Keep Safety In Mind As You Put Away Holiday Decorations

Press Release From NFPA
Keep safety in mind as you put away holiday decorations

December 27, 2006 - Now that the holidays are over, take down your decorations and start the New Year safely, advises the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), the not-for-profit product safety testing organization.

According to the NFPA, 20 percent of home fires attributed to Christmas trees occur in January. “Christmas trees can be a significant fuel source if a fire occurs in your home,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA assistant vice president of communications. “Dried-out trees burn easily and should not be left in a garage or placed against the house. We recommend you remove your tree from the home and dispose of it properly as soon as your Christmas celebration ends.”
“Even well-watered trees dry out after four weeks,” John Drengenberg, consumer affairs manager for UL, explained. “So if your real tree went up right after Thanksgiving, it should be discarded after Christmas and not New Year’s Day.”

Carli and Drengenberg also remind you that Christmas trees aren’t the only holiday decorations that need prompt attention after the holidays.

“Leaving your decorations out for several months or even all year not only aggravates your neighbors,” Carli said, “but it also leaves the wires exposed to rain, snow, cold, the sun, squirrels and birds longer than intended by the safety standards.”

“Many people don’t realize that holiday lights should only be up for a limited time,” Drengenberg continued, “The safety standards are developed anticipating a maximum of 90 days of use per year because these decorations are considered seasonal. If you leave decorations out any longer, the resulting damage could cause an electrical shock or a fire hazard.”
As you unplug and store your lights – whether indoors or outdoors – remember the safety precautions you take now can prevent hazards from occurring next season.

Following is a checklist of safety tips that are not only helpful to stay safe as you take down your holiday decorations, but are useful all year-around:

When using electrical toys or appliances for the first time, carefully read and follow all instructions in the manufacturer's use and care booklet. Make sure electrical toys and appliances have the UL Mark.

Use the gripping area provided on the plugs to unplug electric decorations. Don't pull plugs from electrical outlets by the cord. Yanking or tugging on the cord can damage the cord’s wire and insulation and could lead to an electrical shock or fire.

When putting away electrical light strings, take time to inspect for flaws. Check each light set for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires and loose connections.·Dispose of worn or broken light sets and replace them. Do not place a faulty set of lights back into the storage box for next year’s use. Store electrical decorations away from children and pets to ensure that cords and wires are not damaged in storage.

Store electrical decorations in a dry place where they can not be damaged by water or dampness.

To keep from having a tangled mess of lights next year, be sure to pack them appropriately. When preparing your holiday lights for storage, you can purchase a holiday light storage reel, or create your own storage systems. For example, wrap the lights around an empty wrapping paper tube or a cardboard square, or wrap each set of lights and put them in individual plastic bags.

For more post-holiday safety tips, to download footage of how quickly a dry Christmas tree incinerates or for photographs related to holiday decoration safety, go to UL's online newsroom or NFPA's fact sheet on Christmas tree fires.

About UL: Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) is an independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization that has been testing products and writing Standards for Safety for more than 110 years. UL tests more than 19,000 types of products annually, and more then 20 billion UL Marks appear on products each year. Worldwide, UL’s family of companies and its network of service providers include 62 laboratories, and testing and certification facilities. Visit UL's Web site.

About NFPA: NFPA has been a worldwide leader in providing fire, electrical, building, and life safety to the public since 1896. The mission of the international nonprofit organization is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training and education.

Kaizen and the Environment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a section ontheir web site called "Lean Manufacturing and the Environment". It provides one of the best introductions to lean manufacturing techniques that I've seen. What I particularly like is that being a government site, it is not tryingto sell services. It just takes a clear, unbiased look at lean manufacturing and lean manufacturing techniques.

These pages are looking at how lean manufacturing applies to the environment. The introductory paragraph states:

"Lean manufacturing is a business model and collection of methods that help eliminate waste while delivering quality products on time and at least cost. EPA is interested in finding ways to maximize the environmental benefits of lean. This website will guide you to information on various aspects of lean manufacturing and its relationship to environmental performance."

However, I recommend clicking on the "What methods are used in lean?" link on the first page. This leads to excellent general information about lean techniques such as Kaizen, 5S, JIT and TPM.

OSHA Compliant Signs

Safety signs, labels and tags are an important part of your safety communication program. If you are making your own safety signs and labels, it is important to follow the OSHA requirements.

OSHA has published the reqirements for accident prevention signs and tags (1910.145OSHA). It covers the design, application and use of safety signs and symbols. The OSHA specifications cover "all safety signs except those designed for streets, highways, railroads, and marine regulations." They do not apply to bulletin boards or safety posters.

Planning For An Emergency

The Safe Workplace site, which covers OSHA VPP and safety topics, has just put up a page that covers How A Business Can Plan For An Emergency. This emergency planning article points out the fact that it is difficult to make decisions during an emergency. That's why it is important to have a plan in place before an emergency situation happens. And in some cases you may be required by OSHA to have an emergency plan.

