Take safety steps during most dangerous month for lightning strikes
Originally posted by Ben Smart on July 2, 2015 on cnn.com.
A lightning strike -- a brief but intense burst of electricity -- affected as many as 16 hikers. Three were rushed to a local hospital and eight others required medical treatment, according to the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office. All the hikers survived the incident, but one hiker's dog was killed.
Across the country in Greeleyville, South Carolina, lightning may have caused a fire at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church that gutted the interior and collapsed the roof, according to the FBI.
And now it is July, the month when the number of lightning strikes -- and fatalities -- is at its highest. So far in 2015, 14 people have been killed by lightning. On average, 49 people are killed and hundreds more are injured in the United States each year by lightning strikes.
The odds of being struck in your lifetime are about 1 in 12,000, the National Weather Service estimates. But experts say there are a few rules to help keep people safe.
"We need to look at lightning safety proactively, not reactively," said Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, a physician and lightning researcher who directed the Lightning Injury Research Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Avoiding situations where lightning can strike is key."
One simple rule
The National Weather Service recommends one rule to avoid lightning injuries: "When thunder roars, go indoors."
No place outside is safe when there are thunderstorms in the area, they say, as lightning can strike 10 to 15 miles away from a storm. If there isn't a structure nearby, a metal-topped vehicle with closed windows can provide safety.
Stay safe indoors
Although the safest place from lightning is indoors, there a number of extra precautions to take once inside.
A common misconception is that metal objects or water "attract" lightning. In reality, they're no more likely to be struck than a piece of cardboard or a person. The danger occurs because metal and water better conduct electricity once they're zapped.
The National Weather Service recommends people avoid washing hands or taking a shower, and touching or even unplugging electrical devices plugged into walls, as these can conduct electricity from a lightning strike.
Disregard outdated advice
Experts said there's some truth in the idea that lightning is more likely to strike the tallest object in an area -- for example, a tree or a skyscaper -- and that "pointier" objects are more likely to be hit.
But being outside at all during a thunderstorm puts you at risk of getting struck. The "lightning crouch," which was once thought to keep people safe during a lightning storm, is no longer recommended, Cooper said. There is no "safe" place outdoors during stormy weather.
"Lightning doesn't know if you're 6 feet tall or 3 1/2 feet tall after it's traveled miles through the air," said Cooper, who is the founding director of the African Centre for Lightning and Electromagnetics.
It's not always a direct hit
It's a common misconception that a person needs to be struck directly to be injured by lightning, Cooper said. Only 3% to 5% of injuries are from direct strikes, she said.
There are several ways lightning can reach a victim's body and cause injury. More than half of lightning-related injuries result from what's called a "ground strike," where lightning strikes the Earth and spreads through the ground, eventually reaching a person, Cooper said.
"A lightning 'side flash' also kills a tremendous portion of people," Cooper said. "That's where lightning travels down a tree and sideways where a person might be standing."
After lightning strikes
The surge of electricity from a lightning strike can wreak havoc on a person's heart, brain and nervous system, and it can cause instant death by "short-circuiting" the heart. A survivor of a lightning strike might live with severe brain damage that can make activities such as memory, learning and task organization difficult.
"Ninety percent of people who are injured by lightning survive, but disabilities can last for a lifetime," Cooper said. "I've seen significant devastation to families from lightning injuries."
If you witness someone struck by lightning, get emergency medical help right away. If multiple people are impacted, help anyone unconscious first. If the person has stopped breathing or has no pulse, correct CPR should be attempted immediately.
"If the person is breathing, talking and making sense, there is no emergency and generally little a physician would find or be able to treat," Cooper said. Some symptoms may not be noticeable until later, when a person is unable to carry out daily responsibilities in the way they did before.
"Many people who are struck by lightning describe it as a blunt force... like being impacted by an explosion," Cooper said. "Others may feel the sensation creeping up one leg, or as a burning or searing pain."
Most Cyber Attacks Due to Trick Emails, Errors, Not Sophisticated Hacking
Originally posted by Joseph Menn on April 14, 2015 on insurancejournal.com.
When a cyber security breach hits the news, those most closely involved often have incentive to play up the sophistication of the attack.
