Back to School Safety Tips

It seems hard to believe that another summer has come and gone and it’s time to start getting the kids ready to go back to school. Some of us are sending our kids off to school for the very first time, and others are veterans of the bus stop. Either way, there are lots of simple things that we can all do to help keep our kids safe at school and at play. Every parent’s primary goal is the same-to ensure a productive, healthy and safe school year.

When you cannot be with your kids, make sure they always, always know how to reach you. Just knowing you are a Plateau phone call away and can come home in the case of an emergency or serious situation can provide an older child with peace of mind and confidence in your absence.

For younger children, you will want to think about after school care. If you are working when the kids come home from school, and don’t have a spouse or caregiver either at home or already lined up, you will need to think about who will care for your kids until you get home.

Many working parents have the same caregiver whether it’s summer vacation or school year, but as kids get older, they may be ready to be at home alone for a couple of hours until you get home from work. According to many experts, most kids are not mature enough and responsible enough to be left alone until they are at a minimum of 11-12 years of age. Again, you are the best judge of your kids’ comfort level and maturity. Talk to your kids and be sure that they would feel comfortable with being alone or being in charge of the younger ones for a couple of hours. If you have any doubts at all, it’s best to find someone to care for the kids until you get home. Here are some things to think about:

Walking To School

• Parents should walk or bike the route prior to school starting and look for any possible hazards the child may encounter and identify a safe place to go if the child needs help.

• Stop, look and listen before crossing the street. Always cross at the crosswalk and obey traffic signals.

• Walk or bike with a friend. It is safer and more fun with a buddy.

• Go directly to school and directly home afterward.

• Do not play in vacant fields or lots.

• Stay on the sidewalk or bike path and do not take short cuts.

• If someone approaches you or makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t talk to them and keep walking or riding.

• If a vehicle is following you, turn around and go the other direction.

• Don’t put your name on clothing, backpacks, books or lunch boxes that are visible to others.

• If approached by a dog, do not run. Do not touch the dog. Stand still and tell the dog to go home. If the dog will not leave, slowly back away from the dog putting distance between him and you; then continue walking.

Biking To School

• Bright colored clothing will make you more visible to drivers.

• Always wear a bicycle helmet.

• Backpacks should be tight on the upper back and not dragging on the rear tire.

• Respect traffic lights and stop signs.

• Ride on the right, going the same direction as traffic.

• Use appropriate hand signals.

Bus Stops

• Know your bus number.

• Stay in a group while waiting for the bus.

• Do not play in the street. Stay on the sidewalk or grass.

• Wait for the bus to completely stop before approaching it.

• Look both ways before crossing the street to get on the bus. Make sure to always remain in clear view of the bus driver.

• Stay seated while on the bus and keep hands and head inside the windows.

• If someone offers you a ride, say NO.

• A parent could be at the bus stop before and after school for extra safety.

For Parents … Vehicle Traffic

Here are some simple reminders for drivers:

• Slow down and be especially alert in the residential neighborhoods and school zones
  
• Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs
  
• Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully
  
• Watch for children on and near the road in the morning and after school hours
  
• Reduce any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings. Put down your phone and don’t talk or text while driving
  
• Give children right-of-way in crosswalks and school zones.
  
• • Avoid backing your vehicle at schools.
  
• • Children should exit to the right side of the vehicle.
  
• • Do not leave until your child is completely on school property.
  

Reminder for your kids:

• They should cross the street with an adult until they are at least 10 years old
  
• Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks
  
• Never run out into the streets or cross in between parked cars
  
• Make sure they always walk in front of the bus where the driver can see them
  

 If your kids will be walking to school, or have to walk a few blocks to a bus stop, make sure you teach them to obey traffic signals and rules if they must cross streets with lights and crosswalks. Younger children need closer supervision, but this is a great time to start teaching those habits. By the time they walk by themselves to school or the bus stop, they will be confident in their ability to know what to do.

Have a relative, trusted neighbor or family friend designated to be the person who will pick your child up or meet them at the bus stop if you can’t be there. Make sure your child knows who that person is, too.

