With Hurricane Sandy moving in on the East Coast, there are steps you can take to help your family and others be more prepared in case of flooding, storm surge, high winds and tornadoes.  Listen to your area radio, television stations and NOAA Weather Radio for possible flood warnings and reports of flooding in progress.  Also, according to the American Red Cross, knowing the difference in the the threat levels helps you plan accordingly.

Hurricane Watch

A watch is issued when hurricane conditions are a threat within 48 hours.  Make sure to review your hurricane plans and get your family ready to act if a warning is issued.

 Hurricane Warning

A warning is issued when hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours.  Complete your preparations and be ready to leave the area if directed to do so by authorities.

The American Red Cross suggesting having supplied on hand and has provided a suggested list.  A portable kit stored in a sturdy, easy to carry water resistant container that holds enough supplies for 3 days.  If you haven’t checked your kit in several months, make perishable stock has not expired.

Items your kit should include:

• Water – 1 gallon per person, per day
• Food – non-perishable, easy to prepare items such as tuna fish, peanut butter, crackers and canned fruit.
• Manual can opener
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio with extra batteries
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First Aid Kit
• Prescription and non-prescription medication items
• Copies of important documents including birth certificates, insurance policies and social security cards
• Sanitation and personal hygiene items
• Extra cash.  If power is out, ATM machins won’t work
• One blanket or sleeping bag per person.
• Pet supplies

If a flood or flash flood warning is issued for your area, head for higher ground and stay there.   Here are a few tips to remember:

• If you come upon a flowing stream where water is above your ankles, stop, turn around and go another way. Six inches of swiftly moving water can sweep you off your feet.
• If you come upon a flooded road while driving, turn around and go another way.
• If you are caught on a flooded road and waters are rapidly rising around you, get out of the car quickly and move to higher ground.  Most cards can be swept away by less than two feet of moving water.
• Be cautious at night when it is harder to recognize flood danger.

During a recent ABSS Speaker Series event, nationally recognized safety and motivation expert Jack Edgington spoke to a capacity crowd of Safety and EH&S professionals and discussed the critical building blocks of an engaged, highly sustained safety culture. 

Several of the key areas covered were:

• Assessing your culture to identify barriers and challenges
• Creating a unique identity for safety through branding and awareness
• Making safety a “personal” value for employees and their families
• Recognizing performance based on leading indicators, not lagging results

Jack stressed that one of the most important steps a company can take is to properly assess their culture.  Assessing your culture can reveal the true attitudes and sentiments that drive safety within your organization.  The ability to identify potential areas of weaknesses allows the company to focus resources on improving specific employee needs.

Potential areas of concern, if not addressed, will continue to negatively affect employee attitude, satisfaction and tenure.  More importantly, utilizing assessment results in combination with employee comments will build a platform for creating mentors and teams.  Improving specific areas result in more impactful training and communication, therefore creating an engaged employee that is much more responsive to training and change.

In addition to assessing safety cultures, Jack shared how branding safety efforts can make a tremendous difference in driving engagement with a workforce.  Branding your safety initiative can also create pride and ownership around safety processes and safety goals for an organization.  Once an appropriate safety brand has been developed, make opportunities to share the branding with the employee family members as much as possible. 

You’ll find that their support will further enhance the commitment of your workforce.  Sharing the personal side of working and living safety will become a part of each employee’s idealogy… at home, work and play.

To find out more information about how Safe Solutions can help you create a highly engaged safety culture, please visit our website www.saferemployees.com.

July 4^th weekend is filled with outdoor entertaining and fireworks with family and friends.  Having fun is important, but losing focus while grilling or participating in fireworks could result in an accident.  Sometimes we take the safety of children around fireworks for granted and that’s when accidents could happen.  It never hurts to take a few seconds to review a few safety tips on grilling and fireworks before heading out with friends.   After all, it could save the life of someone you love!

