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Glorianna Cooley

Posts by Glorianna Cooley:

Managing for Winter Weather at Your Dealership

Monday, October 29th, 2012


As eastern states brace for the worst of Hurricane Sandy, here are several tips to help your dealership to safely handle cold and snow in the storm’s aftermath. Take actions to protect employees from injuries and illnesses, minimize damage and recover quicker following a winter storm situation. Here’s a quick video to help you get ready.

Also, here are some helpful apps for your smartphone to help you prepare, remain connected, and stay safe during weather emergencies:

 

Dropbox
Android and iPhone
Free

This is a great app to keep your important files safe, even if your computer is inaccessible.  If you have copies of your most important files stored in a Dropbox account, you can access them from anywhere. Essentially, Dropbox uses cloud storage. Install the program on your PC or Mac, upload files to your folder, and they are instantly available on all your other computers. And with the app, everything can be found on your mobile devices as well. Don’t have network access? Don’t worry. If you starred your important files, you can still get them on your phone.

 

5-0 Radio Police Scanner Lite
iPhone
Free

During a disaster, everyone hears rumors. What’s really going on? The answer might be on police band radio, which you can pick up using this free app on your phone. This isn’t talk radio; it’s an unfiltered feed from police scanners, firefighters and other emergency public-safety officers. While it shouldn’t be your only news source, it’s worth listening in.

Android users, try the free Scanner Radio app.

 

MotionX GPS Drive
iPhone
99 cents

If you have an iPhone, MotionX GPS Drive is the cheapest and most popular way to guide you out of town on an unfamiliar route. The software even will work without a cellular signal, if you plan ahead and download and cache maps. It provides live traffic, turn-by-turn navigation, up-to-date maps and search, Facebook Places and Wikipedia integration.

For help with your local traffic and commutes, Android and iPhone users might consider theWaze app, too. This app provides free navigation and connects you to your local driving community.

American Red Cross: Shelter View
iPhone
Free

When an emergency is at hand, the American Red Cross steps in to provide shelter. That’s great as long as you know where the shelter is. American Red Cross: Shelter View shows you where to go.

Currently, this app is not available for Android, but you can still go online to search for a Red Cross shelter.

Hurricane Tracker
iPhone
$1.99

When a hurricane is approaching, you don’t want a storm-tracker map from three hours ago; you want the latest official maps, data and projections. This hurricane-tracking app is for serious weather junkies and people who want to be better-informed as they make decisions.

For Android, try the free Hurricane Software app.

 

 

Did we miss anything? Share your best winter safety tips with other dealerships by commenting on this post.

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How to Turn a Compressed Gas Cylinder into a Torpedo

Thursday, October 18th, 2012


If your dealership doesn’t follow safety procedures around storing, maintaining, moving and using compressed gas cylinders,  the consequences are explosive. Ignore the safety tips in this two minute video and you can set your dealership up to be the scene of an explosive accident. Carelessness is a fast and easy way to turn your compressed gas tanks, including air compressors, acetylene torches, oxygen, nitrogen, propane tanks, and fire extinguishers into fast-moving projectiles with potentially fatal results.

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Posted in Safety Culture, Safety: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

Why Car Battery Safety Matters

Monday, October 15th, 2012


All car batteries contain sulfuric acid and produce hydrogen and oxygen gases. If the hydrogen gas comes into contact with an ignition source, the battery can explode, sending pieces of the battery and acid flying. There are several safety precautions technicians should routinely follow when handling car batteries. This three minute video covers the basics, including

  • How to store car batteries at your dealership
  • What to do with battery acid if it spills
  • How to transport car batteries
  • Personal protective equipment to use when transporting car batteries
  • Safety equipment for charging car batteries
  • How to clean up battery acid without creating hazardous waste
  • Hybrid safety gloves

How do technicians keep safety the first priority at your dealership when handling batteries?

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Posted in Safety: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

Evict Your Tire Mosquitoes

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Looking through the rain across the back lot, a pile of waste tires catches my eye. As I get closer to the pile, a buzzy little mosquito lands softly on my arm. I brush her away only to be attacked moments later by a hungry mob of blood suckers.

State Health Departments and the Environmental Protection Agency are also looking for places like this tire pile. News sources across the Midwest and Southeast report that the departments are on a mission against disease-carrying mosquitoes. As part of this effort, they are targeting mosquito breeding grounds, including dealerships and similar businesses with tire storage areas. Given the population explosion of mosquitoes this year, here are some guidelines to effectively address mosquito pools inside the tires.

Sheltered Storage: Drain tires of water and store them under a roof or well maintained waterproof enclosure to prevent water accumulation.

Exposed Storage of Waste Tires: Cut, slice, poke holes, or otherwise do what it takes to guarantee efficient drainage routes in each tire to prevent water accumulation inside the tires.

Pesticide Alternatives: If you can’t store the tires in a way to prevent water accumulation, then treat the tires with an appropriate pesticide according to manufacturer’s directions. Repeat as necessary.

Reminder: tires must be stored individually or stacked so each tire is accessible for spraying.

Maintain a written record of tire treatments that includes:

  • Name of the business
  • Date of spraying
  • Type of spray used
  • Person doing the spraying

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Posted in EPA, Safety: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

Free OSHA Quicktakes

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

I’m in a week long training class and hope to bring you some beneficial information from it - it’s the OSHA 30 HR Construction Safety.  Even though it’s construction, there are several things that I’m taking away from it that relate to the dealerships I work with.

One thing that they mentioned at the start of the class was to register on OSHA’s website for their QuickTakes emails.  It’s free and provides constant updates to what OSHA is doing.

In case you are not already registered for them, go to http://www.osha.gov/pls/quicktakes/e_subscribe.subscribe and enter your email address to subscribe to these updates.

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Posted in OSHA, Safety: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »