Warehouse Safety the Dangers of Modern Warehouses and How to Prevent Them

Keeping your car stocked with the right supplies could one day save your life.

Combining the list provided by five different expert sources (MSN Autos; Better Homes & Garden, February 2012 print edition; The Simple Dollar; MSNBC; and Consumer Reports), there are about 50 unique items that most people should carry in their vehicles at all times. Weather conditions and trip length are the main factors that alter the list of items needed.

The top 10 items the experts agree that everyone should carry in their vehicle are as follows: Bag of cat litter or sand (for traction when a vehicle gets stuck on a slippery patch), bottled water, first aid kit, hand cleaner, jumper cables, road flares (or hazard/warning light of some sort), blankets, food (non-perishable such as energy bars), hat/scarf/gloves, towels (for laying on when repairing a tire), and a flashlight.  (Click on the above links for complete lists of recommended items.)

In an email survey of 15 individuals, the top 10 items to always carry in a vehicle include: CDs, GPS, map, phone charger, spare tire & jack, sunglasses, tissues/napkins/paper towel/Kleenex, windshield scraper (most of these people live in Michigan), blankets and jumper cables. With the exception of CDs, all of these items were on the experts’ top 50 list.

Also based on the survey, there are about 50 unique EDC items that people feel are important to carry in their vehicles. Only about half of those items are ones that the experts say everyone should carry. The other half, well, brought up some unique ideas for what’s important to carry in a vehicle.

Some of the items that the surveyed individuals carry in their cars regularly but that did not make the 50 items listed by the experts include various items for kids (books, diapers, toys, movies, etc.), a trash bag, recyclable grocery bags, hunting gear, dry cleaning, a gun, a phone book and a lint brush.

Winning the top spot (there’s no prize, sorry) for being the most prepared AND having the most unusual items in a vehicle is a 60-something man hailing proudly from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This U-per always has the following items in his vehicle in addition to most of the top 10 items in both lists above.

1. Food for 2 people for 2-3 days. Remember, he is from the UP.
2. Lantern. Not a flashlight, a lantern. A lantern can keep a person warm too, a flashlight can’t.
3. Snow boots for 2-3 people. Wants everyone to be warm.
4. Toilet paper. There aren’t a lot of options north of the Mackinac Bridge.
5. Tie downs & canvas. Always wants to be prepared to carry home a deer if he hits it with is car.

He also doesn’t carry just one blanket, but 4-5 blankets as well as several umbrellas, folding chairs, and hiking gear for a couple of people. Additionally, he keeps something that apparently goes in a gas tank if the wind is blowing so hard that snow gets inside the tank. (Did you even know this could happen?) Few people are this prepared for sure.

This U-per, who has experienced extreme weather first hand, provides a valuable lesson for everyone, a lesson that the experts also stress is better to learn from others than from personal experience. That lesson is to avoid being caught in the middle of nowhere when something goes wrong with your vehicle. The end result can be wasted time, a large towing bill, and possibly a very cold and hunger-filled night in a ditch.

While packing all 50 items listed by the experts is probably not practical with regard to space, taking half of them will certainly go a long way in making an already unpleasant and sometimes downright uncomfortable situation go at least a little more smoothly. There are also road and travel safety kits that include the essential items and don’t take up a lot of space. Take the time today to assess your readiness for a roadside emergency.

DISCUSSION: After reading what the experts recommend and what some individuals keep in their cars, do you feel prepared for the road ahead?

Protect your loved ones and give them the gift of safety this Valentine's Day.

February is a month that is truly from the heart – from Valentine’s Day smack in the middle of the month to American Heart Month casting a red glow throughout February, it’s a month that is all about giving from the heart –whether it’s a material gift or through care and thought. Safety Glasses and safety equipment might not shine as bright as diamonds, but when your loved ones are operating dangerous equipment or are working in precarious situations, you’re going to rely on safety equipment to keep the cherished people in your life safe.

A Passion For Safety
The calendar doesn’t have to specify a holiday for you to give the gift of safety – it’s a gift that is welcome all year round and shows how much you care about the special people in your life. If you’re just swinging by our website, don’t feel overwhelmed – first think about what type of conditions they’re working in. For example, does he or she need Splash Goggles, or perhaps Polarized Safety Glasses? Then, think about Safety Glasses Lens Tints in accordance with the lighting conditions he or she works in.

Think safety bundles – safety glasses, face shields, gloves, and hard hats. Giving your loved one the complete safety package ups the likelihood that he or she will keep safety on the brain, and be armed with the safety equipment to make it a reality.

