Safety: Where We Live, Work and Play

Each year the National Safety Council leads a national effort to increase awareness on how to make your home, workplace and recreational areas safer. This year June is the month and this year’s theme is Safety: Where We Live, Work and Play. Because safety needs to be a priority both on and off the job, the National Safety Council encourages you to take advantage of this time by thinking of creative ways to promote safety within your organization and community.

According to the National Safety Council each year more than 20 million Americans suffer disabling injuries. Another 100,000 die from their injuries.

National Safety Council data reveal:

•    45 percent of injury-related deaths happen to workers while on the job.

•    54 percent of injury-related deaths occur in the home and community.

•    61 percent of injury-related deaths are workers off the job or their family members.

The national cost to businesses is more than $200 billion in wages, productivity, medical expenses, insurance administration and costs for those uninsured. The National Safety Council is aggressively urging businesses of all sizes to set high standards for safety within their organizations and that includes the safety and well-being of their employees, their employees’ families, as well as the communities in which their businesses operate. This year’s theme reflects the need for injury prevention awareness in the workplace, in our homes and communities, and on our roads and highways.

Promote safety this month by posting safety tips on posters in the laboratory or as stuffers with payroll checks. Here are some suggestions for safety tips that you can use to promote safety:

            Exercise caution when using a utility knife:

•    Always use a sharp blade since dull blades require more force and are more likely to slip than sharp ones.

•    Change the blade when it starts to tear rather than cut.

•    Be sure the blade is properly seated.

•    Protect your eyes when working with hand tools.

•    Keep your free hand away from the line of the cut.

•    Always pull knife toward you when making a cut on a flat surface.  Pulling motions are stronger and more positive than pushing motions so your knife is less likely to slip.

•    A tip for at home

•    Clothes dryers pose a fire hazard, especially if they’re not properly maintained. Use a dryer with a lint filter and remove the collected lint after each use. Do not leave your clothes dryer running if you plan to leave your home.

Visit the National Safety Council website at www.nsc.org/nsm for help in planning your company’s activities in June to recognize June as National Safety Month.  Your organization can help reduce these numbers by promoting on and off-the-job safety and health to employees not only during this month, but also throughout the year.