• March 28, 2019

Worker Fatigue

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 15 million Americans work irregular schedules, including full-time evening shifts, night shifts, and rotating shifts. These kinds of shifts have been associated with safety and health risks, and certain jobs are at higher risk. It is important that both employers and employees are educated on worker fatigue risks to keep their workplace safe and running smoothly.  

What Causes It?

There are several factors that cause worker fatigue, including too little or poor quality sleep over a period of time. This is also known as a disrupted circadian rhythm. A circadian rhythm is a 24-hour, internal cycle that controls when you feel alert and when you feel sleepy. Fatigue can also be intensified by long work hours or insufficient rest during the workday.

Industries that are commonly affected by worker fatigue include healthcare, transportation, first response, military, construction, hospitality, and many others.

The Side Effects

It is hard for the body to acclimate to changing/irregular schedules. Along with increased stress and lack of concentration, the side effects of worker fatigue may include:

• Increased chance that you will not pay full attention to the task at hand, such as operating a machine or a vehicle. This can lead to even larger disasters on the job.
• Increased risk of injuries. Research indicates that working 12 hours per day is associated with a 37% increased risk of injury.
• Decreased physical and mental health, which may result in greater time off the job due to illness and increased workers’ compensation costs for the employer.

How to Improve It

• Moderate your workload as much as possible. If shifts are long, try to choose lighter tasks. If the work is intense, try to work shorter shifts.
• Eat nutritious meals at regular times.
• For demanding work, take frequent rest breaks every couple of hours.
• Exercise regularly if you can, even a brisk walk can make all the difference.
• Schedule heavy or challenging work at times when you are more alert to decrease the risk of an accident.
• Adjust lighting or temperature (or request that they are adjusted) if either is impairing your alertness at work.
• Get at least 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep. This is the recommended amount of sleep for adults from the National Sleep Foundation.

If you any questions regarding worker fatigue, feel free to contact our Risk Management Coordinator, Ryan Wilson at 802-295-3329 or [email protected]

For more information, check out these additional resources:

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workerfatigue/hazards.html

https://www.nsc.org/work-safety/safety-topics/fatigue

http://www.safetynewsalert.com/10-workplace-fatigue-hazards/

Article written by: Ryan Wilson

DISCLAIMER:

The information included in this publication and accompanying materials was obtained from sources believed to be reliable for informational purposes only. Northern Safety Solutions/Kinney Pike Insurance and its employees make no guarantee of results in connection with any training, materials, suggestions, or information provided. This information is only a tool to assist you in managing your responsibility to maintain safe premises, practices, operations, and equipment. All sample materials serve as a guideline, which you can use to create your own programs, policies, and procedures to reflect your own operations. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed that all possible hazardous conditions or unsafe acts that may exist are covered, every acceptable safety method is contained in this publication, or that specific circumstance may not require additional methods or alternative safety considerations. It is the user’s responsibility to confirm compliance with any applicable local, state or federal regulations. Information obtained from or via Northern Safety Solutions/Kinney Pike Insurance should not be used as the basis for legal advice or other advice, and should be confirmed with alternative sources. Implementation of any practices suggested by this information is at your sole discretion; and Northern Safety Solutions / Kinney Pike Insurance or its affiliates shall not be liable to any party for any damages whatsoever arising out of, or in connection with, the information provided or its use.

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• March 28, 2019

Spring Cleaning 101

Spring is here and that means nature is undergoing a fresh start. Your home could use a fresh start too! Now is a great time to clean up the dirt and grime that has accumulated over the winter months in basements, storage sheds, attics, and garages etc. Before you start your spring cleaning, review these valuable tips.

1. Take it Easy

Spring cleaning can be hard work. Stretch before any vigorous cleaning activity. Break up your cleaning time — don’t rush and try to clean everything in one day. Take frequent breaks if needed.

Use proper lifting techniques if you are moving large furniture or boxes. The last thing you want to do is hurt yourself while cleaning.

