The Safety Blog - I am Wright.com

What Is Car Sickness?

In scientific mumbo jumbo, car sickness is defined as a condition in which the fluid contained in the semicircular canals of the inner ears becomes disturbed, and the eyes and inner ears dispatch conflicting motion-sensor feedback to the brain.

When you’re traveling in a car, the inner ears sense movement. But your eyes trick your brain by focusing on a stationary object within the car, like a book or a radio knob. When this occurs, the brain gets heaved out of whack and defensively reacts by stimulating the body’s histamine reactors―which in turn instigate nausea and vomiting.

If this all sounds too complicated to understand, imagine the semicircular canals as your body’s version of those yellow fluid bubbles found inside a carpenter’s level. When the fluids become imbalanced, stomach mayhem follows.

Who Is Susceptible?

Toddlers and young kids are the most vulnerable to car sickness, making some family vacations memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Prevention

Unfortunately, unlike other sicknesses, there are no annual shots to improve immunity to motion sickness. But fortunately, there are plenty of preventive measures you can follow:

• Avoid back seats. Passengers riding in front are less susceptible to car sickness. If kids must ride in the back, make sure child safety seats are positioned high enough to allow them to see outside.
• Always sit facing forward. This sounds obvious, but some station wagons and minivans feature backward-facing rear seats.
• Focus on objects outside of the car. This coordinates the eyes with the inner ears. Car bingo works well in diverting a child’s attention to the passing scenery.
• Don’t read if you’re vulnerable to car sickness.
• Open the windows and fill the car with fresh air at the first sign of queasiness.
• Don’t pack the car with strong-smelling foods, Mr. and Mrs. Tuna Fish Lover. This can easily compound the problem.
• Don’t avoid feeding your kids six days prior to departure under the false belief that an empty stomach can’t get sick. An empty stomach is just as susceptible as a full stomach. If your kids complain of nausea, try to settle their stomachs with dry crackers or a slice of bread.
• Avoid roads with frequent red lights. The stopping and swaying magnifies the inner ear’s sense of movement.
• Don’t ignore the symptoms by driving faster with the intent of arriving at your destination faster. Stop at a rest area and go for a walk or toss a Frisbee. This might delay your arrival, but it far outweighs having to clean your car.
• Consult your doctor for travel-sickness medications.
• Try using accupressure bands on your wrists. They work well for some.

Technorati Tags: Car Sickness, Driving, Motion Sickness

Tags: Driving by David Wright - IamSafetyGeek
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Three steps to maximize your skills and abilities

1. Be proactive
2. Take personal responsibility for your life and success
3. Keep abreast of trends in your field. Personal target of 30 minutes each day

Event + response = outcome (formula for improving problems)

• You are what you do
• Start each day with positive thought
• If you not happy, make changes

How to be a GREAT Supervisor

• Confront Problems Early
  • Slowdowns/poor output
  • Prevents sub-par performance
  • Under-performance from spreading
  • Sense of entitlement

• What/what/why method
  • What you’re doing
  • What you should be doing
  • Why you should be doing

• Seven ways to avoid employees from health
  • Know the laws
  • Have the handbook
  • Down use contracts
  • Keep written records
  • Don’t move problems around
  • Hire well
  • Be proactive – act on the issues immediately

• How to develop a well written goal
  • The goal should be specific
  • Measurable
  • Action oriented
  • Realistic
  • Time specific with a deadline

• Four levels of employee interest
  • Self fulfilling – contributes to society
  • Work value – takes pride in work
  • Acceptance – enjoying being part of a team
  • Survival – mates physical needs

• Success Triangle
  • I believe in yourself
  • Believe an organization
  • Believing what we do

• Increasing responsibility
  • Become more effective than more efficient
    • What one skill if mastered would have the most impact on performance?
    • What specific steps are you currently taking to improve this skill?
  • What is the cost of taking action?
  • What is the cost if you do nothing?

• Decreasing resources
  • To get more production from resources that you have at your disposal
    • What one resource, if fully utilized, would dramatically improve your return on investment for existing resources?
    • What specific steps to your currently taking to improve in this area?
  • What is the cost of taking action in this area?
  • What is the cost if you do nothing in this area?

• If the fact of supervisors know themselves and their staff
  • What motivates and de-motivates their employees
  • Match employees to their tasks
  • How your personal styles affect others

• Setting performance and quality standards
  • Provide a job description
  • Explain the training process
  • Explain the performance requirements
  • Explain the feedback process
  • Encourage questions
  • Require employees to demonstrate their performance

Technorati Tags: leadership, Safety Culture

Tags: Safety, Safety Culture, leadership by David Wright - IamSafetyGeek
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Water Accumulation:

The standard prohibits employees from working in excavations where water has accumulated or is accumulating unless adequate protection has been taken. If water removal equipment is used to control or prevent water from accumulating, the equipment and operations of the equipment must be monitored by a competent person to ensure proper use.

OSHA standards also require that diversion ditches, dikes, or other suitable means be used to prevent surface water from entering an excavation and to provide adequate drainage of the area adjacent to the excavation. Also, a competent person must inspect excavations subject to runoffs from heavy rains.