If hackers are portrayed as well-funded geniuses, victims look less vulnerable, security firms can flog their products and services, and government officials can push for tougher regulation or seek more money for cyber defenses.
But two deeply researched reports being released this week underscore the less-heralded truth: the vast majority of hacking attacks are successful because employees click on links in tainted emails, companies fail to apply available patches to known software flaws, or technicians do not configure systems properly.
These conclusions will be in the minds of executives attending the world’s largest technology security conference next week in San Francisco, a conference named after lead sponsor RSA, the security division of EMC Corp.
In the best-known annual study of data breaches, a report from Verizon Communications Inc. to be released on Wednesday found that more than two-thirds of the 290 electronic espionage cases it learned about in 2014 involved phishing, the security industry’s term for trick emails.
Because so many people click on tainted links or attachments, sending phishing emails to just 10 employees will get hackers inside corporate gates 90 percent of the time, Verizon found.
“There’s an overarching pattern,” said Verizon scientist Bob Rudis. Attackers use phishing to install malware and steal credentials from employees, then they use those credentials to roam through networks and access programs and files, he said.
Verizon’s report includes its own business investigations and data from 70 other contributors, including law enforcement. It found that while major new vulnerabilities such as Heartbleed are being used by hackers within hours of their announcement, more attacks last year exploited patchable vulnerabilities dating from 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Another annual cyber report, to be released on Tuesday by Symantec Corp., found that state-sponsored spies also used phishing techniques because they work and because the less-sophisticated approach drew less scrutiny from defenders.
Once inside a system, however, the spies turned fancy, writing customized software to evade detection by whatever security programs the target has installed, Symantec said.
“Once I’m in, I can do what I need to,” said Robert Shaker, an incident response manager at Symantec. The report drew on data from 57 million sensors in 157 countries and territories.
Another troubling trend Symantec found involves the use of “ransomware,” in which hackers encrypt a computer’s files and promise to release them only if the user pays a ransom. (Some 80 percent of the time, they do not decrypt the files even then.)
The new twist comes from hackers who encrypt files, including those inside critical infrastructure facilities, but do not ask for anything. The mystery is why: Shaker said it is not clear whether the attackers are securing the information for resale to other spies or potential saboteurs, or whether they plan on making their own demands in the future.
RSA Conference
At next week’s RSA Conference, protecting critical infrastructure systems under increasing attack will be a major theme. Another theme will be the need for more sharing of “intelligence” about emerging threats – between the public and private sectors, within the security industry, and within certain industries.
While many of the biggest breaches of the past two years involved retailers, the healthcare industry has figured heavily in recent months. Former FBI futurist Marc Goodman said that both spies and organized criminals are likely at work, the former seeking leverage to use in recruiting informants and the latter looking to cash in on medical and insurance fraud.
Verizon’s researchers said that to be most effective, information-sharing would have to be essentially in real time, from machine to machine, and cross multiple sectors, a daunting proposition.
Insurance
Another section of the Verizon report could help security executives make the case for bigger budgets. The researchers produced the first analysis of the actual costs of breaches derived from insurance claims, instead of survey data.
Verizon said the best indicator of the cost of an incident is the number of records compromised, and that the cost rises logarithmically, flattening as the size of the breach rises.
According to the new Verizon model, the loss of 100,000 records should cost roughly $475,000 on average, while 100 million lost records should cost about $8.85 million.
Though the harder data will be welcome to number-crunchers, spending more money cannot guarantee complete protection against attacks.
The RSA Conference floor will feature vendors touting next-generation security products and anomaly-spotting big-data analytics. But few will actually promise that they can stop someone from clicking on a tainted email and letting a hacker in.
AASHTO Introduces Toward Zero Deaths Plan to Reduce Roadway Fatalities
Originally posted by Tony Dorsey on March 10, 2015 on www.aashtojournal.org.
WASHINGTON - The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) joined the National Strategy on Highway Safety Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) effort, a vision of eliminating fatalities on our nation's roadways.
The Toward Zero Deaths effort was created by a steering committee cooperative that includes numerous organizations committed to reducing annual US traffic fatalities from more than 33,000 to zero. The TZD Plan rolled out today provides organizations in the fields of engineering, law enforcement, education and emergency medical services (EMS) with initiatives and safety countermeasures designed to save lives.
