Did you know that April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month? The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that over 300,000 crashes involving drivers using cell phones and texting have occurred in the U. S. just this year. That is approximately one every 24 seconds. And, did you know, it is not just activities like texting that can be so dangerous, but anything that can take away the focus necessary to drive? This, the National Safety Council declares, can involve talking on a cell phone, with or without a headset.

In order to increase awareness of distracted driving and decrease the number of deaths on the roads, the NSC urges everyone to do the following this month:

• Stop using cell phones while driving.
• Understand the dangers of the cognitive distraction of the brain.
• Inform people who call you while driving that you'd be happy to continue the conversation once they have reached their destination.
• Tell others about the dangers of cell phone distracted driving.  

Additionally, the NSC provides several ways for you to get involved this month. You can take a pledge to drive cell phone free, register for a free distracted driving webinar, or download a variety of distracted driving resources from their website, including a fact sheet, a kit for employers, posters, videos, and more.

Did You Know? National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, National Safety Council, cell phones, texting, NSC

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is one of the leading causes of workplace gas inhalation deaths in the US. If you've ever wondered about the specific hazards posed by Hydrogen Sulfide, the industries that produce it, or the effects it has on people, OSHA recently unveiled a new Hydrogen Sulfide web page addressing the highly flammable and toxic gas.

The new OSHA page provides informative graphics on why hydrogen sulfide is so deadly, as well as:

• Hazards related to hydrogen sulfide;
• Workplaces where hydrogen sulfide is found;
• How to evaluate and control H₂S exposure;
• OSHA standards related to H₂S; and
• Additional H₂S resources.

If you work in an industry where hydrogen sulfide may be present, you may be required to take a Hydrogen Sulfide Awareness course to familiarize yourself with the properties of the gas, and to learn how to protect yourself and others. Remember, the best way to avoid a hazard is to be aware of its existence.

Did You Know? OSHA, H2S, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen sulfide awareness

Tablets and smart phones are becoming more and more common at both work and home. People spend a lot of their time using these devices to check e-mail, websites, or social networking services while on the go or away from their computers. Yet did you know that with the increased use of mobile devices, comes the risk of developing a repetitive strain injury?

Repetitive strain injuries (or RSI) are those that occur through excessive, repetitive use of the muscles and tendons in the body, and can result by the undertaking of almost any repetitive task. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, musculoskeletal disorders account for a third of all workplace injuries and illnesses.

As you may suspect, the smaller surfaces and keypads on mobile devices can cause users to adopt compromised and restrained positions, which in turn can lead to the development of a growing number of disorders with names such as BlackBerry thumb, iPod finger, or iPad hand.

While many of these injuries and disorders can be uncomfortable at first and – if unheeded – potentially debilitating, there are several things you can do now to limit your risk against developing such an injury.

The best way to avoid injury from your gadget is to limit the use of your device altogether. This means only using it at certain times, taking frequent breaks, giving yourself tech holidays, or, when possible, sending shorter and fewer messages. Furthermore, you should always use your device in a relaxed, comfortable manner, avoiding positions that may cause you to overreach or strain your hands or wrists. If you feel any sort of pain, you should stop and rest your hands. If the pain persists or does not go away after adequate rest, you should check with your doctor.

Did You Know? Tablets, Smart phones, RSI, Repetitive Strain Injuries, Ergonomics, Mobile devices

With the end of daylight saving time and reduction of daylight in general, road safety becomes an even greater concern for motorists, cyclists, runners, and pedestrians. The National Road Safety Foundation has done studies that show auto accidents increase after we lose an hour. As night driving increases, drowsiness increases, and drowsy driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving.

Drivers who experience signs of fatigue are advised to pull over, take a break, have a caffeinated beverage or snack, or even take a nap. These signs can include:

• Difficulty focusing, rubbing eyes, frequent blinking;
• Daydreaming or not remembering the last few miles;
• Head snaps and yawning; and
• Drifting out of your lane, tailgating, or hitting rumble strips.

