May-June Newsletter

In our May-June issue, learn ways to prepare for lethal threats, prevent heat illness; plus safe driving tips to pass along to employees.

Active lethal threat preparation

?Active lethal threat preparation requires both practice and planning. Regular practice before an emergency helps appropriate responses to become second nature and can also help identify weaknesses in the emergency plan. These vulnerabilities can then be addressed and remedied.

The?Department of Homeland Security?(DHS) and?Federal Emergency Management Agency?(FEMA) define preparedness as “a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating and taking corrective action in an effort to ensure effective coordination during incident response.” Emphasis should be drawn to the word “continuous” – once established, a plan must be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect their most current information. An outdated plan is akin to having none at all.

One of the biggest challenges planners face in devising their active lethal threat preparation steps is that emergency situations can rapidly develop into scenarios not originally anticipated. Ideally, plans will allow for some measure of flexibility, but it’s equally important to train employees to adapt and overcome according to fluctuating conditions and their own best judgment. Every employee should feel confident enough to make the split-second decisions that can help protect both their lives and the lives of others. Encouraging this mindset, as well as implementing regular drill schedules, will train employees to carry out emergency procedures calmly and thoughtfully. It will also encourage them to think actively about safety measures and their own responses to “what if” scenarios.

Safe driving trips for business owners and employees

?Driving safely is a learned behavior. Too often we become complacent and distracted behind the wheel. Eventually it catches up with us. For that reason, we’re providing a list of safe driving tips to share with your commercial clients, so that they can pass them along to employees who drive on the job.

?Remember the last time you got a speeding ticket or were in an auto accident? Chances are you slowed down, stopped tailgating, etc. for maybe a month afterwards. That costly ticket or accident was still fresh on your mind, and you certainly didn’t want a repeat. That’s why we say safe driving is a learned behavior. It often goes against our grain, especially when we’re in a hurry. These safe driving tips are provided by The Hartford and other subject matter experts.

How to prevent heat illness in outdoor workers

?As summer heats up, so will the risk of workplace heat illness. Workers at risk of heat illness include not only outdoor workers such as farmers or construction employees, but also anyone in hot environments such as firefighters, bakery workers, boiler room workers, factory workers and others. Employees at greater risk of workplace heat stress include those who are overweight or 65 years of age or older, have heart disease or high blood pressure, or take medications that may be affected by extreme heat.

?Now’s a good time to remind your supervisors and their teams to watch out for symptoms of heat stress.

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