Vol 9, No. 9, December 2008

 Contents

 

 

 

THOUGHTS & QUOTES

…is there such a thing as too quiet?

With concerns growing over the impact of noise pollution on human health, I would have thought that any quiet technology was a good thing -– such as the new breed of electric and hybrid cars that are whisper-quiet. However, there is new information that these cars are dangerous to pedestrians, since people don’t hear them coming. Quiet cars can be especially dangerous to bicyclists who depend very much on hearing vehicles to build a picture of the traffic around them.

This is an example of an "unintended consequence" from the development of new technologies. One article mentions researching various sounds that could be added to make these vehicles noisier. (Whatever they do, please don’t use the obnoxious beeping sound of the electric cars in the Atlanta airport!) At least one manufacturer is already looking into synthesizing an engine sound for electric cars -- ironically, their approach uses active noise cancellation, like some people wear on airplanes, to produce noise. There is also a bill before Congress that would direct the Department of Transportation to establish safety standards for very quiet vehicles.

Here are a couple of articles that discuss this new "hazard": Hybrid Cars Too Quiet for Pedestrian Safety? Add Engine Noise, Say Researchers and That Blissfully Quiet Electric Car Might Just Kill You.

Wishing everyone a happy, peaceful (but not TOO quiet), and SAFE holiday season!

[top]

Beauty and Safety (New Materials for Landscapers)

In many parts of the country, late fall provides a last respite before cold temperatures and inclement weather set in. For landscape services workers, it is a particularly busy time of year. Their trucks and vans are a common sight as lawns and gardens are raked, mowed, fertilized, and planted for winter and spring. Landscaping and grounds keeping add immeasurably to the beauty we see around us, and we respect the labor and care that go into this work.

A new NIOSH fact sheet, Fatal Injuries Among Landscape Services Workers, highlights the fact that work-related motor vehicle fatalities—the leading cause of death on the job for all worker populations—also account for the largest percentage of fatal occupational injuries for landscape services workers. Deaths from falls, being struck by falling objects, and electrocutions occur more frequently among landscape services workers than among the overall U.S. workforce. For employers, the fact sheet strongly emphasizes the following strategic steps necessary for worker safety.

The last page of the document highlights several other resources with safety materials for this population. Many of those materials are in English and Spanish (several have been noted in past issues of Safety News & Notes).

NIOSH has added four other new resources for identifying and addressing potential hazards in outdoor work. These are NIOSH safety and health topic pages on:

Additional guidance for the hazards of working outdoors can be accessed on the Hazards to Outdoor Workers page on the NIOSH Web site.

[top]

ATV Safety Reminders

Since Santa may be delivering ATVs this season, here are some safety reminders.

The following sites contain ATV safety information (including checklists to determine when a person is ready to use an ATV).

[top]

Before You Buy -- Check with the Consumer Product Safety Commission

We're all looking for something special and maybe unusual as gifts for our friends and family during the holiday season -- but not all those toys that seem like fun or gadgets that seem so useful are good gift ideas. Each year, thousands of products are found to be unsafe and are subjected to recalls by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products -- such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals -- contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

Before you buy a product or brand you aren't familiar with, check the CPSC Web site for complete information on recalled toys and other products. You can check for recalls by date, by product category, the specific hazard the product presents, and several other categories. You can also set up a feed to be notified whenever products in some specific categories are recalled.

[top]


SAFETY NEWS & NOTES is an e-mail newsletter prepared by Carol J. Lehtola, Extension Agricultural Safety Specialist and team leader for the Prevention and Preparedness: Agricultural Safety & Disaster Management program. Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, UF/IFAS. If you have safety- or disaster-related questions or ideas that you would like to share with other agents, please contact Dr. Lehtola. If you know someone interested in receiving this newsletter, we will gladly add them to the e-mail list. Past issues of Safety News & Notes are archived on the Florida AgSafe Web site.