Winter storms create a variety of hazards and can have lingering impacts on everyday tasks and work activities. According to the National Weather Service, about 70 percent of injuries during winter storms result from vehicle accidents, and about 25 percent of injuries result from being caught out in the storm. Learning about how to prepare for a winter storm and avoid hazards when one occurs will help keep you safe during the winter season.

This is from the new OSHA Winter Storm site.  The site has four (4) main sections to help employers learn about dealing with winter storms. These sections are:

• Introduction
• Preparedness
• Response/Recovery
• Additional Resources

With winter in its full glory this information will be useful to anyone who has to deal with this season.

Florida and Hawaii can disregard this posting.  Aren’t you lucky and warm.

I was recently chosen to chair the Distracted Driving sub-committee of the Transportation Specialty Practice of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).  I fell strongly this is an important issue.  Little did I know how much national attention this issue is generating during the past several months.

First, Harris Interactive and HealthDay conducted a poll of almost 3000 drivers and some of the results are listed below.

Second, on December 13, the National Transportation Safety Board announced a recommendation on Distracted Driving, to ban all electronic devices when driving a motor vehicle.

Adult drivers engage in activities such as texting, eating, watching videos and surfing the Internet while driving, according to a new online poll, conducted by market research firm Harris Interactive and HealthDay, a producer of health news.

In the poll, conducted between Nov. 10 and 14, 2,810 adults older than 18 who drive regularly were asked whether they have ever or have often or sometimes engaged in certain distracting activities while driving. Among the poll’s results, drivers reported performing the following behaviors:

• 86 percent ate or drank, with 57 percent doing it “often/sometimes.”
• 44 percent drove while feeling drowsy or momentarily fell asleep while driving, with 12 percent doing it “often/sometimes.”
• One-fourth drove after consuming two or more alcohol-based drinks, with 7 percent doing it “often/sometimes.”
• 41 percent set or changed their GPS, with 21 percent doing it “often/sometimes.”
• 37 percent sent or read text messages, with 18 percent doing it “often/sometimes.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a recommendation to the 50 states, and D.C., to ban driver use of all portable electronic devices in a vehicle, including hands-free devices. The NTSB’s Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman addressed the press regarding the issue and some of the specifics about the recommendation.

“According to NHTSA, more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents,” said Hersman. “It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving. No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life.”

Will Workers Compensation injuries be on the increase, merely because we have an aging workforce?

We hear it constantly – the aging workforce – and for some of us that are of the baby boomer generation we don’t like hearing it!  We can’t stop the aging process, but we do actually have some control over the WC injuries that can result.

Whether you work at a desk, in commercial construction, or in manufacturing, it’s unfortunate but true that as you age your body parts just get worn out!  Years of typing can cause repetitive motion issues; years of lifting or digging trenches can cause repetitive traumas, as well as knee, back, and shoulder issues.   But it comes down to the fact that even though just the aging process may weaken the body part, if the “final straw” happens on the job, it’s a workers’ comp claim.

It is evident that the baby boomer generation is willing to learn new techniques, take care of us both physically and mentally, and they don’t want to give in to the idea of getting older so they can’t do certain tasks.  They are highly motivated to keep going, but without pain.

So, what can an employer do to help the aging workforce not get injured?  First of all observe how tasks are performed and be open to having them done a different way to alleviate stress on certain body parts.  Enlist assistance with this evaluation from those who actually do the job and have done the job for many, many years.

For repetitive motion issues, it can merely be an ergonomics issue.  Still even in 2010 we should be looking at how an individual’s workstation is set up and if they have the proper tools.   From a construction standpoint it can be holding training sessions regularly on proper lifting techniques, or merely telling your employees it’s okay to ask for assistance when lifting items of a certain weight – in fact encourage or insist they ask for help!

By providing your employees with training on correct body mechanics, healthy eating habits, support in joining a gym, more employees may come to realize that they do have control over their personal discomfort and/or pain and see that they can prevent and alleviate the physical stresses or work and personal life!

