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The 2012 Great British Columbia ShakeOut earthquake drill is this Thursday (October 18th at 10:18 a.m.), and more than 570,000 people are registered to participate. In total more than 13.6 million people worldwide that will practice earthquake safety Thursday, and even more will see and learn what to do through your example.
DROP to the ground (before the earthquake drops you!)
Take COVER by getting under a sturdy desk or table (or against a wall with your arms covering your head/neck), and
HOLD ON to your shelter until the shaking stops
After your drill, share photos, stories and tweet your drill (use #shakeoutbc).
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If you perform any task at the workplace that requires the use of a respirator you must ensure that it fits properly and has a good seal on your face. A fit test needs to be done yearly to check that contaminated air cannot leak into the respirator and be inhaled.
To ensure a good fit, nothing, including eyeglass frames, head coverings or beards, sideburns, or stubble must come between your respirator and your skin where the respirator seals with your face.
When must you do a fit test?
- Before you use your respirator the first time
- Once a year
- If you experience physical changes, weight gain or loss
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Because office areas are not the most hazardous parts of most industrial workplaces, they may not be a safety priority for you and safety probably isn’t an issue much on the minds of office workers, either. As a result, minor hazards go undetected, and those small problems can become costly injuries.
What are the major hazards for office workers?
Falls account for the highest number of disabling injuries and the highest percentage of lost workdays due to such injuries.
People fall while getting into and up from chairs, leaning back and tilting chairs, standing on chairs, and putting their feet up on the desk.
Other office safety hazards include:
- Poor housekeeping
- Wet surfaces
- Improperly placed cords
- Obstructed walkways
- Open file drawers
- Stairs
- Ergonomic risks (e.g., head and neck strains from improper desk/computer setup, stiffness from too much sitting, discomfort from cradling the phone between head and shoulder)
- Overexertion from lifting
- Poor lighting
- Struck by injuries (from doors, desks, carts, etc.)
- Shocks from faulty electrical equipment
- Poor air quality and bad ventilation
- Sedentary lifestyle, which can lead to health problems
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Three of the most common workplace eye and face hazards are flying objects, hazardous chemicals, and dust. And the most common of these three is flying objects.
Flying objects are believed to cause the majority of workplace eye injuries, and more than half the objects involved are smaller than the head of a pin.
Hazards might include:
- Fragments
- Chips
- Particles
- Sand and dirt
Depending on operations these objects may be bits of wood, metal, plastic, or other material.
Work processes that might put workers at risk of flying object eye and face injuries include:
- Chipping
- Grinding
- Machining
- Masonry work
- Wood working
- Sawing
- Drilling
- Chiseling
- Powered fastening
- Riveting
- Sanding
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The only way to know whether workplace hazards exist and whether or not they are safely under control is to look for them on a regular basis. That’s what self-inspections are all about.
- Processing, receiving, shipping, and storage, including equipment, job planning, layout, heights, floor loads, projection of materials, material handling and storage methods, and training for material handling equipment.
- Building and grounds conditions, including floors, walls, ceilings, exits, stairs, walkways, ramps, platforms, driveways, and aisles.
- Housekeeping program, including waste disposal, tools, objects, materials, leakage and spillage, cleaning methods, schedules, work areas, remote areas, and storage areas.
- Electricity, including equipment, switches, breakers, fuses, switch-boxes, junctions, special fixtures, circuits, insulation, extensions, tools, motors, grounding, and national electric code compliance.
- Lighting, including type, intensity, controls, conditions, diffusion, location, and glare and shadow control.
- Heating and ventilation, including type, effectiveness, temperature, humidity, controls, and natural and artificial ventilation and exhausting.
- Machinery, including points of operation, flywheels, gears, shafts, pulleys, key ways, belts, couplings, sprockets, chains, frames, controls, lighting for tools and equipment, brakes, exhausting, feeding, oiling, adjusting, maintenance, lockout/tagout, grounding, work space, location, and purchasing standards.
- Personnel, including hazard identification training, experience, methods of checking machines before use, type of work clothing, PPE, use of guards, tool storage, work practices, and methods for cleaning, oiling, or adjusting machinery.
- Hand and power tools, including purchasing standards, inspection, storage, repair, types, maintenance, grounding, and use and handling.
- Hazardous materials, including storage, handling, transportation, spills, disposals, amounts used, labeling, toxicity or other harmful effects, warning signs, supervision, training, protective clothing and equipment, and hazard communication requirements.
- Fire prevention, including extinguishers, alarms, sprinklers, smoking rules, exits, personnel assigned, separation of flammable materials and dangerous operations, explosion-proof fixtures in hazardous locations, waste disposal, and training of personnel.
- Maintenance, including regular and preventive maintenance on all equipment used at the worksite, recording all work performed on the machinery, and training of personnel on the proper care and servicing of the equipment.
- PPE, including type, size, maintenance, repair and replacement, age, storage, assignment of responsibility, purchasing methods, standards observed, training in care and use, rules of use, and method of assignment.
- Transportation, including motor vehicle safety, seat belts, vehicle maintenance, and safe driver programs.
- First aid program and supplies, including medical care facility locations, posted emergency phone numbers, first aid training for responders, and accessible first aid kits.
- Evacuation plan, including procedures for an emergency evacuation; procedures for specific emergencies such as fire, chemical/biological incidents, bomb threat, etc.; escape procedures and routes; critical plant operations; employee accounting following an evacuation; rescue and medical duties; and procedures for reporting emergencies.
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When EMS arrives the first thing they do is give oxygen.
There is a medical emergency in your future. Having emergency oxygen on hand prepares you to turn it into a lifesaving situation.
In the case of a heart attack and/or stroke the heart muscle does not receive blood and therefore, is not receiving any oxygen. If efforts are made early in the course of a heart attack to increase the amount of oxygen reaching the heart, then the patient’s chances of surviving increase. By supplying the patient with supplemental oxygen we can increase their chance of survival and quick recovery.
FACT: During an emergency, lay rescuers need a simple straightforward design in order to minimize the time necessary to start life-saving oxygen therapy. As the regulator is the main user interface it is important that is be as user friendly as possible.
FACT: SOS Emergency Response Technologies has the ONLY portable emergency oxygen unit with a two stage regulator. It’s like having two oxygen regulators in one unit:
- Dependable
- Safe
- Accurate
- Superb performance
- Reliable
A primary factor to consider before implementing an oxygen program in the workplace is the cost of the equipment, training and service versus the cost of the human factor. Other factors to consider include the possibility of decreased sick time post injury/illness and enhanced employee to employee relations due to health and safety improvement.
Emergency oxygen should be available in any safety conscious facility with properly trained personnel.
