AWEA’s October Safety Campaign is here

October is just around the corner, and that means it’s time for AWEA’s annual safety campaign! This year, we’re Taking a Hand in Safety.

Hand injuries can be life-altering. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an estimated 110,000 workers suffer lost-time hand injuries each year in the United States, and 70 percent of workers who suffered hand injuries weren’t wearing gloves. Example of hand injuries include bruises, cuts, abrasions, punctures, skin absorption of harmful substances, chemical and thermal burns, electric shock, fractures, and amputations. But we can avoid this by employing the right safety guidelines and practices.

This year’s campaign, Take a Hand in Safety: Protect these Tools, focuses on hand safety and how to recognize potential risks and strategies to avoid injury. The campaign provides a number of important resources:

• Training material: PowerPoint presentation
• Two hard hat stickers
• Two hand safety posters
• Hand Safety Job Aid
• Glove matrix
• Hand safety framework and sample policy
• Stories from the field: hand injury profiles

Throughout October, there are ways you can use these materials while supporting the safety campaign:

• Attend the October 1 webinar or view the recording later with your team
• Download the materials and share on your company intranet
• Use the materials in your training and safety meetings
• Print the posters and display in common areas
• Share the hard hat stickers with your team

And while we spend October highlighting hand safety, remember that you can use these materials throughout the year– although we spotlight safety every October, it’s important to remember it’s a 365 day practice!

Sabrina Morelli