Have conversations with your kids about their day at school-what happened, who they had lunch with, what they are learning. Kids are not always forthcoming if there are any problems at school, and keeping lines of communication open and noticing any changes in behavior and/or grades can be big clues for you as the parent.

When kids are using the computer and the Internet for homework and school projects, monitor their time spent, and the websites they’ve visited. Use the parental controls on your system when available. There are some great programs out there that can help keep your kids away from questionable sites, and out of potentially unsuitable chat rooms or message boards.

School can, and should be, fun and exciting for kids. They get to see their friends every day, learn new things, and spend time outside playing sports or other recreational activities as part of their school day.

But there are dangers, some bigger than others, that exist for children at school, on their way to or from school, and at after school activities. Armed with some knowledge and some planning, parents and children can be aware of the dangers and therefore be more prepared to avoid them, or deal with them as they happen.

Give your kids the tools, the safety knowledge and the resources to take care of themselves when you cannot be there, and parents and children alike can relax and enjoy the school year more!

Safety First, Safety Always!

Information provided by the National Safety Council and Safe Kids.Org

Today’s post is courtesy of Ken Oswald

Safety and Security Manager

ENMR·Plateau

koswald@plateautel.com

Falls and Fires! Window Safety from LAFD

Windows! They keep us connected to the outside world when we are indoors; they provide light and they allow us to keep out the cold or let the outside air in. They can also be a source of danger and the danger is two-fold. On the one hand we have to make sure that they open properly and easily to allow us to get out if we need to use them as an exit in case of fire; on the other hand they need to be guarded so that small children don’t fall out of or through them. Especially when the weather gets hot, windows tend to stay open a lot. Toddlers fatalities resulting from children falling from windows increase during the warm months.

The Los Angeles Fire Department’s website gives us a list of 9 tips for window safety. They are:

1. Windows provide a secondary means of escape from a burning home. Determine your family’s emergency escape plan and practice it. Remember that children may have to rely on a window to escape in a fire. Help them learn to safely use a window under these circumstances.
   
2. When performing household repairs, make sure windows are not painted or nailed shut. You must be able to open them to escape in an emergency.
   
3. Keep your windows closed and latched when children are around. When opening windows for ventilation, open windows that a child cannot reach.
   
4. Set and enforce rules about keeping children’s play away from windows or patio doors. Falling through the glass can be fatal or cause serious injury.
   
5. Keep furniture — or anything children can climb — away from windows. Children may use such objects as a climbing aid.
   
6. If you have young children in your home and are considering installing window guards or window fall prevention devices, be aware that the window guards you install must have a release mechanism so that they can be opened for escape in a fire emergency. Consult your local building code
   officials to determine proper window guard placement.
   
7. Some homes have window guards, security bars, grilles or grates covering windows. Those windows can be useless in an emergency if they do not have a functioning release mechanism. Test them today because time is critical when escaping a fire.
   
8. Do not install window unit air conditioners in windows that may be needed for escape or rescue in an emergency. The air conditioning unit could block or impede escape through the window. Always be sure that you have at least one window in each sleeping and living area that meets escape and rescue requirements.
   
9. The degree of injury sustained from a window fall can be affected by the surface on which the victim falls. Shrubs and soft edging like wood chips or grass beneath windows may lessen the impact if a fall does occur.
   

You can read the complete article on the LAFD website here.

Car Seat Safety Lewis Story

This weekend I got a message from my WordPress blog letting me know that someone had posted a comment on one of my posts. The title made me think that it was spam, having nothing to do with the post in question. Before I flagged it as spam, however, I clicked on the link that it referred to. In spite of the fact that it was posted as a comment under a post that was totally unrelated to carseats and in spite of the fact that I normally try to keep this blog focused more on workplace safety, after watching this short video, I felt that the message that it was trying to communicate is much too serious to not pass along.

