S/P2 Newsletter - February 2008

S/P2 Newsletter

February 2008

In This Issue

Airbag Disposal & Deployment: Time for a New Look!

March is "Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month"

Dealerships Need to Partner with Local High Schools: Growing Your Own Entry-Level Technicians

S/P2 Monthly Meeting Topic: Violence in the Workplace

Youth @ Work: Talking Safety

Environmental, Safety and Industry News

Greetings!

Last month's S/P2 Newsletter featured "Tire Safety" as the Monthly Meeting Topic. On a related topic, I want you to know about "Servicing Single-Piece and Multi-Piece Rim Wheels," a booklet published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

CCAR has received a quantity of these booklets, and we would be happy to send you a copy by first-class mail. E-mail your request, including your name and mailing address, to ccarinfo@ccar-greenlink.org , with "Rim Wheels" as the subject.

Have a safe month!

NATALIE SCHOONOVER
CCAR Environmental/Safety Specialist

SRS/Airbag Disposal &
Deployment Practices:
Time for a New Look

by Robert G. Stewart, CCAR President

How does your facility deal with the handling and disposal of airbag components and seatbelt pre-tensioner assemblies? If your answer is, "The same way we always have," keep reading!

CCAR-GreenLink®, the National Environmental Compliance Assistance Center for Auto Repair and a service of the Coordinating Committee For Automotive Repair, surveyed environmental regulatory agencies in all fifty states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, to determine their policies in place regarding airbags and related issues.

Because of changes in the way in which some state regulatory agencies now view the pre-disposal deployment of airbag and seatbelt pre-tensioner assemblies, it may be time for you to take a new look at the subject.

This article focuses on the proper handling and disposal of airbag components and seatbelt pre-tensioner assemblies, both deployed and undeployed, that have either been removed from vehicles in a service or collision repair operation, or a part that has reached its end of shelf life.

Eye injuries in the workplace are very common. More than 2,000 people injure their eyes at work each day. About 1 in 10 injuries require one or more missed workdays to recover. Of the total amount of work-related injuries, 10-20% will cause temporary or permanent vision loss.

Experts believe that proper eye protection could have lessened the severity or even prevented 90% of eye injuries in accidents.

For these reasons, March is "Workplace Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month," sponsored by Prevent Blindness America. Since 1908, Prevent Blindness America has been the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization with the sole mission of preventing blindness and preserving sight.

Click here for more information on Workplace Eye Safety, or contact Prevent Blindness America for information on The Wise Owl® Program, which promotes eye safety in the workplace. For information, email shecker@preventblindness.org, or call 1-800-331-2020.

Prevent Blindness America also offers a battery safety sticker that lists the correct steps for jump-starting a battery. To request a free copy of the sticker, click here.

Dealerships Need to Partner
with Local High Schools

by Larry Cummings, President and CEO,
Automotive Youth Educational Systems

Fixes to service department staffing is certainly not short term; the only solid approach with positive return on investment is growing your own entry-level technicians through processes that create good work ethic and create employee retention.

Dealer support and involvement in local high school automotive technology programs is the first step in a long-term solution to a steady flow of entry-level technicians into your dealership service department.

NADA President Phil Brady and I toured Parkside High School in Salisbury, Maryland, last Fall. The purpose of the tour was to recognize an instructor and his school for earning recent awards recognizing their excellence in educating and experientially preparing quality young men and women for the automotive service technology profession in new car dealerships.

R. David White of Parkland High was selected as the 2007 Automotive Youth Educational Systems/SPX 2007 Instructor of the Year at the AYES Instructors Conference. Each year, AYES and SPX honor one instructor for his or her commitment to putting quality students through the two-year education process, and experientially preparing the students for the career by putting them through job shadowing and a minimum 12-week mentored internship under a dealership's trained senior technician.

Parkside High School was honored as the Automotive Industry Planning Council's 2007 Award of Excellence National Winner in the Secondary School category - the best high school automotive program in the nation.

Phil Brady, not only serves the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) as its President, but is Chairman of Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES). AYES is the industry solution to the industry's need to attract and prepare the new generation of service technicians for careers in dealerships and manufacturer sponsored post-secondary initiatives. Having Parkside honored as both the AIPC secondary school program and its lead automotive instructor as the AYES/SPX Instructor of the Year is a combined honor of special significance.

Read more...

S/P2 Monthly Meeting Topic:
Violence in the Workplace

(courtesy of Zurich North America)

[A shooting incident that occurred near the site of last month's Collision Industry Conference meeting brought home the fact that no place and no one are immune from issues surrounding workplace violence. The following information is especially timely. - CCAR]

"Former employee shoots and kills supervisor and two co-workers."

"Business owner killed in late-night robbery.

Workplace violence is on the rise; it's in the newspapers and on TV. Workplace injury statistics clearly reflect this trend.

Did you know that the number one cause of death for women at work is homicide? Or that studies conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) show that homicide is the third leading cause of occupational death overall? How about the fact that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published "Recommendations for Workplace Violence Prevention Programs in Late-Night Retail Establishments?" Bottom line, this is a problem that must be taken seriously by each and every employer.