My Top ten workplace safety tips article has proven to me my most popular article. I am taking a moment to revisit each tip and delve a bit deeper in to what is behind each one. Read the original articel here: Top ten safety tips.
Tip number 1: Maintain a clean work area. Not only will you remove many hazards from a work area by keeping it clean, but you will also provide a more productive work environment for your employees.
According to Louise Hay, accidents are often the result of an inability to speak up for the self, rebellion against authority or a belief in violence. It is easy to see that allowing employees to work in a messy environment could result in feelings of frustration that would be difficult to express and could result in a resentment for authority.
In addition, having a workplace that is free from obstructions will result in a more efficient and effective work atmosphere. If employees are restricted by messy conditions, not only will they be more likely to be injured, they will spend more energy getting the job done that would otherwise be required.
By keeping the workplace clean and orderly you will not only reduce the chance for accidents but also improve the overall productivity of the process.
For example in my own shop, I occasionally will try to work on cramped quarters having too many projects going on at once. When I do, I always find myself trying to work in less than optimal positions and sometimes I will slip and hurt myself. I also waste a lot of energy stepping over or moving around obstacles.
When I take time to prepare the work area before I begin, not only do I work much faster, but I enjoy the experience much more as well. Enjoying the experience helps me be more aware of my surrounding and makes me safer as a worker.
So to both improve your productivity and reduce accidents, make sure your work place stays clean and orderly.
For the first time since we moved to the woods in 1993, we have fleas in our house and both our dog and cat have fleas. I don’t know why this year is different, but these flea bites are making me itch. Smash spends more time scratching than he does playing. I am really glad we kept his broken leg as it works well to scratch his ear even if he has trouble controlling it. Here is an article that I hope will help me and maybe you if you also have to learn how to get rid of fleas:
External parasites and their treatments
WHAT IS A PARASITE?
External parasites are pretty common among dogs. A parasite is an organism that lives off the resources your dog has to offer: namely, fresh blood (which most parasites drink) and a warm place to stay (in and on the skin and fur).
What are the common parasites that might affect my dog?
There are a wide range of parasites that affect dogs:
– Fleas
– Ticks
– Mites
– Lice
All of these parasites cause adverse reactions in your dog: typically, itching and inflamed skin, a dull coat, and bald spots. In advanced cases, your dog may develop anemia (blood loss) and become generally debilitated (particularly if he or she is very young, very old, or suffering from another condition).
In addition to this, many parasites convey secondary and internal parasites to your dog – for example, fleas usually carry the common tapeworm (which causes constipation and flatulence), and ticks can cause a variety of much more serious problems like Lyme’s disease and paralysis.
In today’s newsletter, we’re going to be looking at fleas: what they are, how to tell if your dog’s affected, and how to get rid of them.
A CLOSER LOOK AT FLEAS
Fleas are without question the number-one most common external parasite affecting dogs. They’re small, jumping insects that are light brown in color, although humans generally can’t see them – they move much too quickly for that!
Fleas live off your dog’s blood. The life cycle of a flea moves very rapidly from stage one (egg) to stage four (adult flea), which means they’re capable of multiplying with staggering rapidity.
An adult flea lays hundreds of eggs per day. Each egg will then become an adult flea, which lay hundreds more eggs of its own. One flea becomes a major problem very quickly!
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR DOG HAS FLEAS
The symptoms of a flea infestation are unmistakable.
A dog with a flea infestation will scratch almost constantly, often at areas that fleas seem to favor: the ears, the base of the tail, the belly, and the stifle (the webbing of soft skin between the thigh and the abdomen).
It’s actually the saliva of the flea that causes the irritation, not the bite itself, and some dogs have a genuine allergy to this saliva (as opposed to a standard irritation). Dogs with allergies suffer much more significant negative reactions to a flea infestation, and usually develop “hot spots”.
These hot spots are areas of sore, inflamed, flaking, bleeding, and infected skin, caused by the flea saliva and your dog’s own reaction to it. Bald patches will sometimes develop too, from repeated scratching and ongoing inflammation.
If you think your dog has fleas, you can confirm your suspicions by taking a closer look at his skin: you probably won’t be able to see the fleas themselves, but you should be able to see what looks like ground pepper (a thin sprinkling of fine black grains) on his skin. This is flea dirt (poop).
If you groom him with a flea comb (which is like a fine-tooth comb), try wiping it on a paper towel: if red blotches show up on the towel, you know that your dog has fleas (on a white background like a paper towel, flea poop shows up red: since fleas subsist on blood, their poop is colored accordingly).
TREATMENT FOR FLEAS
Because fleas only spend a small amount of time actually on your dog, and the rest of their time leaping through your house laying eggs and feeding on human blood, it’s not enough to just treat the dog: you also have to target his bedding, the entire house, all human bedding, and the yard (yes, fleas lay eggs all through the yard, too. Even if it’s cold outside, you’re not necessarily off the hook: cold weather doesn’t kill flea eggs, it just puts them into a state of hibernation. The eggs will hatch as soon as it gets warm enough outside.)
You’ll need a broad-spectrum treatment which kills not only the adult fleas (which are the ones that bite), but also any developing fleas, and the eggs.
PREVENTION IS THE BEST (AND THE EASIEST!)
Prevention is definitely the best cure – you should keep your dog’s flea treatments up to date with the use of a calendar, and use a treatment that’s prescribed by the vet. Off-the-shelf treatments aren’t recommended, since different dogs require different strengths depending on their size, age, and activity levels. A particular benefit of prescribed flea treatment is that most are also designed to prevent other parasites (like mites, ticks, and heartworm) from affecting your dog.
