Develop Your Defensible Space

Wildland-Urban Interface

An interesting term that means where the homes meet the forest (wildland). It is this area that can become dangerous during the summer months, when there is a high threat of wildfire. This year the threat is higher due to the wet winter and the larger than normal amount of grasses and other fine fire fuels in the forest.

This year the threat may also be high in the Western Washington area, in addition to the already dry Eastern Washington area.

So what can you do?

The basic step is called developing a defensible space around your home or workplace. Things like using the zone concept of limiting the amount of flammable vegetation and materials surrounding the building and increasing the moisture content of remaining vegetation. The building itself and everything around it up to 100 – 200 feet is known as the ‘home ignition zone.’  In areas across the country where the risk of wildfire is high, the home ignition zone extends up to 200 feet beyond the actual home structure.

There is not enough space in this article to cover all that should be done, but there are several websites that can help you. One that I worked with in Chelan County is www.firewise.org where you can learn more about the zone concept under the Wildfire Preparedness tab.

If you live in an area that could be threatened by wildfire take a moment to check out the information and start developing your defensible space. You can’t wait until the last minute on this one.

Contributed by Eric Tofte, Director of Training Evergreen Safety Council

Injury Prevention and Safety in the Workplace

Some Quick Tips to Get You Started

I know that safety professionals understand the cost of workplace injuries and illnesses and that part of their job is to provide ways to reduce, if not eliminate, injury costs. Of course there are both direct and indirect costs to injuries such as training replacement, investigation cost, loss of productivity, and so on. With that said here are a few ideas to assist with injury prevention.

One of the first things is to identify your workplace hazards. Perform a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) to determine safety issues. Pay attention to common incidents. You need to understand what your hazards are at your workplace.

Then be sure to educate your employees regarding identified hazards. Train them in hazard avoidance and job safety. Continually cultivate a safety attitude among both employees and management.

Eliminate all the hazards you can and be sure to provide employees with the proper personal protective equipment. PPE is essential in the workplace and proper use and training is needed from date of first hire.

Incorporate a safety and wellness plan. The basis for a safe work environment is an effective accident prevention and wellness program. The program needs to cover all levels of employee safety and health with the encouragement to report hazards.

Maintain staffing levels. Low staffing levels can lead to overworked employees who may then suffer from exhaustion and cut corners to meet or exceed output. Hiring part-time or seasonal staff could help prevent accidents due to exhaustion.

Beware the shortcut—incidents happen when employees skip steps to get ahead of schedule. Consider developing written procedures for tasks so employees can refer back to them if there are questions.

Make sure equipment is in good working condition and that it is routinely inspected. Have an equipment preventative maintenance program established at your workplace.

Keep your workplace clean and neat. Poor housekeeping can cause serious safety hazards. Slips, trips, and falls are a leading causes of injury, especially with the aging workforce.

Monitor your safety measures. Your safety program needs to be ongoing. Keep track of your incident/accident data and keep reviewing your safety training programs to make sure they are up to date.

Some workers are injured severely enough that they cannot return to work and need ongoing medical care, leading to lost revenue and a reduction in workforce. Providing protective gear and minimal education isn’t enough. Follow the above tips, along with an effective accident prevention and wellness program to reduce the number of workplace injuries and the resulting costs.

If you need help, feel free to give Evergreen Safety Council a call.
 
Contributed by Eric Tofte, Director of Training and Consultation, Evergreen Safety Council

February is American Heart Month

The first American Heart Month was declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. It was created to encourage Americans to join the battle against heart disease.  Since 2004, February also has been the month for the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign to raise awareness of this number one killer of women.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.

While the entire month is dedicated as American Heart Month, the day of February 5th is National Wear Red Day.  By wearing red on February 5th you are helping raise women’s awareness and support education on cardiovascular health.

Why should you Go Red? Heart disease is the number one killer of women, taking more lives than all forms of cancer combined.  Every 80 seconds, one woman is killed by heart disease and stroke.  That’s 1 in 3 deaths among women each year.  80% of these deaths can be prevented with education and action.  These statistics can be shocking, but building awareness is one of the best ways to fight this horrible disease.

Cardiovascular disease is also the leading global cause of death, accounting for more than 17.3 million deaths per year, a number that is expected to grow to more than 23.6 million by 2030.

While heart disease kills around 630,000 Americans each year, about 750,000 people in the U.S. have heart attacks each year.  Of those, about 116,000 die.  About 550,000 people in the U.S. have a first-time heart attack each year, and about 200,000 have recurrent heart attacks.

The American Heart Association gauges the cardiovascular health of the nation by tracking seven key health factors and behaviors that increase risks for heart disease and stroke.  Called “Life’s Simple 7,” they are: not smoking, physical activity, healthy diet, body weight, and control of cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar.  You don’t have to wait until February to get a jump on Life’s Simple 7:

• Get active
• Control cholesterol
• Eat better
• Manage blood pressure
• Lose weight
• Reduce blood sugar
• Stop smoking

Do a My Life Check® through the the American Heart Association website at http://bit.ly/2hkfLiW

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

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

Injury Prevention

Most of us know that the major focus of workplace safety is injury prevention. In order to accomplish this, the first thing any business needs to do is a hazard assessment. Actually that is what safety is about—finding hazards and fixing them. Since most of you reading this understand the basics of finding hazards, we want to focus on some basic practices to prevent workplace incidents.

As you search for hazards understand that even though you as the employer have a duty to protect employees, each worker also has a responsibility to stay safe.  Make sure your employees are following the practices below:

Be safe in transit. Make sure your employees are driving safely and are operating safe vehicles.

Avoid taking short cuts. It is natural to want to get done on time, but do not short cut safety when it comes to on the job.

Know the weather. Dress and be prepared for cold weather and hot weather.

Make sure to use proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and know how to use them.

Injury reduction is a team effort!  Help your company accomplish this and please feel free to contact us at Evergreen Safety Council. We would be honored to be part of your safety team.

By Eric Tofte, Director of Training Evergreen Safety Council