Safety Tips

Because we are a member of the National Safety Council, our employees get safety tips from the council's Safety+Health magazine. Click on the images or links below to read more about how to keep yourself and your co-workers safe.

Close Call

Driver Nearly Loss Control

 

One Saturday morning a young lady lost control of her vehicle and drove up on the front lawn knocking over the stop sign and a visitor parking sign. The car came to a stop about 3 feet from the electric Coke sign.  Ironically the sign says, "Safely".

Winter Driving Tips

Severe weather can be both frightening and dangerous for automobile travel. Motorists should know the safety rules for dealing with winter road emergencies.

• Avoid driving while you’re fatigued. Getting the proper amount of rest before taking on winter weather tasks reduces driving risks.
• Never warm up a vehicle in an enclosed area, such as a garage.
• Make certain your tires are properly inflated.
• Never mix radial tires with other tire types.
• Keep your gas tank at least half full to avoid gas line freeze-up.
• If possible, avoid using your parking brake in cold, rainy and snowy weather.
• Do not use cruise control when driving on any slippery surface (wet, ice, sand).
• Always look and steer where you want to go.
• Use your seat belt every time you get into your vehicle.

Tips for long-distance winter trips:

• Watch weather reports prior to a long-distance drive or before driving in isolated areas. Delay trips when especially bad weather is expected. If you must leave, let others know your route, destination and estimated time of arrival.
• Always make sure your vehicle is in peak operating condition
• Keep at least half a tank of gasoline in your vehicle at all times.
• Pack blankets, gloves, hats, food, water and any needed medication in your vehicle.
• If you become snow-bound, stay with your vehicle. It provides temporary shelter and makes it easier for rescuers to locate you. Don’t try to walk in a severe storm. It’s easy to lose sight of your vehicle in blowing snow and become lost.
• Don’t over exert yourself if you try to push or dig your vehicle out of the snow.
• Tie a brightly colored cloth to the antenna or place a cloth at the top of a rolled up window to signal distress. At night, keep the dome light on if possible. It only uses a small amount of electricity and will make it easier for rescuers to find you.
• Make sure the exhaust pipe isn’t clogged with snow, ice or mud. A blocked exhaust could cause deadly carbon monoxide gas to leak into the passenger compartment with the engine running.
• Use whatever is available to insulate your body from the cold. This could include floor mats, newspapers or paper maps.
• If possible run the engine and heater just long enough to remove the chill and to conserve gasoline.

Tips for driving in the snow:

• Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids. Don’t try to get moving in a hurry. And take time to slow down for a stoplight. Remember: It takes longer to slow down on icy roads.
• Drive slowly. Everything takes longer on snow-covered roads. Accelerating, stopping, turning – nothing happens as quickly as on dry pavement. Give yourself time to maneuver by driving slowly.
• The normal dry pavement following distance of three to four seconds should be increased to eight to ten seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide the longer distance needed if you have to stop.
• Know your brakes. Whether you have antilock brakes or not, the best way to stop is threshold breaking. Keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.
• Don’t stop if you can avoid it. There’s a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.
• Don’t power up hills. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads just starts your wheels spinning. Try to get a little inertia going before you reach the hill and let that inertia carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed down hill as slowly as possible.
• Don’t stop going up a hill. There’s nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some inertia going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.
• Stay home. If you really don’t have to go out, don’t. Even if you can drive well in the snow, not everyone else can. Don’t tempt fate: If you don’t have somewhere you have to be, watch the snow from indoors.

Congratulations to The Latest Grand Prize Winner!

The SafeStart Home and Awards Program Grand Prize winner is Joshua Weppelman.  Joshua  works in our Loading and Shipping Department as a Picker Pallet Builder.  Joshua was randomly selected as the quarterly grand prize winner after being entered into the drawing from taking SafeStart home to his family and calling the Awards hotline.

Safe Driving

Fall means a number of wonderful things, like warm, comfy sweaters, foliage, and baking pumpkin pies. For drivers, fall also brings unique dangers to the roads. Weather conditions can be unpredictable in the fall. A bright, beautiful afternoon can turn rainy and cold in minutes. And with days getting shorter, you could find yourself commuting to or from work in darkness.

Fall driving tips:

•    Watch your speed. Drive a bit slower when faced with fall driving hazards, especially if you're driving around a school bus.

•    Keep your distance. Leave a little more space between you and the car in front on rainy or foggy days, during dawn or dusk, and in areas with wet leaves. This will give you more time to react.

•    Stick with low beams. Keep your headlights on low when driving in the fog (and rain). High beams will only cause glare.

•    Clear frost away from your windows. Frost can reduce visibility and how quickly you respond to hazards in the road.

•    Approach traffic lights carefully. Sun glare can make it harder to see traffic lights change, so approach them with more than the normal care.

•    Avoid using products that increase gloss. Washing and waxing with these products can magnify the fall's sunny glare and make it hard to see.

•    Clean your windshield, inside and out. When your windshield's illuminated by sunlight, dust particles, streaks, and smudges become magnified, making it hard to see the road.

•    Watch for wildlife, especially in the early morning and evening hours.

•    Check your tire pressure. Since fall weather rapidly changes from warm to cold, your tires will often expand and contract. This can lead to a loss of pressure.

Our Fleet Safety Committee took the initiative to post signs around the plant as a friendly reminder to our employees, take a look!

 Entrance to the Warehouse

 Entrance to the Employee Break Area

Entrance to Administrative Offices

NSC Partners with Cleveland Coke to Save Lives

The National Safety Council has long been a partner with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, privately owned businesses and many others in the public and private sectors to improve traffic safety.

Beginning October 28th Cleveland Coke employees will participate in a Defensive Driving Course. The goal is to ensure that employees get what they need to drive defensively as well as help to provide the knowledge, skills and perspective that will help them continue to prevent injuries and save more lives.