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.”

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.

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.

What do think NETS is?  A tennis game, Part of the NBA, a new reality show?  Not really, NETS stands for Network of Employers for Traffic Safety.  So, have you ever heard of NETS?  Probably not.

Do you have any employees who drive for your business or organization?   Maybe you have some employees who drive to and from work.  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.  Why should we be so concerned about employees who drive?  Because Motor Vehicle Collisions are the #1 cause of employee/worker death and injury in the US.  Nothing is even close. It is also the most costly injury to any company/organization according to the National Safety Council”s Injury and Facts publication.

The Board members of NETS include:

Abbott

AmeriFleet Transportation

Chubb Group of Insurance Companies

The Coca-Cola Company

Johnson & Johnson

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

Monsanto

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

UPS

In just over a month NETS will be sponsoring National Drive Safely Work Week, October 3-7.

Focus 360° – Getting there safely is everyone’s responsibility.

The 2011 campaign is focused on the dangers of distracted driving— but not just from the position of the driver. The new materials also help consider the roles and responsibilities of being a safe passenger, pedestrian and cyclist in preventing distracted driving-related incidents. If you want more information, go to NETS website.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the Department of Labor has developed this elaws Advisor to address the federal requirement to report and record work-related injuries and illnesses. The OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor is intended to help determine:

• Whether an injury or illness (or related event) is work-related
• Whether an event or exposure at home or on travel is work-related
• Whether an exception applies to the injury or illness
• Whether a work-related injury or illness needs to be recorded
• Which provisions of the regulations apply when recording a work-related case

The OSHA Recordkeeping Advisor presents questions and relies on responses to determine the appropriate course of action. The Advisor does not store any information. If the Advisor does not address the circumstances of a particular case, please contact OSHA or obtain expert advice.

“Workers who dig or excavate trench­es are at risk of death if they enter an unprotected trench and the walls col­lapse. However, hazards associated with trench work and excavation are well defined and preventable. The OSHA standard for excavation and trenching, known as 29 CFR* 1926 Subpart P, de­scribes the precautions needed for safe excavation work.

There is no reliable warning when a trench fails. The walls can collapse sud­denly, and workers will not have time to move out of the way. Even though small amounts of dirt may not seem treacherous, a single cubic yard of dirt can weigh more than 3,000 pounds, which can fatally crush or suffocate workers [Deatherage et al. 2004]. Even small, solid pieces of dirt can cause se­rious injuries.”

This is the first few lines from a new Workplace Solutions from NIOSH on Trench Cave-Ins, Preventing Worker Deaths from Trench Cave-ins.

NIOSH has produced many Workplace Solutions brochures available to the business community on a variety of safety topics. Many of these publications are free when ordering them from NIOSH. Our federal government at work.

If your company ships any type of hazardous materials in commerce you will need to be advised of the new final ruling by the US DOT.  As stated below if will make it mandatory that hazardous shipments are properly packaged and labeled under 49 CFR, parts 100-185.   Failure to follow these regulations, can result in significant delay in the shipment of your package.

Federal hazardous materials transport inspectors will be allowed to open, detain, remove, and divert suspicious packages in transit for further investigation, under a final rule published March 2 by the Department of Transportation (76 Fed. Reg. 11,570).

Recently I was working on updating our respiratory program, and training that both the employee and supervisor could easily understand and still meet OSHA 1910.134. How fortunate that on February 12, 2011 the DOL came out with a new training video.

The 33-minute video explains the major components of a respiratory protection program including fit-testing, medical evaluations, training, and maintenance. The video also discusses the difference between respirators and surgical masks, and features a segment on common respiratory hazards found in healthcare settings, including airborne infectious agents that cause diseases such as tuberculosis, pandemic influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), chicken pox, and measles.

Demonstrations also show how respirator use helps protect workers from exposure to airborne chemical hazards such as formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, which are used commonly in hospital laboratories to preserve tissue samples for medical analysis. These toxic substances can cause eye and nasal irritation, headaches, asthma, and other symptoms. Additionally, formaldehyde is a carcinogen and has been linked to nasal and lung cancer, with possible links to brain cancer and leukemia.

“Employers can’t rely on respirators providing the expected protection if they don’t train their workers on how to use them properly,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “This video is an important training tool that teaches proper respirator use and discusses employers’ responsibilities under OSHA’s respiratory protection standard.”

Intended for both employers and employees, the 33-minute video covers the main components of a respiratory protection program, the difference between respirators and surgical masks, and common respiratory hazards in health care settings – including airborne infectious agents that cause diseases such as tuberculosis, according to an OSHA press release.

Each year on average 18,300 Americans are injured, and more than 3,500 die in fires, with children age 14 and under making up 10-15 percent of all fire deaths.  National Burn Awareness Week is traditionally observed the first full week in February, and according to FEMA Regional Administrator Ken Murphy, it’s the perfect calendar observance to focus on preventing fires and protecting children.

“Children under the age of 5 account for fifty-two percent of all child fire deaths, and home fires tend to spike in winter months, placing younger children and toddlers at even greater risk,” said Murphy.  “Many children are unable to escape from fire on their own, and I encourage parents and caregivers to use National Burn Awareness Week as an opportunity to take actions that keep their loved ones, and particularly children, safe from fire and burn hazards.”

Top tips to avoid fire and keep kids safe around the house include:

• Keep children at least 3 feet from hot stoves and cooking appliances. When cooking, use back burners with pot handles turned towards the back of the stove.
• Have fireplace flues and chimneys inspected for leakage and blockage from creosote or debris.
• Open the fireplace damper before lighting a fire and keep it open until the ashes are cool. Store ashes in fire-resistant containers; cover the container with a lid, and dispose of ashes carefully.
• Place space heaters on a floor that is flat and level—Do NOT put space heaters on rugs or carpets. Keep space heaters at least three feet from bedding, drapes, furniture and other flammable materials and place them out of the flow of foot traffic. Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
• Always tuck cords from appliances where children cannot reach them.
• Install smoke alarms on every level in your home, and inside and outside sleeping areas.
• Test smoke alarms each month and replace the batteries at least once a year.

Excellent online resources for fire prevention education materials and protecting children from fire and burns include:http://go.usa.gov/rfF; www.usfa.dhs.gov/kids/; www.safekids.org; . Learn about FEMA’s Children’s Working Group (CWG) at www.fema.gov/about/cwg.shtm.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.