Promote Safety In February
As you’re embracing the love this February, use heartfelt action to promote the cause of safety:

• Tell your loved ones how vital their safety is to you. We live busy lives, and it’s easy to forget to tell the people in our lives how much they mean to us. Take a few minutes this February, and all year, to remind them.
• Promote safety – together. Don’t things always seem to stick better when you do them together? If you want your husband to wear safety glasses when working in the yard, buy yourself a pair and wear them too!
• Start safety early. We learn habits early, and the habit of safety is a wonderful one to teach. Children’s Safety Glasses are made for smaller faces, and get your kids in the habit of promoting safety from youth to adult.

Safety comes from the heart this February, and choosing safety equipment for your loved ones is not only a wonderful surprise, but one that shows how much they mean to you. We’re always here to help, so please contact us if you need a helping hand selecting the right safety equipment for the people who hold the keys to your heart!

You don't have to resort to extremes to practice good safety habits in the kitchen.

In July 2010, a deep-fried dumpling almost cost food blogger Gabriella Zagreb her eyesight. Leaning over her pot of boiling oil to dislodge a stuck dumpling with a spoon, the dumpling cracked open and released steam and moisture into the hot oil, sending an explosion right up into her face. Gabriella’s neck, chin, cheeks, eyelids, eyelashes, and eyebrows were severely burned, causing a few weeks of temporary blindness. Today the blogger has her eyesight back, but still has discernible scars. They remind her every day of the lesson she learned: that each year hundreds of people are injured — sometimes temporarily or even permanently blinded — in cooking accidents involving steam, hot oil, splattered grease, and more, all because they weren’t wearing protective eyewear in the kitchen. And in these situations, oven mitts are certainly not the protective gear that’ll ensure your ability to forever see the food you put in your mouth before you taste it.

From Mainstream to Extreme, Cooking is More Fun when Done Safely
As you’ve just read, cooking has the potential to be quite dangerous and the more experimental and adventurous you are, the more you need to consider safety. (In fact, read how to safely deep fry a turkey here). And while some culinary artists take their creations to the extreme, as you’ll read below,  wherever you fall on the spectrum — from basic domestic god or goddess to avant-garde gastronomic adventurist — you’ll find protective eyewear both useful and necessary.

Handy Hint: Wear Safety Goggles for Chopping Onions
When you cut an onion, you slice open cells that contain a certain amino acid that then mixes with other enzymes in the vegetable, releasing a volatile sulfur compound into the air. When this gas reacts with the natural moisture in your eyes, sulfuric acid is formed. The sulfuric acid stimulates your tear ducts to wash this irritant away. So if you want to avoid streaming eyes, ruined makeup, and looking like your dog just died right before your dinner guests arrive, wear goggles while chopping up the onions for your favorite recipe. 

Fancy Flames: Butane Torches Require Safety Glasses
Used as a finishing tool for many culinary delights, butane torches are probably best known for adding   a crème brulée’s golden crown — that crispy, melt-in-your-mouth, stained-glass candy top. Usually small in size, these torches use a pressurized container filled with butane gas and an igniter to light the flame, which can be adjusted from about 1/2” to 1” in length. Since theses torches are filled with a pressurized, flammable fuel, it’s important to follow safety procedures and wear safety glasses when using them. Understanding your specific tool’s features, how to properly operate and store it and keeping it away from children are also on the list of necessary safety protocols. But if Baked Alaska, melted cheese and breaded toppings on onion soup or gratins, and vegetables roasted to perfection call your name, a butane torch is a wonderfully fun cooking tool. Desserts with meringue or marshmallow topping can easily be toasted, and chili peppers or sweet peppers can achieve the darkened, roasted texture and flavor you desire with just a touch of your torch.

Sensuous Smoke: Safety Glasses a Must for the Smoking Gun
Smoked hardwood flavor can be intensely gratifying to your palate. A clever tool called The Smoking Gun allows you to sprinkle hardwood sawdust into a reservoir at the top, light it, and instantly infuse real smoke into your roasted meats, fish, vegetables, marinades — even salads and Bloody Mary mixes. But you’ll want to wear at least a basic pair of safety glasses while using this machine, considering you’re using an open flame to ignite specially treated sawdust; and — especially while performing some of the more technically difficult uses which involve sticking the hose down into blenders, stand mixers, and food processors full of potentially hot, sticky food substances  — depending on how many “smoked” Bloody Marys you’ve had while preparing the rest of your courses, expect that the unexpected could end up in your face and eyes.

Solar Sauté: Magnifying Sunlight = Safety Goggles and Protective Gloves
Moving deeper into the world of experiential cooking, Denise Rojas of GreenPowerScience shows in this video how flash cooking using a giant Fresnel Lens can scramble two eggs in ten seconds or boil water in 90. Originally invented by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses, when positioned correctly, a Fresnel lens acts as a giant magnifying glass that concentrates light to a very small point, resulting in a hot spot which can reach up to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. In this realm of “extreme cooking”, these scientist-chefs know the importance of safety. Wearing both protective goggles and gloves is critical when cooking with the intense power of the sun. 

Lava Flambé: Safety Goggles and Gloves Needed for a Volcanic Adventure
For perhaps the most adventurous chefs of all, there are currently two active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, located on the Big Island of Hawaii. John Alexander, owner of the Dolphin Bay Hotel in Hilo, Hawaii, shares his own special recipe for cooking with molten lava.

Tools and ingredients include:

1. A supply of molten lava: approximately 2 shovels-full.
2. A shovel you’ll never use again.
3. Safety goggles and heavy protective gloves
4. A game hen
5. Eight banana leaves

“Wrap the game hen in the banana leaves (leave a small opening to vent escaping steam) and place it on one scoop of lava. This becomes the base of the “oven.” Top the leaves with the other scoop of lava and let it cool. Within about 45 minutes, the lava cools; the banana leaves burn to ash; and your hen is ready to eat. Opening your “oven” is easy: just hit the hardened lava with your shovel.”

Safety tip: be sure to select a slow-moving lava flow. Some have been clocked at speeds up to 37 miles per hour!

Liquid Nitrogen Novelties: Ice Cream in Five Minutes Flat Requires Proper Goggles and Gloves
Naturally, let’s end our romp through the creative culinary world with dessert: a frosty bowl of liquid nitrogen ice cream.

You need:

1. Liquid nitrogen: Approximately 2 liters for an average recipe.
2. Safety goggles and heavy gloves: The liquid nitrogen is cold enough to freeze skin on contact. Even ice cream can’t make a trip to the emergency room more fun, so be careful handling the ingredients.
3. Your favorite homemade ice cream recipe
4. A large stainless steel mixing bowl
5. A wooden spoon

Put on your safety goggles and gloves and pour the prepared ice cream mixture into the stainless steel bowl. Slowly pour the liquid nitrogen into the ice cream and stir with the wooden spoon until it’s frozen and the nitrogen has evaporated, approximately five to ten minutes. Serve immediately. Stir in more liquid nitrogen if it starts to melt too quickly. (Read more about the safe handling of liquid nitrogen, as well as more fun culinary experiments here.)

So although it’s possible you may never expect to do anything more exciting than boil water in your kitchen, it’s always best to be prepared for the day you might find yourself actually cooking with hot oil or grease and need a pair of protective eyewear. (Ladies, Safety Glasses USA sells an entire line of safety glasses styled especially for you and scaled to fit a woman’s smaller face.)  So just remember Gabriella’s story. She certainly didn’t expect her seemingly innocent nudge of a stuck dumpling to blind her for three weeks, but it happened — literally — faster than the blink of an eye. Don’t let it happen to you too.

Women tend to carry a great deal more with them on a regular basis.

As Everyday Carry… for Men confirms, men carry the basics with them. What men carry usually fits into their pockets or clips to their belts. On the other hand, Women tend to carry a great deal more with them on a regular basis. The fact that a popular shower game is to see who has the most of 20 items on a list in her purse says a lot about the eclectic nature of the contents of most women’s purse.

Men and women have some of the same items that they carry in common with each other. For example, most carry a wallet (or some version of a wallet and the usual contents like driver’s license, credit cards, money, etc.), cell phone and keys. In addition to these items, the majority of women also carry a highlighter and/or pen, gum and lip gloss or lipstick with them.

Beyond these items, women not only carry vastly more than men carry, but what women carry varies a great deal from one woman to the next. A woman’s purse/handbag, it seems, is more than just a carryall for necessary items. It serves as a one-stop destination, kind of like the mall. A woman’s purse, in addition to being a convenient way to carry the bare essentials, also serves as a:

1.)    Coffee Shop. One woman claims to carry the makings for coffee along with the creamer and sweetener necessary for her to enjoy her coffee. She did not say if she carried a cup to hold her coffee too.

2.)    Medicine Cabinet. From a variety of painkillers (Motrin being the most popular) to Kleenex to contact supplies to antibiotic ointment, many women carry the “just-in-case” items often found in a medicine cabinet. Interestingly, the items considered essential and worth always carrying is not the same for every woman.

