E-Newsletter

Savings and Safety Tips for October, 2015 from All Safety Products, Inc.

Transitioning to Safer Chemicals: A Free Toolkit for Employers and Workers

Below is a summary article and link for a OSHA provided toolkit (see bottom of article) used to help companies in transitioning to safer chemicals.

American workers use tens of thousands of chemicals every day. While many of these chemicals are suspected of being harmful, only a small number are regulated in the workplace.

As a result, workers suffer more than 190,000 illnesses and 50,000 deaths annually related to chemical exposures. Workplace chemical exposures have been linked to cancers, and other lung, kidney, skin, heart, stomach, brain, nerve, and reproductive diseases.

Establishing a chemical management system that goes beyond simply complying with OSHA standards and strives to reduce or eliminate chemical hazards at the source through informed substitution best protects workers.

Transitioning to safer alternatives can be a complex undertaking, but a variety of existing resources make it easier. OSHA has developed this step-by-step toolkit to provide employers and workers with information, methods, tools, and guidance on using informed substitution in the workplace.

By using this toolkit, businesses can improve worker well-being through eliminating or reducing hazardous chemicals, while creating other benefits, including:

• Cost Savings - Reduce expenses and future risks.
• Efficiency - Improve performance.
• Industry Leadership - Invest in innovation to stay competitive.
• Corporate Stewardship - Advance socially responsible practices.

This toolkit can be used by all types of businesses-it is for manufacturers using chemicals in their production processes as well as for businesses that use products containing chemicals in their everyday operations. For example, service-oriented workplaces (such as janitorial companies, auto body repair shops, and pathology labs) and construction work sites often use products containing chemicals that could present hazards to workers.

Workers also can use this toolkit to better understand chemical use in their workplace, find opportunities for using safer chemicals, and engage with their employers throughout the process of identifying, evaluating, and transitioning to safer alternatives.

OSHA wants to help businesses thrive safely by asking them to look at their chemical use and adopt ways to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals. Together, OSHA, employers, and workers can protect America's workforce and strengthen America's businesses.

SEE THE FREE TOOLKIT

In the Northwest, even the sky seems to be burning!

In August,more than 100 wildfires were burning in Washington state, destroying more than 400,000 acres of forests and rugged, grassy terrain. The fires killed three firefighters by the end of the month. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called it a cataclysm, according to CNN.

The wildfires were so tremendous that the smoke blew through Montana. "Don't adjust your TV sets",
ESPN's Brent Musburger said of the smoky air at the Montana-North Dakota State football season opener, according to NPR radio.

About 32,000 people were working on putting out the fires, but officials said the fire could burn until the snow falls, according to NPR radio. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 firefighters battled 16 wildfires in California. Fires also raged in Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

What caused this outbreak of fire, costing at least $10 million a day? Dry air. Windy conditions. Drought. Lightning. Humans. In northern California, a faulty gas water heater caused the Rocky Fire that burned 70,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of 13,000 people and destroying 43 homes.

According to the National Forest Service, when conditions are hot, windy and dry, the slightest spark can set off a wildfire: A tossed cigarette, a smoldering campfire, a bullet. And, this year, any lightning strike.

If you live or are visiting an area prone to fires, or if you go camping, heed these warnings:

• Stay up with the news. Avoid high fire hazard areas.
• Leave when they say to leave. Or earlier.
• Plan escape routes. A fire travels 70 mph and burns at 1000 degrees.
• If you can't find a route out, it may already be too late. Get in a lake or river if you can.

Granola-Ginger Baked Apples

Get out your Halloween cauldron. It's October and time to get cook up some devilishly delicious treats. These golden-baked apples will satisfy at any event you can conjure up with their spicy-sweet ginger zing.

Ginger is a far-flung cousin of bamboo, cardamom and turmeric and was thought to ward off evil spirits in ancient China.

Ghoulish Granola-Ginger Baked Apples

Ingredients:

• 4 large Golden Delicious apples
• 3 (1.5-oz.) oat-and-honey crunchy granola bars,
• finely crushed 1/3 cup roasted salted almonds,
• chopped 1/4 cup crystallized ginger chopped
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cups apple cider
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade
• 1 (7-oz.) container Greek yogurt

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Cut apples through the middle, leaving the stem intact at the top of one half.
• Scoop out core and enough pulp to leave a 3/4-inch shell.
• Cut a 1/4 inch slice from bottom side to form a flat base.
• Stir together crushed granola bars and next 4 ingredients.
• Spoon mixture into apple shells and press to gently pack.
• Arrange apples in a 13- x 9-inch pan.
• Pour cider around them.
• Bake for 25 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender, but retaining their shape, basting twice with pan juices. Note: Baking times may vary due to the ripeness and size of your apples.
• After 25 minutes, begin testing for doneness by inserting a wooden pick directly into the fruit.
• Place apples on a plate and keep warm.
• Add marmalade to pan juices and cook over medium-high heat, stirring 5 to 6 minutes or until thickened.
• Spoon yogurt into martini or sherbet glasses and top with one apple half, slightly atilt.
• Spoon warm sauce over each.
• For frightful fun, poke a gummy worm into the center of the granola.

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