2. Wear The Proper Gear

Depending on which area of the house you’re cleaning, whether it be outside or inside, make sure you’re wearing the proper gear and using the necessary safety equipment. Safety goggles, long pants, gloves, and sturdy shoes are all recommended. Consider using a mask when cleaning dusty areas or using harsh chemicals.

3. Evaluate Your Cleaning Products

Have your cleaning products been sitting around since last year’s spring cleaning season? Experts recommend examining all household cleaning products before using them, including laundry packets. These products may contain ammonia, sulfuric and phosphoric acids, lye, chlorine, lead, formaldehyde, and phenol.

Cleaners can burn skin, irritate eyes and cause respiratory harm. In addition, do not mix ammonia and bleach together, both of which are common household cleaners, because they create toxic fumes when combined. It may be time to go green.

4. Consider The Kids & Pets

Remember, children & pets are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of chemical pollutants. If you have children or pets, make sure all cleaning supplies and equipment are safely put away when you’re done using them.  It’s easy to get caught up in cleaning the house and forget about a bottle left here or there.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 300 children are treated in the U.S. every day and two die as a result of poisoning. Using a caddy carrier also helps by giving you a specific place to put bottles, lessening the chance you’ll accidentally leave them behind.

5. Clear The Clutter

One of the most important parts of spring cleaning is getting rid of clutter. We recommend going room by room and sorting your belongings into four categories—trash, give away, store, or put away. Move the clutter out as soon as possible, whether it’s bringing a donation box to a charity, planning a yard sale or storing it in your home.

6. Don’t Forget Outside

Spring cleaning outside your home is necessary too. Get your yard ready by trimming dead trees/shrubs, clearing overgrown plants from the walkways, repositioning any displaced stepping stones and cleaning the grill.

It’s also a great time to clean out your chimneys and gutters to reduce fire or flooding hazards.

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• December 27, 2018

Slip, Trip, & Fall Reminder

Fall is here, which means winter is right around the corner. As the seasons’ change, so does increased safety risks. It is more than likely that somebody in your company has experienced a slip and fall during colder weather months, although we hope it didn’t have serious results. It’s important that we do what we can to lower the potential of these costly claims. In an attempt to save you some avoidable expenses this fall & winter, Kinney Pike would like to take this opportunity to pass along some helpful tips about what you can do to reduce the potential for these common and sometimes serious injuries.

Not all slips and falls occur in wet, snowy, and icy conditions, but the potential increases during colder weather. If you have experienced an injury loss already due to a slip or fall from ice and/or snow conditions, then you are aware of the employee’s pain and suffering during these instances along with the expense to your company and the effect this has on your insurance premiums.

In terms of risk management, there are a few recommendations that employers should consider. We may not be able to control the weather but each of us has the ability to take reasonable precautions for our own protection. Here are some recommendations that we hope you will act upon to reduce the potential injuries.

Please, take a few moments to review these points and discuss with your employees:

• When walking, don’t rush; take the time to walk carefully
• When walking up or down steps, use the handrail
• If carrying items, products, etc., proper balance is vital; a careful pace is essential to reducing the potential of a fall
• Scan the area to where you will be going and watch out for slip or trip hazards
• Use extra care walking across parking lots, sanded, cleared, or otherwise. Don’t carry objects that will put you off balance
• Use ice melt to help clear pathways of ice
• Put down a mat that will absorb water, snow, and ice at the entrances of your building; especially high traffic areas
• Always use the “3-point” technique getting into and out of vehicles
• When getting out of the vehicle, view where you will be stepping; consider keeping plastic bottles of sand and salt in company vehicles
• Clear parking areas of snow and use sand to reduce the loss of traction when walking
• Purchase “Microspikes” or “Yak Tracks” to help employees manage slippery conditions and make their use mandatory; new types are cost-effective and convenient to apply and remove

Everyone, from your drivers to your office employees, needs to take extra care this fall & winter, at home and at work. Your active involvement in safety and risk management is vital to the success of your company. The actions that you take will benefit you and your employees. Please stress to all your employees that colder weather does not have to lead to personal injuries and property loss if we take our time to work safely.

If you have any questions on all things safety, feel free to contact our Risk Management Coordinator, Ryan Wilson at 802-295-3329 or [email protected]

Other helpful links:

https://www.nsc.org/work-safety/safety-topics/slips-trips-falls

https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/5190-fatal-work-injuries-in-the-united-states-during-2016.htm

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/fastfacts.html

https://kinneypike.com/osha-walking-working-surfaces-standards/

DISCLAIMER:

The information included in this publication and accompanying materials was obtained from sources believed to be reliable for informational purposes only. Northern Safety Solutions/Kinney Pike Insurance and its employees make no guarantee of results in connection with any training, materials, suggestions, or information provided. This information is only a tool to assist you in managing your responsibility to maintain safe premises, practices, operations, and equipment. All sample materials serve as a guideline, which you can use to create your own programs, policies, and procedures to reflect your own operations. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed that all possible hazardous conditions or unsafe acts that may exist are covered, every acceptable safety method is contained in this publication, or that specific circumstance may not require additional methods or alternative safety considerations. It is the user’s responsibility to confirm compliance with any applicable local, state, or federal regulations. Information obtained from or via Northern Safety Solutions/Kinney Pike Insurance should not be used as the basis for legal advice or other advice and should be confirmed with alternative sources. Implementation of any practices suggested by this information is at your sole discretion; and Northern Safety Solutions / Kinney Pike Insurance or its affiliates shall not be liable to any party for any damages whatsoever arising out of, or in connection with, the information provided or its use.

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• December 5, 2018

Kinney Pike Insurance Welcomes a New Commercial Lines Account Executive

Williston, VT – Kinney Pike Insurance has added Mark Desautels as a new Commercial Lines Account Executive, expanding the Business Insurance sales team in their Williston office.

Desautels joins Kinney Pike Insurance with a background in insurance sales and has more than 10 years’ experience developing relationships with clients throughout Chittenden County.  As the newest member of the Williston office, Desautels will be a trusted insurance adviser for current and new Kinney Pike clients.

“Adding Mark will help strengthen our organization and reinforce our commitment to being a key resource for our business clients,” said Doug Corman, one of three Kinney Pike Insurance Principals.

About Kinney Pike Insurance:

Founded in 1904, Kinney Pike Insurance is one of the largest independent insurance agencies in Northern New England with seven Locations: Rutland, White River Junction, Williston, Randolph, Poultney, St. Johnsbury, and Swanton.  Kinney Pike is a full service agency specializing in commercial insurance, personal insurance, and employee benefits. Kinney Pike holds the distinction of being Vermont’s only Assurex Global Partner, an exclusive partnership of the most prominent independent agents and brokers in the world.  For further information, please contact Brittany Hollman at 800.296.5722. Web address: www.kinneypike.com.

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• November 30, 2018

OSHA Publishes Final Rule on Construction Crane Operator Certification and Qualification 1926.1427

Here is everything you need to know about the final rule that was published in the Federal Register on November 9th 2018.  Read the full ruling here.

• There is no more requirement that certification be by capacity.
• Certification must be by type (or it can be by type and capacity) and it is up to the accredited certification organization to define type.
• The final deadline for certification is December 10, 2018. Employers must pay for the cost of certifying their current employees, regardless of when they were hired.
• In addition to certifying operators, employers must also qualify them on the specific equipment they are running (this is the biggest and most important change to the regulation).

After extensive comment from stakeholders, OSHA realized that certification alone is not enough. Certification establishes a baseline of knowledge and skill, but operators must then be observed and evaluated on the specific equipment they run and the type of tasks they are doing, and that evaluation must be documented and made available at the work site.