This article is based on an OSHA booklet, and it provides thorough coverage of emergency planning and what should be included in an emergency plan.

Solving Pipe Labeling Problems

Proper labeling of pipes throughout a facility is an important component of a safety program, as well as for improving productivity. Proper labeling ensures employees, visitors, contractors and emergency response personnel know the contents of a pipe, the hazards it presents, and the direction of flow--allowing them to quickly locate the appropriate shutoff value, if necessary.

However, in some circumstances it can be difficult or impossible to label pipes due to the pipes being dirty, oily, greasey, insulated (but not lagged) or difficult to reach. The new Pipe Grabber pipe marking sleeves solve these problems.

Pipe Grabbers are clear plastic that has been formed in a cylindrical shape that is slit open so they can be "snapped" onto a pipe and will grip the pipe tightly. Labels can be applied to the Pipe Grabber before it is placed on the pipe. The label will adhere to the Pipe Grabber and the Pipe Grabber will have a mechanical grip on the pipe. If needed, Pipe Grabbers can be further secured using plastic ties.

Pipe Grabbers are available in five sizes, fitting pipes with diameters from one inch up to 5.2 inches.

Tips For A Safe and Cost-conscious Christmas Season

Press Release from ComEd (Chicago)

'Tis the season for festive decorating, and while customers commence with stringing holiday lights ComEd is offering tips for practicing safety and calculating added energy costs.

Indoor and Outdoor Decorating Safety Tips
Decorative Lighting:
-- Only decorate with lights that have a NOEL or U/L testing agency label. Check wires, plugs and sockets for defects. Remember: If in doubt - throw them out.
-- Do not overload outlets and extension cords.
-- Do not run electric cords under carpet, seat cushions or anywhere they may be crushed or broken.
-- Keep electric cords and extension cords out of the reach of children.
-- Turn off all decorative lights when going to bed or leaving the house.

Outdoor Lighting:
-- Be sure decorative lights used outside are approved for outdoor use.
-- Outdoor lights should be hung with insulated staples or hooks rather than nails or tacks.
-- When decorating outdoors, be aware of all power lines. Do not work near overhead power lines or anywhere there is a possibility of contacting an overhead power line, either directly or indirectly with a ladder or other piece of equipment. Do not string lights on outdoor trees that are growing into or near power lines - entire trees may become energized if lights come in contact with a power line.

Christmas Trees:
-- Make sure natural grown trees are fresh. Cut the trunk on a 45-degree angle, about one inch above the original cut, and place it in a sturdy stand. A large tree should be anchored to prevent it from toppling over and possibly catching fire.
-- Be sure to place trees away from fireplaces, radiators, television sets, and other sources of heat that may prematurely dry out the tree and make it more susceptible to fire. Make sure the tree has a sufficient amount of water at all times.
-- When using an artificial tree, make sure it is made of a fire resistant material. Lights should be hung on plastic trees only, never place electric lights on a metallic tree.

Fireplace Safety:
-- Do not burn wrapping paper or boxes in the fireplace. These types of materials ignite quickly and may burn uncontrollably. Wrapping paper also may not always burn completely and can become lodged in the chimney, creating a fire hazard.
-- When cleaning out fireplaces, place ashes in a metal container and store outdoors away from combustibles. Ashes can remain hot for several hours, if not days. Discard ashes only when they have completely cooled.

Fireworks:
-- The coming of the New Year is routinely celebrated with fireworks. Always leave fireworks to the professionals!

How Much Will My Decorative Lighting Cost this Holiday Season?
As holiday celebrants plan for lighting decor at home, ComEd offers the following tips for calculating added energy costs:
1. Determine how many bulbs are on your strands of decorative indoor and outdoor lights. For example: 1,000 total bulbs
2. Check the wattage per bulb - one watt per bulb is common. For example: 1 watt
3. Multiply watts per bulb by number of bulbs. For example: 1 x 1,000 = 1,000
4. Convert to kilowatts (kW) - 1,000 watts equals 1 kilowatt. For example: 1 kW
5. Estimate the number of hours in a month the lights are on. For example: 5 hours per day x 30 days = 150 hours
6. Multiply the total kilowatts by the total number of hours the lights will be on to get the total kilowatt-hours (kWh). For example: 1 kW x 150 hours = 150 kWh
7. Multiply the total kilowatt-hours by the total cost of electricity. For typical ComEd customers, the total cost of energy supply, transmission and distribution of their electricity will be 8.6 cents per kilowatt-hour through the end of the year. For example, 150 kWh x .86 = $12.90

ComEd wishes all its customers a bright, warm and safe holiday season!
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation, one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.2 million customers and more than $15 billion in annual revenues. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.7 million customers across Northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population.