Last September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule on mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases. The rule requires the largest emitters of greenhouse gases to collect data regarding greenhouse gases and report that data to the EPA.

Even if you aren’t an emitter that is required to collect data and report, you still can do your part to prevent greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting global warming. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Replace incandescent light bulbs: Replace your regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Replacing regular light bulbs with CFLs reduces the amount of electricity you use–and also saves you money. CFLs also now come in a variety of colors (e.g., soft white, bright light, daylight) that can better accommodate your lighting needs in the workplace. Not sure about CFLs because of possible disposal issues with the mercury they contain? Watch for the new-generation light emitting diode (LED) bulbs that are starting to come onto the market. These bulbs use even less electricity, with the added benefit of no mercury disposal issues.
2. Use less heat and air conditioning. Just two degrees lower in the winter and two degrees higher in the summer can save you lots of money and prevent thousands of pounds a year of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. Also, reduce your heating and air conditioning needs by using programmable thermostats, effective insulation, and well-maintained HVAC systems.
3. Reduce, reuse, and recycle: Manufacturing processes emit various types of greenhouse gases into the environment. If you can reduce the amount of manufacturing, packaging, and/or shipping you do, you’ll reduce your emissions.
4. If you drive, drive smart: If you have a fleet of company cars or trucks, make sure that the vehicles are properly maintained, which not only makes them safer but also uses less fuel. Every gallon of fuel that isn’t burned prevents about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted. Also, properly inflated tires improve fuel usage by as much as three percent.
5. Plant trees: If you have the room to put trees on your facility, plant some. One tree can absorb as much as one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime (and, if located properly, can help cool your facility during the summer). Consider native species first when selecting what trees to plant; they will be better adapted to environmental conditions in your area and require less upkeep.  If you join the Arbor Foundation (membership is only $10) you have the choice to receive 10 free trees or the foundation will plant 10 trees in a national forest for you.  Remember Earth Day is April 22.

Since statistics prove more than 90 percent of all collisions are a direct result of driver error, and an increasingly large number of people choose to drive distracted, it shouldn’t be surprising that motorists consider unsafe driving a threat to themselves and others who use our roads and highways.
Many drivers frequently use cell phones for personal and business purposes, everyone from soccer moms to company CEOs. There is no question regarding the benefits of being in constant communication.
Realistically we all have to think about the times it’s just not proper to use your cell phone. Operating a motor vehicle is one of those times.  According to the results of a study by Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, talking on the cell phone while driving reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.
There is enough evidence from agencies such as AAA Traffic Safety Foundation, National Safety Council and the American College of Emergency Physicians that there should be a national ban on cell phone use and text messaging while behind the wheel.
There are only five states along with Washington, D.C., that ban hand-held cell phone use: California, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Washington. Sixteen additional states and D.C. restrict cell phone use by drivers under the age of 18.
An important point to apply here is that the level and danger of the distraction is not lessened by the use of “hands-free.”  Most drivers are unaware of the liability issues related to distracted driving. Insurance companies routinely subpoena driver’s cell phone records when a client is involved in a crash with bodily injury.
Anything that allows you to drive your vehicle in an unsafe manner can result in a charge of careless driving. Remember the law requires us to maintain control of the vehicle at all times.  Let’s transfer that liability over to employers who encourage or allow cell phone use, especially in company vehicles. You better have some good insurance if you do so.

Recently the International Paper Company settled a lawsuit for a reported $5.2 million. The suit alleged that an IP employee was using her company-supplied cell phone when she rear-ended another vehicle. The other driver suffered such severe traumatic injuries she eventually had to have her arm amputated.
Experience indicates the importance of prohibiting cell phone usage while driving through the use of a written policy.  Employers should implement a strong policy forbidding phone calls by all employees while driving a vehicle on company business. It may limit use to hands free calling or completely ban cell phone usage while driving.  Supervisors, for example, will have to understand when the call goes to voice mail or why it might take awhile for the employee to check in.
 

ReCellular, a leading electronics sustainability firm, recently announced a new partnership with TerraCycle to establish over 1,000 “phone brigades” by the end of the year, building on a similar concept previously launched by TerraCycle. The brigades will collect and donate cell phones, raise funds for local causes and keep e-waste out of landfills.

