Vintage Office Safety

Push-button ignition: Is it safe?

- From ConsumerReports.org

Vehicle technology has come a long way in the past decade and many new features have helped reduce the number of crashes and fatalities. Systems such as electronic stability control (which will be mandated in vehicles starting with the 2012 model year), antilock brakes, air bags, and traction control have been credited with saving thousands of lives each year.

Then there are other vehicle features that are more for convenience such as Bluetooth capability, iPod connectivity, heated seats, tilt and telescope steering wheels, and keyless entry and push-button ignition.  These features aid in comfort and help enhance the driving experience. However, sometimes a new feature can add more complexities and confusion and create safety concerns. Our car team discussed this recently with the new MyFord dashboard interface, which may cause driver distraction. And now, in light of the recent Toyota recalls, there are questions about the safety of vehicles with push-button ignition.

Driving Distracted – Cell Phones and You

Drivers make more mistakes when talking on a cell phone than when talking to passengers, new research shows.

This finding addresses the common question about whether driver distraction comes from cell-phone use specifically or conversation generally. A full report appears in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, published by the American Psychological Association.

Even when drivers used a hands-free cell phone, driving performance was significantly compromised. “Cell phone and passenger conversation differ in their impact on a driver’s performance; these differences are apparent at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels of performance,” the researchers wrote.

The study, led by Frank Drews, PhD, of the University of Utah, analyzed the driving performance of 41 mostly young adult drivers paired with 41 friends who served as conversation partners. Both sexes were equally represented.

Don’t Belt Your Employees

Back injuries are among the most common workplace injuries, accounting for an estimated one in five on-the-job injuries. Those injuries cost U.S. industry billions of dollars every year, not to mention the pain and suffering the injured workers have to endure.

One of the most common means that employers use to address this problem is to mandate use of “back support belts”. The two biggest problems with this solution are the employer expense ($15-$20 each on average), and the misinformed belief that they actually prevent back injury. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, employers that rely on back belts to prevent injury should be aware that there is no scientific evidence supporting their use. NIOSH goes on to state:

“As a result of the NIOSH review, the Institute is concerned with the potentially harmful effects associated with a false sense of security that may accompany back belt use. There is some research showing that workers believe they can lift more when wearing a back belt. If workers falsely believe they are protected, they may subject themselves to even greater risk by lifting more weight than they would have without a belt.“

Here are some keys to preventing back injuries from taking down your workers – and your bottom line.

Warning Signs and Tags – Would OSHA Approve Yours?

OSHA says that its specifications for workplace safety signs and tags apply to the design, application, and use of all signs or symbols intended to indicate and define specific hazards.

According to OSHA, all workplace safety signs must:

• Contain sufficient information to be easily understood.
• Be concise, accurate, and easy to read.
• Identify the hazard.
• Explain in a few words how to prevent accidents and injuries.

In addition, all signs should be placed in prominent locations where workers can see them before they face the hazard.

You also need to be sure that your signs don’t themselves constitute a hazard. That’s why OSHA requires safety signs to have rounded or blunt corners and be free of sharp edges, burrs, splinters, or other sharp projections. Also, the ends or heads of bolts or other fastening devices must be located in such a way that they can’t cause injury.

Must All Safety Training Be Documented?

Do you really need to document every bit of your safety training?  The short answer is, yes, you do, even if OSHA doesn’t require it.

More than 100 separate OSHA rules feature training requirements. Some of those standards also require you to certify that training has been successfully completed and that employees have learned the skills and information they need to work safely.

For example, OSHA’s process safety management standard (29 CFR 1910.119) requires documentation of training, as does the powered industrial truck standard (29 CFR 1910.178). And DOT’s hazardous materials transportation regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180) require you to keep records of training conducted in the preceding 3 years.

Holiday Road Safety: Stay Safe This Holiday Season

From the Centers for Disease Control-

During the upcoming holiday season, and all year, keep safety in mind whenever you’re on the road. Tips from CDC’s Injury Center on motor vehicle safety can help you protect yourself, your passengers, and your family and friends. Whether you’re headed around town, out of town, or out to celebrate, we wish you a safe holiday season.

Protect Your Passengers

Whenever you’re on the road this holiday season, remember to always buckle up. Wearing your seat belt can reduce your risk of dying in a crash by about half.  Also, make sure your young passengers are buckled into appropriate safety seats. The safest place for children of any age to ride is properly restrained in the back seat. Data show that child safety seats reduce the risk of death in car crashes by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers ages one to four.

Learn more about child passenger safety and CDC’s research and activities in this area.

During the holiday season, and year-round, take steps to make sure that you and everyone you celebrate with avoids driving under the influence of alcohol. Following these tips can help you stay safe:

Workplace Violence is Not a Random Act

Workplace violence is awful, and to deal with that awfulness, we tend to describe it as a random act by an unstable person. Yet, thats not true, according to Chris McGoey, an expert and consultant on workplace violence who has investigated many of the worst cases in recent history. “In virtually every case there were signs beforehand which were ignored,” says McGoey. Plus, the sad fact is, workplace violence is far more common than anyone would think. Even as this story was being written, media reports told of an ex-employee at a nail polish factory in New Windsor, N.Y., who returned a year after he was fired and shot a receptionist and the two owners of the business. A USA Today analysis last year indicated that an average of 25 people per week are injured and one person per week dies from workplace violence.

McGoey acknowledges that “its impossible to write a manual that will cover every possible scenario.” So, instead, McGoey says, you plan for a few probable ones and spend the rest of your time getting your response plan down pat. Here are some of McGoeys guidelines.

Disaster Training or Training Disaster?

Emergency training is not “one size fits all.”

The proper emergency response to a fire might be quite different than to a hurricane, a release of toxic chemicals, or a terrorist attack. Not knowing the difference could make a bad situation a lot worse—and you don’t want to wait until a disaster happens to find out that your emergency training is … well, a disaster. So the first step in an effective training program is to identify what types of emergencies might actually occur and determine the appropriate response for each. This may mean that you need to have more than one type of training for different possible emergencies.

Are Employees Prepared for Emergencies?

Who needs to have an Emergency Action Plan?

There are two different, but equally correct, answers to this question. The first answer is that OSHA requires an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) only for employers who are covered by certain standards, such as “Fixed Extinguishing Systems” and “Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals” (other standards also require EAPs). The second answer is that every company really should have an EAP. Not only does OSHA highly recommend it, but it simply makes sense to have a plan for a safe, orderly response to emergencies such as fires, weather events, releases of hazardous substances, etc. And note that even relatively minor incidents, such as small fires or spills, constitute an “emergency” if they trigger an alarm and require employees to stop what they’re doing and evacuate their work areas.