3.)    Convenience Store. Everyone has stopped at a convenience store while traveling and grabbed something to drink, a snack and perhaps a magazine. Some women have decided that carrying these items with them is more convenient. (It’s definitely cheaper than buying them at most convenience stores.)

4.)    Beauty shop. As already mentioned, the large majority of women carry lip gloss or lipstick with them at all times. In fact, many usually have more than one color with them. In addition, women also carry a variety of other beauty oriented items such as a nail clipper or file, mascara, lotion, floss and a brush or comb.

5.)    General Store. When children are babies, a diaper bag serves to carry many items that might be needed. When children grow out of diapers, some of those items make their way into mom’s purse. For example, some women regularly carry a change of underwear for their little one, wipes of some sort and toys to occupy the kids. Many women also carry items such as a book, reading glasses, sunglasses and a hand-held fan. And not to leave out the men, some women carry items that their husbands might need but don’t want to carry. In fact, one woman said she always has a pair of reading glasses for her husband. Note that the men did not admit to carrying those with them regularly. Another woman said that her husband wants her to carry a “mom purse” (meaning, a large purse or bag), so she can have more items with her that he thinks she should always have.

Women carry an amazing amount of items with them regularly, and the variety of those items is certainly intriguing. Even with the large number of items listed above, there are quite a few items not yet mentioned. (Some of those items include larger electronics (iPad for example), inhaler, jewelry, note pads, business cards, etc.) The large variety of items that women carry in their handbags/purses seems rivaled only by the large variety of different sizes, shapes and colors of handbags/purses available. This carryall has gone well beyond being just a convenient storage place for the bare necessities.  No wonder there’s a game related to revealing what’s in a woman’s purse.

Here's an example of a good EDC load out. What items do you carry on a daily basis?

Most women carry a purse or some sort of bag with them everywhere they go, and the items in them are as unique and varied as the women who carry them. But men tend take a much simpler approach to the items they keep on their person. And, for the record, none of them said they carry any sort of “man bag” with them (search for them, they are out there in plenty). What most men take with them fits easily in their pockets, hooked to their belts or maybe even in their car.

Of nearly 50 men surveyed (some posted on either EDC or Every Day Carry, and others commented via email survey), these six items were overwhelmingly the most common that men claimed to have on them at all times.

1.)    Knife. Over 40 of the 50 men said they carried a knife. There’s quite a variety of the type and complexity of the knives, and some men even carry multiple knives with them at one time.

2.)    Phone. Some carry them in their pockets, while others clip them on their belts. Worthy of note, though, is the fact that there are still quite a few individuals who do not carry a cell phone or who consider it an “optional” item.

3.)    Wallet/Money Clip/Money. In some form, all men carry their identification, credit or debit cards and money with them. Many still carry a wallet, but some only carry the bare minimum of a driver’s license, one credit/debit card and money. One individual claimed to only carry $3 – $5 with him for “coffee.” Incidentally, that same man also always has his fishing license at the ready too.

4.)    Flashlight. As with the knife, there is quite a variety of flashlights that men carry as well as a variety of ways they carry them. Some carry them in a pouch hooked to their belts, others have them on their key rings, and still others simply carry small enough ones to keep in their pockets.

5.)    Keys. Chances are that every man carries keys with him, but not all of them listed that they do so. Some carry quite a few keys, while others only have a couple. Perhaps with the new technology in cars that don’t require a key to open or start them, carrying keys is going to become a thing of the past.

6.)    Watch. This was slightly lower on the list than the other items, though it is still pretty common. Most likely, many individuals now use their phones for telling time.

Other common items that many men carry with them include sunglasses, reading glasses, a pen or marker, a multi-tool, breath mints, and lip balm of some sort. Several men said they carry a picture of their wife and/or kids too, but most likely those who carry phones keep pictures there. Only some of the men who are married noted their wedding ring as an item they always have on them.

There are also some items that are less common but that quite a few men claim to always have with them. These items include a gun, tape measure, rescue whistle and utility corkscrew. Each one probably holds a good story as to why it is carried every day too. Some admitted to keeping extra items such as a gym bag (did not say what was in the bag), snacks “for energy,” a water bottle and an umbrella. Most, however, stuck to only what they could carry on them.

Question: Are you like the typical male with the everyday items you carry with you?

Stay tuned for upcoming related articles including “Everyday Carry for Women,” “Everyday Carry for the Car,” and “Emergency Must-Haves at Home.”