National Safety Stand-Down 2014
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Take Safety Home: Grilling Safety
Summer is just about to kick off, so let’s take a moment to talk about grilling safety. The two biggest concerns when it comes to grilling and safety are burns and fires. Before firing up the BBQ this weekend, make sure you take into account these important safety tips:
General Grilling Safety
- Only use your grill outdoors.
- Keep the grill away from the house and out from underneath eaves or second-floor decks.
- Don’t leave the grill unattended.
- Keep a fire extinguisher close by and know how to use it.
- Keep pets and small children away from the grill.
- Clean the grill either before or after each use. Make sure to remove all grease and fat buildup from the trays underneath.
- Do not operate a grill if you’re intoxicated.
- Cook all food thoroughly to avoid salmonella poisoning or other harmful bacteria buildup.
- Use long-handled utensils to avoid burns.
Charcoal Grills
- Add starter fluid before lighting the coals, and never after. Do not add starter fluid to hot coals.
- Burning charcoal produces carbon monoxide. Avoid breathing in the fumes.
- Do not store lighter fluid or other flammable materials near the grill and keep them out of the reach of pets and children.
- When finished grilling, close all vents and let the fire burn out. Let ashes cool at least 48 hours before disposing of them.
Propane Grills
- At the beginning of the season, use a soapy water solution to check tanks, hoses, and connectors for leaks. Brush the solution over the hoses and connectors. If you see bubbles develop, you have a leak and need to have it repaired or replaced before you begin grilling.
- Keep the lid open when lighting the grill.
- If unable to light the grill within 10 seconds, turn off the gas, leave the lid open and wait 5 minutes before trying again.
- Never use an accelerant like lighter fluid on a propane grill.
- When finished grilling, turn off the burner and close the valve on the propane tank.
- When the grill has completely cooled, cover it with a grill cover to prevent leaves and other detritus from building up around the grill and tank parts and to prevent rusting.
Have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend!
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: Household Electronics Disposal
If you’re like most people, you probably have a box full of old household electronics and have no idea what to do with them. Should you donate or recycle? Do you know what you need to do before you donate or recycle your personal electronics?
Donating used (but still operating) electronics for reuse extends the lives of valuable products and keeps them out of the waste stream for a longer period of time. By donating your used household electronics, you allow schools, nonprofit organizations, and lower-income families to obtain equipment that they otherwise could not afford.
However, before donating your computer or other electronics, make sure the equipment is reusable. A donation organization may have limited or in many cases no resources to diagnose and repair hardware. A functional, working system—especially with monitor, wiring, and software licenses—is a lot more useful and requires less upgrading than a nonworking, incomplete computer. Also, be sure to delete all personal information.
If donating your electronics is not an option, then recycle them. Manufacturers and retailers offer several options to recycle electronics. Electronics recyclers provide comprehensive recycling operations. Some of the commodities that can be extracted from electronic equipment — in particular, steel, aluminum, gold, silver, titanium, copper, nickel, plastic, and glass — are used as valuable raw material in the manufacture of new products. Remember, donating or recycling your used household electronics is a win-win situation. You dispose of your unwanted items and in doing so, you’re protecting the environment and providing help to those in need!
On a similar and important note, PA residents, as of January 24, 2013, are no longer allowed to throw away electronic devices with other municipal waste. They must take them to an electronics recycling center, leave them for curbside pickup if the community offers an electronics collection program, or use an approved mail-back or buy-back program.
Helpful Links for Household Electronics Disposal:
- EPA’s eCycling Page – Some great information and resources for dealing with electronic waste.
- Best Buy’s Electronic Recycling Program
- Staples Easy on the Planet Electronics Recycling Program
- Where You Live eCycling – Find local resources where you can recycle your household electronics.
- PA DEP Covered Device Recycling Act – A fact sheet on the PA rule regarding recycling of household electronics.
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: Trick-or-Treat Safety
Halloween night is fast approaching but before you send your children out to go Trick-or-Treating, please remember a few safety tips that will help to keep your family safe:
- Check your town’s curfew times so your child can get as much trick-or-treating in as they want.
- Young children should always be accompanied by an adult.
- Older children should always trick-or-treat with friends, never alone. Plan a safe route for them to trick-or-treat, set a time for their return, and make sure they have a cell phone with them in the case of an emergency.
- Teach your children to stay in populated areas that are well lit and remind them to never go into the home of a stranger.
- Give your child a flashlight, glow stick or fasten reflective tape to their costume or bag to help make them more visible to drivers on the road.
- Remind your children to never walk too close to lit candles or luminaries and be sure they wear flame-resistant costumes.
- Avoid costumes that drag on the ground and are a tripping hazard to your child. If your child is wearing a mask, make sure that they can see clearly and their vision is not hindered. Make sure the shoes they are wearing are comfortable; sometimes princess shoes, large boots, or other types of shoes that are shown with costumes are cute, but definitely not practical.
- Most importantly, your children should not eat any treats until they bring them home and parents have a chance to examine them.
Wishing everyone a happy, safe, and fun Halloween!
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: CPR for Children & Adults
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR, is a technique that can save someone’s life when their breathing or heartbeat has stopped. A new approach to administering CPR is now being used: CPR with hands only and no mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. This procedure is recommended for use on adults who suddenly collapse. Most cardiac emergencies occur at home. With that in mind, always remember that the life you save with CPR is most likely to be someone you love.
