nation this week. The National Safety Council urges Americans to stay indoors as much as possible. However, if you must venture outdoors or drive in bad weather, take precautions to remain safe and warm.
Exposure to low temperatures can result in frostbite and hypo -thermia. To help reduce From Oregon DOT cold-related injury, remember to wear several layers of clothing before heading outdoors. Be sure to protect your body and maintain body heat by wearing gloves, a hat, scarf and turtleneck. If you suspect someone has frostbite
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or hypothermia, immediately get the victim out of the cold. Mild hypothermia can be treated with passive re-warming techniques, including the replacement of wet clothing with dry clothing and covering the victim in blankets. Seek medial attention for severe hypothermia and frostbite. Snow, ice and high winds also are expected to affect many states. Poor road conditions require sound judgment, patience and flexibility. Drive with caution and be sure to accelerate and brake gently. Leave plenty of distance between your car and other vehicles. Remember, you do not need to drive the speed limit if conditions are poor. Before traveling in bad weather, ask yourself, “Is this trip necessary?” If the trip is necessary, always let someone know your departure time, expected arrival
time and route. Store emergency equipment in your car, including:
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“Call for help” flag or brightly colored item • Blankets and extra clothing • Flashlight and extra batteries • Nonperishable, highenergy foods • First aid and auto tool kits Temperatures may return to normal by the end of the weekend. In the meantime, check in on elderly family, friends and neighbors. Visit NSC’s fact sheet library for more information on winter safety. The National Safety Council (www.nsc.org) saves lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the roads, through leadership, research, education and advocacy.
Safety Moment
J ANUARY , DEADLIEST MONTH FOR CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING
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ccording to a new study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the first month of the year is the worst for carbon monoxide poisoning. At least two people die each day from carbonmonoxide poisoning in January—three times the fatality rate recorded in August and July. Unintentional carbon monoxide exposure accounted for 15,000 emergency room visits annually between 1999 and 2004, with an average of 439 people
dying each year. Fatalities were highest among men and senior citizens: Men UNINTENTIONAL CARBON
and seniors because they are likely to mistake the symptoms of CO poisoning (headaches, nausea, dizziness or confusion) for the flu or fatigue.
MONOXIDE EXPOSURE ACCOUNTED FOR
15,000
EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS ANNUALLY
because they are engaged in more high-risk behaviors such as working with fuelburning tools or appliances
It should come as no surprise that CO deaths are the highest in winter (December is the second highest month). Cold weather increases the use of gas-powered furnaces as well as the use of risky alternative heating and power (Continued on page 4)
Know your Symbols Above is the international symbol for High Voltage. Only authorized staff allowed.
CutCut - N - Paste
“Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% Evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple”
Willy Wonka N ATIONAL T EEN D RIVING S TATISTICS
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otor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers. 16-year-olds are three times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than the average of all drivers. Drivers age 15-20 accounted for 12.9 percent of all the drivers involved in fatal crashes and 16 percent of all
Volume 1, Issue 1
the drivers involved in police-reported crashes in 2006.
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69 percent said that they speed to keep up with traffic
According to a 2005 survey of 1,000 people ages 15 and 17, conducted by the Allstate Foundation
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64 percent said they speed to go through a yellow light
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47 percent said that passengers sometimes distract them
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More than half (56 percent) of young drivers use cell phones while driving
Nearly half said they believed that most crashes involving
(56 percent) of young drivers use cell phones while driving
teens result from drunk driving.
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Safety Moment is brought to you as a free service by www.safetymoment.net Please remember to support our sponsors to bring you this newsletter. Thank you
sources (portable generators, charcoal briquettes, propane stoves or grills) during power outages. It’s also understandable that the highest CO death rates are in colder states: Nebraska, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and North Dakota. By contrast, California has the lowest fatality rate. With these sobering facts it’s a good time to remember the following safety tips to prevent CO poisoning:
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Contact Us: Email: editor@safetymoment.net • Q&A: letters@safetymoment.net
Have your heating system, water heater and any other gas, oil or coal-burning appliance inspected and serviced by a qualified technician every year. Install battery-operated CO detectors on every level of your home.
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Don’t use a generator, charcoal grill, camp stove or other gasoline or charcoal-burning device inside the home, basement or garage or outside the home near a window. • Don’t burn anything in an unvented stove or fireplace. • Don’t let a vehicle idle inside a garage attached to a house, even if the garage door is left open. • Don’t heat a house with a gas oven. If a CO detector sounds, leave your home immediately and call 911 from outside. Seek prompt medical attention if you suspect CO poisoning and if you or someone in your household is feeling dizzy, light-headed or nauseated.
Q and A This weeks Question comes from Pennsylvania : Why are Steel-toed shoes or boots required? Safety foot wear is required by OSHA in industrial settings where there is a risk of injury to the foot. This potential for injury can come from mechanical impact, electrical shocks, slippery surfaces, and chemical hazards. If you have the basic hazard of mechanical impact that
exceeds 10 ft-lbs of force you fall into the “hazard zone” and thus must use protective foot wear. One of the common push backs you will get is this common myth:
If faced with this myth your answer should be that the weight needed to induce such a failure would result in such severe damage to the toe that amputation would be necessary anyway.
Steel-toe boots inserts actually create a more dangerous environment, because a significant weight could cause the steel to act like a blade, severing the toe instead of the weight simply crushing the foot.
As a Supervisor it is one of your responsibilities to help identify when new hazards develop and do a risk assessment to determine if new personal protective equipment (PPE) is required. As with all PPE it is the last line of
defense and if the risk can be eliminated then that is what we should do first. Thank you!