Until an operator is both certified and qualified, he/she is considered an operator-in-training and can only operate under the direction and continuous monitoring of a qualified trainer.  The qualified trainer can also be the evaluator. The trainer must meet all of the following requirements:

• Must be an employee or agent of the operator-in-training’s employer.  If you are a one-person operation, or a small employer without the in-house expertise to have your own trainer, you can hire someone outside of your organization.
• Must have the knowledge, training, and experience necessary to direct the operator-in-training on the equipment in use.  Note that your trainer does not have to be a certified operator.
• Must be in direct line of sight and continuously monitor the operator-in-training, without doing anything that would detract from their ability to observe.  The trainer can take short breaks as long as they last no longer than 15 minutes and are no more often than one break per hour.  Before taking a break, the trainer must tell the operator-in-training exactly what to do during the break and what the limitations are, and must make sure these tasks are within the trainee’s ability.

Once your operator is ready for evaluation, here is what OSHA says the goals of evaluation are:

• To ensure that the operator has the ability to safely perform the assigned work
• To ensure that the operator has “the necessary skills, knowledge, and ability to recognize and avert risks in order to safely operate the actual equipment that will be used”

These performance-based evaluations are meant to be more directly focused on the operator’s ability to perform assigned work than the general knowledge and skills tested during the certification process. These are task- and equipment-specific, and the operator must demonstrate “the skills and knowledge, as well as the ability to recognize and avert risk, necessary to operate the equipment safely, including those specific to the safety devices, operational aids, software, and the size and configuration of the equipment. Size and configuration includes, but is not limited to, lifting capacity, boom length, attachments, luffing jib, and counterweight set-up.”  The evaluation should also include specific activities that might be required such as blind lifts, multi-crane lifts, and hoisting personnel.

Employers do not have to evaluate their operators in every possible configuration of equipment or combination of configuration and boom length, etc., that would factor into a crane’s capacity. Additional evaluations are only required when the operator’s existing skills, knowledge, or ability to identify and avert risk are not enough for that operator to operate the equipment in a new model or configuration.

If you have already evaluated an operator prior to the effective date of the new rule, you can rely on that evaluation as long as it’s documented.  However, employers cannot rely on the evaluations of previous employers; you must conduct your own.

The documentation of evaluation must include the operator’s name, the evaluator’s name, the date of the evaluation, and the make, model, and configuration of the equipment on which the operator was evaluated. But the documentation does not need to be in any particular format. You have the flexibility to capture this information using your own existing systems.

The employer must also provide re-training in relevant topics for each operator when there is an indication that retraining is necessary. Triggers for re-training might include feedback from an onsite supervisor or safety manager, contractor, or other person who observed that the operator was operating equipment unsafely; an OSHA citation; a crane near-miss; or any other incident that indicates unsafe operation of the crane.

The deadline for operator evaluation is February 7, 2018. Any operator not certified and evaluated by then is considered an operator-in-training and must be monitored.

If you any questions feel free to contact our Risk Management Coordinator, Ryan Wilson at 802-295-3329 or [email protected]

Other helpful links: 

http://nccco.org/general/oshas-crane-rule/oshas-rule-faqs

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.1427

DISCLAIMER:

The information included in this publication and accompanying materials was obtained from sources believed to be reliable for informational purposes only. Northern Safety Solutions/Kinney Pike Insurance and its employees make no guarantee of results in connection with any training, materials, suggestions, or information provided. This information is only a tool to assist you in managing your responsibility to maintain safe premises, practices, operations, and equipment. All sample materials serve as a guideline, which you can use to create your own programs, policies, and procedures to reflect your own operations. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed that all possible hazardous conditions or unsafe acts that may exist are covered, every acceptable safety method is contained in this publication, or that specific circumstances may not require additional methods or alternative safety considerations. It is the user’s responsibility to confirm compliance with any applicable local, state or federal regulations. Information obtained from or via Northern Safety Solutions/Kinney Pike Insurance should not be used as the basis for legal advice or other advice, and should be confirmed with alternative sources. Implementation of any practices suggested by this information is at your sole discretion; and Northern Safety Solutions / Kinney Pike Insurance or its affiliates shall not be liable to any party for any damages whatsoever arising out of, or in connection with, the information provided or its use.

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