Learn Safety Tips During National Safety Month

June serves as National Safety Month and provides for an opportunity to become better educated on a multitude of safety topics that can help protect you and your loved ones for various safety issues. Did you know that injuries are the third highest amount of unintentional deaths in the United States? And even more alarming, the number one killer of unintentional death is overdoses from prescription medications- specifically opioid misuse. In this blog we will tackle a few important safety tips in honor of National Safety Month. It is our hope that this blog provides useful information that helps keep you safe starting now!

Work-Related Injuries

Work safety is of the utmost importance for not only your health, but also for businesses. Because of workplace injuries, businesses incur costs in wage and productivity, medical expenses, administrative expenses, and more. As most might guess, the industry that deals with the most preventable injuries is construction, with transportation coming in second and warehousing taking the third spot. Top work-related injuries include overexertion, contact with objects or equipment, and of course slips, trips and falls.

What can you do to help ensure less injuries happen on the job? The most important thing is making sure you have a well-trained workplace. At least once a year, employees should participate in compliance training that includes safety and well being of employees. Here are some great topics to make sure employees are trained on:

·         Emergency Preparedness

·         Specialized Training for Particular Jobs

·         Slip, Trip and Fall Training

·         First Aid Training (this includes CPR and AED training)

·         OSHA Courses

 

Motor-Vehicle Injuries

Distracted driving has become a major concern in recent years, with cell phones being the main distraction causing accidents and injuries even with many states making hands-free cell phone use laws. A distracted brain makes for a distracted driver. The little thing can cause unexpected situations which is why it is so important that when driving you are not only being present but paying attention to all your surroundings too. More than 90 percent of car crashes involve human error, so focus on the roads, put your phones away and practice safety first!

The other major cause of death in motor-vehicles is children dying in hot car deaths. On average, 38 children die a year from heatstroke after being left alone in a hot car. If takes a mere few minutes for a car sitting in the hot sun to heat up and make the inside of a car extremely suffocating. For additional information on heat strokes, visit www.noheatstroke.org.  

Poison-Related Injuries

Sadly, drug poisoning is now the number one cause of unintentional deaths with a staggering 100 people dying daily from opioids alone. Roughly seventy percent of people who have taken prescription painkillers have received them from a friend or family member, but did you know that sharing opiate prescription medication is a felony?

Poison centers receive more than two million calls each year from citizens seeking medical help regarding poisons, including opiates. Some of the other most common calls include carbon monoxide, button batteries, and laundry detergent pods. Read or get more information on poison control and how you can ensure your home is prevented from poisons by visiting www.poisoncontrol.org. If you find yourself in a poison emergency call 1-800-222-1222 for help. 

Home-Related Injuries

Injuries can happen anywhere, and the most common place can be in our very own homes or even on vacation. Whether it be a poisoning, a fall, a drowning, a fire, or an environmental incident, it is important to practice awareness in order to keep you and your family safe. This means picking up items, so you do not fall on them. Or going through your medicine cabinet regularly to clean out and get rid of expired medications.

Remember, if we slow down and take the time to practice safety first, we will do ourselves and others a huge service. If you do ever find yourself in an emergency, please do not hesitate to contact 9-1-1. Call if you can, text if you can’t.