Hazardous Atmospheres:

Under this provision, a competent person must test excavations greater than four feet in depth as well as ones where oxygen deficiency or a hazardous atmosphere exists or could reasonably be expected to exist, before an employee enters the excavation. If hazardous conditions exist, controls such as proper respiratory protection or ventilation must be provided. Also, controls used to reduce atmospheric contaminants to acceptable levels must be tested regularly.

Where adverse atmospheric conditions may exist or develop in an excavation, the employer also must provide and ensure that emergency rescue equipment, (e.g., breathing apparatus, a safety harness and line, basket stretcher, etc.) is readily available. This equipment must be attended when used.

When an employee enters bell–bottom pier holes and similar deep and confined footing excavations, the employee must wear a harness with a lifeline. The lifeline must be securely attached to the harness and must be separate from any line used to handle materials. Also, while the employee wearing the lifeline is in the excavation, an observer must be present to ensure that the lifeline is working properly and to maintain communication with the employee.

Access and Egress:

Under the standard, the employer must provide safe access and egress to all excavations. According to OSHA regulations, when employees are required to be in trench excavations 4–feet deep or more, adequate means of exit, such as ladders, steps, ramps or other safe means of egress, must be provided and be within 25 feet of lateral travel.

If structural ramps are used as a means of access or egress, they must be designed by a competent person if used for employee access or egress, or a competent person qualified in structural design if used by vehicles. Also, structural members used for ramps or runways must be uniform in thickness and joined in a manner to prevent tripping or displacement.

Technorati Tags: Excavation Safety, Sloping, Trench Box

Tags: Excavation, OSHA by David Wright - IamSafetyGeek
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ARLINGTON, Va. - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)’s proposed rule on belt air, improved belt materials and fire protection in underground coal mines was posted today on the Federal Register’s Web site and will be formally published on June 19. The proposal would implement the recommendations of the Technical Study Panel on the Utilization of Belt Air and the Composition and Fire Retardant Properties of Belt Material in Underground Coal Mining, which Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao established in accordance with Section 11 of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006. The panel, composed of government officials, academics and consultants, conducted an independent scientific engineering review and issued its report and recommendations last December.
“The objective of this proposed rule is to improve mine safety by significantly reducing the hazard of conveyor belt fires in underground coal mines,” said Richard E. Stickler, acting assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. “Thanks to the unanimous recommendations of the Technical Study Panel, MSHA has published a proposed rule that would include requirements for improved flame-resistant conveyor belts, fire prevention and detection in belt entries, standardized tactile signals on lifelines, and approval of the use of air from the belt entry to ventilate working sections.”
Under the proposal, underground coal mine operators would be required to purchase conveyer belts that are more flame resistant than those under the existing standard beginning one year after the effective date of the final rule. Existing belts would be permitted until replacement is necessary. Mine operators would also be required to replace point-type heat sensors with carbon monoxide sensors, install smoke sensors, improve belt maintenance, and standardize lifeline signals to identify direction of travel to the surface, storage caches for self-contained self-rescuers, obstructions to escape, and refuge alternatives.
Additionally, the proposed rule would require the primary intake escapeway to have a higher ventilating pressure than the belt entry, establish airlocks where high air pressure differentials exist between air courses on personnel doors along escapeways, establish minimum and maximum air velocities in belt entries, and require reduced dust levels in belt entries for mines that use air from the belt entry to ventilate the working section.
MSHA will accept comments until September 8, 2008, and conduct four public hearings on the proposed rule. The dates and locations of the public hearings are as follows: August 19 in Salt Lake City, Utah; August 21 in Lexington, Ky.; August 26 in Charleston, W.Va; and August 28 in Birmingham, Ala.

Technorati Tags: Belt Air, MSHA, news

Tags: MSHA, news by David Wright - IamSafetyGeek
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Spec’ing For Economy

