Winter Safety: Get Ready for Winter!

Winter is here! What fun! There are festive holiday lights to be hung, sparkling tinsel and garland to be spread over the tree. Cookies and holiday meals are going to be made, gifts to be given and received. Winter offers a lot of fun activities and cherished moments with family and friends, but it also has a lot of dangers and for most of us those fun activities revolve around the dreaded chores of the season and our work schedules. The winter season brings us new challenges like getting up earlier, bundling up to shoveling a path to the mountains of snow where the family car was parked the night before. Once the car is found, we can finally driving an hour to work, on slick snowy roads, that normally would only take ten minutes to travel. Finally, if you’re lucky enough to work in an office, stripping off the woolly mammoth boots, scarves, gloves and coats to sit down and start working. With all the pre-work activities, it usually feels like a nap is needed before work can even start. For thousands of companies and their employees throughout the US, there is no nice warm office; they have to work in the wintery elements all day long. Studies have shown people lose their attentiveness as they tire, this causes some very unsafe responses or activities which could possibly have deadly results.

Two of the most common cold-related emergencies reported in the US are Hypothermia and Frostbite. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over four thousand people died last year from Hypothermia and there was over eight thousand cases of Frostbite reported. Depending on the person’s body condition and the elemental conditions, Hypothermia and Frostbite can occur with-in minutes. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest to be aware of the signs for both of these cold-related emergencies. Winter brings us some other safety issues like the risk of slips and falls, electrical and heating safety, and let us not forget driving safety. The snow and ice, as beautiful as it maybe, it still hospitalizes thousands each year from slip and fall injuries. Auto accidents increase dramatically during this time of year. According to the Department of Transportation 63% of all automobile accidents, happen during the winter season and believe it or not, the amount of fires increase during this time of year too. There are several contributing factors to the increase of fires. The top three are of fireplace usage, overloads in electrical outlets, and dried holiday decorations such as trees and garland.

Here is the good news, there are simple steps that companies and employees can take to keep everyone safe during the winter season; on and off the clock. Atlantic Training offers over a dozen Winter and Cold Weather Safety programs to assist in the training of your employees to work in wintery conditions. The programs address the signs for Hypothermia, Frostnip, and Frostbite, how to recognize the employees must susceptible to the elements, and emergency response procedures. Decorating safely (with and without the use of a ladder), preventive winter driving and fire programs, as well as emergency procedures are also available.  Programs are available in English and Spanish versions as well as the choice of footage formats: video, DVD, and CD-rom. With a little help, the season can be happy and joyous for everyone.

Topics of Winter Safety Training

• The signs of Hypothermia, preventative measures, and treatments
•  The signs of Frostnip and Frostbite, preventive measures and treatment
• How the body works to stay alive first, and to stay functioning second
• How to effectively protect yourself and your employees from the elements
• Back Injury Prevention
• Proper Eye Protection and other Personal Protection Equipment
• Ladder Safety
• Driving safely in wintery conditions
• Decorating Safely

To view more of these program visit our Winter Safety Page