Category: Safety Blog

Product Safety – Staff and Bringing Home Stuff to School

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Good morning and Happy Friday!  Now that we are starting to settle in for the school year this question comes up very frequently.  Obviously, the best course of action would be to remind teachers and staff not to bring in electrical equipment, furniture, drapery, and other goods that may not meet flammability or national testing standards.  However, there are a few resources that can help you verify that products do meet safety standards.  Here are a few different sites:

Product iQ | UL Solutions aids searching the product to see if it is UL Listed and Labeled.  It will indicate whether UL tested the product or any of OSHA’s accepted testing labs.

OSHA’s Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) Program | Occupational Safety and Health Administration contains all approved third-party testing labs, e.g. ETL is the big one you will see on electrical equipment.

Fire Code for Walls and Corridors

807.5.5.2 Artwork in corridors. Artwork and teaching
materials shall be limited on walls of corridors to not
more than 20 percent of the wall area.

807.5.5.3 Artwork in classrooms. Artwork and teaching materials shall be limited on walls of classrooms to
not more than 50 percent of the specific wall area to
which they are attached.

OSHA Workstation eTool

eTools : Computer Workstations | Occupational Safety and Health Administration this helps assess staff’s workstations to minimize ergonomic issues.  Most desks are designed with ergonomics in mind but when staff bring in their own chairs/desks, they can be putting themselves at risk.

Furniture

What is California Cal 117-2013 and how does it affect furniture – Richardson Seating

If you have any questions regarding product safety, please do not hesitate to reach out to CA BOCES Health and Safety so we can do the research for you and be the bad guys.  The PDF is a case review that we did for a district regarding area rugs/carpets and has a resource we use for those goods.

Playground Safety

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Good morning and Happy Friday!  This week’s Safety Snippet discusses playground safety.  This week’s resource links are from Head Start and Safe Kids Worldwide.  The documents are from the CDS, National Center on Early Childhood Health and Wellness, and Consumer Product Safety Commission.  Have a great weekend and stay safe!

Playground Safety Tips (PDF) |Safe Kids Worldwide

Resources for Safe Playgrounds | HeadStart.gov

Public Playground Safety Handbookopens PDF file

Here We Go

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Good morning and Happy Friday!  Well, here we go!  We felt we would share a few documents that we have had recent questions about.  From the Standard Response Protocol Change to the Heat Law to Fire Prevention Rules.  The link below is from the National Safety Council and deals with walker and bus safety.

Back to School Safety Checklist – National Safety Council

On behalf of CA BOCES Health and Safety we would like to say, “Job Well Done.”  Have a relaxing and enjoyable Labor Day Weekend, stay safe!

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