• A vehicle’s basic configuration has a lot to do with fuel economy. A properly spec’ed truck can achieve impressive miles-per-gallon performance. Spec poorly and the numbers will surely go down.
• Tests show that gross vehicle weight is the largest factor in drag or rolling resistance. But weight is largely determined by the cargo, something fleets can rarely control. You have to haul what you have to haul.
• The second largest factor is air resistance; fleets can do something about that.
• There may be arguments for picking a classic, long-nosed conventional tractor. Style appeals to many drivers. The mystique of the classic cab makes it easy to sell, and it usually brings more money than an aero-type truck.
• But even a classic tractor will usually have an air deflector on the roof. And choosing an aero model can save 4 cents per mile or more in fuel. Many drivers would change jobs to get a 4-cent-a-mile raise. Fleets should be willing to change specs to keep that much more revenue for every truck.
• Aero-style trucks usually come with air deflectors included for your trucking application. If you pull a van or reefer, the most important deflector is the one on the cab’s roof. It moves air up and over the roof of the trailer. Without it, air blasts straight into the trailer’s nose, which is like pushing a barn door. It creates considerable drag and costs plenty of fuel.
• According to the TMC, a full cab roof fairing - one that matches the height of the trailer - will save up to 15% compared to running with nothing at all. If the tractor has a raised-roof sleeper, chances are it’s a little shorter than the trailer’s roof, so you’d need a small fairing to kick the air completely up. Without it, you’d lose 4% to 10% of the benefits of a full roof fairing.
• If you pull a low-height trailer, like a tanker, grain hauler or flatbed, a full-height deflector would probably add resistance. You’d do better with a flat-roof or mid-roof sleeper that better matches your trailer. Aero tractors can be ordered with varying sleeper types or with no sleeper at all.
• Other deflectors usually come as a package on an aero tractor. These include cab extenders, which cover some of the tractor/trailer gap; side skirts that cover the fuel tanks and battery box and smooth out the profile of the steps; and an air-dam front bumper. If you put any of these on a non-aero tractor, you might pick up 1% to 3% in fuel economy.
• Aero devices on trailers are rare, but they can save as much or more as aero aids on tractors. Bubble-type nose and tail appendages and fin-type vortex generators are available for fitting to trailers. If your tractors are married to trailers, they would probably save you money. If yours is a hook-and-drop operation, you’d have to figure out how much time each trailer sits idle to see if aerodynamics would pay.
• Medium duty trucks often run in cities where stop-and-go traffic pulls down average road speed and reduces the benefits of aerodynamics. That’s why few city trucks have full fairing packages, or any fairings at all. But most have smooth styling to ease air flow. And the van boxes mounted on many midrange trucks have rounded roof edges to reduce wind resistance. Any truck that spends a lot of time on freeways where cruising speeds are high would save considerable fuel if fitted with a supplemental fairing on the body’s nose or on the cab’s roof.

Engine Selection

• Adequate power for an over-the-road tractor generally means 430 or more horses. A 475 is enough to briskly climb most steep grades and will still get good fuel economy if driven right; 500 hp or more is probably excessive from a fuel-use standpoint. A good compromise is a “multi” model that boosts power and torque on upgrades and automatically cuts back for cruising. Of course most electronic controls can be “flashed” to uprate the engine, and that adds value when the truck’s being sold or traded in.
• If it’s a regional tractor or dump truck, an 11- or 12-liter diesel is OK if it’s got around 400 horses. Mixer fleets tend to run even smaller engines, and drivers understand the need for light weight.
• You can take advantage of the speed control in many of today’s electronically controlled engines. Fleet analysis shows that reducing road speed to 60 mph from 65 can lower fuel use by about 8%. A rule of thumb established by TMC is 1 mph equals 0.1 mpg. So a 5-mph reduction in average road speed would yield a 0.5 mpg improvement in fuel economy.
• Unfortunately, cutting speed frustrates many drivers. Fleets may have to settle for a middle ground where speed control is concerned.
• At the same horsepower output, an engine with electronic controls burns 7% to 15% less fuel than one with mechanical controls. If you buy used trucks, and older ones at that, you will almost certainly be better off with electronically controlled diesels. They are reliable, use less fuel, make less smoke and allow quick and easy diagnosing of problems.

Gear Ratios

• Gear ratios in the transmission and rear axle(s), along with the tire/wheel size, determine how fast the engine will spin at a given road speed. Each must be chosen with the other in mind.
• The best way to gear for fuel economy is to “gear fast, run slow.” Spec the truck to run fairly fast, but drive it slowly so the engine loafs. Most trucks are set up so they can run as fast as 75 or 80 mph but cruise at about 65 mph, at which point the engine will turn over at 1,500 to 1,600 rpm. This is the engine’s sweet spot, where it uses the least fuel; exactly where that spot is will vary with the engine make and model, so check out its specifications before picking or approving the gear specs. Of course, engine controls can be set to limit top road speed no matter what mechanical gearing allows.
• If you want the truck to actually cruise at 75 mph, which is legal in some Western states, it can be done. Just be realistic when setting up the truck. If it runs cross-country and that speed varies from 55 to 75 mph, pick a multi-speed transmission that lets drivers split up or down to lower or raise engine speed appropriately.
• Axle ratios are said to be “fast” or “slow.” All other specs being the same, the higher the axle’s numerical ratio (for instance, a 4.11), the slower the truck can run. The lower the number (like a 2.90), the faster the truck can run. You can pick either ratio type, or something in between. Just be sure the transmission’s top-gear ratio is something that works well with the axle. An overdrive top-gear ratio is usually paired with a slow (numerically high) axle ratio, and a direct-drive transmission is used with a fast (numerically low) axle.
• A direct-drive top gear can save a bit of fuel. That’s because it involves fewer gears in the transmission and less churning of lubricant. Controlled tests show the reduced friction of a direct-drive transmission saves up to 2% in fuel at cruising speed. Some fleet managers have measured some savings in tank mileage, and you may or may not see it at the pump. The more varied your cruising speed and operating conditions, the less actual savings you’d get from this or any other component that is most effective at relatively high speeds.

Technorati Tags: Engine Selection, Fuel Saving Tip

Tags: Fuel Saving by David Wright - IamSafetyGeek
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