So here it is: http://www.safety1sttubsidebathseat.com/car-seat-safety-lewis-story.php

Please take the time to click on the above link and view the video. Anyone who’s got kids, grandkids, nephews, niece or who has friends who do (can’t think of anyone this wouldn’t apply to except that hermit living on the top of the mountain in Tibet) needs to hear this.

Thanks.

Go to Work, it’s safer!

We spend a lot more time, on this blog, talking about workplace safety. That is partly, of course because it’s what National Safety, Inc is all about. We provide safety equipment geared primarily for individuals in the workplace.

The truth is, however, that you are 11 times more likely to get killed or seriously injured in your home than you are in the workplace.

These statistics from the National Safety Council:

Americans are safer at work than they are at home – 11 times safer.

At work:

• 4,988 on-the-job deaths
  
• 3.7 million on-the-job disabling injuries
  
• $164.7 billion in on-the-job costs to society
  

Off work:

• 3,200 off-the-job deaths
• 9.4 million off-the-job disabling injuries
• $240.3 billion in off-the-job costs to society

 

When you add friends and families into the equation there are a staggering 72,600 deaths that take place in homes and in the community from unintentional injuries, as well as over 20,200,000 disabling injuries, affecting 112 million households, costing Americans over $251.9 billion.

These injuries are from:

• falls, especially among adults 65 and older
  
• drivers who are distracted while texting or using their cell phones
  
• inexperienced teen drivers
  
• poisonings especially from unintentional drug overdose from painkillers or other prescription drugs
  
• sports injuries
  
• overexertion
  
• choking
  
• drowning
  
• and many more incidents that we never intended to happen
  

If you want to do something about it, check out the NSC Safety & Health Facts Sheets. Some are available to members only, others are available to anyone. Either way, there’s plenty there to keep you busy.

Top Ten Things to Watch for at Home # 10

10. Your dryer exhaust

You clean the lint trap every time you put a load in the dryer to make sure that your dryer isn’t working too hard and wasting energy. That’s good! When was the last time that you cleaned the lint in the exhaust hose?

According the the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website “in 1998, clothes dryers were associated with 15,600 fires, which resulted in 20 deaths and 370 injuries.” Fires start when lint accumulates in the exhaust and in the hose, gets overheated and ignites.

The Fix

These tips on how to prevent clothes dryer fires come from the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

• Clean the lint screen/filter before or after drying each load of clothes. If clothing is still damp at the end of a typical drying cycle or drying requires longer times than normal, this may be a sign that the lint screen or the exhaust duct is blocked.
  
• Clean the dryer vent and exhaust duct periodically. Check the outside dryer vent while the dryer is operating to make sure exhaust air is escaping. If it is not, the vent or the exhaust duct may be blocked. To remove a blockage in the exhaust path, it may be necessary to disconnect the exhaust duct from the dryer. Remember to reconnect the ducting to the dryer and outside vent before using the dryer again.
  
• Clean behind the dryer, where lint can build up. Have a qualified service person clean the interior of the dryer chassis periodically to minimize the amount of lint accumulation. Keep the area around the dryer clean and free of clutter.
  
• Replace plastic or foil, accordion-type ducting material with rigid or corrugated semi-rigid metal duct. Most manufacturers specify the use of a rigid or corrugated semi-rigid metal duct, which provides maximum airflow. The flexible plastic or foil type duct can more easily trap lint and is more susceptible to kinks or crushing, which can greatly reduce the airflow.
  
• Take special care when drying clothes that have been soiled with volatile chemicals such as gasoline, cooking oils, cleaning agents, or finishing oils and stains. If possible, wash the clothing more than once to minimize the amount of volatile chemicals on the clothes and, preferably, hang the clothes to dry. If using a dryer, use the lowest heat setting and a drying cycle that has a cool-down period at the end of the cycle. To prevent clothes from igniting after drying, do not leave the dried clothes in the dryer or piled in a laundry basket.
  

Top Ten Things to Watch for at Home # 9

9. Under the sink

It really isn’t very smart, we collect all the most dangerous chemicals and put them down low where kids can get to them.

