One of the Biggest Recognized Hazards and Twelve Things to Make Your Workplace More Safe

As safety professionals we look at all sorts of hazards and then do our best to either eliminate, control, or protect employees from those hazards.  Well, over the years, fire has been one of the biggest recognized hazards due to its frequency and the damage it can quickly cause.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), in 2015 there were 1,345,500 fires responded to in the United States. These fires caused 3,280 civilian deaths, 15,700 civilian injuries, and $14.3 billion in property damage.

According to the NFPA in 2015

• A fire department responded to a fire every 23 seconds.
• One structure fire was reported every 63 seconds.
• One home structure fire was reported every 86 seconds.
• One civilian fire injury was reported every 33.5 minutes.
• One civilian fire death occurred every 2 hours and 40 minutes.
• One outside and other fire was reported every 49 seconds.
• One highway vehicle fire was reported every 3 minutes 1 seconds.

Gives you the idea that fire safety is important and needs to be addressed in the workplace for employee safety.  In fact WAC 296-800-300 requires employers have fire extinguishers in the workplace and train employees in their use.

Twelve things to help make your workplace more fire safe:

1. Identify fire hazards around your workplace.  Gasoline and other flammable chemicals are common, but what about the clutter of paper or cardboard?
2. Practice good housekeeping, pick up clutter and don’t block fire exits.Designate smoking areas and ensure a place to extinguish smoking materials.
3. Train in fire safety and fire extinguisher use.
4. Report electrical hazards. Many fires start in faulty wiring and malfunctioning electrical equipment.
5. Maintain machinery and equipment.  Preventative maintenance can go a long way in preventing fires.
6. Keep fire sprinkler systems and smoke detectors in operating condition and remember to always keep sprinkler head free and clear of materials.
7. Use and store chemicals safely.
8. Control accumulations of flammable and combustible waste.
9. Prevent ignition sources in atmospheres that could be explosive.
10. Have a fire evacuation plan and ensure all employees know where to go when they evacuate.  
11. Post diagrams for exit locations and assembly areas.
12. Employees should have a list of emergency contact phone numbers that is written down.

Of course employee roles and responsibilities need to be assigned and trained before the emergency.  You need a written plan to form the basis and you need training to make it work.  There was once a great philosopher by the name of “Snoopy”  (yes the dog from Peanuts) that told his friend Woodstock that “ten minutes before the party is not the time to learn how to dance.”  In other words, you have to plan and train before it happens.

Fire and emergency planning can be difficult, but we can help, so give us a call today.

Contributed by Eric Tofte, Director of Training Evergreen Safety Council

Workers and Fatigue

In dealing with safety you learn that there are hazards out there that are recognized, but there is no actual rule that covers the hazard.  This is true about sleep and the workplace.  There is no OSHA rule that covers fatigue, etc. that comes from lack of sleep to working unusual shifts.

According to OSHA, extended or unusual work shifts may be more stressful physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Non-traditional shifts and extended work hours may disrupt the body’s regular schedule, leading to increased fatigue, stress, and lack of concentration. These effects lead to an increased risk of operator error, injuries and/or accidents.

Fatigue is a message to the body to rest. If rest is not possible, fatigue can increase until it becomes distressing and eventually debilitating. The symptoms of fatigue, both mental and physical, vary and depend on the person and his or her degree of overexertion.

Some examples include:

• Weariness,
• Sleepiness,
• Irritability,
• Reduced alertness, lack of concentration and memory,
• Lack of motivation,
• Increased susceptibility to illness,
• Depression,
• Headache,
• Giddiness, and/or
• Loss of appetite and digestive problems.

OSHA recommends that when there is a choice, managers should limit the use of extended shifts and increase the number of days employees work. Working shifts longer than 8 hours will generally result in reduced productivity and alertness. Additional break periods and meals should be provided when shifts are extended past normal work periods. Tasks that require heavy physical labor or intense concentration should be performed at the beginning of the shift if possible. This is an important consideration for pre-emergency planning.

In addition managers and supervisors should learn to recognize signs and symptoms of the potential health effects associated with extended and unusual work shifts. Workers who are being asked to work extended or irregular shifts should be diligently monitored for the signs and symptoms of fatigue. Any employee showing such signs should be evaluated and possibly directed to leave the active area and seek rest.