To take it a step it a step further let’s look at the worker compensation cost to a company.  To get a more accurate figure the company should  multiplying the number of injuries by the average costs of such injuries. Direct average costs for medical care were drawn from the National Council on Compensation Insurance Ultimate Reports. Lifetime medical costs for deaths were valued at $17,226; for Permanent Total at $113,372; for Permanent Partial at $15,342; for Temporary Total and Partial at $2,782; and for no work loss at $294. The average cost per hour is estimated to be abut $30 per hour worked for injuries.  The medical expenses were drawn from workers’ compensation accounts and did not require adjustment for charges versus payments since workers’ compensation paid virtually 100 percent of medical bills that is, very few co-payments or deductibles were charged to clients.

The bottom line is as we get older we have more incidents and  it takes us longer to heal.  The cost of healthcare continues to rise.  Therefore, companies can expect a rise in worker compensation cost which goes directly to the bottom line.  For the safety professional, this present a greater challenge to reduce incidents and injuries in the workplace.

Has this ever happened to you?  Picture yourself sitting in front of your TV watching your favorite show or maybe a sporting event, and the phone rings.  You pick up the phone and start talking to your good friend while watching the TV.  You talk for about 15 minutes, then hang up and look at the TV and realize the score of the event has changed and you don’t know what happened, or the show has ended and you don’t remember what happened.

If your answer is yes, you have just experience inattention blindness.  Inattention blindness is the brain’s inability to process more than 1 task or function at a time.  You concentrated on your conversation, and you did not really see the TV.  Regardless of what you might think, your brain cannot multitask.  It can switch back and forth between tasks, but when it does you lose focus on the first task.  Where are we going with this?

This is one of the main reasons why distracted driving has become the 2^nd leading cause of motor vehicle collisions in the past 5 years.  Cell phone use (hands free or holding a cell phone), eating/drinking, playing a CD or adjusting the radio, grooming, reading a map or anything else that takes your focus off the task of driving is growing as the main cause of motor vehicle incidents.

Vision is the most important sense we use when we drive. Driving distracted narrows our vision by as much as 50%.

There are many collisions that investigators have found the driver never saw the other half of the collision.

In addition to inattention blindness, studies have shown that drivers talking on cell phones (hand free or hand held) have a reduced reaction time.  Similar to those who blood alcohol rate is 0.08.

With reduced vision and reduced reaction time, sooner or later you will experience a motor vehicle collision.

Remember driving is most dangerous thing you do every day of your life.   Think of someone important to you.  Do you think they might want to see you today or you might want to see them.

Drive Safely for you and everyone around you.

Violence in the workplace represents one of the most challenging security and personnel safety problems that organizations can face today. To help companies and organizations respond to and become better prepared for such challenges, two American National Standards Institute (ANSI) members and accredited standards developers, ASIS International and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), have joined forces to release an American National Standard (ANS) aimed at preventing violence in the workplace.

The standard establishes policies, processes, and protocols that organizations can adopt to identify and prevent threatening behavior and violence affecting the workplace, and to better address and resolve threats and violence that have occurred. The standard also describes the implementation of a workplace violence prevention and intervention program, as well as protocols for effective incident management and resolution. The standard‘s recommendations are broad in order to provide organizations the flexibility needed to implement prevention and intervention strategies appropriate for their workplace.

Have you every heard of Safety Toolbox Talks?

If you are part of the safety team for your company or organization, this is a free safety resource exchange for safety professional.  The site give you all kinds of information and it is FREE!

From their website, “Safety Toolbox Talks was started in 2007 as a portal for safety professionals to share and exchange free safety topic resources . . . specifically Toolbox Topics, Toolbox Talks and other free safety resources. If you’re like so many companies these days, the daily safety meeting has proven very effective in reminding employees about the importance of safety in their daily tasks.”