Even if you are not trained in CPR, it is better to help a victim than to do nothing at all. If you see an unresponsive adult who is not breathing or not breathing normally, call 911 and push hard and fast on the center of the chest. Immediate CPR can double or even triple a victim’s chance of survival. The best way to learn how to administer CPR is in a class taught by a certified instructor.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends conventional CPR (that is, CPR with a combination of breaths and compressions) for all infants and children, for adult victims who are found already unconscious and not breathing normally, and for any victims of drowning or collapse due to breathing problems. To find out more information go to the American Heart Association website.
Here’s a short video from the AHA on Hands-Only CPR:
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: Fire Prevention Week 2011
Fire Prevention Week 2011 starts October 9th and the theme this year is “Protect Your Family From Fire”. According to the NFPA this year’s theme focuses on how to protect your family from fire by planning ahead and integrating simple things into your everyday life.
Does your family know what to do in an emergency situation, such as a house fire? How about preventing a house fire? Does your family have a Home Fire Safety Plan?
If not, you can visit the NFPA website at http://www.firepreventionweek.org for information on the leading causes of home fires, how to protect your home and family with life-saving technologies, and the importance of home escape planning. The website also provides a downloadable Family Fire Safety Checklist and a Home Fire Escape Plan Grid to help you and your family develop a home fire escape plan. However it’s not enough to just develop your plan; it is important that your family practice your escape plan at least twice a year.
Remember that working smoke alarms, home fire sprinklers, a home fire escape plan and identifying potential hazards are all important parts of a home fire safety plan and will protect your family from a fire.
For fire prevention tips for the workplace and jobsite, please click here.
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: Button Batteries and Children
Button batteries can be found in several of our household products and many children’s toys and games. Do we realize the dangers our children are being exposed to? These tiny batteries are just the sort of thing a curious child might swallow. They can become lodged in a child’s throat or intestine and can release hydroxide which can cause chemical burns or even death. Most times, parents aren’t even aware that their child has swallowed a battery because symptoms may start out with a mild fever and upset stomach which many physicians relate to common childhood illnesses.
Recently, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has introduced a bill that would make it harder for children to access button cell batteries, significantly reducing the risk of ingestion. Under the proposed Button Cell Battery Safety Act of 2011, the Consumer Product Safety Commission would create two sets of standards for producing button cell batteries. The first standard would secure button cell battery compartments to prevent access by children. The second would mandate that warning labels be placed on battery packaging, in any literature that is included with the product, and where feasible, on the product itself. Let’s be a step ahead when it comes to our kids’ safety!
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: Hazardous Waste
Disposing of household chemicals safely means that they must be disposed of in a way that will not harm people or the environment. Many everyday household products and materials contain a wide range of chemicals, some of which pose a serious threat to our health and the environment. Cleaning products, home improvement products, car care and maintenance products and any product labeled toxic, flammable or corrosive are all common hazardous products in our homes. We need to educate ourselves to minimize usage of these hazardous products. We should be using nontoxic alternatives whenever possible.
Household chemicals should never be poured down the drain, or into the soil because of the possibility of contaminating our water systems or the ground. Many local communities host collection events for Household Hazardous Waste (HHW). Make sure to bring your products and materials in the original containers with labels intact so they can be correctly identified and disposed of properly. If any of your containers are leaking, wrap them in newspaper and place them in a plastic bag. Make sure all lids and caps are tightly secured. Place your items in a box when transporting them and cushion them with newspaper as a filler. If you have any chemicals that will react with one another, make sure you place them in separate parts of your vehicle. Make it a point to call your community to see when they will be holding their next event and what materials they accept.
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: Drinking & Driving
Despite all of the warnings, public awareness & educational programs, stiffer penalties for violations, and efforts by our law enforcement agencies to crack down on offenders, every day people are arrested for driving while under the influence. Every state has now lowered the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits. For drivers age 21 and older it is now 0.08 %. All states have also passed zero tolerance laws which prohibit drivers under 21 from having any measurable amount of alcohol in their blood system. Each state has an Implied Consent Law, which means that if you have a driver’s license, you must consent to submitting to a chemical test if properly asked by police.
There are things we can do to avoid letting ourselves or our family & friends get behind the wheel after any alcohol consumption.
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- Always pick a designated driver before going out.
- If you are hosting a party where alcohol is being served, have the numbers of taxi services at hand for your guests.
- Take the car keys from someone who has been drinking.
- If you see someone on the road who you believe is drunk, report the car along with its description & location to the police.
- Out drinking and don’t have the number for a cab company? Install the Cab4Me app on your smart phone. It will find the closest cab company to your location and provide you with the phone number.
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.
Take Safety Home: Preparing for the Heating Season
Fall is upon us and it’s time to start thinking about what we can do to prepare for the cold weather. One important preparation is being sure that your home and heater are ready.
Make sure that your home is properly weatherized. Caulking, sealing and weather-stripping around all of your windows, outside doors, or where plumbing, duct work and electrical wiring penetrate exterior walls, floors or ceilings can add up to big savings on your heating bill.
If you have a fireplace, your chimney and fireplace should be inspected by a chimney service before you use it for the season, and should be cleaned if necessary. Cleaning is important because chimney flues that become lined with creosote are a fire hazard.
It’s also important to have your heating unit inspected and serviced each year before you use it. Make sure to change or clean your furnace’s filters regularly. Having your heater serviced will keep it performing optimally.
During combustion your furnace creates Carbon Monoxide, a colorless, odorless gas that can be deadly. Normally the CO produced by the combustion is exhausted up the chimney and out of your home. However, a furnace that is not working properly can leave CO in your home. You can protect yourself from CO poisoning by installing a CO detector in your furnace room.
This information is provided as a service to you by Compliance Consultants, Inc.