Employee Safety

Briefs continued from page 9 US 287 chip sealing scheduled north of Lander

LANDER – The $6.89 million Lander concrete rehabilitation project/US 287 pavement overlay project continued and chip sealing north of Lander began Aug. 23.

Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer Erik Smith said chip sealing is scheduled between mileposts 10 and 24.17 (beginning at Blue Sky Highway north of Lander just past WYO 132’s intersection with US 287, and through Fort Washakie and to the end of the new pavement overlay).

The $6.89 million US 287 (Lander Main Street Americans with Disabilities Act improvements and concrete rehabilitation, and US 287 pavement overlay) project is 16.2 miles in length, between the Main Street/Buena Vista intersection in Lander, and north of Lander through Fort Washakie. The project includes concrete grinding, concrete joint sealing, asphalt paving, chip sealing, and curb, gutter and ADA ramp repairs.

WYDOT/Fremont County project, Burma Road cattle guard removal

RIVERTON – Removal of a cattle guard disrupted traffic patterns at WYO 789’s intersection with Burma Road on Aug. 18, north of Riverton.

WYDOT and the Fremont County Transportation Department were collaborating on the project to permanently remove the cattle guard at the Burma Road/WYO 789 intersection.

The cattle guard removal project began about 8:30 a.m. and commuters were able to use Burma Road without delays to get to work in Riverton on Aug. 18.

“We’re hoping this will be a one-day project,” said Riverton Maintenance Foreman Shane Pugh. “We appreciate everyone’s patience.”

Pugh said motorists are encouraged to detour on Young Road to WYO 789, though there was a rough detour at the Burma Road/WYO 789 intersection. n

Employee Safety

Eye and Face Protection

By April Patrick and Todd DePorter, Employee Safety

Recently, a WYDOT employee was using a grinder to grind down a weld, and a piece of metal shard flew into the employee’s eye. This resulted with the employee having to seek medical attention to remove the shard.

This could have been prevented if the employee had been wearing both a face shield and protective eyewear. In this case, the employee was only wearing safety glasses, which did not prevent the shard from flying under the glasses and into his eye.

Per Personal Policy 8-17, face and eye protection are required when employees are performing potentially hazardous workplace activities or in the vicinity of such activities.

Take the right steps to protect your eyes and face. 1. Review your Job Safety Analysis prior to beginning work to identify any eye or face hazards. 2. Inspect your eye and face protection devices to ensure they are still serviceable and that you can see clearly through them. 3. Replace broken or ineffective eye and face protection.

Finally, for those employees who wear prescription eyewear, take advantage of WYDOT’s Prescription Protective Eyewear service. See the next page for more information.

If you have any questions, please contact Employee Safety at dot-employee-safety@wyo.gov. Prescription Protective Eyewear

Are you exposed to eye hazards performing your daily job duties? • Speak with your supervisor to determine the need for prescription safety eyewear. Supervisors will assess the eye and face hazards associated with the employee’s duties to determine if the employee qualifies. • The Supervisor should complete the Prescription Eyewear

Protection Request (PEPR) Google Form on Employee Safe-

ty’s intranet web page for any employee that encounters even minor eye or face hazards. • Once the employee receives their order form from Employee

Safety, they can arrange for the review of sample frames with the Point of Contact (POC) of their choice, found on the

Employees Safety Intranet web page.

Personnel Policy 8-17:

• Employee Safety pays for one set of safety eyewear every two years through our authorized vendor (Eagle Safety Eyewear). • Once you receive your order form, follow these three easy steps. 1. Schedule a visit with a POC to view/select frames and if your prescription is for bifocals, trifocals, or Progressives, checkout frames to take to your vision provider to get the segment height. 2. Get an updated prescription and PD measurement from your vision provider (if older than 2 years or if it changes frequently). 3. Follow the instructions on your order form and submit to

Eagle Safety Eyewear using the provided contact information. • Detailed information and additional resources are available on the WYDOT Employees Website under Employee Safety >

Prescription Safety Eyewear. n

By Todd DePorter and Jordan Striff, Employee Safety

OSHA covers Hepatitis A and B in their Blood Borne Pathogens Standard 1910.1030. This standard requires employers to offer the vaccination series to all workers who have an occupational exposure.

