Category: Safety Blog

Reporting a Fire Incident

Good morning and Happy Monday.  This topic comes up from time to time and we wanted to share this in case you do not know where to turn when there is a fire in your school.  This link will take you to the reporting form that NYSED requires, and the PDF is the process to follow.  It is a pretty easy process to follow and please reach out to John Hanbach or Tim Richardson if you have a fire so we can help you through this.  We will contact the NYSED Fire Safety Desk, so they have a heads-up as well as to provide guidance for any other documentation that needs done.  NYSED Fire Safety is currently working on a policy for which fires need to be reported versus which ones can stay at the local level, more to come on that as we get that information.

Microsoft Word – Fire Incident Report Form.docopens PDF file

Ergonomics Stuff

Good morning and Happy Friday!  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

Farming and Agriculture Safety

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!  My thoughts are the more Spring Safety Snippets we put out maybe just maybe Spring will eventually get here!  This week’s topic involves safe working practices on the farm and in agriculture.  The website is from the National Farmers Union and has a variety of YouTube safety videos; the Fact Sheets are from OSHA.

For those of you who are traveling next week, travel safe!

Safety Potpourri

Good morning and Happy Thursday!  We will be out on a training assignment, tomorrow, so our Safety Snippet is a day early.  The links below are to two different safety blogs with various topics for April.  There are a wide variety of different safety topics that you can pick and choose from to share what you think is prudent to your folks.  The document this week is a summary of last week’s AESHP Spring Safety Conference.  The agenda was jam packed so I summarized the conference as best as I could, and it is still 8 pages.  If you want to know more on any of the topics, please reach out to Tim Richardson.

HSE BLOG:  April Safety Topics: Stay Alert and Prevent Accidents This Spring

Safety Stage: 8 Engaging April Safety Topics And Messages For Your Workplace – Safetystage

In closing, if you can have a chat with your high school chemistry teachers, to see if they want their unnecessary lab chemicals cleaned out and if they do, please reach out to Tim and John with their contact information so we can coordinate with them to get this inventoried and quoted for the summer chemical pickup.  If you have general chemicals for pickup, please coordinate with us as well so we can start that process.  It will probably be a big pickup so the sooner the better.

Have a great weekend and stay safe!

CA BOCES Health and Safety

Think Spring

Good morning and happy Friday!  We want to thank everyone for their patience as we had some technical difficulties with the safety snippet and listserv, everything now seems to be working fine.  We felt it fitting with today’s weather to put together a little spring safety packet.  This week’s safety snippets are from the National Association of Landscaping Professionals and CDC.

In closing, if any of you have any questions that pertain to PESH/OSHA or specifics regarding Indoor Air Quality, please email Tim Richardson so he can take those questions/concerns to the Association of Educational Safety and Health Professionals Conference next week.

Enjoy your day and have a great weekend!!

Creepy Crawlies

Good morning and Happy Friday!  This week’s safety snippet deals with creepy crawlies, particularly bedbugs.  At one time or another we all have to deal with bedbugs, lice, or roaches.  Cornell University is a great resource to use (link below).  The PDF is a quick fact sheet regarding bedbugs from the EPA.

Bed Bugs | CALS

As a reminder, please send a letter to your local fire department that your fire inspections for the year have been conducted and that your facilities have successfully passed.

Have a great weekend and stay safe!

Eye Injury Awareness

Good afternoon and Happy Friday!  This week’s safety snippet involves something all of us have probably experienced at some point in our lives, eye injuries.  The link, Kardmas Eye Care of New England, has several different eye injuries that can occur, and our PDF is from Guardian with reference to the ANSI/ISEA Standards.  Remember, when it comes to PESH/OSHA, ANSI is one of the standards they often incorporate by reference into their standards.  Enjoy your day and have a great weekend!  Five Most Common Eye Injuries at Work and How to Prevent Them | Workplace Eye Awareness Month – Kadrmas Eye Care New England

Eye Injury Awareness

Good morning and Happy Friday!  This week’s safety snippet involves something all of us have probably experienced at some point in our lives, eye injuries.  The link, Kardmas Eye Care of New England, has several different eye injuries that can occur, and our PDF is from Guardian with reference to the ANSI/ISEA Standards.  Remember, when it comes to PESH/OSHA, ANSI is one of the standards they often incorporate by reference into their standards.  Enjoy your day and have a great weekend!

Five Most Common Eye Injuries at Work and How to Prevent Them | Workplace Eye Awareness Month – Kadrmas Eye Care New England

Asbestos and IAQ

Good morning and Happy Thursday!  This one is coming a day early as we will be out doing an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) assessment tomorrow so we felt this was a fitting one to share.  Here is a couple links with resources pertaining to school indoor air quality and asbestos.  One is the EPA, and the other is NYS DOH.  The PDF is a good activity, from Vector, to share with your staff to see how much they know as well as how they would react to potential asbestos exposure scenarios.  Remember to review with custodial and maintenance staff the locations of potential or confirmed Asbestos Containing Materials.  Enjoy your weekend and stay warm!

Creating Healthy Indoor Air Quality in Schools | US EPA

New York State School Environmental Health Program

Mental Health Awareness

Good morning and happy Friday!  This week’s safety snippet we chose to revisit some resources regarding mental health.  We always assume everyone is doing okay or they will ask for help if they need it but often times when someone is struggling, the “breadcrumbs” are subtle.

The link is SAMHSA’s 988 Toolkit which has printable and orderable materials to draw awareness to not only the crisis hotline but signs to watch out for.

988 Partner Toolkit | SAMHSA

Have a great weekend and if you are off next week, enjoy your break!