"This national effort is a perfect example of why partnerships are so critically important," said Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. "The TZD National vision brings together a wide range of organizations and individuals under a unified commitment to transform our nation's traffic safety culture. Everyone has to be part of the solution -- including the nation's educators, roadway designers, engineers, law enforcement officers and motorists."
"We embrace the vision of Toward Zero Deaths; it provides an overarching and common vision that drives and focuses our efforts to achieve our shared goal to eliminate injuries and fatalities on our roadways," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "The U.S. Department of Transportation will do our part by aggressively using all tools at our disposal - research into new safety systems and technologies, campaigns to educate the public, investments in infrastructure and collaboration with all of our government partners to support strong laws and data-driven approaches to improve safety."
The National Strategy includes initiatives that are known to be—or are expected to be—effective in addressing specific factors contributing to roadway crashes, have the potential to make a significant reduction in fatalities and serious injuries nationally, or address areas of growing concern.
The TZD plan includes initiatives spanning from engineering to education with the intended result of achieving:
- Safer drivers, passengers and pedestrians
- Safer infrastructure
- Safer vehicles
- Enhanced emergency medical services and response
- Improved management of traffic safety programs
AASHTO and State Departments of Transportation across the country are working to accomplish the TZD vision by:
- Leading research and other activities to promote a culture of traffic safety in America.
- Identifying new safety partners and promoting a collaborative, multidisciplinary, data-driven approach to safety related policies and programs.
"As leaders in the transportation industry, we have a duty and a responsibility to do what we can to accelerate the efforts to save lives on our nation's roadways," said Rudy Malfabon, P.E., director of the Nevada Department of Transportation and Chair of the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety. "Our mission is to one day rid the nation of all traffic fatalities and the TZD National Strategy will help us reach that goal faster."
For more than five years, organizations representing transportation, safety, law enforcement, engineering, and state and local government agencies--with the technical support of the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration—have been working together to identify and prioritize the leading initiatives that will reduce traffic fatalities over the next 25 years.
These organizations are leading the TZD effort:
- American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA)
- American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
- Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA)
- Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)
- International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
- National Association of County Engineers (NACE)
- National Local Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA)
- National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials (NASEMSO)
For more information about the Toward Zero Deaths National Strategy on Highway Safety, visit TowardZeroDeaths.org.
Anatomy of a Hack
Originally posted by Zurich American Insurance Company.
Once hackers set their sights on a target with access to sensitive company information, attacks may ensue from multiple directions – in the office, at home or on the move. Anatomy of a Hack describes what you and your company can do to help limit exposures.
The risk of having sensitive company data lost and stolen has grown exponentially over the last few years, largely due to the increased use of the Internet and the interconnectedness of everything we do. As the likelihood of a data breach continually escalates, so does the cost.
Read more here.
Check out the “Anatomy of a Hack” infographic here.
Copyright © 2015 Zurich American Insurance Company
Protecting Vision in the Workplace
Originally posted by Sandy Smith on February 10, 2015 on ehstoday.com.
The use of digital devices, including personal computers, tablets and cell phones, continues to increase. The impact of prolonged usage often can be felt in the eye.
According to a report from the Vision Council, extended use of these devices have caused as many as 70 percent of American adults to experience some form of digital eyestrain.
"By protecting our eyes at work and at home, we can help stay healthy and productive for years to come," said Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness.
Prevent Blindness, the nation's oldest volunteer eye health and safety group, provides employers and employees with free information on topics ranging from eyestrain to industrial eye safety in order to promote eye health at work. The group even has declared March as Workplace Eye Wellness Month.
Steps You Can Take
Employers and office workers can take a few simple steps to help prevent eyestrain and fatigue from digital devices. Prevent Blindness suggests:
- Visit an eye doctor for a dilated eye exam to make sure you are seeing clearly and to detect any potential vision issues.
- Place your screen 20 to 26 inches away from your eyes and a little bit below eye level.
- Use a document holder placed next to your computer screen. It should be close enough that you don't have to swing your head back and forth or constantly change your eye focus.
- Adjust the text size on the screen to a comfortable level.
- Change your lighting to lower glare and harsh reflections. Glare filters over your computer screen can also help.
- Use a chair you can adjust.
