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Safety
Solutions Monthly eNews for January 2008 |
Welcome to Safety Solutions, the e-newsletter
that provides you with
ideas and information you can put to use in your workplace. Each
month,
Safety Solutions delivers articles focused on improving
occupational
safety and health programs, controlling costs and keeping
employees safe
and healthy at work and at home. |
In This
Issue:
1. Keeping
Workers Safe in Cold Weather
2. Become A
Safety Leader
3. Juggling
Projects
4. Prepare Now For
Pandemic Flu Outbreak
5. Study:
Creative Work Promotes Health
6. New Database
Contains Aging Workforce Information
1. Keeping Workers Safe in Cold
Weather
Cold weather can be just as dangerous as hot weather when it comes
to keeping outdoor workers safe and healthy. Exposure to cold can cause
injury or serious illness such as frostbite or hypothermia. The
likelihood of injury or illness depends on factors such as physical
activity, clothing, wind, humidity, working and living conditions and a
person's age and state of health.
To keep workers safe in cold weather, remind workers to:
- Dress appropriately before going outdoors. The air temperature does
not have to be below freezing for someone to experience cold emergencies
such as hypothermia and frostbite. Wind speed can create dangerously
cold conditions even when the temperature is not that low.
- Avoid being outside in the coldest part of the day, or for extended
periods of time in extreme cold weather.
- Dress in layers so they can adjust to changing conditions. Avoid
overdressing or overexertion that can lead to heat illness.
- Wear a hat, preferably one that covers the ears. Most body heat is
lost through the head.
- Wear mittens; they provide more warmth to the hands than
gloves.
- Wear waterproof, insulated boots to help avoid hypothermia or
frostbite by keeping feet warm and dry and to maintain footing in ice
and snow.
- Take frequent breaks and stay hydrated.
- Get out of wet clothes immediately and warm the core body
temperature with a blanket or warm fluids like hot cider or soup. Avoid
drinking caffeine or alcohol if they suspect they have hypothermia or
frostbite.
- Recognize the symptoms of hypothermia, a serious medical condition.
These include confusion, dizziness, exhaustion and severe shivering.
Tell them to seek medical attention immediately if they have these
symptoms.
- Recognize frostbite warning signs: gray, white or yellow skin
discoloration, numbness, waxy feeling skin. Seek medical attention
immediately if they have these symptoms.
Regardless of how cold conditions become, usually work can continue in a
healthy and safe environment as long as workers recognize the
environmental and workplace conditions that lead to potential
cold-induced illnesses and injuries. Train workers to recognize the
signs and symptoms of cold-induced medical issues and what to do to help
themselves and coworkers if problems should occur.
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3. Juggling Projects
By Rudolf Melik
If you work in a project-based environment, you probably feel like one
of those juggling clowns at the circus: trying to keep your ball, your
baton and your flaming torch in the air at the same time, all while
maneuvering your unicycle around the ring. Focus too much on one object
and you risk dropping one of the others -- or even taking a tumble.
Project management can be a lot like this. Neglect to give one project
the attention or funding it needs and the consequences of doing so can
be much more serious than a dropped ball, especially when upper
management finds out money has been "wasted" on it deems an unimportant
or failed project.
A dearth of facts and unbiased analysis lead executives to make poor
decisions when selecting new projects or assigning resources to existing
ones. The result? Unmet business goals and lost opportunities.
Successful executives have to make the right decisions not only at the
project level but also at the business level, where there can be tens,
and possibly hundreds, of projects to evaluate at any given time. It's a
tall order, and project prioritization and selection -- part of Project
Workforce Management -- is the clear solution.
By using this methodology, you can organize and manage projects as a
group. The information is collected, shared and presented for analysis
in a systematic and easy-to-use manner. Project prioritization and
selection involves a five-step process:
- Select project-ranking criteria. In this step you consider whether a
project aimed at cost reduction or one aimed at staff retention is more
important at a given moment.
- Rank projects. The top 20 percent of projects will deliver 80
percent of the value to a business. This step helps you figure out what
that top 20 percent is. You'll use your criteria to weight your projects
and then rank them accordingly.
- Balance your portfolio with the right mix of projects. This helps to
increase the priority of those projects that offer high reward for low
risk.
- Balance capacity/resources, helping you ensure that there is
adequate resource availability and assess the organization's capacity to
deliver a given project.
- Prioritize your overall portfolio by marking lower-ranked projects
or those that cannot be funded immediately as inactive.
Your efforts to prioritize and carefully select your projects will pay
off tremendously. By prioritizing your projects you:
- Organize your company's best interests.