Reduced visibility creates obvious hazards for pedestrians as well. According to studies done by Carnegie Mellon University, pedestrian fatalities rise by 186% in November--the month in which Daylight Saving Time takes effect. Because of reduced visibility, drivers and pedestrians alike should use extra care.

In most situations, drivers are required to yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing streets in marked or unmarked crosswalks. However, pedestrians are sometimes more difficult to see at intersections, where pedestrians may cross a street onto which a vehicle is turning. Pedestrians who walk or jog along roadways are encouraged to follow the following suggestions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• When possible, cross a street or roadway at a designated crosswalk;
• Always stop and look left, right, and left again before crossing;
• Increase visibility at night by carrying a flashlight when walking and wearing reflective clothing that helps highlight body movements; and
• When you must walk on a street or a rural roadway, walk facing traffic so you can see when vehicles are approaching.

Remember, increasing your visibility and awareness as a driver or pedestrian is the best way to avoid accidents after dark.

Did You Know? daylight saving time, daylight savings time, DST, DST safety, daylight saving time safety, daylight savings time safety, pedestrian safety, motorist safety

As a small business owner, you are responsible for ensuring your workplace is a safe one. This means making an effort to identify and eliminate hazards that may result in illness or injury. Protecting your employees often involves implementing controls that reduce or eliminate identified hazards, as well as training your employees to identify hazards and use equipment properly through a variety of training and hazard awareness courses.

But where do you start? Who do you contact to help identify workplace hazards? What training programs should you institute at your workplace? Who do you appoint to train your workers?

Fortunately, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offers a Small Business Resource Guide for the small business owner. This site offers guides for regulations, emergency preparedness, specific occupations and hazards, and resources that provide consultation services for inspections, hazard identification, and program development. These links may well be all you need to determine the hazards that exist at your workplace and how to protect your employees from them, ensuring they remain safe and productive.

If you're not sure where to begin with these resources, you can always start at the General Information page, which offers a variety of articles on safety and health, inspection and hazard checklists, and government materials on small business safety from the US Small Business Administration.

Did You Know? small business safety, small business, NIOSH, resource guide, small business resource guide

Workers, such as janitors, housekeepers, and busboys, use cleaning products each day to keep their worksites clean, plying their trade in schools, hospitals, hotels, and restaurants. But did you know that some cleaning chemicals can be hazardous to your health, leading to such ailments as skin rashes, burns, coughing, or even worse? As a result, many employers are switching to green cleaning products because they are thought to be less hazardous to workers and the environment.

However, placing the word "green" in a name or on a bottle does not ensure that a chemical is safe. Employers, therefore, should review the cleaning chemicals they purchase, including green cleaning products, to understand their health and safety hazards.

In the end employers should choose the least hazardous cleaners. A good way to do this is to use Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), which should be obtained and maintained for all the hazardous cleaning products and chemicals they use. These MSDSs must be readily accessible to workers.

Employers must also provide safe working conditions for employees using cleaning chemicals. When cleaning chemicals are hazardous, employers must train workers on the safe work practices for using the chemicals. Such practices include not mixing certain cleaning products, knowing when to dilute certain cleaners, and training workers on the use, storage, and emergency spill procedures for cleaning chemicals.

You can find more information on how to keep you and your workers safe when working with cleaning chemicals by checking out this infosheet from NIOSH, or going to the webpage "OSHA Assistance for the Cleaning Industry."

Did You Know? Cleaning chemicals, MSDS, Green cleaning products, Hazardous chemicals

You probably knew OSHA requires employers to report fatalities and catastrophes that result in the hospitalization of 3 or more workers within 8 hours of the occurrence. You probably also knew OSHA publishes a list of these occurrences each week in a FAT/CAT report. But did you know OSHA also keeps a record of their investigations into workplace fatalities and catastrophes? Not only are records kept, but these records are available online to anyone interested in viewing them.

OSHA calls these records Fatality and Catastrophe Investigation Summaries. These records are searchable using a variety of options, including a description of the accident, date, OSHA office, and more. OSHA also provides instructions on how to use the search engine.

