Safety checklist for winter
By
John Grimes-
I have a question for all the Ohio State football fans in the audience. Does it ever get old or boring beating Michigan? For this OSU alumnus, it is easy to answer with a resounding “no!”
Now, I will admit that some of the excitement has been missing over the last couple of years. However, I will take a boring win over an exciting loss any day. We had enough exciting losses in the John Cooper era.
Making a list and checking
it twice for safety
It doesn’t matter how you approach the holidays, or your feelings toward seasonal activities. Living in America has many traditions that affect all of us in some manner. Yet it is easy to become complacent towards the day-to-day tasks that consume our thoughts and our actions toward mundane chores. This is especially true for the month of December; the last month of the year filled with annual routines and rigorous schedules.
Complacency is the act of becoming so “used” to a situation that you may ignore a potential danger; or overlook an important step that would protect you from harm. Complacency is a common term among risk managers in the workplace, but it also wreaks havoc in our personal life. When in a complacent state of mind our productivity, quality of work, and personal safety is at risk.
Here’s an example: According to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Many of us wouldn’t have much trouble reading this paragraph. You may have started out slowly, but then you were able to zip right through the text and understand the content. This is an example of how complacency works with our mind. We get used to words starting with certain letters and being a certain length and we skip right over it “thinking” we know what the word is. When we’re reading text it’s not a big deal; however, when it comes to safety, complacency is a problem. Going into “auto-pilot mode” is all too possible during busy seasons. With extra demands at work, at home, and with family, it’s possible our minds become caught up in situations that allow us to ignore safety. Examples can include driving across town, holiday baking, or decorating our homes.
All too often we don’t realize how complacent we are until we have a near-miss or close call. When those events happen, they tend to jump start our hearts and re-focus our attention – at least for a little while.
So as you tend to your December activities, stay focused and alert the best you can. Being aware of your personal abilities to remain engaged with these tasks is your best combat for complacency. Two other strategies include planning ahead, and identifying potential hazards then eliminating them quickly.
Thwarting complacency may not help you enjoy all the tasks you have on your list, but rather completing all those tasks in a safe manner!
Source: Dr. Dee Jepsen, OSU Extension State Safety Leader
Home heating with
wood or pellet stoves
The rising cost of heating a house with gas or oil and a 30-percent tax credit has many people considering the purchase of a wood or pellet stove before the end of the 2010 tax year. There is much more to consider than whether a stove is eligible for the tax credit. Wood stoves can be an attractive and efficient choice of heat for your home, but making sure they are installed and used properly can keep their heat under control and less likely to lead to house fires and injuries.
The safe installation of the stove will help make sure that your investment does not end up destroying your home. Consider the following guidelines provided by the Ashland County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency when planning how to install and maintain your new stove.
• Inspect the stove in person and look for customer reviews on-line before you buy it. Wood stoves should be of good quality, solid construction and design, and should be UL listed. Do not buy a used stove or an on-line model without inspecting and reviewing it.
• All stoves and fireplaces should be installed properly: allow at least 36 inches of clearance between wood stoves and combustible surfaces, and check joists for adequate floor support.
• Inspect the chimney flue annually and have it cleaned, if necessary. Chimneys that have not been used in a while should be cleaned to prevent a chimney fire. Once clear, the stove should be burned hot twice a day for 15-30 minutes to reduce the amount of creosote buildup in the chimney flue.
• Do not use excessive amounts of paper or starter material to build roaring fires in fireplaces. It is possible to ignite creosote in the chimney by building the fire up too high.
• Do not use flammable liquids to start or accelerate any fire.
• Keep a glass or metal screen in front of the fireplace opening to prevent embers or sparks from jumping out or unwanted material from going into the fire. Screens also help prevent the possibility of burns to occupants.
• Keep flammable materials away from your mantle. A spark from the fireplace could easily ignite these materials.
• Always extinguish fires and coals before you go to sleep. Never close the chimney damper while hot ashes or coals remain in the fireplace. A closed damper traps heat in the chimney, which could re-ignite the fire unintentionally. The damper also prevents toxic carbon monoxide from exiting through the chimney, allowing it to build up inside the house.
• Never burn charcoal indoors.
10th annual Heart of
America Grazing Conference
The 10th Annual Heart of America Grazing Conference is returning to Kentucky. It will be held Jan. 25-26 at the Holiday Inn Hurstbourne in Louisville. The Conference rotates among five states (Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky).
The program will feature leading speakers from all five states concerning topics of interest to all producers interested in grazing. In addition to informative presentations, a silent auction and trade show will be featured.
The program gets under way Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. EST with exhibit set-up. Registration begins at 3 p.m. Registration is $35 per day per person until Jan. 15. After that date it will go up to $65.
Information is available at the University of Kentucky website www.uky.edu/Ag/Forage or by contacting Christi Forsythe at cforsyth@uky.edu or 270-365-7541, Ext. 221.
John Grimes is the OSU Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Highland County.[[In-content Ad]]
Now, I will admit that some of the excitement has been missing over the last couple of years. However, I will take a boring win over an exciting loss any day. We had enough exciting losses in the John Cooper era.
Making a list and checking
it twice for safety
It doesn’t matter how you approach the holidays, or your feelings toward seasonal activities. Living in America has many traditions that affect all of us in some manner. Yet it is easy to become complacent towards the day-to-day tasks that consume our thoughts and our actions toward mundane chores. This is especially true for the month of December; the last month of the year filled with annual routines and rigorous schedules.
Complacency is the act of becoming so “used” to a situation that you may ignore a potential danger; or overlook an important step that would protect you from harm. Complacency is a common term among risk managers in the workplace, but it also wreaks havoc in our personal life. When in a complacent state of mind our productivity, quality of work, and personal safety is at risk.
Here’s an example: According to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Many of us wouldn’t have much trouble reading this paragraph. You may have started out slowly, but then you were able to zip right through the text and understand the content. This is an example of how complacency works with our mind. We get used to words starting with certain letters and being a certain length and we skip right over it “thinking” we know what the word is. When we’re reading text it’s not a big deal; however, when it comes to safety, complacency is a problem. Going into “auto-pilot mode” is all too possible during busy seasons. With extra demands at work, at home, and with family, it’s possible our minds become caught up in situations that allow us to ignore safety. Examples can include driving across town, holiday baking, or decorating our homes.
All too often we don’t realize how complacent we are until we have a near-miss or close call. When those events happen, they tend to jump start our hearts and re-focus our attention – at least for a little while.
So as you tend to your December activities, stay focused and alert the best you can. Being aware of your personal abilities to remain engaged with these tasks is your best combat for complacency. Two other strategies include planning ahead, and identifying potential hazards then eliminating them quickly.
Thwarting complacency may not help you enjoy all the tasks you have on your list, but rather completing all those tasks in a safe manner!
Source: Dr. Dee Jepsen, OSU Extension State Safety Leader
Home heating with
wood or pellet stoves
The rising cost of heating a house with gas or oil and a 30-percent tax credit has many people considering the purchase of a wood or pellet stove before the end of the 2010 tax year. There is much more to consider than whether a stove is eligible for the tax credit. Wood stoves can be an attractive and efficient choice of heat for your home, but making sure they are installed and used properly can keep their heat under control and less likely to lead to house fires and injuries.
The safe installation of the stove will help make sure that your investment does not end up destroying your home. Consider the following guidelines provided by the Ashland County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency when planning how to install and maintain your new stove.
• Inspect the stove in person and look for customer reviews on-line before you buy it. Wood stoves should be of good quality, solid construction and design, and should be UL listed. Do not buy a used stove or an on-line model without inspecting and reviewing it.
• All stoves and fireplaces should be installed properly: allow at least 36 inches of clearance between wood stoves and combustible surfaces, and check joists for adequate floor support.
• Inspect the chimney flue annually and have it cleaned, if necessary. Chimneys that have not been used in a while should be cleaned to prevent a chimney fire. Once clear, the stove should be burned hot twice a day for 15-30 minutes to reduce the amount of creosote buildup in the chimney flue.
• Do not use excessive amounts of paper or starter material to build roaring fires in fireplaces. It is possible to ignite creosote in the chimney by building the fire up too high.
• Do not use flammable liquids to start or accelerate any fire.
• Keep a glass or metal screen in front of the fireplace opening to prevent embers or sparks from jumping out or unwanted material from going into the fire. Screens also help prevent the possibility of burns to occupants.
• Keep flammable materials away from your mantle. A spark from the fireplace could easily ignite these materials.
• Always extinguish fires and coals before you go to sleep. Never close the chimney damper while hot ashes or coals remain in the fireplace. A closed damper traps heat in the chimney, which could re-ignite the fire unintentionally. The damper also prevents toxic carbon monoxide from exiting through the chimney, allowing it to build up inside the house.
• Never burn charcoal indoors.
10th annual Heart of
America Grazing Conference
The 10th Annual Heart of America Grazing Conference is returning to Kentucky. It will be held Jan. 25-26 at the Holiday Inn Hurstbourne in Louisville. The Conference rotates among five states (Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky).
The program will feature leading speakers from all five states concerning topics of interest to all producers interested in grazing. In addition to informative presentations, a silent auction and trade show will be featured.
The program gets under way Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. EST with exhibit set-up. Registration begins at 3 p.m. Registration is $35 per day per person until Jan. 15. After that date it will go up to $65.
Information is available at the University of Kentucky website www.uky.edu/Ag/Forage or by contacting Christi Forsythe at cforsyth@uky.edu or 270-365-7541, Ext. 221.
John Grimes is the OSU Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in Highland County.[[In-content Ad]]