Dangers of Distracted Driving

Cell phones being added to today's teen drivers may be deadly. Safe practices should be advised to all teens and adults with cell phone use. The harsh truth is that teen driver crashes are on the rise and need to stop. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that using a cell phone while driving makes you four times more likely to get in an accident. The National Safety Council is calling for a full ban on cell phone use while driving.

"Some of these companies wouldn't dream of letting fork lift operators in a plant talk on a cell phone while driving around. But they've got sales people on the road doing it all day long," Dave Teater, National Safety Council.

Companies could be held responsible in cell phone related accidents if an employee is driving a company car. Law suits across the country are at an all time high due to the rise in cell phone related accidents. Therefore, it is important that companies lead their employees to safe driving practices. Many Fortune 500 companies have banned employees from using cell phones while driving.

Basic safe driving tips include: Limiting passengers, slowing down, wearing a seat belt, enforcing the rules with a parent-teen driving agreement, and not drinking and driving.

SafetySkills offers a lot of information over safety and teaches you how to maintain safe driving practices. SafetySkills also offers a variety of safety training courses. Training is available in a DVD format for employees without computer access. The following link will lead to the SafetySkills course catalog Courses. Please call us today for more information on course titles, regulations, and pricing at 888-844-3549.

CLEAN WATER ACT

On April 4, EPA inspected Denbury Onshore LLC of Alvin, Texas and found that the company had failed to develop a facility response plan as required by Federal regulations. Specifically, the EPA was inspecting the Central Treating Station oil storage facility in Montgomery County.The company was fined $16, 600 for violating the federal Clean Water Act. This is their third time violating this act.

The Clean Water Act requires oil storage facilities that have a storage capacity of one-million gallons or more to develop and implement FRP to demonstrate a facility's preparedness to respond to a worst case oil discharge.

In July 2011, Denbury Onshore, LLC was fined $13, 905 for a 7, 560-gallon spill and $19, 927 for a 14, 700-gallon oil spill in July 2012. For more information about this article visit: Denbury Onshore Full Article

SafetySkills™ offers many courses that will help prevent your company from making this mistake. Over 10,000 companies choose SafetySkills™ to help meet their environmental and occupational health and safety training requirements. noodleStream.com is OSHA, EPA, and DOT-compliant, competency-based training which is designed to engage the learner through intensive animation, stimulation, and interaction. With over 50 interactive courses on Oil and Gas Training, SafetySkills™ is credible and will help your company meet the needed requirements. For more information, check out our course catalog: Course Catalog.

Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day

Each year on October 10th, a nationwide network of road safety partners celebrates "Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day" to raise awareness about the causes of highway crashes.This year marks the 11th anniversary of this effort as the nation recognizes the importance of road safety.

"Don't be Driven to Distraction-Drive to Arrive" is the catchphrase used by the 2012 "Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day" campaign. Statistics show that in 2012, 11 percent of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted. Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Monash University) Text messaging is also said to create a crash risk that is 23 times worse than driving while being distracted.

Over 42,800 drivers are killed each year in the US, and 2.7 million drivers are injured. The average person is involved in six vehicle crashes in his or her lifetime. Millions of drivers take to the road each day as a part of their jobs and on average five percent of workers compensation claims are motor vehicle related. SafetySkills™ is happy to offer six driver safety courses that address the basic challenges drivers face on the road. These online safety training courses can help you protect your driver both on and off the job. These courses include: Delivery Driver Safety ,Distracted Drivers , Driver Safety, Hazardous Driving Conditions , Hazards of Speeding and  Road Rage.

17 Million More Global Oil Production Expected by 2020

Global crude oil production is likely to climb from 93 million b/d to 110 million b/d by 2020. The growth would be the largest increase since the 1980s. The largest increases have been seen in Iraq, the US, Canada, Brazil, and Venezuela.

Leonardo Maugeri, conducted a study that forecasts technological advances in unconventional oil production and found that it will help make the Western Hemisphere self-sufficient by 2020. Maugeri is a researcher at Harvard University. He predicts that the US will experience unprecedented output from the advances in unconventional oil production. (Oil and Gas Journal)

This discovery is big, even on a global scale. The combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling will make it possible to exploit US tight oil plays and open up a new era. If this new production was to make it to the market, there would be a dramatic collapse in oil prices.

Researchers still wonder if there would be consequences with the new oil development. There is a lot more research still to be completed. New oil production projects could be stymied or delayed without a balance between industry and environmental interest. This production is unique and opens the oil and gas field to many possibilities. 

SafetySkills has a full line of oil and gas safety training. SafetySkills also offers a variety of safety training courses. Training is available in  DVD format for employees without computer access. Check out our website at SafetySkills. Please call us today for more information on course titles, regulations, and pricing at 888-844-3549. 

Summer has Arrived

The month of June officially kicks off the summer holiday! This is a time when SafetySkills looks at off the job safety training such as lawn mower and lawn care safety.The grass is green and growing at a constant pace so it is important to take precautions when using lawn care tools. According to a study done by George Mason University, lawn mower accidents sent 242,000 Americans to the ER between 2004 and 2006. In 2006 an estimated 77,039 people were treated in the ER for accidents involving lawnmowers in 2006.

SafetySkills offers a training course called Lawn Mower and Lawn Care Safety in which every homeowner should take. This course covers the general guidelines for mower safety assessing the hazards associated with lawn care. This course does not have any specific training requirements from OSHA, so it is included in the General Duty Clause. Upon completion, the learner will have received information on the common hazards associated with lawn care equipment and recommended safe operations practices.

OSHA's Campaign to Prevent Heat Illness in Outdoor Workers

With summer fast approaching, it is important for workers to be aware of how to stay safe in hot weather. Heat Illness can be deadly. Every year, thousands of workers are affected by exposure to heat and some even die. Any worker that is exposed to hot and humid conditions is at risk for heat illness. Outdoor workers are at such a high risk for suffering from heat illness in the summer because the body would normally cool itself by sweating. During hot weather and increased humidity, sweating is not enough. Heat illness requires immediate medical attention and should not be taken lightly.

OSHA is launching the heat awareness campaign in hopes of decreasing the amount of workers that suffer heat illness.

It is very important for workers to: Drink water often, rest in the shade, report heat symptoms early, and to know what to do in an emergency situation. Water, rest, and shade are  three key terms to remember when working in hot weather conditions. Heat illness can be prevented and should be monitored closely.

OSHA Launches New Construction Fall Prevention Campaign

A new campaign from OSHA has been launched to focus on fall prevention in the construction industry. April 28 is Workers Memorial Day, which is observed annually to remember workers who died on the job. "The best way to honor Workers Memorial Day is to make sure that another family does not have to suffer the pain of losing a loved one because of preventable workplace injuries," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. 

In 2010, more than 10,000 construction workers were injured while 225 were killed. OSHA's new awareness program will provide employers and workers with life saving information. Educational materials about working safely from ladders, scaffolds and roofs will also be provided. 

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has teamed up with OSHA to implement the fall prevention program. OSHA and NIOSH will work with trade organizations, labor unions, employers, universities, and all community organizations to promote the fall prevention program. OSHA created a fall prevention Web page to educate viewers on the details of the program.

SafetySkills offers a lot of information over safety and teaches how to maintain a safe environment. SafetySkills also offers a variety of safety training courses. Training is available in a DVD format for employees without computer access. Please call us today for more information on course titles, regulations, and pricing at 888-844-3549.