If you prefer to do a search by keywords, the summary page provides links to keywords by letter beneath the search engine.

Each investigation summary provides information on the type, date, and location of the accident, the name of the workers' employer, and a brief description of how the accident happened. It also describes the nature of the accident, the occupation of the injured, and the result of the injury. Clicking on the linked summary number yields still more information, including the address of the employer, the number and type of employer violations, and any citations. It also provides information on the type of work done at the worksite.

Suffice to say, if you are interested in the types of FAT/CATs that have occurred at your workplace, your state, or even workplaces similar to your own, you now have a resource to learn about them, how often and when they have occurred, and their consequences.

Did You Know? OSHA, fatality, catastrophe, FAT/CAT

Did you know that, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, almost half (45%) of pedestrian deaths in 2010 occurred between the hours of 6 PM and midnight? As this number shows, moving about near roads during the evening and nighttime hours can be dangerous. However, if you choose to walk or run at night, there are several things you can do to keep yourself safe.

The first is to make yourself visible by wearing reflective clothing. The more bright, light-colored, and reflective clothing you wear, the easier it will be for others to see you at night, and the less likely you'll be hit by a car or other vehicle. Besides wearing the proper attire, you should make sure to carry the proper equipment: in this case, a flashlight. This will not only help you to see where you're going, but will also help others to see you, and anything you can do to increase your visibility at night is always a good thing.

Along the same lines, you should seek out the brightest and most well lit areas of town for maximum visibility. Try to stay on the sidewalk and, when crossing the street, use the crosswalk. Try to stay away from areas without sidewalks or crosswalks.

Avoid walking or running alone; if possible, take along a friend. Bring a cell phone, and make sure to carry identification.

Finally, stay alert and aware of your surroundings. This means refraining from listening to music, texting, or engaging in any other distracting behavior; instead, use your senses to take in all that is going on around you.

Did You Know? Nighttime safety, Walking or running at night, Visibility, Well lit areas

Did you know that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offers a pocket guide to chemical hazards? If you have a chemical spill at your workplace, this guide allows you to learn about the hazards of that chemical.

In particular, the guide provides NIOSH recommended exposure limits (REL), OSHA permissible exposure limits (PEL), immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) values, measurement methods, personal protection and sanitation recommendations, respiratory selection recommendations, exposure routes, symptoms, target organs, first aid information, and much, much more. The guide, in effect, provides Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) information for all chemicals tested by NIOSH.

The ability to identify a chemical's hazards quickly helps you determine the risks of exposure and how to clean up a spill (or whether you should tackle it yourself at all).

You can search the guide online, using a variety of search criteria, to identify a chemical, identify its hazards, or identify a chemical by entering potential hazards. The guide is organized into three main, searchable areas:

1. An index of chemical names, synonyms, and trade names;
2. An index of Chemical Abstracts Service Registry (CAS) numbers; and
3. An index of Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS) numbers.

The guide is available in print format, or can be downloaded from the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) website.

Did You Know? CDC, NIOSH, NIOSH pocket guide, Hazardous materials

Did you know that every year in the United States more than 800 construction workers die and nearly 137,000 are seriously injured? This is because construction workers engage in many activities that may expose them to serious hazards, such as falling from rooftops, using unguarded machinery, or being struck by heavy construction equipment.

In an effort to reduce the number of injuries and deaths in the construction industry, OSHA has released a series of computer animated videos based on actual construction incidents. Running for approximately 2 to 4 minutes, each video begins with a worksite accident and ends by giving corrective actions for preventing these types of accidents in the future. Because of their accessibility to the construction worker, OSHA recommends these videos be used for employer and worker training.

Sample topics include falls in construction, sprains and strains in construction, and struck by accidents in construction.

While the videos are animated and do not present live events, it should be noted that the videos do deal with death at construction sites and, therefore, might be disturbing for some people.

Did You Know? OSHA construction videos, Animated videos, Construction workers, Construction hazards, Construction injuries and deaths