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| Encourage Off-the-Job Safety During Home Safety Month |
Your workers may be safety conscious on the job, but does safety follow them home? Probably not. And since off-the-job injuries can be just as – or more – serious than those incurred on the job, it’s in everyone’s best interest to help keep workers safe on and off the job.
June is National Home Safety Month, the perfect time for you to address the subject. Here are three easy ways you can encourage off-the-job safety:
1. Provide PPE: Offer personal protective equipment to employees who have weekend projects planned. Even if it’s just limited to safety goggles and earplugs, the offer of PPE for off-the-job activities reinforces the need to use them.
2. Provide Manuals: Compile a library or identify sources of owners’ manuals for power equipment. With a company safety library, an employee can quickly find how to safely use a particular piece of equipment.
3. Provide Training: Many people undertake home maintenance at this time of year, so you might consider offering training on power tool safety basics or provide demonstrations on how to safely use a ladder.
One of the mainstays of a good off-the-job (OTJ) safety program is addressing seasonal safety topics, such as recreational safety , safe-proofing the home and yard work. You can reinforce these topics with off-the-job posters from SafetyPoster.com.
Need access to additional resources on this topic? Try SafetySmart today and get immediate access to safety talks, presentations and more. Sign up for a free 14-day trial now. |
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| Bypassing a safety device is never a good idea. Here, a clamp has been used to keep a foot pedal in the “on” position. The person who submitted the photograph took it one day after workers had received training on foot pedals. (Naval Safety Center) |
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| Researcher Skeptical of World Health Organization Cell Phone Statement |
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) say using a cell phone is “possibly carcinogenic (cancer causing) to humans” because of the non-ionizing radiation the devices emit.
The WHO says a working group of 31 scientists from 14 countries has determined that cell phone use may be linked to an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer.
Working group chair Dr. Jonathan Samet of the University of Southern California, says, “The evidence, while still accumulating, is strong enough to support a conclusion and the 2B (possibly carcinogenic to humans) classification. The conclusion means that there could be some risk and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk.”
IARC Director Christopher Wild says it’s important to conduct additional research into the long-term heavy use of mobile phones and “pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure, such as hands-free devices or texting.”
However, Dr. Keith Aronyk, a neurologist/researcher at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, says cell phones have been around for more than two decades and if using them caused brain tumors, statistics should show a significant increase in certain types of tumors. That hasn’t happened.
“We just can’t see the logic behind the concern,” he says. “The energy that we’re talking about is not thought to be damaging to cells.”
The researcher says he’s more concerned about a proven danger of using a cell phone—the dramatically increased risk of being involved in a serious car wreck as a result of distracted driving.
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Related news story: Does heavy cell phone use cause hearing damage?
(Note: Subscription is required. To get instant access, simply sign up for a No-Cost Trial of Safe Supervisor.)
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| Upcoming Events: |
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| Webinar - Jun 23, 12:00 EST (9 a.m. PST) |
| How to Build a Positive Safety Culture in Your Organization |
| A Practical, Proven Approach to Building an Organizational Culture that Understands, Prioritizes, and Practices Safety … and Improves the Overall Performance of Your Safety Program. |
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| Due Diligence: Defining, Establishing & Demonstrating Your Record of Compliance |
Oct 24th & 25th
Hyatt Regency, Toronto, ON |
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| Join the online community of safety professionals |
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| Choose from over 1000+ posters on over 50 safety topics |
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| Take advantage of sophisticated and easy-to-use training resources. |
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| Download hundreds of individual safety talks. |
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