“Economic, social and environmental sustainability have been at the core of our business long before the term ‘triple-bottom line’ was coined,” says Chuck Newman, CEO and founder of ReCellular. “Today, we are proud to be a part of the emerging green economy, and to partner with an innovative company such as TerraCycle. We look forward to expanding this relationship over the coming months.”

The Phone Brigade program could be a way to earn money for your favorite charity.
The partnership provides a solution for TerraCycle to expand their upcycling efforts to include consumer electronics. First launching the Brigade concept in 2006, TerraCycle pays schools and non-profits to collect 20-ounce soda bottles. Today, more than 20,000 participating locations are part of the Brigades, and the programs have raised more than $100,000 from millions of reused and recycled soda bottles, yogurt cups and snack wrappers. This money, primarily, has been donated to public-school organizations.

According to TerraCycle, the company “decided to expand their upcycling collections to help address the estimated 65,000 tons of cell phones that are discarded every year.” Cell phones contain both hazardous chemicals and valuable materials for reclamation, making them ideal for recycling.

Anyone can sign up to participate in the TerraCycle Phone Brigade, and volunteers will receive donation boxes for collecting and shipping phones. Brigades will be compensated for each item they collect, which provides schools and other grassroots organizations with new ways to fundraise.

The phones will be delivered to the ReCellular phone processing facility, where they will be either refurbished and reprogrammed for reuse, or are recycled to reclaim materials needed to make new electronics equipment.

In 2008, ReCellular collected over 5.5 million phones and raised over $4 million for charities across the country.

The WorkLife Initiative is the NIOSH response to the 2004 Steps to a Healthier US Workforce Symposium. That Symposium, organized by NIOSH with over 20 co-sponsors and 50 supporters, reviewed the science, economics, and current practices coordinating health protection and health promotion to improve the health of workers. Symposium participants called on NIOSH to continue to show leadership in promoting research, policy, and practice in these areas.

The first major NIOSH action in the Initiative was to issue a RFA to establish Centers of Excellence. The awards for the two new Centers for Excellence to Promote a Healthier Workforce were announced in late 2006. Each Center will receive $1 million for five years through a cooperative agreement to establish trans-disciplinary research, education, and translation programs to facilitate the integration of health protection and promotion in the workplace. The grant recipients are Dr. Laura Punnett for the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace, at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Dr. James Merchant for the Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence at the University of Iowa. The Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell will evaluate several models for integrating health promotion with occupational ergonomic and mental health interventions with a strong emphasis on worker involvement. The University of Iowa Center will investigate the effects of different integrated health protection and health promotion programs tailored to meet the needs of three different work environments. NIOSH will work with these Centers and our other partners to improve the worklife of workers through implementation of this important Worklife Initiative.

Do you ship or receive any materials considered hazardous by the US DOT (49 CFR 172.101)?  If so, you MUST have a security plan (49 CFR part 172.800) which includes security awareness training to all who load, unload or have some responsibility putting the hazardous materials in commerce.  This might include the person in the office who fills out the shipping papers, or the forklift driver who unloads the truck in your loading bay.  Everyone involved with the process must be trained. 

The DOT has become more active fining companies and organizations for not having a security plan and not doing the training.  Large or small, profit or not-for-profit, it doesn’t matter.  Security awareness training is now considered one of the 5 parts of HAZMAT training.  the 5 parts include: General Awareness, Function-Specific, Safety, Security Awareness, and Security In-Depth (if you need and have a security plan as classified by (49CFR 172.800(b)(1-7). If your hazardous materials fall under this last part, then you must do a full security plan including a assessment and training.  The plan needs to be in writing and available to all who are affected.

The Compliance Resource Center can help you do a security assessment, write a security plan and customize hazmat training specificly for your company.  All of our HAZMAT training is customize for the hazardous materials you ship or receive.  You employees get ALL the training required by the US DOT Pipline and Hazardous Materials Safety Adminsitration.  DOT Hazmat training for ground is required every 3 years and for air and/or ocean every 2 years. 

Am I passionate about training, YOU BET!  I recently read an article about developing and using on-line training for OSHA & HIPPA compliance.  It seems like more and more companies are looking at on-line training for their employees. On-line training is available for OSHA, DOT, HIPPA and more.  Push a few buttons and you are trained.  While it is economical and less time consuming, there are some drawbacks.