Grilling Safety

• When grilling outside, position the grill well away from siding, deck railings and out from under eaves and overhanging branches.
• Propane and charcoal BBQ grills should only be used outdoors.
• If you use a starter fluid, use only a charcoal starter fluid.  Never add charcoal fluid or any other flammable liquids to a fire.
• Never leave a grill unattended once it has been lit.
• Bamboo or wood skewers should be soaked in cool water so they won’t ignite as you grill.
• Brushes or a grill mop are used to glaze or marinate foods.  Use ones with long handles and avoid nylon or other materials that might melt.
• Avoid exceptionally loose clothing, especially sleeves that can catch fire.
• When you are finished grilling on a charcoal grill, let the coals completely cool before disposing in a metal container.

Fireworks Safety

• Spectators should keep a safe distance from the shooter and the shooter should wear safety glasses.
• Never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse.  Back up to a safe distance after lighting fireworks.
• The tip of a sparkler burns at a temperature of more than 1,200° F.  That is hot enough to cause 3rd degree burns.
• Always have an adult supervise fireworks activities.  Parents don’t realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers.
• Never relight a “dud” firework.  Wait 20 minutes and then soak it in a bucket of water.
• Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers.
• Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap.
• Dispose of fireworks properly by soaking them in water and then disposing of them in your trash can.



Sharing time with family and friends is important and we want everyone to have a safe and fun-filled holiday weekend.  You can read more about fireworks safety from The National Council of Fireworks Safety at www.fireworksafety.com or for grilling safety tips at www.nfpa.org.

Springtime is in full force bringing us warmer weather.  This also brings the potential of severe weather like thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning and flash flooding.  According to the National Weather Service, a typical thunderstorm is 15 miles in diameter and lasts an average of 30 minutes.  Thunderstorms are more likely to happen during the afternoon and evening hours in the spring and summer and have the potential to do catastrophic damage in such a short time.  All thunderstorms produce lightning which kills more people each year on average than tornadoes.  Straight-line winds can exceed 125 mph and can cause destruction equal to a tornado.

Be Prepared

Knowing the warning signs of severe weather and listening to weather reports helps you make smart decisions that may save a life.  Being prepared and knowing what to do BEFORE severe weather strikes may save you or a loved one. 

What are signs of a developing thunderstorm?

• Continued heat causing cumulus clouds growing vertically into towering cumulus clouds
• Darkening skies
• Flashes of lightning
• Increasing winds

Have a plan for your family whether they are at work, home school or outdoors.  You may not always be together during a storm and everyone should know what to do.

Important Safety Rules to Know 

 Threat of Lightning

• Know where to go for safety and how much time it will take to get there.
• Before going outdoors, check the forecast for thunderstorms.
• Look for signs of a developing thunderstorm.
• When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!  Fully enclosed buildings with wiring and plumbing provide best protection.  Sheds, picnic shelters, tents or covered porches do not protect you from lightning.  Stay inside until 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder.
• Don’t take a bath, shower or use other plumbing during a thunderstorm.

  Tornado Safety

• Get to the safest place like an underground shelter, basement or safe room.
• If an underground shelter or safe room is not available, a small windowless interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a sturdy building is the safest alternative.
• Mobile homes are not safe during tornadoes.  Abandon mobile homes and immediately go to the nearest sturdy building or shelter.
• Your choice should be driven by your specific circumstances.

 Flash Flood Safety Rules 

• Avoid driving, walking or swimming in flood waters.
• Stay away from high water, storm drains, ditches, ravines or culverts.  Even moving water only 6 inches deep can knock you off your feet.  Move to higher ground.
• Do not let children play near storm drains.
• If you come upon a flooded roadway, never drive through it.  Turn Around, Don’t Drown!

If you see threatening skies or hear a warning, only YOU can make the decision to seek safety.  Knowing how to recognize severe weather and how to react with life-saving actions can help save your life as well as those you love.

For more tips and preparedness guides, you can find them at the American Red Cross at www.redcross.org, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at www.fema.gov or NOAA at http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/severe.php.

Each year you envision the favorite items your mom or aunt made sitting on the dining table for Thanksgiving.   Turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole,  pecan pie and many others.  It’s a picture painted in your memory and you can smell the turkey now as if it is Thanksgiving. 

