Category: Safety Blog

Stressed??

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Good morning and Happy Friday!  The end of the summer seems to be the most stressful time of the school year for a lot of us.  Completing projects, designing and coordinating training, reorganizing rooms and finding additional staff all seem to ramp up as we speak.  This week we wanted to attempt to help with some stress relieving resources from OSHA, Very Well Mind, and the Cleveland Clinic.

 

Remember, that at the end of the day most things seem to get accomplished or shortly will after we open our buildings so very often the stress or worry we have/had will be unfounded.  Try to stay calm out there and do something you like to do, often, to help relieve this stress.  Enjoy your day and have a great weekend!

 

Workplace Stress – Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Stress Relief: 18 Highly Effective Strategies for Relieving Stress

20 Ways To Relieve Stress

Back to School Safety Checklist

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Good morning and happy Friday!  This week’s safety snippet is a compilation of different checklists and things to look for as we head closer to opening the school year.  A couple of things we are currently working on that we will push out to the listserv pertain to the following:

Desha’s Law compliance particularly with the Cardiac Emergency Response Plan (CERP) portion

Silica Exposure Plan and Guidance

Transportation Annex template for Building Level Emergency Response Plans

Enjoy your weekend!

Severe Weather Resources

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Good morning and Happy Friday!  This week we wanted to showcase a few severe weather resources that include how to sign up for advance warnings and advisories. This first website is from Cattaraugus County via NYS and is the 333111 Everbridge sign up which gets you access to warnings and advisories from your home county.

NEW YORKERS TO SIGN UP FOR “TRIPLE THREE TRIPLE ONE” EMERGENCY AND WEATHER ALERT TEXT SYSTEM | Cattaraugus County Website

The next resource is from the National Weather Service pertaining to flooding with several hyperlinks to additional weather safety sites.

Severe Weather Awareness – Flood Safety

The final website from the American Red Cross and instructions to download their emergency safety app.

Thunderstorm Safety | American Red Cross

Stay safe and have a great weekend!

Graduation Ceremony Safety

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Good morning and Happy Thursday!  We wanted to get this out as you all are preparing for this weekend’s graduation ceremonies.  The following sites have a few safety and security tips as preparations are finalized with an event safety checklist.

4 Things Your Graduation Security Plan Should Include

School Safety for High School Graduations, Elementary and Middle School Promotion Ceremonies – School SecuritySchool Security

In closing, here are some other final safety reminders: keep your exits and hallways clear, minimize trip hazards by securing cords and cables that go across aisles, keep emergency lanes and access to them clear, deliver a safety message at the beginning of the scenario, and keep exterior doors secure if your ceremony is indoors.

Have a great and safe weekend!

 

Safety Changes for 2025-2026

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Good morning and Happy Friday!  This week’s safety snippets are resources and documents that pertain to the upcoming changes to the response protocols in our schools for the 2025-2026 school year.  These changes are commonly referred to NYSED’s adoption of the “I Love U Guys Standard Response Protocols.”  The link below is for the NYSED I Love U Guys landing page and the documents are some of the key changes.  If your district needs training specific to these changes, please reach out to Tim Richardson, who is an I Love U Guys train-the-trainer.  These changes also need to be updated in your District-wide School Safety and Building Level Emergency Response Plans.  Training on this is now part of the annual training that staff/students need to receive by September 15th, 2025.

Standard Response Protocol and Standard Reunification Method | New York State Education Department

Have a great weekend and stay safe.

First Aid Stuff

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Good morning and Happy Friday!   This week’s safety snippet involves first aid and how to respond to common emergencies that we may face at work or in our daily travels.  The following website has several different tidbits on how to handle common medical emergencies and is from FastMed.  The printables are from the American College of Surgeons, Adapta Pharma, and the American Red Cross.  On behalf of CA BOCES Health and Safety, have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day while taking time to reflect on what this day means.

Urgent care services – FastMed

 

Silica Stuff and Inspection Frequencies

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Good afternoon and Happy Friday!  This week’s safety snippet is all things silica with a bonus document regarding common inspection frequencies from The NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control.  The links pertain to silica safety whether it be in art/kiln rooms or when working with masonry.  These resources are from:  CDC/NIOSH, OSHA, Princeton University, and “The Pottery Wheel.”  Enjoy your weekend and stay safe!

Ceramics | Office of Environmental Health and Safety

How to Clean Up Clay Dust – Keep Your Pottery Space Safe

Silica, Crystalline – Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Silica and Worker Health | Silica | CDC

Engineering Controls for Silica in Construction – Cut-off Saws | NIOSH | CDC

Electrical Safety

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Good morning and Happy Friday!  This month is “Electrical Safety Month.”  This week’s snippets are resources from the NFPA and OSHA with the NFPA link having several safety tips and resources for your home’s electrical safety.  Enjoy your day and have a great weekend!

Electrical Home Fire Safety | NFPA

Ergonomics Stuff

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Good morning and Happy Monday!  This week’s snippet topic is a “heavy lift”, ergonomics.  A lot of people think that it is the “heavy lift” that injures people, but repetitive stress or lifting a light weight incorrectly can really do damage to our workers.  The link below will take you to the OSHA Ergonomics Resource Page and the Ergonomics Workbook was put together through the Midwest Worker Center and was funded by a Susan Harwood OSHA Grant.  Have a great and safe weekend!

Ergonomics – Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration