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Stop, Think, & Check Before You Connect

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For the Month of February Environmental Health & Safety invites the campus community to think about electrical safety in mind. Electrical safety can often be overlooked but affect essentially everyone on campus. Most electrical systems are designed so that we never directly encounter electrical currents, but those systems can be damaged or fail, resulting in electrical shock, burns, or even fires.

Stop, Think & Check before you conect graphic. A person icon is shown with a hand extended to indicate "stop" holding an electrcial cord, with a thought bubble thinking about electricity.

This month follow our various posts about electrical hazards and risks including

  • Batteries recharging
  • Flexible Cords
  • Water and Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters
  • Lock Out Tag Out
  • Tripped electrical breaker problems
  • Overloaded electrical outlets
  • Grounded plugs
  • Overhead Power Lines

View and Share Our Graphics

We have created custom graphics for the above topics.

View and download them here.

When Winter Weather and Machines and Equipment

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When winter weather strikes, remember to think about the impact on your tools and equipment. Slippery conditions don’t just affect our walking and vehicles.

A graphic with equipment golf car and forklift detailing precautions with winter weather and slippery conditions

We may take our tools and equipment for granted, but winter ice and snow can cause challenges with them as well.

  • Snow, ice, and water can cause slippery conditions at or near entrances to garages, loading docks, or warehouses.
  • It is important to understand if your equipment can be used in wet conditions or not. When in doubt consult your
    • supervisor
    • equipment manuals
    • any Danger, Warning, or Caution tags on your equipment
  • Try to eliminate snow, ice, and puddles where feasible. Your equipment may track into loading docs, warehouses or other areas that are normally dry. Other area occupants can be surprised by a slippery condition suddenly appearing.

Winter weather means vigilance for our walking and working surfaces. Just don’t forget how it may affect equipment.

Use Extra Care in Slippery Conditions

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When winter weather threatens, be extra careful with entering and exiting buildings and vehicles.

Graphic to caution extra care in slippery conditions when getting in and out of vehicles and when entering and exiting buildings.

What is the risk?

When we enter and exit buildings we may be at extra risk of slipping and falling. When getting in and out of a vehicle our center of gravity shifts and may not be fully under our feet. When exiting a building we may be surprised by the change in traction outside. When entering a building we may bring wet conditions to floors, making them slippery.

What can you do?

  • Use handrails for support.
  • Use your vehicle for support.
  • Try to keep your center of gravity over your support leg.
  • Remove snow and water from shoes when entering a building.

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