The Workzone Safety Subcommittee, part of WYDOT’s Safety Committee, brought up the concern about seeing an increase in the amount and type of potential blood borne pathogen type materials and waste along the right-of-way (ROW) and at rest areas.

Specifically, road maintenance crews conduct litter pick-up in the ROW, as well as the rest areas in some locations. They are exposed to bags of human waste, diapers, used feminine hygiene products, used hypodermic needles, drugs and drug related paraphernalia. Additionally, employees working in the field may become injured from sharp or protruding objects and require a tetanus shot.

Because of this, it is recommended that anyone who is exposed to these conditions consider getting a Hepatitis A/B and/ or tetanus shot as a precautionary measure. Additionally, any employee who thinks they have been directly exposed can get an immunization at no cost per Personnel Procedure 19-8.

Employee Safety is working on a more formal program for employees by job classification and job function. You can expect to see this program released in January 2022.

Employees can obtain these voluntary vaccinations through WYDOT provided health insurance (Cigna) at no cost. Employees should contact Cigna to confirm approved locations for receiving these vaccinations. Employees who do not have state provided health insurance should contact employee safety to make arrangements for receiving the vaccination(s) at no cost. n Fast Facts

Hep A May not have symptoms/symptoms appear quickly Passed on from small amounts of stool on food, objects, drinks, casual contact Vaccine preventable Curable Hep B Usually no symptoms Passed via body fluids such as blood or semen Vaccine preventable Can become chronic Treatable, but no cure exists Tetanus Symptoms include lockjaw, muscle spasms, trouble swallowing, seizures, headaches, fever/ sweating. Spread by object puncturing skin, burns, crush injuries, wounds contaminated by dirt, feces or saliva Vaccine preventable

Reporting a safety incident

By April Patrick, Employee Safety

While it is extremely important for employees to make every effort to perform safely in their work environment, an unanticipated situation can result in a workplace injury, even if proper precautions are taken. Any incidents involving an injury or damage to WYDOT equipment/property must be reported immediately. All appropriate paperwork (the S-1A form, and for injuries, the Workers’ Compensation (WC) Report of Injury form) must be completed and directed to a supervisor as soon as possible. Even accidents resulting in minor injuries, not requiring immediate medical attention or first aid, must be reported right away. Doing so establishes a timeline with WC and ensures a claim is opened in the event the injury becomes more serious.

What are the proper channels to take?

This may differ based on the kind of incident which has occurred. However, as the employee who was involved in the incident, you should submit your documentation to your direct supervisor. Submitting electronic copies are encouraged and recommended. The supervisor should then review it for completeness and clarity, sign and email the documentation to both WYDOT Employee Safety and the District Safety Representative (for districts), their HR associate (for injuries), and the WYDOT Equipment Program. Other departments/entities can be included in this initial email if they are normally notified. n

Carlie Van Winkle

Dismounting a trailer

By Erik Brannigan, Employee Safety District 4 representative

On the morning of Aug. 10, a WYDOT employee was loading a backhoe on a tilt-deck trailer. After stepping out of the backhoe and onto the trailer, the employee turned to dismount the trailer, lost their balance and fell to the ground from a height of approximately 36 inches. The employee suffered minor injuries and missed a couple days of work.

Slips, trips and falls are the leading cause of injury in the U.S., resulting in over 8 million hospital visits each year and more than 33,000 fatalities. To avoid injury consider the following measures: • Always maintain three points of contact and face forward when mounting or dismounting a piece of equipment. • Do not jump from equipment, landings or trailers. • Keep walkways, steps, stairs, ladder rungs and trailer decks clean and clear of hazards. • Be aware of stable footing when climbing, ensure you’re wearing proper footwear.

Remember to have a plan, take the time needed Learning the proper way to dismount a trailer could to complete the prevent on-the-job injuries. task in a safe and efficient manner. If needed, get help from a coworker. Remember that ALL employees have the authority to stop work when the situation is unsafe or will become unsafe. n