workplace, Highway Work Zone

Safety and Workplace Violence

Awareness. Among the day’s out-

reach trainers were CSEA Local

#840 President Jane Meunier-Gorman, County Safety Officer

John O’Connor and Highway &

Facilities' Supervisor of Road

Maintenance, David Keith. The

Putnam County Health Department

On May 9th, employees of

the Highway & Facilities De-partment gathered at Veter-

an’s Memorial Park in Car-

mel to participate in one of

the annual Safety Training

Days. The weather for the

day was unseasonably windy,

cold and rainy, but it did not

dampen the spirits of the

trainers or participants.

As part of Putnam County’s

extensive safety program,

the Highway and Facilities

personnel are mandated by

Local, State and Federal

regulations to receive spe-

cific safety training annually. Some of these topics include

Hazard Communication re-

garding chemicals in the

also sent a sizeable staff in

the morning to provide free

blood pressure screenings and information on many health

and safety related topics. Fi-nally, Pro Safety Services LLC

provided training on the Control

of Hazard Energy Awareness

and Incident Investigations.

In today’s fast paced world,

technological innovations come rather quickly, and to stay

abreast of changes in the road

maintenance and traffic man-

agement industries, the County

invited various vendors and distributors to demonstrate

new advances in relevant equipment. United Rentals gave

a trench demonstration and Brady’s Power Equipment showed off various powered

hand tools. Grainger, in part-

Highway & Facil it ies Spring Safety Day

Highlights:

Highway & Facili-ties Safety Train-ing Day

Safety: Leading by Example

Housekeeping Halts Hazards

Fire prevention thru housekeep-ing

Incident VS, Acci-dent

CPR & First Aid Courses

Putnam County Occupational

Safety Newsletter

Pictures Top Right: Brady’s Power Equipment of Stormville, NY gives a demonstration of Personal Protection Equipment for Chainsaw and String Trimming Operations, such as a logger’s helmet with face shield and hearing protection, chainsaw cut/abrasion resistant chaps, and Kevlar stitched cutting gloves Bottom Left : Westchester Tractor of Brewster, NY showing off their “leading edge” heavy equipment for mowing and construction work, such as tractors, chippers and the latest New Holland Skid Steer Front End Loader pictured in the foreground.

June 2014 Volume 1, Issue 2

Among the findings:

• In five of the 34 states for

which data was available –

Washington, California, New

York, Connecticut and New

Jersey – state and local government workers had

injury and illness rates high-er than the national rate of

5.7 cases per 100 full-time

workers.

• Violence was responsible

for almost one-quarter of

injuries involving days away from work among state and

local government employees.

• Local workers had the highest injury and illness

rate at 6.1 cases per 100 full

Washington – State and local

government workers accounted

for one fifth of injuries and

illnesses in 2011, and the inci-

dence rate was highest among

state hospital workers, accord-

ing to an analysis from the Bu-

reau of Labor Statistics.

The report, published online

in March, is part of the bureau’s

“Spotlight on Statistics” series, which examines certain areas

of the labor market. State and local government employees

made up 14.6 percent of the workers covered by the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries

and Illnesses in 2011, the report

states.

-time workers, compared with 4.6

cases for state workers and 3.5

cases for private industry.

• State hospital workers had the

highest injury and illness rate –

9.2 cases per 100 full-time work-ers. The report states that one

possible reason why injuries were more common among state hospi-

tal workers is that more of them

worked in psychiatric and sub-stance abuse hospitals than their

private and local counterparts.

Read the report at

http://1.usa.gov/1lEn57Z.

Page 2

Bureau of Labor

Statistics puts

‘spotlight’ on

state, local

government

workers

nership with Honeywell, gave a dis-

cussion and demonstration of per-sonal protective equipment such as

head, hearing and eye protection, along with safety harnesses and fall-

arrest systems for working at

heights. Lastly, Westchester Tractor

showed off the latest heavy con-

struction and forestry equipment

such as skid steer loaders, chippers

and a “brush hog” tractor mower.

Before the morning classroom

training switched over to the after-noon’s breakout sessions, County

Executive MaryEllen Odell dropped in

to give a few comments on the ne-

cessity of training and she restated

Putnam County’s commitment to

safety. This mirrored the morning’s

opening statements by both CSEA

Presidents and Commissioner of

Highway and Facilities Fred Pena , demonstrating the joint effort by

labor and management.

At the end of the day, many of the participants

had felt that the training had gone very well and

that everyone had gained some new knowledge.

Safety Officer O’Connor had this to say: “I believe

that it is great to see the County being able to get

the necessary, required training out to those that

need it and doing it through a memora-

ble, interactive experience. I think that

training given through that type of deliv-

ery goes a long way to ensuring that

people retain the information better and the message comes through clearer. In

that way, the culture of safety grows and unnecessary losses and injuries are

greatly reduced. Having a safe working environment is an admirable measure of

success, for any company or govern-

ment service!”

Facilities maintenance worker Dennis

Zasso was also very enthusiastic about

Spring Highway Safety Day. The veteran

employee said: “ I think it was the best

training that I’ve ever had in all my

years with the County!”

Above: County Executive MaryEllen Odell speaks in front of the assembled Highway and Facilities personnel with her message regarding Putnam’s commitment to safety. Below right: Supervisor of Road Maintenance David Keith lecturing on Workzone Safety.