Safety Toolbox Talks offers a wide  variety of topic which include:

• toolbox talks
• home safety
• driver safety
• safety videos
• safety news
• OSHA quick takes
• and much more.

With the safety budget shrinking, we need a place to get information and resources with as little cost as possible.  So check out Safetytoolboxtalks.com.  I think you will find it helpful and informative.

Most businesses today know when they are shipping a hazardous material. Some do not. It is your responsibility to know the law. Did you know these items are considered a hazardous material?

• Air Freshener
• Bleach
• Disinfectants
• Drain Cleaner
• Floor Cleaner Wax
• Inks
• Batteries
• Furniture Polish
• Oven Cleaner
• Paint
• Paint thinner
• Toilet Bowl Cleaner
• Motor Oil/Gasoline
• Insect Spray
• Garden Fertilizer
• Fireworks

As a shipper you must maker sure all employees involved with any part of the shipping or receiving of hazardous materials be training according to 49 CFR part 173.1.

PHSMA or Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (part of DOT), has materials you can obtain for free that outline what training you are required to do, how often and what the training must include. One brochure is called Does Your Hazmat Training Measure Up? Part of the brochure includes a Frequently Asked Question section that is very good.

Training is one of the main fined areas of PHSMA. Most companies either don’t complete the training or don’t do it correctly. Fines can range from $25,000 and up.

If you don’t know if you are shipping or receiving hazardous materials you need to find out. Then you need to make sure all the employees involved are trained. Proper training is good for 3 years for ground shipping and 2 years for both air and ocean shipping.

Remember ignorance of law is not an excuse and will still get your fined.

.Have you ever heard of NETS? No not the locked out basketball team or The Network of Executive Women. The NETS I am talking about is the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety. Motor Vehicle collisions are the NUMBER 1 cause of death and injury for employees/worker in the United States.

NETS is dedicated to improving the health and safety of employees, their families and the community by preventing traffic crashes that occur both on- and off-the-job.

October 3 – 7 , 2011 is National Drive Safely Work Work

What are you to help insure your driver are being safer? NETS offers information for you to use with this year’s campaign;

Focus 360°: Getting there safely is everyone’s business.”

Whether we’re the driver, a passenger, a pedestrian or cyclist, there are things we can do in each role to help prevent distracted driving-related incidents. And for anyone willing to set the right example, the opportunities to be safe-driving role models for family and community members are limitless. That’s the premise of this year’s campaign materials and we’re confident you’ll find them to be informative, practical and useful.

Go to the link above for material you can use to develop your own program and “Let’s Be Careful Out There.”

So, where were you when 9/11 occurred? Today’s generation will always remember where they were and what they were doing when this significant terrorist event happened 10 years ago. As a baby-boomer we always heard stories from our parents what they were doing when Pearl Harbor happened. Our generation remembered what they where doing when President Kennedy was shot.  When the Oklahoma Federal Building was bombed and of course when the 9-11 attack happened.

I was working for the National Safety Council, and on my way to Kemper Insurance to meet with their global vice-president of safety, when I got a message from his administrative assistant. I was told that he could not meet with me today due to the events that happened in New York. I was not even aware of anything that had happened. I turned on the news and learned that 2 planes had hit the towers in New York City.

Being a safety person, my first reaction was the safety of the people in the towers. I later learned that Kemper had many people in the twin towers, and they were some of the fortunate ones. They all got out. But for days Kemper did not know who was alive or who had died. Soon after, they put a new notification system in place for their employees in the event something else would happen.

I also learned that a cousin’s son was in the pentagon, just a couple of doors down from the area that was hit. He was not injured. But for 3 days his parents did not know if he was alive or dead.

Americans have always had this mentality that nothing that nothing will ever happen to me.  We are now starting to reconsider that philosophy a little. Pearl Harbor, Oklahoma City, NYC Twin Towers, each generation has their event to remember.  So where were you when…………………..happened?