- Choose screens that can tilt and swivel. A keyboard that you can adjust also is helpful.
And the Vision Council recommends the 20-20-20 break: every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away.
Prevent Blindness strongly recommends the use of eye protection in the workplace, especially in industries such as construction, manufacturing or any profession where eye accidents and injuries may occur. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2012, there were 20,300 recorded occupational eye injuries that resulted in days away from work.
The organization offers two workplace programs:
The Healthy Eyes Educational Series (https://www.preventblindness.org/healthy-eyes-educational-series) is a free program that provides user-friendly, downloadable modules to conduct formal presentations or informal one-on-one sessions, including one titled "Work Safety." Each module includes a presentation guide and corresponding PowerPoint presentation on a relevant eye health topic such as adult eye disorders, eye anatomy, healthy living, low vision and various safety topics. Fact sheets can be downloaded at any time from the Prevent Blindness web site for use as handouts to accompany the presentation.
Prevent Blindness also offers Eye2Eye (https://www.eye2eyeprogram.com), a web-based educational resource that trains employees to communicate the importance of eye health and safety to each other, increases eye safety compliance and builds a stronger culture of safety in the workplace. The program features a peer-based, interactive curriculum and community-oriented forum enabling end users to share their learnings and best practices with each other.
Eye Injuries in the Workplace
More than 2,000 people injure their eyes at work each day. About one in 10 injuries require one or more missed workdays for recovery. Of the total number of work-related injuries, 10-20 percent will cause temporary or permanent vision loss. Experts believe that the right eye protection could have lessened the severity or even prevented 90 percent of eye injuries. The common causes of eye injuries in the workplace are:
- Flying objects (bits of metal, glass)
- Chemicals
- Tools
- Harmful radiation
- Particles
- Any combination of these or other hazards
3 Ways to Prevent Eye Injuries
- Know the eye safety dangers at work by completing an eye hazard assessment.
- Use engineering and administrative controls to eliminate hazards before employees start work. Use machine guarding, work screens or other engineering controls, create policies that require 100 percent compliance with eye safety protective equipment use.
- Use proper eye protection.
Responding to Flooding When Snow and Ice Melt
Originally posted January 15, 2015 by Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).
Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety - If temperatures begin to rise after severe winter weather, flooding due to snow and ice melting could result in widespread property damage.
The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) urges property owners who have experienced significant snowfall and freezing temperatures during the winter to evaluate their flood risks as warmer weather arrives.
“The most important things home and business owners can do from a safety perspective is to pay close attention to local weather reports and alerts from the National Weather Service,” said Julie Rochman, IBHS president and CEO. “In addition, we urge residents to follow the instructions of local emergency officials when flooding is imminent, and we especially caution everyone to obey all evacuation orders from local authorities.”
When temperatures rapidly increase, so does the rate at which snow and ice melt. This can be a serious problem for areas that have received large amounts of snow and ice throughout this severe winter season. Frozen soil also increases the risk of flood as water from melting snow and ice is not able to seep into the ground.
“If you still have snow piles surrounding your home, try to move those away from your foundation to avoid water from leaking into your home,” said Rochman. “Also, keep in mind that rain can cause snow to melt faster, which can contribute to possible flooding in your area.”
If flooding is imminent, find out how you can prevent damage using IBHS resources below. Additional IBHS winter weather resources are available at https://bit.ly/1zA3NTZ or on the IBHS Facebook page at https://on.fb.me/1Aoh2Le
HOW TO PREVENT PROPERTY DAMAGE WHEN FLOODING IS IMMINENT
- Clear drains, gutters and downspouts of debris.
- Move furniture and electronics off the floor, particularly in basements and first floor levels.
- Roll up area rugs, where possible, and store these on higher floors or elevations. This will reduce the chances of rugs getting wet and growing mold.
- Inspect sump pumps and drains to ensure proper operation.
- If a sump pump has a battery backup, make sure the batteries are fresh or replace the batteries.
- A sump pump needs to be away from basement walls to be effective.
- Make sure the sump pump outlet pipe is clear and water flows freely away from your property.
- Shut off electrical service at the main breaker if the electrical system and outlets may end up under water.
- Place all appliances, including stoves, washers, dryers, etc. on masonry blocks or concrete at least 12 inches above the projected flood elevation.