The truth is that most of us keep bleach, and all kinds of dangerous cleansers and detergents under the bathroom and kitchen sink. Children as young as those barely beginning to crawl can open these cabinets. To them it just looks like lemonade, ice-tea or Kool-Aid.

The Fix

1. Obviously the first thing to do is to install child locks on all cabinets and drawers that children might get into. They are very inexpensive and easy to install and can literally save a life.
2. The next solution is to make sure that the bathroom doors are kept closed when small children are present. The bathroom is simply too dangerous a place (razor blades, cleaners, detergents, toilets, bathtubs, etc…) to allow children to play in.
3. The not so obvious fix but one that I personally recommend highly, is to simply get rid of all those chemicals. Chemical cleaners and detergents are not only dangerous for small children who might ingest them but also for you and everyone else. Additionally they are extremely dangerous to the environment. There are not only alternatives to chemical cleaners but these alternatives actually clean better. If you honestly are willing to look into it, you’ll be amazed to find that most of the cleaners you are using aren’t doing as good a job as you think that they are. Most surfaces that have been cleaned with cleansers so bacteria count to be right back to what it was prior to cleaning within 1 hour of cleaning.

   Three things are necessary for bacteria and germs to proliferate: Moisture, food and warmth. Unless you can completely remove one or more of these elements bacteria and germs will simply reproduce and they are better at reproducing than bunny rabbits are. Rather than try to explain cleaning without chemicals to you, I am going to refer you to http://enjous.com/ and let them show you (By the way, although I use Enjo at home, I get no commissions from any sales of Enjo products. I am not endorsing their products for commercial gain. I simply know that it work and works well. We have eliminated all cleansers and cleaning chemicals from our home). Right on the homepage of http://enjous.com/ you can see what I am talking about.

Have you found other ways to eliminate or reduce the chemicals in your home? Share them with us!

Top Ten Things to Watch for at Home # 6

6. Mold

It has been said that one of the most unhealthy places for you is actually in your home, at least when it comes to the air that you are breathing. One of my pet peeves is cleansers in spray bottles. Who came up with this nightmare? “Let’s put a whole bunch of nasty chemicals in a bottle, tell people that it’s what they need to use to kill germs and then put it in a spray bottle so that every time they use it they are vaporizing most of it into the air that they breathe!” Spend a little time reading the content of what you’re using and then look those chemicals up online. Not good!

But I digress, aside from the chemicals that you are breathing in, the other main issue with indoor air quality has to do with mold and the problem with mold is that most of the mold in your home isn’t out in the open. Mold can hide and lurk in all kinds of places. In fact, the places most prone to mold are the attic, the basement and, of course, the bathroom. Additionally, mold can grow inside the walls (especially in areas where the water pipes aren’t well insulated and sweat, creating moisture in the walls).

Mildew growing on a plastic shower custain (This image is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: Bob Blaylock at en.wikipedia)

Mold spores are not good for your respiratory tract. Coughing, wheezing, sneezing, watery eyes, inflamed sinuses and asthma are common symptoms. Many people have no idea why they constantly feel congested, why their eyes feel irritated or why they feel like they are constantly coming down with a cold. If you are allergic to mold, it can get even worse. According to Wikipedia… “Some molds also produce mycotoxins that can pose serious health risks to humans and animals. Some studies claim that exposure to high levels of mycotoxins can lead to neurological problems and in some cases death. Prolonged exposure, e.g. daily workplace exposure, may be particularly harmful.”

The Fix

• Mold needs moisture to reproduce and grow so the obvious solution is to prevent moisture. Leaks, especially those slow leaks that you feel you can wait to fix because “it’s really not that bad!” need to be dealt with. Check areas where moisture can accumulate. Refrigerator drip trays, air conditioners, house plants, shower stalls, humidifiers, etc… are all places they tend to have high moisture content.
• If you suspect that you have a humidity problem, purchase a moisture or humidity meter at your local hardware store (they are fairly inexpensive ranging somewhere from $15-$60) and check the humidity in your home. It should be somewhere around 30-50%. Anything higher is trouble.
• Cleanup and dry spills and leaks immediately especially in carpets and fabrics where moisture tends to linger.
• Make sure that appliances that produce or dissipate moisture are properly vented. This includes the stove, the dryer, the washing machine, the dishwasher.
• Backer Boards should be installed in bathrooms instead of the standard drywall to prevent moisture seeping between tiles and into the walls where it can grow undetected.
• Make sure that the fans in your home vent outside, not just into the attic.
• Whenever possible, ventilate the house, especially while cooking, showering or running the moisture producing appliances mentioned above.
• If moisture continues to be a problem, purchase a dehumidifier and run it periodically to reduce the moisture content in the air.

