TSS News – February 2022

SAFETY NEWS

February 2022

Hiring Season is Here!

Happy February! We are finally gaining some daylight minutes on our way to Spring. That means we’ll be heading into construction and tourism season! This is the time of year employers in various industries are looking for a reliable and stable workforce to service their needs in the coming months.

One way TSS can help with this process is by assisting you with having the right policies in place before your hiring begins. Does your company have an employee handbook? Do you have a written drug and alcohol screening policy? How are employees notified and trained about that policy? That’s where we come in. We can assist in developing a reasonable policy for your company, that meets your needs and manages the expense. Studies show that for every dollar you invest in a drug screening program, you will save $7. The savings come from reducing accidents and near misses, lost productivity, absenteeism or presenteeism, and more.

Every employer wants to keep their people safe from harm. Introducing a drug screening program with integrity, reliability and enforcement measures helps bring safety alive in your company. People will often tell us that they cannot afford a program. But really, you can’t afford to not have one. According to the National Safety Council, work injuries cost businesses an estimated $171 BILLION in 2019! The average medically consulted injury was $42,000. While that is a lot of money for the employer to spend, more importantly, the impact on the injured employee can be life-altering or deadly. We owe it to our workforce to be diligent in every manner possible to keep them safe and free of harm.

Let me know if we can help you come up with a plan that meets your needs. I guarantee that we can achieve affordable means to help promote safety in your workplace.

Renee Schofield

TSS EXPRESS Opens 2/14

If you live in the Ketchikan, AK area, we are thrilled to offer you a new service:

TSS EXPRESS is the place for all things motor vehicle related. Alaska tags, titles, registration, licenses and more will be available at our Ketchikan location (120 Carlanna Lake Road).

TSS and the State of Alaska have entered into a Business Partnership Agreement that allows us to work within the state system and provide services to the residents of Alaska. TSS staff training is being finalized and we’ll be unloading our supplies next week.

The service includes a convenience fee in addition to the fees charged by the state for various transactions. But, you can save yourself a trip to the DMV.

Make an Appointment

We’ll begin scheduling appointments on February 14. This allows us to get our feet wet and assure you the time we need to get processing completed in a timely manner. You can schedule by calling us at 907.247.1431. Please be sure to mention you are coming for TSS EXPRESS services. Parking is available in the TSS lot on the corner of Tongass Avenue and Carlanna Lake Road in Ketchikan.

COSS Report: What are the Odds?

The National Safety Council has been gathering some very interesting data on the most common events that put people at risk of dying.

Did you know that your odds of dying by a lightning strike are one in 138,849? Or that the odds of dying in a motorcycle accident are one in 899? Significantly, NSC also found that of the various causes of death one in 24 were PREVENTABLE.

That means, we have opportunities to save lives. In the workplace, this starts by learning about safety and following the protocols listed in the workplace safety program.

What are the odds? Learn your odds of dying from different causes in the U.S. (2019 data)

2022 American Heart Month

Each February, during American Heart Month we focus on the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States: Heart Disease. More than 650,000 Americans die of heart disease every year. That’s one in four deaths, meaning that most Americans have been touched by heart disease in some way.

In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control is shining a light on hypertension, or high blood pressure, one of the leading risk factors for heart disease. Hypertension is often called the silent killer because there are typically no symptoms. People at any age can develop high blood pressure and African Americans face a significantly higher risk of hypertension. In 2019, more than half a million deaths in the United States had hypertension as a primary or contributing cause. Nearly half of adults in the United States (47%, or 116 million) have hypertension.

Prevention and Control

The good news is that high blood pressure can be prevented and controlled through some basic lifestyle choices. These include:

Cold Weather AED Care

During the coldest days of winter, a question that we often get from TSS clients is: “Do we need to do anything special to care for our Automated External Defibrillator (AED) when it’s freezing out?”

The last thing employers or individuals want – no matter the weather conditions – is for their AED to malfunction in an emergency situation. Protecting AEDs from extreme temperatures is certainly one way to ensure that your device works when you need it.

Cold weather can significantly affect the performance of an AED. From draining the battery to freezing the water-based gel found in the pads, the way an AED is stored in winter can impact its rescue-readiness.

How can you make sure that the AED is operating at the correct temperature?

Safety Warning: The Benadryl Challenge

Parents take note: A dangerous trend targeting adolescents and teens is sweeping across social media networks.

The “Benadryl Challenge,” which first became popular in 2020 on TikTok, has been re-circulating since January, leading to Benadryl overdoses among young teens around the country, increased visits to the emergency room and even deaths.

Benadryl, or diphenhydramine, is a common over-the-counter allergy medicine. It treats symptoms like rash, itching, watery eyes, cough, runny nose and sneezing. The Benadryl Challenge encourages teens to take an excessive amount of the drug – at least a dozen tablets – to cause hallucinations.

According to a warning issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “Taking higher than recommended doses of the common over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medicine diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death.”

Drug-Free Workplaces and the DER

The management of a company’s drug and alcohol program is an important function. In a smaller company, a secretary may be charged with this responsibility. In a large company, it may be a full-time job for an individual or group of people. The title for this manager is DESIGNATED EMPLOYER REPRESENTATIVE (DER).

Who can be a DER?

Anyone who has the authority to remove an employee from safety-sensitive duties in a U.S. Department of Transportation regulated business, under rule 49 CFR Part 40. (Many non-DOT companies that have a drug and alcohol testing policy follow also have someone assigned to this role.) According to DOT regulations, the DER oversees the entire drug screening process, reports test results to federal agencies, responds to the Third Party Administrator (TPA) and more.

It’s a big job and one that TSS employees spend a lot of time supporting. Our goal is for the DER to understand the regulations that we are working with so they can ensure that the employer is compliant and people in the workplace are safe. Therefore, TSS provides training for all the DERs we work with, at no cost.

TSS TRAINING

Webinar, online, blended

Through webinars and

interactive online training courses, TSS offers a wide range of options that can help you reach your professional development or safety learning goals.

If you don't see a course you need on our website, our team of safety specialists are more than happy to customize a training, or series of trainings, for you. Just let us know how we can help.