As a trainer:

• I can look at a trainee and see in their eyes if they are understanding the material.   
• I can evaluate if a student learns by seeing, hearing or doing and then work with that student using their best learning style. 
• I can adjust the material if I see it is not relevant to YOUR students. 
• I can have a student verbalize back to me how much they understand about the subject to detemine if they need more information.

Please tell me how the computer can make these deteminations except by continually quizing the student. 

Good safety trainers are good for business and payback their expense.  They help increase productivity and help keep worker’s compensation lower.  Both result in more profits going to the bottom line.  I have used this example before, but a average incident (according to OSHA) cost an employer about $25,000.  At 3% profit margin the company has to make an additional $833,000 to break even, and that’s if you have only 1 incident.

I am assistant scuba instructor and now there are some certifing agencies that have on-line classes for courses content.  Not the buddy I would want to be with at 80 feet under water, and to have to depend on saving my life if something went wrong.  How about the on-line First Aid/CPR class, want that person to work on you? 

On-line training for the refresher great, for the initial training, think about it and what it may really cost you.

April 22 is Earth Day. 

 What are you doing for earth day and earth week?  Work or home, let us and other readers know.  As an added incentive, we will ramdomly select 1 reader’s comment and send that person a DVD Screensaver, Living Marine Aquarium filmed in HD widescreen.

So let’s hear from you.

The American Heart Assoication is adapting a new standard for CPR.  On March 31, an important advisory statement on “hands-only”  (compression-only) CPR was published in Circulation. This statement clarifies the 2005 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC, which included the recommendation that laypersons – or bystanders – should perform hands-only CPR if they are unable or unwilling to provide rescue breaths.  The Compliance Resource Center wrote about an article about a new study done in Lancet in April of 2007.  The Lancet study showed dramatic results when life-savers only had to worry about chest compressions without doing mouth-to-mouth breathing. 

”The report confirms that what we have learned in animal experiments applies to humans as well,” says Gordon A. Ewy, MD, director of the Sarver Heart Center at The University of Arizona in Tucson where chest-compression-only resuscitation was developed. “Bystander-initiated continuous chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth breathing are the preferable approach for witnessed unexpected collapse, which is usually due to cardiac arrest.”

Hopefully more people will consider doing CPR (compression only) on a person when needed.  Statistics show that when CPR is started and continued until help arrives, it can save lives.

Safety Online recently reported that NIOSH, OSHA and NHCA (National Hearing Conservation Assoication), recently signed and agreement  to help prevent work-related hearing loss.  The partners agreement is to provide resources, speakers, recommend best practices and more.

Currently NISOH has a Hearing Conservation Program Evaluation Checklist available.  Over a year ago I reported  on this site, that International Safety Equipment Association petitioned OSHA about reducing the level of noise exposure in the work place.  Now there will be a greater effort to protect workers hearing and make more resources available to employers.

There has been 2 recent, serious incidents and deaths involving cranes.  OSHA compliance is for cranes and derricks is found at 29 CFR part 1926.550.  Here is a link to an ABC news video describing recent crane incidents including the “The Big Blue” crane incident in Milwaukee.

The Crane Certification Association of America in Vancourver, WA purpose  is to promote crane safety, improve the certification profession and address the subject of crane safety in governmental forums.

In fulfilling its purposes, the Association shall have the following objectives:

• To develop and/or promote educational information for increasing the knowledge and capabilities of the membership.
• To develop and/or disseminate information and materials that will carry out the purposes of the Association and serve the public.
• To provide and/or support forums for the interchange and acquisition of professional knowledge among its members.
• To foster liaison with governmental agencies that implement such other programs and projects that are consisted with the purpose of the Association.
• To conduct its affairs in a manner that will reflect the standards, purposes and objectives of the Association.
• Provide testing for practicing crane surveyors.
• Provide a professional designation to all members who successfully pass the Certified Crane Surveyors (CCS) test.

Another association which promotes safety is the CMAA Crane Manufacturers Association of America.  The CMAA is part of of the OSHA Alliance Program.  

Here is a link to an 8 minute video about crane safety provided by OSHA and The Department of Labor.