Top Ten Things to Watch for at Home # 5

5. Outdoor Play Equipment

According to kidshealth.org “each year, more than 200,000 kids are treated in hospital ERs for playground-related injuries.” Considering the fact that playground and outdoor play equipment is built and designed in order to allow our children to have fun, that’s pretty sad. Even sadder is the fact that most of these injuries could have been avoided.

The Fix

1. Adult supervision. It starts with determining if the child in question is older enough to use the equipment. Playground equipment is built with a large range of children in mind and not everything on the playground is appropriate for the level of motor skills that your child has attained at this point in his/her life. Whether we are talking about the equipment that you’ve put in your own backyard or the equipment on the public playground, it is important for you to let your child know what he or she can play on and what he or she will have to wait to play on.
   Adult supervision also entails being there and keeping an eye on the children while they are playing. Simply sending the kids out to play is not appropriate. Accidents can happen and it only takes a few seconds for something bad to happen. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by other adults either.
2. Safety Ratings and Standards. For any and all playground equipment that you are going to put in your yard, it is important to make sure that the equipment meets the ASTM Standard F 1487 as well as the USCPSC. A great place to start is http://www.aplusplaygrounds.com

3. Make sure that the surface they are playing on is safe. These guidelines from kidshealth.org:
   Surfaces
   

A proper playground surface is one of the most important factors in reducing injuries — and the severity of injuries — that occur when kids fall from equipment. The surface under the playground equipment should be soft enough and thick enough to soften the impact of a child’s fall.

Here are some things to consider:

• Concrete, asphalt, and blacktop are unsafe and unacceptable. Grass, soil, and packed-earth surfaces are also unsafe because weather and wear can reduce their capacities to cushion a child’s fall.
• The playground surface should be free of standing water and debris that could cause kids to trip and fall, such as rocks, tree stumps, and tree roots.
• There should be no dangerous materials, like broken glass or twisted metal.
• The surfaces may be loosely filled with materials like wood chips, mulch, sand, pea gravel, or shredded rubber.
• Surfacing mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials are also safe.
• Rubber mats and wood chips allow the best access for people in wheelchairs.
• Loose-fill surface materials 12 inches deep should be used for equipment up to 8 feet high. The material should not be packed down because this will reduce any cushioning effect.
• No surfacing materials are considered safe if the combined height of playground and the child (standing on the highest platform) is higher than 12 feet.
• The cushioned surface should extend at least 6 feet past the equipment. Additional coverage may be needed, depending on how high a slide is or how long a swing is.
• If there is loose-fill over a hard surface (like asphalt or concrete), there should be 3-6 inches of loose-fill like gravel, a layer of geotextile cloth, a layer of loose-fill surfacing material, and then impact mats under the playground equipment.

Keep in mind that even proper surfacing can’t prevent all injuries. Also, the greater the height of the equipment, the more likely kids are to get injured if they fall from it.

1. Spend some time at http://www.playgroundsafety.org/safety/index.htm for more safety tips, a checklist for parents, recalls and more.

Top Ten Things to Watch for at Home #3

3. Windows and balconies

Falls account for a high percentage of deaths in construction and a big part of our business has to do with fall protection. Unfortunately falls also account for a large percentage of fatalities in the home as well.

Anyone who’s had kids has experienced the shock of suddenly seeing that child who can’t even walk yet standing on top of a dresser or a table. It’s enough to make you think that we did indeed evolve from monkeys. We suddenly become aware of the fact that the window we didn’t think we needed to worry about for a while yet needs to be looked at.

