Some people would say that the world has gone safety mad. Everywhere we turn there are massive warning signs or bright coloured tape marking ‘hazards’. Here are 10 safety facts that I bet you didn’t know…
- Every year, approximately 4 million employees are disabled at work. I must admit, when I was researching this post, this figure blew me away! That is 4 million people’s lives that are changed in an unthinkable way each year. While foreign countries with poor safety cultures account for a large portion of this statistic, it reinforces our duty to educate the third-world on necessary precautions and processes.
- Fire kills more Americans each year than all natural disasters combined. Again, this shocked me! Fire in the home is totally preventable. If more people used fire alarms and were more sensible with cigarette butts, this statistic would be drastically reduced. Only last week in the UK, a family were all burned alive. Tragic.
- Road traffic accidents costs countries around 4% of their Gross Natural Product each year! WOWSERS!!
- For every 1km/h reduction in speed limit, there is a 2% reduction in the number of average crashes. Interestingly, I recently went on a road safety course recently (an alternative to taking a speeding fine) and learned about the significance of reduced speed in urban areas. Let’s stop for a moment to consider the increased likelihood of killing a pedestrian with increased speed. While most urban areas have a 30mph limit in the UK, the following diagram shows the huge increased chances of killing someone if you hit them any faster:
- If you drive after being awake for 24 hours, your response times are impaired the equivalent of somebody just over the drink-driving limit. Furthermore, on only four hours sleep, a single beer will give a driver the same reaction time as a 6-pack of beer after a normal nights sleep. In reality, the drink driving limit does not measure what reaction times are safe. This purely measures a legal blood-alcohol level and does not take sleep and other factors into account. Just because you are under the legal limit, it does not necessarily mean that it’s safe to drive. Sleep, health, concentration, age, drugs etc. all impact reaction times.
- 55% of teens in fatal car accidents last year were not wearing their seat belts at the time of collision. In addition to this, 31% had been drinking. It is a no-brainer. Wear your seat belt and simply DON’T drink and drive!
- Fire fighters in the states responded to over 362,000 house fires in 2009. These collectively caused 12,600 injuries, 2,600 deaths and $7.6 billion in property damage! I hope these people had insurance… If this isn’t a prompt to check your smoke alarms before Christmas to ensure that your family/children are safe, then I don’t know what is!
- Over 25,000 children under 5 attend accident & emergency every year after accidentally being poisoned. Furthermore, approximately 120 children under 14 die each year as a result of an accident at home. Home accidents costs the UK £25 billion annually.
- A recent study found that safety signs which inform you of danger can reduce accident rates in the workplace by up to 80%. This is an incredible reduction in accident rates. It probably explains why my work has safety signs positioned on every available door, blind corner and potential hazard possible! Some might say it is overkill, but I guess the statistics show that it works.
- Contrary to what people might say, Alcohol does not destroy brain cells. In fact, according to studies, drinking in moderation has been proved to improve cognitive function! Perhaps the improvement is your imagination?
Source: Tales of Genesis
So, next time you notice warning signs (even fire safety signs) it might just be worth paying attention…
Image Source: SafetSigns.US
Image Source: SafetSigns.US
And my favourite from Phuket…
Seen any Crazy Safety Signs Around lately?
Love the dog one! I only have seen some with weird animals, saying beware of kangaroos, bears, elks, kiwis…
Pauline recently posted..One suitcase for one year of travel, what to pack
haha! Glad you like it 🙂
Thanks for this article. I got a good laugh out of those images.
Sean @ One Smart Dollar recently posted..Getting Your Credit Card Debt Under Control
Thanks Sean – Glad it made you laugh 🙂
Good post. Those are some crazy stats. My youngest brother still drives without his seatbelt and texts while at it. This is not to mention the fact he’s seen several friends get hurt in accidents because of doing just that.
John S @Frugal Rules recently posted..Is a College Degree Worth it?
Cheers John… You need to have a word with your brother. I would highly recommend asking him to watch this video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DebhWD6ljZs … I showed it at work for a safety talk and it made people cry. Quite dramatic but the message hits home.
I would like to see this safety video and might show it at the next safety meeting at our company. Would you mind sharing the link
Most people don’t have a minute to live. Just tonight Mrs.CBB and I watched a neighbour come up to a stop sign, roll the stop, go to turn left and nearly got t-boned by an oncoming car.. didn’t have a minute to live. When it comes to safety in the work environment and employee would rather keep quiet when they are in pain or injured for fear or reprise even though it is illegal in Canada. They get shunned from their employer and fellow employees and labelled as whiners and complainers. Yet what they all fail to realize is that one day if it happens to them or someone close to them they will eat their words. Coming forward with an injury is a difficult decision for most people but it’s better to fix something from the beginning instead of an employee keeping quiet then costing the company even more money when they no longer can come to work and insurance premiums go through the roof. No matter where you are whether at home, work or play.. “Safety First” and if that makes me sound like a safety cop.. ask anyone who’s life has been changed forever if they wish they could go back and make Safety a priority or speak up or louder. Cheers Mr.CBB Great post.
