June is National Safety Month

May 30, 2014

Whether it be on the job site or in your home, we should always be thinking SAFETY FIRST!

Life is full of bumps, scrapes, and bruises, and sometimes it throws us a curveball that we weren’t ready for or expecting. Unfortunately, there’s no foolproof way of removing and/or protecting ourselves from life’s hazards… But we can reduce them! With the summer quickly approaching, we thought it might be useful to go over some helpful summer safety tips. For those of our members who work outside, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, heat cramps, and heat rash are all very real possibilities. So, in an effort to reduce these possibilities, here are some quick safety tips:

• Educate yourself on the signs and symptoms of heat related illnesses

• Have plenty of water. You should frequently drink small amounts of water and not wait until you’re thirsty. You should aim to drink about 6 ounces (medium-sized glass) every 15 minutes

• If possible, schedule frequent rest periods with water breaks in a cooler area

• Anyone wearing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) should be monitored more closely for signs and symptoms because many of these clothing materials trap heat close to the body

• Wear light-weight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing

• If possible, reduce workload

• Avoid caffeinated drinks

• Wear sunblock with an SPF of at least 30

• If you’re taking any medications, find out from your physician if taking the medications in heat are a problem

Remember, these tips go beyond the job site and are useful for recreational purposes as well!

In addition to some summer tips, we’d also like to cover some basic family safety tips:

• Keep emergency phone numbers by your telephones

• Make a first aid kit for your home

• Make a family emergency plan

• Install and maintain smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors

• Keep guns unloaded and locked up. Lock up the ammunition separately

• Follow the directions carefully when using tools or equipment

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to safety. For additional information and fact sheets, check out the following links:

Fact Sheets

https://www.osha.gov/pls/publications/publication.AthruZ?pType=Types&pID=2

Various Construction OSHA Safety Topics

https://www.osha.gov/doc/index.html

Household Safety

http://www.nsc.org/safety_home/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Pages/HomeandRecreationalSafety.aspx