Sandra Gimpel fell more than 500 times in the last year-without serious injury. Not so fortunate were some 16,000 Americans who die each year from falls, according to the National Safety Council (NSC).
The difference? Gimpel's falls were not accidental, but planned and executed with precision. She is a 3rd degree black belt Karate instructor and Hollywood stunt woman who earns a living falling in movies and television commercials.
Falls rival poisoning as the number one home accident in the U.S. The number of injuries or deaths from falls due to winter conditions is not recorded by the NSC. But, safety experts agree that many injuries result from falls on ice-covered surfaces.
Safety Tips
It's important that individuals recognize the hazards of slippery surfaces. Here are helpful hints from winter-safety experts that will reduce the risk of falling when slippery conditions exist:
•Wear boots or overshoes with soles. Avoid walking in shoes that have smooth surfaces, which increase the risk of slipping.
•Walk consciously. Be alert to the possibility that you could quickly slip on an unseen patch of ice. Avoid the temptation to run to catch a bus or beat traffic when crossing a street.
•Walk cautiously. Your arms help keep you balanced, so keep hands out of pockets and avoid carrying heavy loads that may cause you to become off balance.
•Walk "small." Avoid an erect, marching posture. Look to see ahead of where you step. When you step on icy areas, take short, shuffling steps, curl your toes under and walk as flatfooted as possible.
•Remove snow immediately before it becomes packed or turns to ice. Keep your porch stoops, steps, walks and driveways free of ice by frequently applying ice melter granules. This is the best way to prevent formation of dangerous ice patches. Using a potassium-based melter, such as Safe Step, instead of salt will prevent damage to concrete, grass and other vegetation or to carpets and floors should you track in some.
Falling Safely
Even when you practice safe walking habits, slipping on ice is sometimes unavoidable.
"It takes less than two seconds from the moment you slip until you hit the ground," says Sandra Gimpel. "That's precious little time to react. In that instant, the risk is an injury to your head, a wrist, hip or shoulder."
Gimpel says knowing how to fall will help you reduce the risk of injury. In the stunts she performs and the Karate courses she teaches, Gimpel uses a tuck-and-roll principle.
"It's important to tuck your body, lift your head and avoid trying to break the fall with a hand, which can cause a wrist injury," says Gimpel. "The idea is to make yourself as small as possible by rolling up into a ball." She suggests you practice the techniques as follows:
•Sit on the floor with your legs out flat in front of you. To simulate a backwards fall, slowly begin to lie back toward the floor and quickly tuck your head forward, chin to chest. At the same time, lift your knees to your chest and extend your arms away from your body and "slap" the ground with your palms and forearms. This maneuver will help prevent your head, wrists and elbows from hitting the ground.
•Assume the original position. To practice a sideways fall - which usually causes a shoulder, hip, elbow or wrist injury - begin to roll to one side or the other. As you do so, lay out your arm parallel to your body so that your forearm, not your wrist or shoulder, is first to contact the floor. Also, lift your head toward your shoulder opposite the fall. Next, practice the procedure in the opposite direction.
•From a kneeling position, practice for a potential front fall. Begin to lean forward and as you fall, roll to one side, laying out your arm parallel to your body, again so the forearm and not your wrist makes contact with the floor. Lift your head to the opposite shoulder and continue to roll.
Following these guidelines may not qualify you to handle movie stunts, but they can help protect you from serious injury this winter.
SPK Training and Compliance
620 West Chestnut Street
Suite 201
Perkasie, Pa. 18944
http://www.spktraining.com/
215-600-1774
Friday, January 21, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Confined Space Safety
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating an accident in a manhole at a Superior, Wisconsin landfill that claimed four lives. The incident started when one worker in the hole was overcome by toxic fumes. One by one, the other three victims went to help their colleagues and were themselves overcome. All four were dead of hydrogen sulfide poisoning by the time rescue workers arrived at the scene.
The men were reportedly trying to fix a sewer in a hole three feet in diameter and more than 25 feet deep at the privately owned landfill. None of the men were wearing respirators or safety masks, and emergency responders found no evidence of gas detection or other safety equipment at the accident scene.
