Maintain a Safe Workplace: Reduce Risks

Here is some helpful information for shop owners, sent to us by our friends at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio.

Auto service businesses repair vehicles to get their customers back on the road and on with their lives, but they may pose a threat to these same customers if shop conditions aren’t properly maintained.

Customer and employee safety is critical for building and upholding an automotive service’s reputation. Nationwide Insurance combines simple safety tips with online training courses for a complete safety and loss prevention package. The goal is to assist small business owners with keeping customers safe while reducing risk and insurance premiums.

“Customer service and safety are every small business owner’s top priorities,” says Dave Gettles, vice president of loss control for Nationwide Insurance. “A few preventive measures can go a long way to protect your business and keep customers returning again and again.”

Nationwide Insurance offers online safety-training courses for auto service establishments, many available in both English and Spanish. The training website allows users to select the courses that fit their needs, learn at their own pace and track results. These courses are part of a larger online safety-training resource from Nationwide, which offers more than 300 classes to assist a variety of business needs. For more information, please visit safety-training.nationwide.com.

These simple tips from Nationwide Insurance also offer easy ways to maintain a safe workplace for employees and patrons at minimal or no cost:

§ Maintain the interior and exterior – Keep parking lots and sidewalks in good condition. Provide dusk-to-dawn lighting for the exterior of the building and vehicle storage area(s). Protect utilities (gas meters, transformers, etc.) with physical barriers.
§ Keep walking areas free and clear – Make sure areas where customers walk are in good physical condition and are clear of equipment. Clear exterior walking surfaces of ice, snow and debris.
§ Use signage – Clearly post personnel signs to indicate restricted access, delivery routes and vehicle drop-offs. Post signs in reception areas citing lack of liability for any items left inside vehicles.
§ Security measures – Monitor exterior grounds with surveillance equipment. Store all vehicle keys (company and customer) in a secure place. Educate employees with proper training and establish key control procedures in the event of an emergency.

Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the world, with more than $160 billion in assets. Nationwide ranks #104 on the Fortune 500 list. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life, farm, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions, long-term savings plans and health and productivity services. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

Nationwide, the Nationwide Framemark and On Your Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Toyota Backs Off Lithium Ion

via The Truth About Cars by Frank Williams on Aug 09, 2007Toyota is delaying introducing lithium-ion battery-powered hybrids because of safety concerns. Forbes reports that the Japanese automaker is hanging fire (so to speak) due to worries that the cells might overheat or explode. Toyota doesn't expect to have hybrids with Li-Ion batteries until 2011. They've also delayed plans for Tundra and Sequoia hybrids. Whether or not this will affect GM's hopes of lithium-ion powered Volt is yet to be seen. Meanwhile, commenting on an earlier TTAC post, Tesla spinmeister Darryl Siry claims their Roadster's Li-ion battery pack passed UN and DOT protocols for safety "when shipping" which "can actually be harsher than safety when in a car."

I can't believe someone would actually be quoted as saying "shipping" is "harsher than safety when in a car". What exactly does that mean? I would bet that every li-ion battery pack shipped is safely bubble-wrapped to prevent that famous "damage during shipment", yet you don't see too many bubble-wrapped vehicles driving the roads these days. Li-ion batteries have to withstand the harsh abuse of American drivers, accidents on the road, and under-trained technicians. Hope Toyota has taken that all into account.

Also - wonder if a similar effect would occur with the new li-ion tools coming to market recently? From the December, 2006 issue of TechShop, our editors wrote, "Lithium ion is not as durable as NiCd, and can be dangerous if damaged". However, according to the tool manufacturers, most have taken this into consideration when they were developing the components of the tools and have protected the batteries accordingly.

What has been your experience? Let us know!

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Safety in our Business

Saw this in AAIA’s Capital Report and thought it might interest you…Injury and Death Rates for Mechanics Exceed National Average. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) has released an article in Compensation and Working Conditions Online that concludes automotive technicians are more likely to be killed or injured on the job than the average U.S. worker. The article reports that from 2003 to 2005, 147 technicians were fatally injured at work – a death rate of 5.3 per 100,000 workers. The fatality rate for all occupations is 4.0 per 100,000 workers. Additionally, there were 15,560 nonfatal injuries and illnesses to technicians in 2005, down roughly 10 percent from 2003. There were around 954,000 U.S. technicians during this time.
Most of the injuries and illnesses reported during 2005 were due to contact with an object or equipment or overexertion. Assaults and violent acts accounted for 30 percent of workplace fatalities in 2003-2005. Homicides accounted for 44 percent of assaults and violent acts, while self-inflicted wounds made up the remaining 56 percent. The national average for fatalities due to assaults and violent acts is 15 percent. For the full analysis, visit www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/print/sh20070521ar01p1.htm .