- Seal any cracks in walls, openings, or your foundation using masonry caulk or hydraulic cement.
- Consider installing backflow valves, which are designed to prevent water from flowing into your house through local sewer lines.
- Create an emergency preparedness kit and evacuation plan.
Don’t Miss the February 1st Deadline for Posting Your OSHA Injury/Illness Summary Form
Originally posted on January 28, 2015 by Laura Kerekes on www.thinkhr.com
It’s that time of year to look back on your workplace illnesses and injuries for 2014, ensure that you have recorded the correct information in your OSHA logs, and post the information in your workplace starting February 1, 2015. Do you need to comply with this posting requirement, even if you’ve had no injuries or illnesses this past year? You probably will need to comply — most employers do.
Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. The role of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is to assure the safety and health of workers by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach, and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual improvement in workplace safety and health. Employers are required to have a Workplace Injury and Illness Prevention Program in place, with active monitoring of results. The intent of the OSHA log reporting is to summarize the year end results and focus both employers’ and employees’ attention on workplace safety so that everyone can make safety a top company priority.
Do you need to comply with the February 1st deadline?
If you had 10 or more employees at all times during 2014, you will need to comply, unless your company’s Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code is included in the industry list of exclusions available at https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/naics-manual.html.
What You Should Do
Assuming that your business does not fall under the exclusions of OSHA reporting, you’ll need to ensure that two OSHA forms are completed fully, the Form 300 (log) and the Form 300A. Both forms and the instructions can be accessed here.
Form 300: This form is used to record all injuries and illnesses, except those that required first aid only. This form is not posted due to privacy considerations. There are certain injuries and illnesses where you do not include the employee’s name for privacy (sexual assaults, HIV infection, etc.), and an employee may request that his or her name not be entered on this log.
Form 301 (do NOT post): This form allows you to record more data about how the injury or illness occurred. As with Form 300, this form is not posted due to privacy considerations. Employee representatives, however, may have access to this form but only the portion that contains no personal information.
Form 300A: This is the form that must be completed and posted beginning February 1st through April 30th. It contains a summary of the total number of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred during the previous year that were logged onto the Form 300. Information about the annual average number of employees and total hours worked during the calendar year is required for calculating incidence rates. Companies with no recordable injuries or illnesses in the previous year must post the summary with zeros on the “total” line. A company executive must certify all establishment summaries. Employers are required only to post the summary Form 300A, not the Form 300 log.
Form 300A must be displayed in a common area where notices to employees usually are posted. Employers must make a copy of the summary available to employees who move from worksite to worksite, such as construction workers, and employees who do not report to any one office on a regular basis.
More information regarding OSHA’s recordkeeping rule can be found in the OSHA Fact Sheet.
Ice and snow aren’t letting up, so how safe is your parking lot?
Source: HR.BLR.com
Parking lots can be dangerous places, especially this winter with so much ice and snow in so many places across the country. A nurse at an Illinois hospital was recently killed by a snowplow in the hospital parking lot. How can your company avoid tragedies like this as well as other parking lot accidents in its facilities?
One problem with parking lots is that drivers feel they can let their guard down because they’re no longer on the road. However, according to a study by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers Association, 20 percent of insurance claims were related to parking lot accidents. The problem is twofold—limited visibility and distraction. A full parking lot makes it hard for drivers to see hazards. As well, drivers entering or leaving parking spaces have severely constrained visibility.
Distractions are a major issue. When people get into their cars, they do all kinds of things such as fiddling with the radio, checking their phones, or starting up their GPS. Unfortunately, many of these activities take place as they are backing up or driving in the parking lot. As a result, they may not see pedestrians, who may also be distracted—especially by their phones—as they walk.
All of these hazards are made considerably worse in inclement weather, so share these parking lot safety tips with employees:
- Do everything you need to do (adjusting seat, mirrors, etc.) before you exit the parking space.
- When walking in a parking lot, stay to the sides of the aisle and watch for cars.
- Do not talk on the phone or use headphones in a parking lot.
- Obey parking lot speed limits and lane designations; don’t cut diagonally across the lot.
- When walking in an icy lot (or any lot for that matter) make eye contact with an approaching driver. Stop if you don’t think the driver has seen you.