Occupational Safety and

Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors and safety con-

sultants agree that you can get a good idea about safety

and health practices at a business by walking in the

main entrance. There’s a strong correlation between a clean, orderly workplace and

a safe, successful organiza-tion. Good housekeeping mat-

ters because it:

Reduces accidents and

fire hazards;

Improves emergency

response times;

Helps maintain safe,

healthy work conditions;

Saves time, money, ma-

terials, space, and effort;

Improves productivity

and quality;

Boosts morale; and

Reflects an image of a

well-run, successful

organization.

OSHA inspectors will not hesi-

tate to cite violations of its requirement that “all places

of employment, passageways, storerooms, and service

rooms shall be kept clean and orderly and in a sanitary con-

dition.” Avoid OSHA citations by fol-

lowing a daily cleanup policy and program that includes the

following:

Keep floors, stairways,

aisles, and other pas-sageways clear of tools, equipment, trash, and

other materials.

Close drawers.

Put tools away when

they’re not in use, and

cover any sharp edges.

Stack materials carefully

so they won’t fall or

block sprinkler access.

Clean up all spills imme-

diately and properly, or

call someone who can.

Report any loose or bro-

ken flooring or any bro-

ken equipment.

Keep food and beverages

away from the work

area.

Properly dispose of all

trash.

Keep paper and other combustibles away from

lights and electrical

equipment.

Prevent dirt or grease buildup on machinery

and equipment.

Keep containers of flam-mables closed when not

in use.

Don’t place tools or equipment on the edges

of shelves or tables.

Take a regular inventory of your work areas. Look for

unnecessary tools, parts, materials, and supplies. Store

or get rid of unneeded items.

house- keeping procedures

that can help prevent work-

place fires:

Keep dust under con-

trol, particularly around

motors and hot machin-

ery. It is especially im-

portant to keep dust to a minimum around tools

such as grinders or

Housekeeping plays a criti-

cal role in fire prevention.

Keeping your work- place clean and organized not only

prevents the ignition and

spread of a fire but also

helps keep exits clear and

fire response equipment

accessible.

Here are just a few simple

welding torches.

Dispose of rags con-

taminated with oils or

solvents in appropriate metal containers. Never

allow oily rags to accu-mulate as they pose a

great fire risk.

Don’t allow combustible materials such as card-

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 2

ON FIRE FOR HOUSEKEEPING

“There’s a strong

correlation between a

clean, orderly workplace

and a safe, successful

organization.”

Housekeeping halts hazards! Keep a neat work area.

board, paper, or wood to accu-

mulate. Remove from the area

and store or discard properly.

Keep access to emergency

exits and equipment clear.

Make it a habit to check your work area for possible fire

hazards on a daily basis.

In a recent monthly Safety Committee

meeting held at the Law Department,

members of the committee discussed

the importance of near miss reporting.

Near-miss reporting is a piece of a

strong safety culture. It is a way to get an organization talking about safety in

general. With regard to incidents and near hits and near misses, there are

some differences in the safety field.

Incident: An unplanned, undesired event that hinders completion of a task and may cause

injury, illness, or property damage or some combination of all three in varying degrees

from minor to catastrophic. Unplanned and

undesired do not mean unable to prevent. Un-

planned and undesired also do not mean una-

Putnam County

Department of Law

48 Gleneida Avenue

Carmel, New York 10512

Phone: 845-808-1150 x49402

Fax: 845-808-1903

E-mail:

john.oconnor@putnamcountyny.gov

County Safety Officer

John P. O’Connor, CPP,PSP

Leading by example helps improve

workplace safety: study

Fort Collins, CO – The type of

leadership used in the work-place may have an effect on

injuries and safety climate, suggests a study from Colora-

do State University.

Using a survey of 1,167 con-

struction pipe fitters and plumbers, researchers exam-

ined the connection between workplace safety and percep-

tions of leadership. The leader-ship behavior known as

“idealized influence” – when

workers admire their leader and emulate his or her behav-

ior – was found to have the

strongest link to safety.

Other leadership behaviors

associated with a safe work-place were inspirational moti-

vation, intellectual stimulation,

individualized consideration and contingent reward. Researchers

concluded that to reduce injuries, leaders need to be “holistically

good leaders,” meaning they employ

multiple leadership behaviors.

The study was published in Safety

Science (Vol. 62).

ble to prepare for. Crisis planning is how we prepare

for serious incidents that occur that require re-

sponses for mitigation.

Near Miss: A subset of incidents that could have resulted in injury, illness or property damage, if given

a different set of circumstances, but didn’t. Near

misses are also known as “close calls.” Perhaps the

better term to consider is “near hit.”

Accident: The definition is often similar to that of

incident, but supports the mindset that it could not have been prevented. An accident is the opposite of

the fundamental intentions of a safety program,

which is to find hazards, fix hazards, and prevent

incidents. When we accept that accidents have no

cause, we assume that they will happen again.

Incident vs. Accident Know the Difference!

CPR and First Aid training is available through the Bureau of Emergency Services at no cost to Putnam County Employ-ees. Courses offered in-clude American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR/AED (with first aid, if needed) and Basic Life Support (BLS) for Healthcare Providers, which is geared more for individuals in the healthcare field.

The BLS courses are offered on the first Friday of the month beginning at 9:00 am, with Heartsaver courses being offered on the third Friday of the month starting at 10:00 am.

Please contact Linda McGuiness at extension 41114 to register for a class or Bob Cuomo at extension 41104 if you have any questions about the training.

CPR AND FIRST AID COURSES