Safety
Rite Way Service recognizes that a comprehensive safety program is an important tool in maintaining a risk free environment. The goal of our safety program is to reduce the likelihood of occurrence and to eliminate the conditions that lend themselves to personal injuries and property damage. The success of this program relies upon a personal commitment from each and every employee to accept responsibility for the prevention of accidents and fires and to take steps to eliminate hazardous conditions.
An assertive safety program is continually promoted to execute these responsibilities. Some of the elements of this program include: the development of safety consciousness by training through departmental meetings, instruction by supervisors, scheduled and random inspections to eliminate hazards, correction of unsafe conditions and work practices, enforcement of safety regulations, and complete reporting and analysis of accidents and fires. Any hazardous condition can be largely reduced with the use of safe working practices. Observation and attentiveness are excellent tools. Taking a few minutes to identify the hazards of each task before starting can help reduce the likelihood of an accident.
Also, Rite Way has a full time Safety Director who has an aggressive approach to safety. Our safety program will eliminate hazards and correct unsafe conditions so that you don’t have to worry about them. Rite Way has been awarded the Overall Vehicle and Employee Safety Award by the Building Service Contractors Association International ten times. We take considerable pride in ensuring that only properly trained cleaning staff maintains your property.
Inhalants
Inhalants are common products found right in the home and are among the most popular and deadly substances kids abuse. Inhalant abuse can result in death from the very first use. According to the annual Monitoring the Future national poll, approximately one in six children will use inhalants by eighth grade. The same report notes that inhalants are most popular with younger teens. Teens use inhalants by sniffing or "snorting" fumes from containers; spraying aerosols directly into the mouth or nose; bagging, by inhaling a substance inside a paper or plastic bag; huffing from an inhalant-soaked rag; or inhaling from balloons filled with nitrous oxide.
Inhalants are breathable chemical vapors that produce psychoactive (mind-altering) effects. Although people are exposed to volatile solvents and other inhalants in the home and in the workplace, many do not think of "inhalable" substances as drugs because most of them were never meant to be used in that way.
Young people are likely to abuse inhalants, in part, because inhalants are readily available and inexpensive. Parents should see that these substances are monitored closely so that children do not abuse them.
Inhalants fall into the following categories:
Solvents
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inindustrial or household solvents or solvent-containing products, including paint thinners or solvents, degreasers (dry-cleaning fluids), gasoline, and glues
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art or office supply solvents, including correction fluids, felt-tip-marker fluid, and electronic contact cleaners
Gases
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gases used in household or commercial products, including butane lighters and propane tanks, whipping cream aerosols or dispensers (whippets), and refrigerant gases
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household aerosol propellants and associated solvents in items such as spray paints, hair or deodorant sprays, and fabric protector sprays
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medical anesthetic gases, such as ether, chloroform, halothane, and nitrous oxide (laughing gas)
Nitrites
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aliphatic nitrites, including cyclohexyl nitrite, which is available to the general public; amyl nitrite, which is available only by prescription; and butyl nitrite, which is now an illegal substance
Health Hazards
Health Effects and Risks. Nearly all abused inhalants produce effects similar to anesthetics, which act to slow down the body's functions. When inhaled in sufficient concentrations, inhalants can cause intoxicating effects that can last only a few minutes or several hours if inhalants are taken repeatedly. Initially, users may feel slightly stimulated; with successive inhalations, they may feel less inhibited and less in control; finally, a user can lose consciousness.
Signs of Depression. Research shows that inhalant use is also associated with symptoms of depression. Between 2004 and 2006, an estimated 218,000 youths aged 12-17 used inhalants and also experienced depression in the past year. The same research showed that depressed teens were more than three times as likely to start using inhalants than teens with no symptoms of depression. The reverse is also true, showing that teens often started using inhalants before depression began.¹
Irreversible hazards. Inhalants are toxic. Chronic exposure can lead to brain damage or nerve damage similar to multiple sclerosis; damage to the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys; and prolonged abuse can affect thinking, movement, vision and hearing.
Sniffing highly concentrated amounts of the chemicals in solvents or aerosol sprays can directly induce heart failure and death. Heart failure results from the chemicals interfering with the heart's rhythm regulating system, causing the heart to stop beating. This is especially common from the abuse of fluorocarbons and butane-type gases. High concentrations of inhalants also cause death from asphyxiation, suffocation, convulsions or seizures, coma, choking or fatal injury from accidents while intoxicated. Other irreversible effects caused by inhaling specific solvents are:
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Hearing loss - toluene (paint sprays, glues, dewaxers) and trichloroethylene (cleaning fluids, correction fluids)
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Peripheral neuropathies or limb spasms - hexane (glues, gasoline) and nitrous oxide (whipping cream, gas cylinders)
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Central nervous system or brain damage - toluene (paint sprays, glues, dewaxers)
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Bone marrow damage - benzene (gasoline)
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Liver and kidney damage - toluene- containing substances and chlorinated hydrocarbons (correction fluids, dry- cleaning fluids)
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Blood oxygen depletion - organic nitrites ("poppers," "bold," and "rush") and methylene chloride (varnish removers, paint thinners)
Prevention. Parents can keep their teens away from inhalants by talking to them and letting them know the dangers of inhalants. Most young users don't realize how dangerous inhalants can be. Inhalants are widely available and inexpensive, and parents should be mindful about how and where they store common household products.
Defensive Driving
Training Objectives: Upon completion of this training, the employee will:
1. KNOW the most common causes of collisions.
2. KNOW to always be prepared for the worst.
3. KNOW the procedures to follow if involved in an accident.
Defensive Driving
I. General information…”The purpose of this training is to help you to be a defensive driver…Protect yourself and others by…”
- Yielding to drivers who are determined to get there first.
- Constantly checking your rearview mirrors.
- Always anticipating what the other driver will do.
- Avoiding unnecessary lane changes.
- Paying attention to what you’re doing.
- Not tailgating other vehicles.
- Never challenging another driver with words or gestures.
II. “Always wear your seat belt…if you’re involved in an accident it can help save your life…”
- State law requires that you wear your seatbelt.
- Thousands of lives are saved each year because of seatbelts.
- Someone dies in a motor vehicle accident every 11 minutes on American highways.
- Someone is injured in a motor vehicle accident every 18 seconds.
- Vehicle accidents cost Americans over $60 billion each year due to lost wages and lost productivity.
III. Vehicle Accident Reporting…if you are involved in a vehicle accident, follow these procedures:
1. Stop at once.
2. Protect the accident scene.
3. Assist with injuries.
4. Notify the police and your supervisor.
5. Gather information from witnesses.
6. Provide specific information to police and others involved.
7. Try to draw a sketch what happened.
Manager, review with your employees how you want them to provide accident information.
IV. “Finally, the most common causes of collisions are…”
- Driving at an unsafe speed.
- Driving on the wrong side of the road.
- Making improper turns.
- Failure to yield right-of-way.
- Running stop signs and traffic lights.
- Rubbernecking other accidents.
- Tailgating.
Documentation:
Once the training is over, please have all employees sign the Documentation of Training form. Keep a copy for your files and forward the original to EH&S.