Commercial Motor Vehicle Classes

Contributed by Tina Bacon, Program Coordinator, Evergreen Safety Council
Through our allied partner AdvanceOnline.com, Evergreen Safety Council is proud to offer courses for Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators. These courses are designed to provide the driver with concepts and skill necessary to better perform their duties. Continuing Education Units are available for several of these online training courses. All of these course can be found under the heading of Transportation Courses.

The Best Practices for CMV Drivers series consist of 6 online classes that last approximately 10 minutes each. The on-line training courses can be taken in any order. The cost for each topic listed below is $9.99:

Best Practices for CMV Drivers:

1. Adverse Conditions and Emergency Situations
2. Changing Lanes and Passing
3. Curves, Turns, and Downgrades
4. Pedestrians and Passengers
5. Right-of-Way and Intersections
6. Start-Up, Back-Up, and Parking Procedures

The Cargo Securement for Drivers series consist of eleven online classes. This series is suitable for Drivers who transport multiple types of cargo. The courses in this series cover the general cargo securement rules, as well as the special commodity-specific rules in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).

It is recommended that you begin your training with: Cargo Securement for Drivers: General Requirements. Each course listed below can be taken individually or for a significant savings, purchase all of the courses titles as a bundle (Cargo Securement for Drivers Bundle) for $99.95.

Each course under this listing takes approximately 30-45 minutes to complete. The cost for each topic ranges from $24.95 to $39.95. Register today.

Cargo Securement for Drivers

1. Automobiles, Light Trucks, and Vans, and Flattened or Crushed Vehicles
2. Concrete Pipe
3. Dressed Lumber and Similar Building Products
4. General Requirements
5. Heavy Vehicles, Equipment, and Machinery
6. Intermodal Containers
7. Large Boulders
8. Logs
9. Metal Coils
10. Paper Rolls
11. Roll-On/Roll-Off or Hook Lift

Under the heading DOT HAZMAT Courses, we offer the following 6 online courses. The topics:

1. DOT Hazardous Materials General Awareness (approximately 1 hour)
2. DOT Hazmat Security Awareness for Drivers (approximately 30 minutes)
3. DOT Hazmat Security Awareness for Shippers and Carriers (approximately 30 minutes)
   DOT Training for Drivers of Hazmat Shipments (approximately 4 hours)
4. DOT Training for Offerors of Bulk and Non-bulk Hazmat Packages (approximately 5 hours)
5. DOT Training for Offerors of Non-bulk Hazmat Packages (approximately 4 hours)

Cost for each topic under the DOT HAZMAT Courses range from $29.95 to $69.95. Register now.

The remaining list of courses under Transportation Courses consist of:

1. DOT Driver's Guide to CDL Requirements (approximately 1 hour)
2. DOT Driver's Guide to Driving CMVs (approximately 1 hour)
3. DOT Driving Commercial Motor Vehicles: Rules of the Road (approximately 1 hour)
4. DOT Drug and Alcohol Reasonable Suspicion Training (approximately 2 hours)
5. DOT Financial Responsibility for Passenger-Carrying Motor Carriers (approximately 30 minutes)
6. DOT Financial Responsibility for Property-Carrying Motor Carriers (approximately 30 minutes)
7. DOT Hours of Service for Oilfield Operations (approximately 30 minutes)
8. DOT Motor Carrier General Applicability: Who and When (approximately 1 hour)
9. Driver Wellness (approximately 30 minutes)
10. Tanker Truck Inspections for Drivers (approximately 1 hour)
11. Whistleblower Protection (Transportation) (approximately 30 minutes)

Cost for each of these topics range from $9.95 to $69.95. Register today.

Safety & Health Solutions - February edition

Evergreen Safety Council produces a monthly newsletter covering a variety of safety topics. Each month we will provide a link here to the online PDF.

Inside this Issue:
Lead Article – Why is safety training for employees important?
People in Safety – Brion Beaver, Safety Manager, Cascade Natural Gas
Articles -
Another life saved because two individuals were trained in first aid/CPR
Tractor Safety
How to Brake-Release-Steer
Improve Response to Major Incidents with Better Preparedness and Training
Fun with Forklifts

You can also sign up to receive an electronic copy via email or hard copy via the mail. This link will also take you to a full archive with over four years of past issues.

So pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit back and read all about what's going on in the world of safety & health.

The Commute is Back

Contributed by Sandy Paquette, Trainer, Evergreen Safety Council

The Holidays are over and the I-5 commute is back to the anticipated high volume schedule.

Even while driving for the condition (road, volume, and speed) tends to aggravate people, the majority that becomes hostile are the ones in a hurry weaving in and out of the red taillights just to get one car further ahead.

I can’t figure out why one would want to speed up then stomp on the brake and then quickly change lanes to cause another to have to stomp on their brakes. Then after all of their extraordinary driving skills are accomplished, I end up passing them anyway, by maintaining my same speed and staying in the same lane.

I wonder if some of the companies that provide company vehicles for employee use are aware of their employees’ driving habits. Professional drivers are held to higher standard and expected to follow safe driving practices. All too frequently, it appears that company vehicles (cars, trucks, and buses) are not following their own safety standards.

One would think since their names are on the vehicles, they would have in place measures to enforce safe driving while in those vehicles. Negative driving could affect the company’s image and insurance rates.

For example: I was traveling on south I-5 when a well-known transit company’s bus was tailgating me. After a short way the bus started to flash the headlights (bright) into my vehicle. I checked my speed (it was 60 mph) what is the problem?

I could have moved one lane over, but the problem was that the bus’s headlights were blinding in my mirrors.

Admittedly everyone experiences some form of impatience while commuting. Is it worth the extra 2 minutes gained, the energy used to become angry, and a possibility of causing injury to another?

