It's time for our second safety themed geocache series. This
time around the theme is Hand Safety! We can't reach our goal of
ZERO injuries until we eliminate ALL hand injuries.
The Hand Safety cache series was placed with your safety in
mind. The physical cache is a tupperware container located adjacent
to the Sunnyvale Water Treatment ponds. Please keep in mind that
there is a healthy gopher snake population in the area, and at
times the bugs are thicker than the smell. Safety glasses are not
an uncommon sight on these trails.
If you find yourself slipping, tripping, or falling during your
search for this cache, you're looking in the wrong place. You'll
only need to move an object that weighs a few pounds, but please
check carefully for any of the local wildlife that might not have
needed to move an object to enter this hiding place.
The goal of this cache is to provide the understanding that
it’s much easier to PREVENT yourself from FALLING, than it is
to remember the 10 THINGS you need to do WHILE you are FALLING that
will help prevent injury.
Here are the 10 things you can do WHILE you are FALLING to
minimize hand injuries (not in any order of importance).
1. Tuck your chin in
2. Turn your head
3. Throw an arm up
4. Twist or roll your body to the side
5. Keep your wrists bent
6. Keep your elbows bent
7. Keep your knees bent
8. Don’t try to break the fall with your hands
9. Don’t try to break the fall with your elbows
10. Have as many square inches of your body contact the surface as
possible to spread out the impact
I think we can all agree that it’s much easier to just NOT
FALL. It’s instinctive for us to stick our hands out during a
fall, and our hands and wrists are just not designed to absorb the
massive shock that occurs in some instances. During the last Beyond
Safety cache series, a cache was placed entitled “Slips,
Trips, and Falls.” The cache description discussed some of
the interesting methods used in the Beyond Safety workplace at Ames
(See link below).
Here's the entire Hand Safety series:
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 1 of 8 – Hand Safety –
Inattention Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 2 of 8 – Hand Safety – Rigging
Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 3 of 8 – Hand Safety – Just
Don’t Slip, Trip, or Fall
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 4 of 8 – Hand Safety – 100%
Glove Policy
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 5 of 8 – Hand Safety – Line of
Fire Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 6 of 8 – Hand Safety – 10 Hand
Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 7 of 8 – Hand Safety – Cut
Resistant Gloves
Bonus Multi-Cache!
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 8 of 8 – Hand Safety –
Mechanical Hazards
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Below are the links for the first Beyond Safety cache
series:
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 1 of 6 – Hearing
Conservation
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 2 of 6 - Eye and Face
Protection
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 3 of 6 - Voluntary Protection
Program
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 4 of 6 - BZ Walking Club
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 5 of 6 - Earthquake
Preparedness
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 6 of 6 - Slips, Trips, and
Falls