Jul 9, 2023 | Accident prevention, Driving
With airports and cruise lines being closed around the world due to Covid-19, many people are turning to domestic road trips this year. Recreational Vehicles (RVs) and Motorhomes are quickly growing in popularity due to safety concerns and regulations associated with public transportation, hotels and restaurants. RV driving safety is very important to familiarize yourself with. These vehicles are much larger than what many people are used to driving.
Driving Safety: RV Driving Tips
Get Familiar with Your RV for Your Safety
Just as you practiced when you first started driving a car, it’s important to practice driving safety in an RV. You should definitely do this before taking it on a long road trip. Find a wide open parking lot, and practice driving, turning, backing up and parking. For inexperienced drivers, it may be necessary to have someone stand outside of the RV and help direct you while navigating into a parking spot. In the meanwhile, get familiar with its size and weight. Since an RV is heavier than a car, they will be harder and slower to stop when breaking. The turning radius will be bigger as well, so practice getting comfortable with wider turns.
Also, make note of your RV’s height. This will be important when deciding if there is enough clearance to pass under an overpass or overhang. Oftentimes, bank and fast-food drive-thrus are not tall enough for an RV to pass under. A quick tip is to write down the height of the RV and tape it somewhere it will be easily visible while driving.
Practice Safe Driving Habits in an RV
Since RVs are taller and have a different weight distribution than a car, be you may have to adjust your driving habits. Taking sharp turns too quickly could cause an RV to flip over or lose control. This could also cause pull behind camper vans could fishtail, which could lead to an accident. An important driving safety tip is to be mindful of speed limits and weather conditions. Keep in mind that oftentimes RVs may need to drive slower than other cars on the road.
Gas Station Safety in an RV
Driving safety is important to remember at gas stations. This can be a tricky pit stop for inexperienced RV drivers. First, gas stations often have tight turns and small spaces. In addition, canopy height may be too low for your RV to fit under. Plan gas stops carefully, keeping in mind that truck stops may be more RV friendly than traditional gas stations.
With more people hitting the road in RVs this year, it’s important to make sure to be comfortable with RV safety before heading on a trip. By taking time to practice, following road rules and adjusting to road conditions, and knowing where your RV can and can’t fit, you’ll set yourself up for a safer and more enjoyable vacation.
Jun 4, 2023 | Accident prevention, Work Injuries
When you work in a warehouse, it can be easy to fall into a pattern of doing things. In time, you’ll likely have a routine that you could do in your sleep. Therefore, many people who work in warehouses will choose to wear headphones on the job. It’s understandable that you would want something to make the day a little less monotonous. However, while headphones provide the right amount of distraction, they also introduce a risk you might not have considered before.
Headphones and Warehouse Work: Understanding Common Risks
Concentration and alertness
One of the first and foremost risks of headphones in the workplace, are the attention they take away from your task at hand. Especially when using heavy equipment, fulfilling orders, manning a station, or moving heavy materials— you need to be present. There is the potential for missing something along the way when your ears aren’t in the game. Take, for example, if something falls from high up and is headed straight for you. In most cases, there will be someone close by who might yell ‘heads up’, ‘move!’, or ‘get out of the way!”. But, if you have headphones in— you might miss those warnings and end up with an injury as a result.
Becoming caught in machinery
Depending on what type of warehouse you’re working in, there might be equipment of some sort running at all times. Therefore, it is often ill-advised to have any sort of loose clothing, or cords, in the workplace. You never know when that loose cord of the headphones, which is connected to your body, might become caught in a machine and lead to your being pulled in that direction.
As an employer, it’s important to keep your protocol in check
Many warehouses ban headphones for these very reasons, however, when things are going well— it can be all too easy to not pay attention to potential dangers. Therefore, make it a monthly, or quarterly, task to perform random, routine safety checks. While you might have other responsibilities, keeping your employees safe should always be at the top of the list. So, check in, check cameras, and hold your employees accountable for making the right decisions.
May 28, 2023 | Accident prevention, Driving
There’s always room for growth. Driving improvement can happen every day. If we put effort into doing something, we can make it happen. Driving safe not only benefits you, but also your fellow drivers and pedestrians. Here, we will discuss some ways you can improve your driving.
Driving Improvement: What You Can Do
Adjust Your Mirrors
Every once in a while, it’s good to check and readjust your mirrors. Your sideview mirrors can get out of whack from car washes and other impacts. Your rearview mirror can be easily adjusted. This will increase your driving improvement immediately!
Hand Positions
The old positions were at 10 and 2 on the wheel, but now more experts are saying to put your hands at 9 and 3. This gives you a better, more relaxed feeling behind the wheel which will help your driving improvement. In addition to being more relaxed, you will also have more control of the wheel. Which, ultimately, means more control of the vehicle as a whole.
Stay Alert
Your driving improvement can begin when you understand that sometimes you just don’t need to drive. If you are sleepy or emotional, it can impair your ability to drive safely. If you are feeling at all distracted or tired, keeping off the road is your best bet. You can take a nap or ask someone else to drive. Whatever it is can wait until you feel at your best again!
Take a Class
A refresher driving class, a defensive driving class, or anywhere else you can relearn the rules of the road might help. If you are feeling you need driving improvement, taking a class is an inexpensive idea to really help your everyday life.
Don’t Speed
It’s the most basic thing you can control in your car. You control how much you are pushing your gas pedal. Your driving improvement can start with just relaxing on the gas. Speeding doesn’t get you anywhere much faster than you would by obeying the speed limit. It also just puts you and other drivers in danger. Speed limits are set to take into account road conditions and traffic patterns.
