Check Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detectors

This is a nice reminder to check the alarms in your house.

October 27, 2008

Catherine Jones

Many of us will be putting our clocks back an hour on Sunday, November 2. This is a good time to check your home’s alarms and change the batteries. Smoke alarms should be inspected, cleaned of accumulated dust and equipped with a new battery. Carbon monoxide alarms should get the same treatment as instructed by the manufacturer. And remember: alarms don’t last forever. They should be replaced every 10 years or so, or on a schedule recommended by the manufacturer. This is also a good time to see if your home fire extinguishers need replacement and to review the family fire escape drill.

http://www.safetyxchange.org/health-safety/check-your-alarms

Chocolate Coin Candy RECALL

For those of you with little ghosts and goblins in your lives.

Don't eat the chocolate coin candies!


The little chocolate coins are not safe for kids to eat this Halloween.
They are made in China and contain the Melamine that was implicated in children’s deaths from milk products.

With Halloween coming soon, pass this on to your family and friends.

Sherwood's Milk Chocolate Pirate's Gold Coins from China contain
melamine.
It is true, Read the full story at the following link from Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/coins.asp

Safety Checklist for Halloween

A Halloween Safety Checklist

October 30, 2007

Catherine Jones

Halloween is spooky, especially if you’re a safety professional. Or a mom. On Halloween, we let the kids do the things we tell them not to do 364 days of the year. We let the kids walk the streets at night. We tell them to take candy from strangers. We let them use sharp knives - to carve pumpkins. And then there are the candles and tripping hazards everywhere.

Sure, it’s fun. But it’s a safety nightmare. So, every year at this time, I write up Halloween safety advice for parents in SafetyXChange. This year, I’ve decided to assemble the tips I’ve laid down over the years into a monster checklist - pardon the pun. Please take a few minutes to review this checklist with your family.

Costume Safety

• Choose bright costumes or add strips of reflective tape for visibility
• Avoid costumes that are long and flowing to prevent trips and entanglements
• Avoid masks, scarves and hats that restrict vision; instead use non-toxic makeup or face paint
• Look for “flame resistant” or “flame retardant” labels on costumes and accessories
• Avoid high-heeled shoes and instead choose sturdy, well-fitting footwear

Trick-or-Treating Safety

• Young trick-or-treaters should be accompanied by an adult
• Older kids who are going it alone should plan their route with you
• The route should be restricted to a neighborhood you know well
• Older kids going it alone should be clear about the time you expect them home

Rules for trick-or-treaters (younger and older):

• Stay in groups of three or more
• Know where the Block Parent houses are
• Cross at crosswalks
• Use the sidewalk
• Carry a flashlight and batteries and a cell phone, if you have one
• Try to keep one hand free at all times (for holding handrails or catching yourself if you trip)
• Trick-or-treat only at homes that are well-lit
• Don’t enter homes or apartments; the front door is as far as you need to go
• Don’t use short-cuts through alleys, yards or parks
• Walk, don’t run. Unseen objects on lawns or uneven terrain are tripping hazards
• Don’t eat any treats until you’ve inspected them

Safety At Home

Inside

• Don’t let small children carve the pumpkin. Let them draw a face instead
• Use battery-powered jack o’lantern candles instead of real candles
• Keep flammable decorations, such as dried flowers and cornstalks, well away from heat sources and open flames, including candles, light bulbs and portable heaters
• Be sure that decorations don’t block exits from your home
• Examine all the candy your kids bring home, throwing out anything that’s been opened, not in its original wrapping and homemade (if you don’t know the source)
• Watch also for any treats that might pose a choking hazard to children three years old and younger

Outside

• Turn on your porch light
• Remove obstacles from your yard that could trip trick-or-treaters
• Sweep leaves off your sidewalk and steps
• Place lighted pumpkins on a sturdy surface, far from the reach (and costumes) of small trick-or-treaters

Conclusion

A final suggestion: ask the experts. Talk to your children about how to make Halloween safer and healthier. After all, they’re the ones going out there. You might be surprised at what they notice. And the more you talk about safety with your family, the more they’ll start to think about it themselves, too. Happy Halloween, everyone.

http://www.safetyxchange.org/health-safety/a-halloween-safety-checklist

Tank Implosion

In this instance, the lack of pressure can be just as damaging as excessive pressure. Both personally and mechanically.

Office Safety

Yes, we even encounter safety issues in the office. Watch this video as a reminder of areas of concern in the office so that we may be more aware.

Don't Run With Pencils

Good Safety Share


At the beginning of school 2008, I just wanted to send a friendly reminder to all the Moms out there to revisit with your children the importance of not running with sharp objects.

In this case don't HOP on one foot with a pencil in your hand!



Yes. That's a pencil stuck completely THROUGH Tommy's foot!

I have no idea HOW he actually did it, but his little brother came running to me, screaming that it was serious! I dropped what I was doing and ran up the stairs and couldn't believe my eyes! All I could think was 'OMG!! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?! .Crap! I didn't read that section of the baby and childcare book!!! '

I was trying not to panic while my 9 year old was screaming in pain. My first instinct was to pull it out. I ran back downstairs, got my husband to call 911, and grabbed a towel because I knew there would be blood... and as I ran back upstairs flashbacks of episodes of ER and Grey's Anatomy were playing in my head... I could hear Merideth Grey, 'when we pull this (whatever it was) out, this person is going to 'bleed out'....'



I sat there holding his foot in my hand, and noticed there was NO BLOOD.... not even a drop coming out of either of the holes...and I wasn't prepared to open up an artery on the playroom floor. So I realized I would just have to calm him (and myself) down and wait for the EMTs to arrive. I could hear Dave on the phone downstairs with 911 yelling up to me 'Don't pull it out! Don't pull it out!' I said, 'I'm not going to... get the camera'.

The EMTs arrived, splinted the pencil in place, and carried Tommy out to the mini-van and laid him on his stomach in the middle row of seats with his foot in the air. Then we drove him to the ER. The ER doctor gave him a shot of morphine and then pulled it out with a PAIR OF PLIERS!! Unbelievably, it still didn't bleed! They cleaned it, irrigated it, and put a couple bandaids on it and sent us on our way....



All I can say is OUCH!! And thank God it wasn't worse!! He's on crutches today, but doesn't seem to be in any pain unless he tries to step on it...
You can share this with your friends if you'd like to pass on the warning.