The holidays are about being together with loved ones. For some of your workers, that means hosting the family gathering. For others it means traveling to the homes of relatives. This week's SafetyXChange is dedicated to the latter - the holiday travelers.

Make a Checklist

Holiday travel takes a lot of preparation. Shopping for gifts, packing suitcases, booking flights, making arrangements with pet and house sitters, notifying the newspaper delivery person; these are just a few of the tasks involved. I find that it helps to prepare a checklist to make sure I get it all done. I suggest that you do the same and that you make safety part of the planning process. Here's a checklist for your safety needs.

1. Organize Your Medical Needs

• Carry important medical information including emergency contact numbers of doctors, your blood type and health history.
• If you're taking medications, pack enough to last several days longer than you expect to be away.
• Before air travel, make sure you understand the security rules for carrying medications onto planes in handheld bags and talk to your doctor about medical precautions to use during flight such as taking aspirin to prevent blood clots in your legs.

2. Prepare for Emergencies

• If traveling by train, identify emergency escape routes from railway cars.
• If driving, ensure your tires can handle wintry roads. Have your car winterized by your mechanic and be prepared for blocked roads. Take outdoor clothing, boots, flashlights, food and water.
• If flying, pay attention to the safety instructions and note the nearest emergency exit.
• Whether staying in a hotel or your sister's new house, note the escape routes and count the number of doors between your room and the emergency exit so that you can find your way in the dark.

3. Beware of Fire and Burn Hazards

• If it's your turn to sleep in the cold spare room in the basement, remember to turn off the portable space heater when you leave the room or go to sleep. And keep the heater at least three feet from anything that can burn.
• When running water in the shower or the kitchen sink, remember that hot-water heaters may be set higher than you're used to.

4. Watch Out for Germs

Stay healthy by avoiding people who are coughing and sneezing. Remember to wash your hands frequently.

Conclusion

Next week, we'll look at the other group: the holiday hosts. We'll set out suggestions to help you protect the safety of yourself, your guests and your home when hosting the annual holiday gathering.

GO FIGURE

These wooden rings can break and pose a choking hazard. (This toy?s been voluntarily recalled.)

Holiday Toy Safety

By Jason Barlow

152,400

Question: What does this figure represent?

Answer: The estimated number of children under 15 who were treated for toy-related in US hospital emergency rooms in 2005.

Here are some more statistics on toy-related injuries:

20 – The number of children under 15 who died in 2005 from a toy-related incident

45 – The percentage of those deaths that occurred when a child choked or aspirated on a small ball or small toy part.

(Source: US Consumer Product Safety Commission)

Toy Safety Tips

To keep kids safe this holiday season (and all year-round), ask yourself these 5 questions before buying a toy:

1. Is the toy age-appropriate? Respect age specifications recommended by the manufacturer. Toys that are designed for older children might contain safety hazards for younger children.

2. Has the toy passed the test? Buy safety-tested products. Products that contain the mark of independent, third-party product safety and certification organizations, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL), have been tested for safety.

3. Is the toy a choking hazard? If you’re buying a toy for a child under 3 years of age, check that all parts of the toy are larger than the child’s mouth. Use a paper tower roll as a guide. If a toy or a part of a toy fits inside the center of the roll, then it poses a choking hazard. Other choking hazards include parts that could break off, such as buttons or beads.

4 Is the toy a strangulation hazard? Pull toys with strings longer than 12 inches are particularly dangerous for babies.

5. Is the toy toxic? When buying paint sets, crayons or markers, make sure that they are labeled nontoxic.

ASK THE EXPERT

Safety Training

BARRY WEISSMAN, REM, CSP, CHMM, CHS-IV, CIPS

WHEN SAFETY TRAINING SHOULD BE PROVIDED

QUESTION

I have been asked to define when certain components of a new employee orientation need to be completed, i.e., emergency preparedness, infection control, fire safety, electrical safety, hazardous communication, etc. Regulatory agencies will often describe training that needs to be done on initial hire, annually and/or when a person's job responsibilities change. Some of the managers interpret this as meaning that training should be done on the first day of hire, and others feel it is whenever the company policy dictates, such as 10, 30 or 90 days. I have been asked to develop a grid with the list of topics and the regulatory agencies timelines for completion of orientation. I would be interested in receiving any comments or thoughts you may have on this. Thank you.

Sandra Daignault

Director of Education & Safety

AHA BLS Training Center Coordinator

Community Hospital

Watervliet, MI

ANSWER

You are correct that various regulations and agencies have different requirements as to when training of new employees should be performed. My rule of thumb is the sooner the better AND that training should be provided just prior to doing the job, by review the training.

For example, the Hazard Communication Standard, 1910.1200(h)(1), says:

"Employers shall provide employees with effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in their work area at the time of their initial assignment, and whenever a new physical or health hazard the employees have not previously been trained about is introduced into their work area. Information and training may be designed to cover categories of hazards (e.g., flammability, carcinogenicity) or specific chemicals…"

When I was plant level EHS management, I reviewed all of the training requirements for the regulations that applied to my employees and set up a spreadsheet with that information so that I could stay on top of the requirements. There are some Training Management Database Systems that will, after you enter the information, automatically send you and the employee an email reminder that certain training is due. Also, I didn’t stop with just the OSHA requirements, EPA, DOT, FDA, NRC, JCAHO and other agencies all have training requirements that can affect you and your employees.

Keep in mind that if you give an employee training on day one and he or she doesn’t use that training until three months later – will they really remember what you told them on day one.  OSHA says, "effective information and training."  To make it effective, it must be remembered and performed correctly.

In addition to the formal training, consider some informal training.  You could provide a free soda if someone tells you the correct steps for lockout / tagout while you’re walking around.  Or give them an imprinted pen if they can show you how they lift safely.

Remember – Keep the FUN in Fundamentals as you provide the training and the refreshers.

The usual disclaimers apply

**********

RECORDABILITY OF INJURIES DURING VOLUNTEER WORK

QUESTION

We are an electric utility in the Northwest in 7 states. I am faced with the task of putting together a policy statement on how our organization deals with employees when they are doing volunteer activities in the interest of the company. These opportunities are driving our vehicles in parades (not paid) using our equipment (line trucks) to set poles for baseball fields and other locations on weekends. The questions that I have are regarding recording of any injuries or accidents that result from those activities that our employees are engaged in. Also the question of Vehicle Accidents and should we record them or point them to the employees records. I understand that OSHA's perspective is that if the activity is voluntary such as a sport activity or exercise class that occurs outside of the normal work scope they are not expected to be recorded. But since the activities that some of our employees are engaged in are either the same or very similar to their normal wok is there any difference. What if we covered them under workers comp (We are self insured in all but one state)?

I have posed this question to several other utility safety professionals and received different responses. Any insight would be appreciated.

Steve Harkin

ANSWER

Your understanding of OSHA recordkeeping is correct. I was at an OSHA recordkeeping update last week and this topic was discussed by the Compliance Assistant Specialist.

You would have to pay their workers’ comp unless there is a specific state requirement otherwise.

In the policy statement, I would indicate that the employees are engaged in voluntary tasks, not related to work and that they are fully covered under the company’s workers’ comp insurance should they be involved in any type of incident. I would also include a section that reiterates that these tasks are voluntary and not work related and thus do not need to be recorded on the OSHA Log.

That way, should you ever get an OSHA inspector who might disagree, you’ll have a basis for the decisions that you made.

Again, I need to invoke the usual disclaimers.

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