- Wear boots or shoes with nonslip soles and good ankle support. If necessary, carry your work shoes with you and change inside.
- Snow muffles engine sounds; don’t rely solely on hearing to know if a vehicle is coming. Electric and hybrid vehicles are especially quiet.
Christmas Tree and Holiday Light Safety
Source: National Fire Protection Association
Christmas tree fires
In 2007-2011, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 230 home structure fires that began with Christmas trees. Home Christmas tree fires caused an average of six civilian deaths, 22 civilian injuries, and $18.3 million in direct property damage per year.
Although these fires are not common, when they do occur, they are unusually likely to be serious. On average, one of every 40 reported home structure Christmas tree fires resulted in a death compared to an average of one death per 142 total reported home structure fires.
Similar shares of home Christmas tree structure fires were in December (43%) and January (39%). Christmas tree fires are more likely after Christmas than before. For example, none of the ten dates with the largest shares of home Christmas tree structure fires were before Christmas.
Electrical failures or malfunctions were involved in one-third (32%) of the home Christmas tree structure fires. One in six (17%) occurred because some type of heat source was too close to the tree. Decorative lights on line voltage were involved in 12% of these incidents. Sevenpercent of home Christmas tree fires were started by candles.
Twenty percent of home Christmas tree structure fires were intentionally set. Half of the intentional Christmas tree fires occurred in the 20 days after Christmas.
The risk of fire is higher with natural trees than artificial ones. Researchers found that dry natural trees burned easily but trees that had been kept moist are unlikely to catch fire unintentionally.
Fires involving holiday lights or other decorative lighting with line voltage
Holiday lights and other decorative lighting with line voltage were involved in an estimated average of 150 home structure fires per year in this same period. These fires caused an average of nine civilian deaths, 16 civilian injuries, and $8.4 million in direct property damage per year. Two out of five (40%) occurred in December and 12% were in January. Fifteen percent of these fires began with Christmas trees. Electrical failures or malfunctions were factors in nearly two-thirds (64%) of the fires involving holiday or decorative lights.
Falls related to holiday decorating
In a study of fall-related injuries during the holiday season, Stevens and Vajani estimated that an annual average of roughly 5,800 fall injuries related to holiday decorating were treated at hospital emergency rooms between November 1 and January 31 in 2000-2001, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003. Sixty-two percent of those injured were between 20 and 49 years of age, compared to 43% of the population in this age group. With 43% of the injuries resulting from falls from ladders and 13% caused by falls from the roof, it appears that the majority of these falls occurred during outdoor decorating. Falls from furniture, typically inside the structure, accounted for 11% of the injuries. Some falls occurred when people tripped over or slipped on tree skirts or other decorations.
UH WalkSafe Update: Removing Snow and Ice/Driving Safely While Off-Site
Source: United Heartland
The official start of winter may still be 12 days away but many parts of the country have already gotten a taste of what the season has in store. We hope your customers are staying warm despite the challenges these wintry blasts have brought.
As we continue with our WalkSafe campaign, we wanted to highlight two important areas for your customers: snow and ice removal and traveling safely in winter weather.
We’ve developed snow and ice removal resources for businesses including a sample program, guidelines, checklists, logs, incident reports and contractor guidelines that will enable your customers to create a program for their organization that will help keep their employees safer. These materials are particularly helpful to have as winter weather conditions change and your customers need to be proactive in keeping parking lots and sidewalks clear of snow and ice.
If your customer has employees that drive regularly as part of their jobs or work off premises, we also provide tips on how to drive defensively, how to prepare vehicles for tough winter conditions, as well as how to best tackle off-premise work. We’ve made several tools available on these topics, as well as posters and table tents your customers can post in their workplaces to make employees aware of the campaign and remind them of the importance of winter safety.
We’ve also added two new materials to our WalkSafe campaign – one examines developing a winter safety watch team and the other examines how reducing steps can help to reduce falls. You can find them respectively under the Prepare and Footwear sections of the WalkSafe site.
Be sure to check out our full arsenal of winter weather-related tools, from safety checklists to tips on smart phone apps and alerts, by visiting our WalkSafe site today. If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-800-258-2667 or visit us at UnitedHeartland.com.