Many hours of hard work go into preparing the food and ensuring everything tastes perfect.  One of the most daunting tasks is preparing the turkey properly to avoid foodborne illness.  Diane Van with the USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service  just released a short video to show the proper way to prepare and cook a turkey.

Here is a recap of the steps -

• Roast the turkey and all other poultry in a pre-heated oven set at no lower than 325ºF.
• Use a roasting pan with sides no higher than 3″ and on a rack so heat can circulate under the bird for even cooking.
• Tuck the wings of the turkey under the body of the bird for even cooking.
• You can add a half cup of water to the bottom of the pan to create steam for more even cooking.
• Tent the turkey with aluminum foil for 1-1 1/2 hours to prevent quick browning.
• if a pop-up timer is inserted in the turkey, make sure to also use a conventional food thermometer to measure the internal temperature.
• If using stuffing in the turkey, it should be stuffed just before cooking.
• Cook the turkey and stuffing to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F. 
• Check temperature in wing joint, thigh, the thickest part of the breast and the stuffing to insure internal temperature.
• Allow approximately 20 minutes stand time before carving the turkey.

If you have further questions, you can call the USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline or ask a food safety question at askkaren.gov.  Or for further information, visit the FSIS website at fsis.usda.gov.

The time has come to prepare all the favorite trimmings for Thanksgiving and create wonderful memories.  It’s also a time when the family gathers in the kitchen to help cook, stir goodies on the stove or cut vegetables.  It is a wonderful opportunity to involve the kids so they are a part of the preparation.  Keeping everyone safe while preparing food is important and we’ve got some great tips to use during your holiday cooking.

Safety in the Kitchen

• Supervise children carefully.  If the kids are helping to prepare the holiday meal, give them safe, age-appropriate tasks and keep a close eye on them.
• Keep small children away from the oven and stovetops.
• Keep sharp objects such as knives and appliances with blades out of the reach of children.
• Turn pots and pan handles inward and put them them on the back burner to be out of the reach of children.
• Pay particular attention to items sitting on tablecloths or placements so that young children cannot pull hot food or liquid down and scald themselves.
• Unplug appliance cords when not in use and keep them tied up and out of children’s reach.

Safety around the Turkey Fryer

Another Thanksgiving favorite is deep fried turkeys.  These can be a delicious addition to your meal, but can also be deadly in the blink of an eye.  According to the National Fire Protection Association(NFPA), Thanksgiving remains the leading day for cooking fires, with three times as many cooking fires as an average day.  It is a day of intense cooking and stovetops and ovens are working overtime. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that most turkey frying accidents occur while the oil is being heated, prior to adding the turkey.  These useful tips well help keep those using a fryer safe. 

• Turkey fryers should always be used outdoors and a safe distance from buildings.  Never use on wood decks.
• Make sure the fryers are used on a flat surface to reduce accidental tipping.
• Never leave the fryer unattended.
• Completely thaw and dry the turkey before cooking.  Partially frozen or wet turkeys can produce excessive hot oil when added to the oil.
• Raise and lower bird SLOWLY to reduce splatter and avoid burns.
• Never let children or pets near the fryer when in use or after frying.  Keep in mind the oil will remain dangerously hot hours after use.
• Do not overfill the fryer with oil.
• Use well-insulated potholders or oven mitts when touching pot or lid handles.
• Wearing safety goggles will protecct your eyes from oil splatter.
• Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby.  Never use water to extinguish a grease fire.
• Turn off the fryer immediately if the oil begins to smoke.
• Use your best judgement when attempting to fight a fire.  If the fire is manageable, use an all-purpose fire extinguisher.  If the fire increases or in doubt, immediately call 9-1-1 for help.

Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to give thanks for what we are thankful for and why shouldn’t the safe keeping of those around you be a part.   We hope these tips will help you look out for those you love and make this Thanksgiving a special and safe one.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Safe Solutions family!

Growing up I loved Halloween for so many reasons – Fall festivals and trick or treating.  I loved the cake walk, bobbing for apples, choosing my costume and the ultimate – trick or treating with my friends.