Canadianbudgetbinder recently posted..What Products To Stockpile For Maternity Leave
Hey MR CBB! It is just shocking isn’t it! The complete diregard for rules and safety… a classic example of ‘I’ve done it before and it was OK’. I agree a lot of employees are probably scared to come forward with things. We have a near loss system where we are encouraged to submit ‘almost accidents’ and are in fact rewarded by doing so. I wish more companies would adopt this mentality
Fires are pretty much the #1 “disaster” that you should prepare for. I just started reading a “suburban survivalist” book and he focused on fires right away. Unfortunately, even if you are very safe accidents can still happen. I won’t go into details, but two years ago my grandma died in a house fire…a younger person would have survived the fire but elderly people are even more at risk. It’s a tragedy, and really makes you think about whether you have the fire alarms set and fire extinguishers stocked.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..Using the Internet to Build your “Personal Brand”
I am really sorry to hear about your Grandma DC. It is so sad when it happens and all becomes real when someone close to you is affected. I am always careful that plug sockets are turned off and not overloaded, candles are properly extinguished and straightners, irons etc are always turned off. Some would call me paranoid, but better that way than ignorant!
Wow! Those are some crazy numbers. I knew the alcohol ones but not the lack of sleep stuff. Awesome pics, btw. Sometimes I see pics like these and think “Why didn’t I think of that?”
AverageJoe recently posted..How I Saved 35% on My Walt Disney World Vacation
🙂 Glad you like the pics… The drink driving / sleep facts are incredible!!
Yikes! Those are some crazy stats!
🙂
It is a scary world we live in. Before working in a mortuary, I never realized how many people die in car accidents….or how many babies die of SIDS. It’s sad.
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..How I Saved at Least $50,000 by Buying New Furniture
Wow.. well you actually experience the reality of it Holly and not just a statistic!
Even when fires don’t kill, they can be financially catastrophic without adequate insurance. In one apartment we lived in, roofers set the roof on fire while tarring and our top floor apartment was half burned/half water damaged.
That is crazy!! Even after a repair job, the smoke does SO much damage… everything is black and smells so bad
I was told before about staying up 24 hrs is quits lent (reaction) to being drunk. What really surprised me was the alcohol improving cognitive function.
Ornella@Moneylicious recently posted..Betterment Interview with Jon Stein
Yes – that is a strange fact indeed. I can only think that it is down to increased creativity! 🙂
I’ve been in a car with someone who fell asleep at the wheel. Talk about freakin’ scary. Lack of sleep is SO dangerous when driving.
Untemplater recently posted..2012 Global Entrepreneur Survey: Where Are The Optimists?
Wow! That must have been freaking scary… Did you just look over and notice them sleeping?
This is one of the best posts I’ve read this week… it’s got to go into my top 5 articles of the week for my PF blog.
Especially with the signs :-). Although, on a serious note, 4 million people is a huge number!
John @ The Bankruptcy Guy recently posted..Results of Survey: Do People In Debt Deserve What They Get
Haha that signs are awesome mate! The 404 error and the “drinking impairs judgement made me laugh. I don’t know where you find this stuff!
Stephen S. recently posted..Wednesday’s Weekly Photo: The Colosseum
Haha! Glad you like them Dude 🙂
This made my Friday!! 🙂
Rachael recently posted..How to Eat Well on a Budget – Guest post
Either your Friday Sucks or I rock! I’d like to think I rock 🙂 Have a great weekend
I work on the side of the road. If you stay in the industry long enough, you will know somebody who has been hit by a car. I’ll admit, the thought of it happens to me gives me nightmares some times.
Edward Antrobus recently posted..IRS Increasing Retirement Contribution Limits
Sorry to hear that buddy. Keep safe
OMG! Too funny!
Budget & the Beach recently posted..My Skype Job Interview
😉
Very good article! I currently put together a safety newsletter for my company and would like your permission to reprint in my newsletter, if you dont mind?. I think my employees would not only enjoy it (which is unusual as most safety stuff is boring) but might even take some of it to heart. The statistics were fascinating, by the way! I live in Las Vegas where running over pedesrtians is, unfortunately, a daily occurance.
Hi Sandra… Glad you enjoyed this! Absolutely no problem in you reprinting this – would just ask that you include savvyscot.com somewhere in the article 🙂 Thanks
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH, THIS IS FUNNY AND HELPED ME WITH MY SAFTEY 4-H PROGECT!!!!!!!! I’M MOST LIKELY GOING TO BE IN THE COUNTY FINALS!!!!!!