Contributed by Eric Tofte, Director of Training Evergreen Safety Council

Continental Mills, Inc. Cooks Up a Winning Safety Trend

Evergreen Safety Council is proud to recognize Continental Mills, Inc. as the 2015 recipient of the John D. Spellman Safety Award. 

Continental Mills, a manufacturer of premium dry-mix baked goods led by their Krusteaz® brand pancake, muffin, and cookie mixes, as well as their Ghirardelli® brownie mix, operates four manufacturing and distribution centers with corporate offices in Tukwila, WA.

Continental Mills, Inc. was chosen for the award because over the past eight years they achieved an 87% reduction in injury incident rates.  Though they started with an incident rate that was already well below the national average, further decreases since 2014 have moved them to a “Best in Class” ranking in their industry. The award was presented to Continental Mills on
June 24th, 2016.

Continental Mills employed a company-wide strategy led by Bob Toohey, CSP, Senior Manager of EHS, to improve their safety systems including:

• a goal of 100% employee involvement with program ownership by operations leaders,
• use of internal safety systems audits for continuing improvement, and
• establishing a “Risk Predictions” model and campaign for employee use on multiple levels in planning safe daily work.

John Heily, CEO & Chairman of the Board at Continental Mills stated “We are very proud of the recognition we have received from the Evergreen Safety Council for promoting a culture of safety in the workplace.  This recognition truly belongs to the 800 Continental Mills employees that make a safe workplace environment a reality.  We will continue to invest, collaborate, train, and listen to our workforce, and strive to achieve our preferred future which is having an accident free environment.

The annual John D. Spellman Safety Award was created in 2006 to recognize ESC members that have demonstrated outstanding safety achievements or have shown they are actively pursuing and reinforcing a positive safety culture in their workplace.  The award also recognizes Governor John D.
Spellman. King County’s first elected County Executive and Washington’s 18th Governor, Governor Spellman has also been a member of ESC’s Board of Directors for more than 35 years and has served as Chairman of the Board since 1998.

Family-owned Continental Mills, Inc. began operating in 1932 and produces more than 500 products under several breakfast, baking, and snack brands. Continental Mills headquarters is located in Tukwila, WA and employs 800 people between the Corporate office and four manufacturing facilities in Washington, Kentucky, Illinois and Kansas.  CM products are sold through retail, foodservice, and club store channels throughout the United States.

Contributed by Tom Odegaard, President/Executive Director Evergreen Safety Council

Safety Violations Can & Will Get You Fined

A Washington State roofing company  has been repeatedly cited for several safety violations, and most notably for fall protection violations by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). 

Recently fined $427,000 for exposing workers to fall hazards without adequate fall protection, the company was also cited for failing to effectively train workers in how to use fall protection systems or equipment.  This is considered a “serious” violation, with a penalty of $7,000 alone.  A serious violation exists in a workplace if there is a substantial probability that worker death or serious physical harm could result from a hazardous condition.

“Falls from heights are completely preventable, and yet they’re a leading cause of worker fatalities and hospitalizations in our state,” said Anne Soiza, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.  “We’re hopeful that this will lead to proper fall protection practices for all of their workers, all the time, going forward.”

Save lives and your bottom line.

Are you concerned that your company may not be up-to-date on state regulations and required training?

We can help.  Evergreen Safety Council experts can provide customized safety training at your site or ours.

Our consultants can also help with:

• Developing written safety programs,
• Safety audits and inspections,
• Assist with OSHA/L&I citation abatement, or
• Serve as safety advisors for projects

For more information, please contact Stephanie at (800) 521-0778 or Stephanie@esc.org.

Contributed by Eric Tofte, Director of Training and Consulting Evergreen Safety Council

Preparing for the Big One

A region-wide exercise to test the emergency response to a major disaster in the Cascadia Subduction Zone

Science points to a large magnitude earthquake happening along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the 800-mile fault line that runs from California to the Island of British Columbia, on average once every 200 to 500 years. That means we may be about due.

A 9.0 magnitude earthquake along this fault, and the resulting tsunami, is the most complex disaster scenario that emergency management and public safety officials in the Pacific Northwest could face. Cascadia Rising was an emergency simulation exercise that happened this past June 7th -10th to address such a disaster.