May 27, 2023 | Accident prevention, Driving
In the United States, distracted driving is the cause of over 1,000 accidents every day. In fact, many drivers aren’t aware of the different ways that they can get distracted on the road. Knowing the different ways a driver can be distracted can help one make sure they take the proper steps to fully focus when driving….
Distracted Driving: Cognitive, Visual, and Manual
The three types
Distracted driving comes in three different forms: cognitive, visual, and manual. Cognitive is when a driver’s mind isn’t focused on driving. Visual is when the driver is look at things other than the road. Finally, manual is when the driver has one or both hands off the steering wheel. Even the simplest things can cause one or a combination of these distractions. Talking to a friend, checking a GPS or reaching for something can all cause these distractions. Additionally, texting and driving is so dangerous because it combines all three at once.
Understand the risks
Each form of distracted driving comes with risks. Mental distraction increases the chance of making mistakes and accidents. Visual distractions can prevent you from seeing changes on the road. Manual distractions can cause you to not react to these changes in time. All of these increase the risk for both you and other drivers. Unfortunately, many drivers don’t understand these risks. However, taking your eyes and mind off the road for just a few seconds is all it takes for something to go wrong.
Staying safe
The largest factor for staying safe from distractions is avoiding them in the first place. Turn off your phone and other devices so they can’t potentially distract you. Keep your focus on the road and not on your passengers as well. If something needs your attention, then pull over first. Additionally, there have been many attempts to crack down on distracted driving. 46 states have banned texting and driving, along with heavy penalties for those that do. Many companies have run ads and created programs to encourage drivers to pay attention to the road. Also, insurance companies have begun offering special rewards and rates for drivers who aren’t distracted.
Distracted driving is something all drivers can prevent. Knowing that the road takes priority is important for staying safe on the road. Your phone, food, and other things can wait until your ride is over.
May 14, 2023 | Accident prevention, Work Injuries
Workers in many different fields like to make use of personal headphones. This lets them listen to things like music and can help pass the time. However, they might not be a safe option depending on your job. It’s important to know when wearing these headphones might become a risk to your safety…
Personal Headphones: Risk vs. Reward
Limiting outside noise
Personal headphones can help you block out any outside noise or distractions. This can help when it comes to focusing more on the work you’re doing. However, it could also mean you don’t hear important audio cues around you. This could lead to you accidentally getting hurt because you were unaware of what was happening around you.
Headphones can also have a small noise-canceling effect on their own. This can lead some to think that they can be used in place of special noise-reducing headphones or earplugs. However, this is actually not the case. OSHA notes that these headphones aren’t as effective as specialty ones.
Snags and tangles
Another issue with personal headphones is the chance of them catching or snagging on something. This can already be annoying when it happens outside the workplace. However, it could also be quite dangerous when you’re working.
For example, if you have to do a lot of moving around at your job, then your headphones could easily catch on to something. This is especially true if your work involves any kind of machinery. Overall, it’s not worth the added risk to wear headphones when doing this kind of work where you want to be as safe as possible.
Potential benefits
It isn’t a bad idea to wear personal headphones at every workplace, however. It mainly depends on the job you’re doing. If you work in a more desk/office-type of job, then you might be able to wear headphones depending on your workplace rules. Compared to other office safety risks, headphones probably won’t be too much of a hazard.
Here, headphones can be especially helpful if you have a hearing problem. They can help you hear a bit better if you have to make phone calls or listen to audio. They can also help if you have something like tinnitus. Having something like music or soft noise playing can help those with tinnitus keep their mind off of the ringing.
Apr 23, 2023 | Accident prevention, Work Injuries
A repetitive strain injury is an injury that occurs from doing the same motion over and over again. Examples of these include carpal tunnel, bursitis, and tennis elbow. This type of injury can occur from tasks at work. However, there are ways you can prevent or minimize the chance for this type of injury.
Repetitive Strain Injuries: What Are They
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel is a condition that causes numbness, tingling, or weakness in your hand. This repetitive strain injury is caused by repetitive motions. These include motions like typing, or any wrist movements that you do over and over again. For example, people who work in dentistry have a high risk of carpal tunnel due to repetitive wrist movements while working. Also, you increase your risk when your hands are lower than your wrists while doing the movement.
The typical symptoms of carpal tunnel are not pleasant. For example, burning, tingling, or itching numbness in your palm and thumb or your index and middle fingers are symptoms. Other symptoms are weakness in your hand and trouble holding things, shock-like feelings that move into your fingers, and tingling that moves up into your arm. Proper ergonomics can help reduce the risk of this injury, but wrist braces are a good early treatment.
Bursitis
Bursitis is inflammation or irritation of a bursa sac. These are fluid filled sacs that are all over your body. Bursitis is common around major joints like your shoulder, elbow, hip, or knee. This repetitive strain injury can be caused from workplace activities including carpentry, painting, and scrubbing.
Common places for bursitis to happen are your elbow, shoulder, hip, thigh, buttocks, knee, achilles tendon or heel. This injury can cause pain, and you may notice your joint is red, stiff or swollen. Take breaks often when you’re making the same motions over and over again, and use good posture. If you start to have pain, stop, and see your doctor.
Tennis Elbow
Another repetitive strain injury is tennis elbow. This is a painful condition that usually comes from repetitive use of the muscles and tendons of the forearm and the elbow joint. Surprisingly, only 5% of tennis elbow injuries come from tennis.
Some workplace activities that could lead to tennis elbow include painting, working on cars or on an assembly line or playing a musical instrument. Other examples include kitchen work, such as cutting with a knife, or cutting trees with a chainsaw. This may cause your elbow to be sore. Treatment usually includes rest, ice, and over-the-counter pain medications. However, if the problem gets really bad, surgery may be needed.