Evergreen Safety Council offers an EverSafe Driving course. It can be tailored to fit your company’s needs. Do you know how your drivers’ are performing while behind the wheel?

Fewest homicides, traffic deaths in ten years; suicides increase

2009 Medical Examiner’s annual report shows King County death statistics and trends
In 2009, King County saw the lowest number of deaths due to homicide and traffic accidents in the past ten years. By contrast, the number of suicides has increased to the highest number since 2000, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s (KCME) report released today.

The report presents a detailed analysis of deaths that fall under KCME’s jurisdiction, including suspicious, sudden, unexpected or violent deaths in King County for the previous year, as well as trends in homicides, traffic fatalities and drug overdose deaths. For a copy of the full King County Medical Examiner’s 2009 annual report, please call 206-731-3232.

“Medical Examiner death reviews are a critical component of public health prevention efforts,” said Dr. David Fleming, Director and Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County. “Because we know the circumstances, risk factors and trends of death in King County, we can target efforts and work to prevent early deaths. Traffic fatalities are a clear example of this. We know that alcohol and drug impairment, speed and failure to wear seatbelts contribute to traffic fatalities, and we work with partners throughout King County to help alleviate those causes.”

In 2009, there were an estimated 12,967 deaths in King County, and KCME performed autopsies approximately ten percent (1,226) of the time. KCME assumed jurisdiction in 2,190 deaths, which included 989 natural deaths, 632 accidental deaths, 253 suicides, 141 traffic deaths, 63 homicides and 59 undetermined causes.

“Our hearts go out to the friends and families who have suffered losses,” said Dr. Richard Harruff, Chief Medical Examiner. “Every death we review receives our fullest respect and attention. We work to investigate and resolve the manner and cause of death as quickly as possible, and in the most scientific and professional manner so grieving loved ones can find some solace.”

Budget cuts impact KCME
Budget cuts to public health services have impacted the King County Medical Examiner’s office. Since 2009, KCME has eliminated 4.5 full-time death investigators, along with the reduction of a part-time anthropologist. The reduced number of staff has led to fewer investigators on the night shift and longer response times.

Findings from the 2009 report
Compared with 2008, King County had fewer homicides, traffic fatalities, and accidental deaths. Deaths from natural causes and suicides both increased. Firearms were the most frequent instrument of death in homicides and suicides. Of the 146 firearm deaths in 2009, 41 were homicides and 100 were suicides. One firearm death was classified as an accident in 2009.


Targeted prevention efforts at Public Health

Accidental deaths (other)
The most common cause of accidental death was falls, most of which occurred in the age group 70 years and over.

Public Health's response: Public Health's Emergency Medical Services Division (EMS) and local fire departments work to prevent falls in the home and enroll older adults who needed 9-1-1 services in the past for fall-related injuries into a fall prevention program. Falls can result in fractures, and subsequent health complications, and even death, while convalescing.
More information on the fall prevention program.

Suicide
Public Health's response: To prevent suicide deaths, Public Health recommends parents, peers, children of elderly parents, and health care providers learn the warning signs of suicide and where to find help (http://www.crisisclinic.org/ or 1-866-427-4747).

Public Health's Violence & Injury Prevention Unit is a partner in LOK-IT-UP, a campaign which recommends storing all firearms locked and unloaded to help reduce suicide risk. The unit also provides training resources for health care providers to work with patients at-risk for suicide to remove potential methods of death (i.e., firearms) from their surroundings. For more information, call 206-263-8160.

Traffic fatalities
Public Health's response: The Violence & Injury Prevention Unit leads the King County Traffic Safety Coalition, a multi-agency group that works to alleviate the leading causes of traffic fatalities, including alcohol and drug impairment, speed, and failure to wear seat belts.


Source: Seattle King County Public Health
Contact: Katie Ross, 206-263-8781

Going home whole and healthy is priceless

Contributed by Mary Czaja, Safety Intern, Evergreen Safety Council

$1.1 Million is a lot of holiday bonuses, raises, new hires, and money for reinvestment in employees and infrastructure. The violations range from $300,000 for exposing workers to hazardous chemicals to $46,200 for failure to adequately train forklift operators at the Post Office in Des Moines, Iowa. That $1.1 million is from two weeks. Two weeks. Multiply that by the 52 weeks we work in a year. It adds up to millions and millions of dollars that could be going back to business and workers.

Washington State, according to Dianna Jackson of L&I, fined business for a total of 3,301,349 dollars in 2009. The average fine for a serious violation was $479.00. Money sent to the state in the form of fines affects the bottom line. In this economy, the 2.9 average number of violations per initial inspection may add up to an unprofitable year.

According to the Washington State OSHA Annual Report, the ultimate goal of DOSH in partnership with OSHA, is for every worker to go home whole and healthy every day. Until employers make this a reality, inspections and fines are the primary tool for shedding light on the unsafe working conditions faced by the average worker. These fines are punitive in nature and can never replace the lives lost, damaged or scarred by the conditions cited.

Committing to safety starts with the employer and ends with each worker. Initial training, re-training, and a culture that values the well-being of employees will go a long way towards stemming the tide of fines, death, and lose of productivity due to injury. The $1.1 million levied by OSHA would be better spent on educating and training workers in fall protection, forklift operations, respiratory protection, first aid and CPR. Seeing hazards for what they are and fixing them before an inspection would reduce the amount of money lost to fines and increase the bottom line. Keeping workers safe is the right thing to do and makes good fiscal sense.

In this economy who can afford fines, increased claims costs and the loss of productivity associated with inspections and incidents? Safety may have some upfront costs, but in the end, it pays back. It pays towards the bottom line, it pays off in productively and most importantly, it saves lives. Going home whole and healthy is priceless.