Federal officials estimated more than 20,000 people were involved in the four day disaster drill, representing various federal agencies, the U.S. military, and state and local emergency response managers from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, Native American Tribes and emergency management
officials in British Columbia.

Simulating the massive earthquake and tsunami was a way of testing plans and procedures and is an invaluable way to tell what worked and what didn’t. Some of the major lessons learned? How important information sharing and good communication are, as well as the need to address key resources like fuel and food.

Did you know?

  
September is National Preparedness Month. Sponsored by FEMA, it encourages Americans to take steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, schools, and communities. Take part and get more resources at www.ready.gov/get-involved  and community.fema.gov.

This Ongoing Operation Can Reduce Accidents and Hazards, and Improve Morale

With the changing times of the season there usually is some “safety” week dealing with any sort of safety issue.  Well there is one safety issue that we feel needs to be addressed all the time and that is Basic Housekeeping.

Effective housekeeping will eliminate some workplace hazards and help get a job done safely and properly.  Poor housekeeping can frequently contribute to accidents by hiding hazards. If the sight of debris, clutter and spills is accepted as normal, then other more serious health and safety hazards may be taken for granted.

Housekeeping is not just cleanliness.  It includes keeping work areas neat and orderly; maintaining halls and floors free of slip or trip hazards; and removing of waste materials (e.g., paper, cardboard) and other fire hazards from work areas.  It also requires paying attention to important details such as the layout of the whole workplace, aisle marking, the adequacy of storage facilities, and maintenance.  Good housekeeping is also a basic part of accident and fire prevention.

Effective housekeeping is an ongoing operation: it is not a hit-and-miss cleanup done occasionally.  Housekeeping order is “maintained” not “achieved.”  Cleaning and organization must be done regularly, not just at the end of the shift.  Integrating housekeeping into jobs can help ensure this is done regularly.

The final addition to any housekeeping program is inspection. It is the only way to check for deficiencies in the program so that changes can be made.  Consider documentation and using checklists for inspecting offices and manufacturing facilities to track progress.

Contributed by Eric Tofte, Director of Training Evergreen Safety Council

On or Off the Job–Vehicle Crashes Have Big Costs for Employers

Many individuals never realize the financial impact of vehicle crashes on employers. However, a report just released by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS), shows the significant costs to employers that direct crash-related expenses have whether the crash happened on or off the job.

The report, Cost of Motor Vehicle Crashes to Employers-2015™, details the costs to employers of traffic crashes occurring on and off the job, and shows an annual cost of nearly 47.5 billion dollars in crash-related expenses, including medical care, liability, lost productivity, and property damage.

Nearly half of this cost resulted from off-the-job vehicle crashes.

The report shows that more than 1.6 million work days were lost due to traffic crashes, with nearly 90 percent of those days attributed to crashes that occurred off the job, involving employees and/or their dependents.

• Speeding resulted in $8.4 billion in crash-related expenses,
• Distracted driving was close behind, at $8.2 billion,
• Driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs resulted in $6.0 billion in losses, and
• Not wearing a seat belt added $4.9 billion to the total.

The good news? Developing a proactive traffic safety program is one of the best ways to control costs from workplace vehicle crashes. Besides keeping our roads safe, protecting employees from a motor vehicle crash injury can be a profitable investment of time and resources for any organization.

Proven success has been found in initiating “work-life” programs for all employees, especially programs that use workers as channels for getting traffic safety information to their family and community.

One easy, low cost campaign that has been around for some time is an employee wide seat-belt use campaign. (Get your free toolkit at 2seconds2click.org.) Other topics to consider are: trip planning, vehicle safety checks, defensive driving techniques, fatigue management, and driver’s behavior.

Evergreen Safety Council’s EverSafe Driving program addresses all of these topics, and more. The EverSafe Driving program can be presented by an experienced Evergreen Safety Council trainer at your location and customized to match your vehicles and driving situations, or you can send an employee through the Evergreen Safety Council Instructor Development course so they can become
qualified to conduct classes for your organization.

Help protect your most valuable resource (your employees) with defensive driving training through ESC’s EverSafe Driving Program. Contact us for more information.