- Take the guesswork out of project management. Sometimes, managers
might want to see certain projects take priority simply because the
results will benefit their department or act as an easy win. And other
times well-intentioned managers may mistakenly assign more resources to
what seems like an important project, when in reality another project
should get the attention. Implementing project prioritization and
selection processes elevates decision-making to a more strategic
viewpoint by aligning and assigning projects with business
priorities.
- Provide guidance for new projects. In a perfect world, only new
projects that create value for the business and its customers would be
implemented at an organization. Unfortunately, we live in the imperfect
real world. Once they're up and running, new projects aren't always
given the attention needed to be successful. Project prioritization and
selection helps you add new projects to your queue without misallocating
more important resources to them. At the same time, it helps you
allocate enough time and manpower to ensure quality results.
- Assess risks from a global perspective on their overall impact.
- Know when you have the resources to successfully implement a project
and when you do not have them. In project planning, resource
availability is key. It is also equally important to understand the
organization's capacity to deliver and its ability to develop internal
capabilities.
- Hold employees, supervisors or managers more accountable. Without a
clear report of how and why projects are approved or rejected, no one
can be held accountable when a project fails or is not funded when it
should have been. The project prioritization and selection system
fosters accountability.
Rudolf Melik currently serves as CEO and was one of the original
founders of Tenrox. He has over 15 years of experience in software
engineering and the project workforce management industry.
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4. Prepare Now For Pandemic Flu
Outbreak
Scott Mugno, managing director, corporate safety, health and fire
protection at FedEx Express, recently told attendees during the American
Society of Safety Engineers' (ASSE) "Pandemic Influenza: Threat vs.
Preparedness" webinar that businesses must develop continuity planning
now in case of a flu outbreak and provided tips on how to prepare.
According to Mugno, who led the interactive webinar, pandemics are
inevitable as they occur regularly throughout history. For example, the
1918 Spanish flu was responsible for 40 to 50 million deaths worldwide
and 675,000 deaths in the United States, while the 1968 Hong Kong flu
was responsible for 1 to 4 million deaths, 34,000 within the United
States. Due to this and the increasing cases of avian bird flu
developing, it is necessary, he said, for businesses to have a
continuity plan in place before the next major pandemic flu outbreak.
Currently, there is worldwide concern about the possible spread of the
Avian H5N1 (A H5N1) virus. The influenza A H5N1 virus raised concerns
about a potential human pandemic because it is particularly potent; it
is spread by migratory birds; it can be transmitted from birds to
mammals and in some circumstances to humans; it continues to change;
and, has a high death rate percentage in known human cases. As of Dec.
13, 2007, there are 339 known confirmed human cases of A H5N1 and 208
confirmed deaths, a fatality rate of 61 percent, according to the World
Health Organization (WHO).
"However," Mugno said, "the A H5N1 may not be the pandemic flu. The key
is for businesses and the public to stay informed and updated.
Businesses need to teach awareness and take precautions now."
"Stay informed about the A H5N1 virus, especially if it evolves or
mutates," added Mugno. "Pay attention to news of doctors or nurses
becoming infected, signs of clusters of infections, outbreaks in under
developed areas or countries, news of quarantines, smuggling of birds,
under reporting of H5N1 cases as well as expert consensus on precautions
and tools. Stay informed and communicate, communicate, communicate."
The economic and human impact of a possible pandemic is very costly.
According to a March 2007 Trust for America's Health Analysis, the U.S.
economy could lose an estimated $683 billion, roughly five and a half
percent decline in annual GDP.
The following are planning tips Mugno suggests businesses use to prepare
for a pandemic flu:
- Establish trigger points to and checklists as waves of pandemic
phases occur.
- Review business demand shifts.
- Prepare media point person for the pandemic.
- Conduct company-wide analysis of essential/nonessential
functions.
- Develop emergency corporate chain of command.
Develop essential contacts/relationships with governmental
agencies.
- Consider increasing security for warehouses and vehicles.
- Develop procedures.
- Develop plans to minimize the high potential for a fuel
shortage.
- Develop policies to address drivers/operators shortage.
- Investigate the potential to secure housing for critical
employees.
- Develop cooperative arrangements with suppliers.
For further information on pandemic flu and pandemic flu business
preparedness visit www.pandemicflu.gov, www.osha.gov/pandemic and the World Health
Organization (WHO) at www.who.int.
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Did you Miss the Safety WebExpo and Conference?
Featuring: Hot Work Safety and Best Practices: An Overview of
NFPA 51B
Sponsored by Auburn Manufacturing, Inc.
Watch to learn about hot work hazards, safe practices and applicable
regulations and consensus standards. Key features and possible changes
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fire prevention during welding, cutting, and other hot work, is also
highlighted.
Log on today!
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5. Study: Creative Work Promotes
Health
A study published in the December issue of the Journal of Health and
Social Behavior suggests employees who engage in challenging, creative
work are likely to experience health benefits.
>> More
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