I lived on a large block where there weren’t many kids my age so trick or treating became an art.  My mom outlined rules for us every year so we would stay safe.  I can still hear her today telling us these things as we impatiently waited to run out the door:

• Only go to houses you know
• Houses must have the porchlight on and always stay on the porch
• Do not take candy from anyone you don’t know
• Do not eat anything until she inspected it
• Stay with our group and never leave anyone alone

Funny how her guidelines still apply today!  Each year there seems to be new things parents have to be concerned about, but one thing remains constant – the safety of your children.  Whether it is choosing a costume that is safe, decorating to avoid injuries or sending your children out with trick or treating guidelines, it is a lot of information to remember.

We’ve created a checklist of tips to help you keep those you love safe this Halloween.

Choosing a Costume

• Costume should be short enough to prevent children from tripping or falling.
• Decorate costumes and trick or treat bags with reflective tape that will glow in the beam of a car’s headlights.
• Hats, scarves and masks should be tied securely to prevent them from slipping over children’s eyes.
• Candlelit pumpkins and luminaries are popular choices lining sidewalks, so fire-retardant costumes are important.

Trick or Treating

• Carry a flashlight.
• Stay on the sidewalks and avoid crossing yards.
• Have children get out of the car on the curb side, not the traffic side.
• Stop at all corners and stay together in a group before crossing a road.
• If your child is carrying a cellphone, make sure they know their phone number.

Reminders for Parents

• Exit driveways and alleyways carefully.
• Place lighted pumpkins away from curtains and other flammable objects.
• Do not leave lighted candles unattended.
• Make to have a  fire extinguisher close in case of emergency.

Setting guidelines with your children is important for their safety and the safety of those they trick or treat.  Before time to trick or treat, go over the route and curfew times so everyone is on the same page.  Most of all, let your children know to have fun and always be alert of their surroundings.

We’ve all experienced the annoying sound when a smoke detector goes off or when the battery has gone dead.  It generally happens in the middle of the night or when you’ve unfortunately burned food.  Regardless if it is inconvenient at the time, it could be the difference in saving you or those you love!

According to the National Fire Protection Association, nearly 3,000 people die in U.S. home fires each year.  Between 2003-2006, approximately two-thirds of home fire deaths were a result of fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.  In more than half of reported home fires where smoke alarms were present and did not operate, batteries were missing or disconnected.

Smoke alarms are up high and out of sight, but they should never be out of mind.  Here are some key points to know how smoke alarms can keep your family safe.

• Choose a smoke detector that has been certified by the Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
• Check smoke detectors once a month and change the batteries at least once a year. 
• Use your cell phones, computers and mp3 players to schedule testing and changing out batteries.
• Install a minimum of one smoke detector outside every bedroom and least one per floor.
• Ceiling mounted detectors should be at least 4 inches from the wall.
• Wall mounted detectors should be 4-12 inches from ceiling.

It is also important to create an escape plan for your house and practice what to do in the event a fire occurs.  Give advance notice as to the time frame but not the exact time the practice will happen.  Get your children involved  in the scheduling and testing in order to bring awareness to the importance of what to do when a smoke alarm sounds. 

Take the time to ensure your smoke alarms are working properly and protect the ones you love!

Are you in the process of buying school clothes, uniforms and school supplies? Don’t forget to include an important item to your lists – SAFETY!  Knowing the right type of backpacks to buy and also how to pack the bags can help reduce the muscle strain on the neck and back of your children.

When picking out a backpack, consider the following:

-  Get the correct size for your child. The backpack should not extent below the lower back.

-  Choose a backpack with wide, padded shoulder straps and a padded back.

-  Consider a rolling backpack. This type of backpack may be a good choice for students who must tote a heavy load. Remember that rolling backpacks still must be carried up stairs, and they may be difficult to roll in snow.

Once your backpacks are purchased, learning how to pack them to distribute the weight is important to reducing back and neck strain.

-  Organize the backpack to use all of its compartments.  Put the most used items in the most accessible pockets.

-  Pack light.  Pack heaver items closest to the center of the back.  The backpack should never weight more than 10 to 20 percent of your child’s body weight.

Now you are ready to go.  Just remember when putting the backpack on to face the bag and bend at the knees. Use both hands to grasp the straps and lift with the legs.  Apply one shoulder strap and then the other.