Contributed by Tom Odegaard, President/Executive Director Evergreen Safety Council

Scholarships for Members and Their Families

Evergreen Safety Council views membership as a gateway to establishing a safety partnership with you and your employees. Member organizations and individuals have low-cost access to valuable information, resources, and training that will help protect you, your employees, and your business from dangerous situations, accidents, and costly mistakes.

But did you know that members and their families also have access to apply for several different scholarships?

Paid for with a percentage of membership fees, esc has the Monty C. Lish & Stanley O. McNaughton scholarship for safety and health careers. This scholarship was developed to encourage more college students to consider safety and health professions as viable and worthwhile careers. Deadline: February 15, 2016.

We are also proud to offer ESC members access to apply for a $1000 college scholarship from the American Association of Safety Councils (AASC). Deadline: March 1, 2016.

If the student is a resident of Washington State and meets other eligibility requirements, The Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board, Construction Safety Planning Committee, is once again offering a $1,250 scholarship. Deadline: March 16, 2016.

Learn more about the requirements and applying on our website under Membership, then Scholarships and Awards.

Deadlines are coming up fast! Not a member? Learn more about membership and apply on our website at www.esc.org.

Contributed by Tom Odegaard, President/Executive Director Evergreen Safety Council

Updated CPR and First Aid Guidelines

On October 15, 2015 the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) released updated CPR and First Aid Guidelines. To comply with these new recommendations and ILCOR, First Aid instructors must complete an instructor update course by the end of 2016. instructors can continue to teach and certify using the 2010 materials until December 31, 2016.

On January 1, 2017, any instructor or instructor trainer who has not yet completed the class covering these changes in treatment recommendations will not be authorized to issue ASHI First Aid certification cards.

Evergreen Safety Council has a couple of these classes already slated for February 11 and March 21, in Kirkland, WA.

Here is a brief overview of a few of these changes that have been incorporated in the ASHI/HSI training:

• In the area of education they found that the use of a CPR feedback device (like the Loop) is very effective for improving CPR skills and if one is not available, use a device such as a metronome to improve adherence to recommendations for chest compressions (which is now 100 to 120 per minute).
  
• Findings show that most CPR compressions are too shallow and it is more effective to compress deeper rather than shallower. The recommendation is a depth of at least 2 inches and not deeper than 2.4 inches.
  
• Pediatric CPR compression rates are also 100 to 120 per minute and they are recommending deeper compressions of at least 1/3 the anterior-posterior diameter of the chest for those aged one month to the onset of puberty.
  
• On burns it is now recommended that thermal burns are cooled with cool or cold potable water for at least 10 minutes. If water is not available a clean cool compress can be used to loosely cover the burn. (Care should be taken to monitor for hypothermia when cooling large burns.) Also with burns it is NOT recommended to use natural remedies, however if you are in a wilderness setting honey could be used on a burn.
  
• They are now recommending that following a dental avulsion, it is essential to seek rapid assistance with  re-implantation of the tooth. if you cannot get to a dentist soon put the tooth in milk or clean water if milk is not available.
  
• The anaphylaxis emergencies have been updated to state that if a person with anaphylaxis does not respond to the initial does of epinephrine and the arrival of EMS exceeds 5 to 10 minutes a repeat dose of epinephrine may be considered.
  
• There have been a couple of new additions to the concussion area which are if:
  
  
  • Any person with a head injury that has resulted in a change in level of consciousness or has progressive development of signs or symptoms of a concussion should be evaluated by a medical professional as soon as possible, and
    
  • Using any mechanical machinery, driving, cycling, or continuing to participate in sports after a head injury should be deferred until they are assessed by a medical professional.
    
  • Bleeding control has also been updated to include training in tourniquets. According to the guidelines because the rate of complications is low and the rate of hemostasis is high, first aid providers may consider the use of a tourniquet when standard first aid hemorrhage control does not control severe external limb bleeding. It is reasonable for first aid providers to be trained in the proper application of tourniquets, both manufactured and improvised. In addition, hemostatic dressings may be considered by first aid providers when standard bleeding control is not effective for severe or life threatening bleeding.

Remember that the new science and treatment recommendations do not imply that emergency care or instruction involving the use of earlier science and 2010 treatment recommendation is unsafe.

Contributed by Eric Tofte, Director of Training Evergreen Safety Council