SCM Safety Quarterly Newsletter – Spring 2020
SCM RESPONDS TO COVID-19
In keeping with local, State, and Federal (CDC) mandates, SCM is taking every precaution for the safety of you, our clients, and our employees. Like everyone else, we are paying close attention to news updates and the briefings given by the CDC. Some of the steps we are taking include:
Training: With the restrictions on large meetings and other gatherings, we are making every attempt to accommodate you, our clients.
Our trainers are making every effort to ensure that our training programs are safe. Where possible, chairs and seating will be arranged so that students have ample distance for their protection. Equipment used during the training is properly disinfected using approved methods (see the article on disinfecting to follow). When equipment is shared between students, it will be disinfected before each usage. This includes equipment provided by SCM for Respiratory Protection Fit Testing and CPR training.
We are accommodating every request to cancel or postpone training programs and meetings. Additionally, we have rescheduled the SCM Classroom training from March to May and June. The new schedule is:
The CAL OSHA 10-hr course on April 23 and 24 will be held June 8 and 9.
Any training programs of two hours or less can be held virtually through webinars. Please call our office at 925-362-2265 for more information or email us at info@scm-safety.com.
And as it says in the graphic, we are offering discounts for any client moving their scheduled training to our online training courses offered through hazmatschool.com. Please click here to view the entire course catalog. Look here.
Meetings and Consulting: Where possible, we will take advantage of virtual, online meeting resources. All scheduled consultations will continue to be provided.
SCM Headquarters: We will maintain minimal office staffing. Your calls will continue to be answered by our highly efficient office administrators. All non-essential office personnel are working from home. Your needs will continue to be met effectively and as quickly as possible.
ARE YOU DISINFECTED?
Much has been said recently about the importance of hand washing. We agree – right now you just can’t wash your hands enough! Remember, the most effective handwashing includes the use of any type of soap, scrubbing the surface of your hands and under your nails for at least 20 seconds. If you are tired of singing Happy Birthday twice, follow this link for a list other 20 second songs. Hand Washing Songs
But hands are not the only thing that needs to be disinfected and sanitized. Surfaces in common rooms in offices, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and other machines and equipment also needs to be disinfected for your protection. We recommend that you glance at the guidance offered by the CDC. CDC Guidance.
Two important “take-away” from their guidance document is that before disinfecting, visibly dirty surfaces must be cleaned with a detergent. Then you can begin the disinfecting. And don’t shake your dirty laundry before putting it into the washing machine. That could disperse the virus into the air if it is lingering on your clothing.
But what can you use as a disinfectant? What products are effective? Here is a good product list, which includes Clorox, Lysol, Simple Green and other commonly used products, courtesy of a joint effort by the American Chemistry Counsel and the Center for Biocide Chemistries:
By the way, Apple has announced that disinfectant wipes are safe to use on your iPhone. Disinfecting iPhones
WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT FOR?
Take a moment and do a brief exercise with us. Grab a piece of paper and in 30 seconds write out all of the things you do to help manage safety in your organization. Go ahead, we’ll wait.
Got it?
Investigate accidents and incidents
Your list might have more or less things, or you might call these things something different. Take a moment to reflect on this question as you look at the list – what are you trying to achieve with each of these? We don’t mean the obvious things like “we train so that people know the safe way to do the job.” We mean, what is the overall goal of all of these things we are trying to do? It’s to prevent accidents, reduce risk, control hazards, eliminate “unsafe acts.”
That’s all well and good. After all, no one wants anyone to get hurt at work. But telling people what you don’t want (accidents, incidents, negative things) doesn’t tell them what you do want. And sometimes we can be so focused on what we do not want that we create processes that inhibit us from getting what we do want.
Let’s take a deeper look at this – the avoidance of accidents taps into the innate human instinct for survival. Certainly no one wants to get hurt at work, so the things on your list likely help tap into that survival motivation.
But that’s not the only thing that motivates people.
People do not exist merely to survive. Instead, we have psychological motivators that we use to give meaning to our lives. For example, some powerful intrinsic motivators include autonomy, mastery, and purpose. These motivators are acted out every day in what we do in small and big ways at work. Take for example the construction worker who expresses himself by putting stickers on his hardhat (autonomy). Or the sense of pride an engineer has when she works out a difficult design problem (mastery). Or the water utility worker who cuts a procedural corner to get a homeowner’s water on faster so they can bathe their kids before school (purpose).
To read the rest of the blog, click here to the SCM Blog page. http://www.scmsafetyblog.com