Windows and balconies that are two or more stories up are potentially a problem. Even first floor windows can cause injuries. Falls from as little as two feet can result in head injuries or even fatalities. Do not assume that there is no way that your child will ever be able to reach it. He or she will. It isn’t a matter of “if”, it’s a matter of “when”. Part of the problem is that children assume that screens will hold them and therefore lean against them without a care in the world. A fear of heights isn’t something we are born with it’s something that we develop over time.

The Fix

Windows

• Do not leave windows open when children are present
• Some newer windows come with built-in locks that only allow the window to be opened so far. If your windows aren’t equipped with this safety feature, purchase a window wedge for every window (at $3.59 each, it’s not going to be a huge financial outlay).
• NEVER trust screens
• When organizing and setting up a room (especially rooms where children will be often be present) try to keep dressers, tables, chairs and beds away from the windows.
• If your windows open vertically (as opposed to sliding horizontally) open the windows from the top rather than from the bottom.

Balconies

Building codes vary from state to state so check to find out what the codes are for your area.

A few rules of thumb, however….

• Make sure that railings are at least 36″ to 42″ in height
• Make sure that the spacing of the balusters are 3″ to 6″
• Make sure that the space at the bottom of the rail (deck-to-bottom of railing) is 2″ to 4″
• Make sure that the balusters are properly anchored and won’t break or give way if a child leans on them

I know that one of my big projects at my home this summer is going to be a redo of the balcony. The balusters aren’t spaced properly and they are held in place with only a nail of two. With our grandson coming over, it’s a major priority to make sure he’s safe when he’s out there. This is what it looks like now:

And this is what I would like to do.

Where would I find the black metal rods?

Any suggestions?

Top Ten Things to Watch for at Home

Having just finished the “Deadly Dozen” of conditions and unsafe acts, as applied to the workplace, I wanted to now turn my attention to the home. I don’t have 12, but I do have 10.

The home is supposed to be a haven, a place of rest, a place of safety. Unfortunately, in many cases, it is anything but. It reminds me of the guy who moved 12 miles away from where he used to live. When asked by his friend why he moved he answered “I heard that 80% of accidents happen within 10 miles of your home so I moved 12 miles away”

There’s a guy who didn’t quite understand the nature of the problem. The truth of the matter is that a home can be a safe place with a better understanding of the nature of the issues that cause accidents in the home.

Today’s number one…

1. Unattended cooking
   

I think that I’ve probably already mentioned it before… I have a relative who almost burned her house to the ground because she put some oil on the stove and ran upstairs while it was heating up and forgot about it. The result was a kitchen fire that almost destroyed the whole house. She was able to get herself and her son out of the house so no one was injured but a few more minutes and it might have been a whole lot worse. As it was it cost a lot of money and a lot of time to fix the smoke and water damage from the fire department. The truth is that unattended cooking is still the number one cause of home fires.

The Fix

1. Don’t leave! I don’t care how good your memory is and how short a time you’re going to be gone, DO NOT LEAVE something on the stove and leave. It is simply to easy to get distracted and forget. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for a fire to spread rapidly and become unmanageable.
2. Always have a lid nearby. The fastest way to put out a fire once it has started is to starve it by putting a lid on the pan.
3. Keep baking soda nearby as well. Baking soda will also starve a fire of oxygen and won’t cause splatters or explosions. NEVER PUT WATER ON A KITCHEN FIRE. Water and oil don’t mix and when water hits hot oil, it causes an explosion that will send droplets of oil all over the place, spreading the fire and causing serious burns.
4. Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Understanding the potential danger of hot oil or grease on a stove; seeing how fast it can spread can be an eye-opening experience. Because we cook every day, we tend to get complacent and careless but the fact is that your stove can be extremely dangerous.

While I’m warning you about the stove… make sure that the handles of all pots and pans on the stove are always turned inward, especially if you have small children.

Even if you don’t have small children, it is so easy to accidently bump the handle if it’s hanging off the edge.