Hazards of hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a poisonous, flammable, colorless gas that gives off a strong odor of rotten eggs. At high concentrations, it will deaden the sense of smell, consequently odor may not provide adequate warning of hazardous concentrations. Even brief exposure to high concentrations can cause difficulty breathing and loss of consciousness.
The landfill was owned by Kimmes Construction of Superior, a family business that included two of the victims. The other two men were contractors working at the landfill.
The four men were working with two others, who called 911 after the men failed to emerge from the hole. It took about 25 minutes from the time of the call for firefighters to reach the first victim. The last body was removed from the pit about three hours from the time of the initial call. The bodies were found in about four feet of water at the bottom of the hole.
Firefighter response
Firefighters with OSHA-mandated safety equipment including breathing apparatus, masks and radio communication gear led the response. An oversized tripod was positioned over the manhole and firefighters were lowered into the pit by way of a rope and pulley system. Private employees working in confined spaces and rescuers are required to use the same type of equipment and to take the same pre-entry precautions as firefighters. One blogger on the Firehouse.com Forum, a firefighter with the Superior Fire Department who responded to the accident, wrote this: “This is a great example as to why we have to look before we leap. We were told one person in the well, (on dispatch) after we arrived it was 4. It was training and experance that told us to slow down, hydrogen sulfide 200+ppm, Low O2, Lel above limits and lack of personal to safely consider rescue. Considering was not a thought, CFR1910.120 spells it out. since the investigation is still going on all I will say here is, Use your Training, brain and gut to determine your course of action, not your heart.”
Jim Rigstad, a battalion commander for the Superior Fire Department, said that upon arriving on the scene it quickly became evident that survival of the victims was not likely, and that responders were on a recovery mission rather than a rescue mission. A gas meter lowered into the manhole showed hydrogen sulfide levels of 200 parts per million, twice what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has deemed to be Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) concentrations. Experts said that the level of fumes inside the pit was so high that unprotected workers would have immediately been rendered unconscious.
Dangers of Confined Spaces
Almost every kind of industry has some type of confined spaces. Storage tanks, tunnels, pipelines, storm drains, silos and ships’ holds are all examples of confined spaces. More than 1.5 million workers enter these spaces each year for the purposes of maintenance, repairs, installations, inspections, and meter reading.
A confined space is an enclosed area with the following characteristics:
It is configured and has adequate size so that a person can enter and perform work;
It has limited and restricted means of access and egress;
The primary use of the space is for something other than continuous human occupancy.
There are a number of hazards associated with confined spaces. A significant threat to life in confined spaces are atmospheric hazards which may be flammable or explosive, toxic, oxygen deficient, oxygen enriched or corrosive. Other hazards associated with confined spaces include possible cave ins, heat injury due to elevated temperatures, electrical hazards, the hazards associated with mechanical equipment, and poor visibility, just to name a few.
Relevant OSHA standards
OSHA’s Permit-Required Confined Space Standard (29 CFR 1910.146) mandates a comprehensive approach for the control of permit space hazards and includes provisions for entry permits, training, hazard recognition, isolation procedures, atmospheric testing, mechanical ventilation, and personal protective equipment.
Another OSHA standard, 29 CFR 1910.120, commonly called the Hazwoper standard, defines the level of training workers must have before being allowed to enter a hazardous environment either for work or for rescue. OSHA’s Respiratory Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134, requires certain respiratory protection and other safety precautions for workers before they may enter a hazardous atmosphere, and also outlines a protective practice known as “2 in/2 out”, requiring at least two employees to enter an IDLH atmosphere and to remain in visual or voice contact with one another at all times, while at least two employees be located outside the hazard area but properly equipped and trained to enter the space if rescue becomes necessary.
It is a sad fact that when multiple deaths occur at confined space incidents, the majority of the victims in each event die while trying to rescue the original entrant. In fact, would be rescuers account for more than half of the confined space fatalities
http://www.spktraining.com/
215-600-1774
620 West Chestnut Street
Suite 201
Perkasie, Pa. 18944
The men were reportedly trying to fix a sewer in a hole three feet in diameter and more than 25 feet deep at the privately owned landfill. None of the men were wearing respirators or safety masks, and emergency responders found no evidence of gas detection or other safety equipment at the accident scene.
Hazards of hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is a poisonous, flammable, colorless gas that gives off a strong odor of rotten eggs. At high concentrations, it will deaden the sense of smell, consequently odor may not provide adequate warning of hazardous concentrations. Even brief exposure to high concentrations can cause difficulty breathing and loss of consciousness.
The landfill was owned by Kimmes Construction of Superior, a family business that included two of the victims. The other two men were contractors working at the landfill.
The four men were working with two others, who called 911 after the men failed to emerge from the hole. It took about 25 minutes from the time of the call for firefighters to reach the first victim. The last body was removed from the pit about three hours from the time of the initial call. The bodies were found in about four feet of water at the bottom of the hole.
Firefighter response
Firefighters with OSHA-mandated safety equipment including breathing apparatus, masks and radio communication gear led the response. An oversized tripod was positioned over the manhole and firefighters were lowered into the pit by way of a rope and pulley system. Private employees working in confined spaces and rescuers are required to use the same type of equipment and to take the same pre-entry precautions as firefighters. One blogger on the Firehouse.com Forum, a firefighter with the Superior Fire Department who responded to the accident, wrote this: “This is a great example as to why we have to look before we leap. We were told one person in the well, (on dispatch) after we arrived it was 4. It was training and experance that told us to slow down, hydrogen sulfide 200+ppm, Low O2, Lel above limits and lack of personal to safely consider rescue. Considering was not a thought, CFR1910.120 spells it out. since the investigation is still going on all I will say here is, Use your Training, brain and gut to determine your course of action, not your heart.”
Jim Rigstad, a battalion commander for the Superior Fire Department, said that upon arriving on the scene it quickly became evident that survival of the victims was not likely, and that responders were on a recovery mission rather than a rescue mission. A gas meter lowered into the manhole showed hydrogen sulfide levels of 200 parts per million, twice what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has deemed to be Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) concentrations. Experts said that the level of fumes inside the pit was so high that unprotected workers would have immediately been rendered unconscious.
Dangers of Confined Spaces
Almost every kind of industry has some type of confined spaces. Storage tanks, tunnels, pipelines, storm drains, silos and ships’ holds are all examples of confined spaces. More than 1.5 million workers enter these spaces each year for the purposes of maintenance, repairs, installations, inspections, and meter reading.
A confined space is an enclosed area with the following characteristics:
It is configured and has adequate size so that a person can enter and perform work;
It has limited and restricted means of access and egress;
The primary use of the space is for something other than continuous human occupancy.
There are a number of hazards associated with confined spaces. A significant threat to life in confined spaces are atmospheric hazards which may be flammable or explosive, toxic, oxygen deficient, oxygen enriched or corrosive. Other hazards associated with confined spaces include possible cave ins, heat injury due to elevated temperatures, electrical hazards, the hazards associated with mechanical equipment, and poor visibility, just to name a few.
Relevant OSHA standards
OSHA’s Permit-Required Confined Space Standard (29 CFR 1910.146) mandates a comprehensive approach for the control of permit space hazards and includes provisions for entry permits, training, hazard recognition, isolation procedures, atmospheric testing, mechanical ventilation, and personal protective equipment.
Another OSHA standard, 29 CFR 1910.120, commonly called the Hazwoper standard, defines the level of training workers must have before being allowed to enter a hazardous environment either for work or for rescue. OSHA’s Respiratory Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134, requires certain respiratory protection and other safety precautions for workers before they may enter a hazardous atmosphere, and also outlines a protective practice known as “2 in/2 out”, requiring at least two employees to enter an IDLH atmosphere and to remain in visual or voice contact with one another at all times, while at least two employees be located outside the hazard area but properly equipped and trained to enter the space if rescue becomes necessary.
It is a sad fact that when multiple deaths occur at confined space incidents, the majority of the victims in each event die while trying to rescue the original entrant. In fact, would be rescuers account for more than half of the confined space fatalities
http://www.spktraining.com/
215-600-1774
620 West Chestnut Street
Suite 201
Perkasie, Pa. 18944
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