FOR AN EXISTING INFESTATION
If your dog already has fleas, you have two options:
– You can ‘bomb’ the house and yard with a flea-pesticide. These come as foggers (which coat each room, and the yard, in a fine mist of pesticide) and sprays (which are applied manually to each surface throughout the house and yard), and although they’re very effective in killing fleas and eggs, there’s one major drawback: they’re highly toxic to humans, dogs, and the environment. Depending on your priorities, this is probably the quickest solution to a flea problem (and will effectively wipe out the eggs, too) but if you have anyone in the house with allergies or a health condition – including pets! – you might want to think again.
– A more health-friendly alternative is to target the dog with a topical anti-flea solution prescribed by the vet (like Advantage or Revolution), and to rigorously clean the house on a regular basis until the flea problem has gone. This means vacuuming each room thoroughly each day – put a flea collar in with the vacuum bag to kill any fleas that get sucked up – and wash all human and dog bedding in hot water as often as you can (once every day or every two days is recommended). You’ll be able to tell when the problem’s gone because your dog won’t be scratching, and his coat will be clear of flea dirt when you inspect it.
WHAT NOT TO DO ABOUT FLEAS
– Don’t use multiple products on your dog – it’ll make him sick, since you’ll be overloading his system with toxins.
– Don’t forget to treat all the animals in the house at the same time: cat and dog fleas are interchangeable, and if one animal has fleas, they all will have them, even if some are not displaying the symptoms.
– Flea collars are no longer recommended as a safe option for flea prevention, since the collars are highly toxic – vets have realized that placing a toxic material directly against your pet’s skin for long periods of time (flea collars have to be worn 24/7 to be effective) is detrimental to your dog’s health.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PARASITES AND THEIR TREATMENT…
Fleas are just one of the many, many types of parasites that affect your dog. To find out more about the complete prevention and treatment of all types of parasites (external and internal), as well as a comprehensive guide to all aspects of dog health, take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health.
This book is an invaluable resource for the responsible dog owner, and will help you to ensure that your dog remains happy and healthy – just the way you want him to be!
You can check out the book by clicking on the link below:
My friends needed a septic system that pumps uphill. Their house is at the low point on their plot and for years the septic system has not worked well. They needed to fix it so that they can have toilets that actually flush in the rain. An unusually wet Spring season has accented the problem so that they made the decision to spend the sizable sum of money to correct the problem.
The system consists of the regular septic tank then a septic effluent pump tank and then a distribution tank located at the top of the hill. The new septic tank had to be placed so as not to disturb the old tank so that the existing system could still be used during construction. The pump tank had to be located slightly below the septic tank so that gravity would flow the waste water to it. The septic tank effluent pump sits inside the pump tank and pumps the water to the distribution tank high on the hill. From there, the water will drain into the field lines by gravity.
My job was to connect the sump pump and alarm to the electrical supply. The alarm is required by the local sewer codes to make a visual and audible alarm should the water level in the pump tank exceed a certain level. This gives an early warning that there is something wrong with the sewer pump.
For reliability, the alarm has to have its own separate circuit. If the alarm was powered by the supply to the pump and the breaker tripped to the pump, there would be no alarm. I installed the alarm inside the house so that it can be easily seen and heard as suggested by the local plumbing inspector. I connected the wires directly to the alarm panel and ran them all inside conduit so that it would be tamper resistant.
This house had an exterior breaker box originally installed for the AC addition. This box had a couple of extra spaces in it that made a perfect place to pull power for the new septic pump system. I used a 20 AMP GFI breaker for the sump pump service and a 15 AMP standard breaker for the alarm. Their local ACE hardware had the right breakers for this older Square D box.
The most labor intensive part of the job was running the underground wires from the box at the front of the house to the septic field behind the house. Much of the trench had to be dug by hand due to close proximity of the AC compressor, flower beds and a sidewalk. The majority of the trench was dug by the plumping contractor using his backhoe.
A 12 gage wire was run for the pump and a 14 gage wire for the alarm. The wire used was rated for direct burial so conduit was not needed. I did run conduit for extra protection from the box down to the bottom of the 24 inch deep trench at each end of the wire. I used the same 14 gage direct burial wire to extend the float wiring from the alarm unit to the field.
At the pump tank, I installed a weather proof single 20 AMP outlet on a 4×4 post. This is where the Myers Sewer pump is plugged in. The plug provides the required local disconnect since the breaker is not within sight of the pump tank. The float wiring was placed in a separate junction box on the same post.
A piece of conduit was cut to fit into the neck of the tank so that the cord to the septic pump and the alarm float wiring would be protected. The conduit ends slightly below the outlet for the septic pump.
Our local inspector was happy with the details and water proofing. I used a compression fitting at the bottom of each conduit run and sealed it with silicone as well to prevent critters from finding their way into the junction boxes.
I tied a length of rope to the sump pump, fastened the alarm float to the outlet pipe and carefully lowered the sewer pump into place. I secured the free end of the rope to one of the lifting lugs of the sewer pump tank. Now the plumbing contractor can finish his work to get their system operational.
I am sure they will enjoy being able to take baths and flush the toilet even when it rains.
Growing up on a farm in rural Mississippi, I have always had a strong connection to nature. As I learned about science and engineering, I also become interested in protecting the environment. My science projects often involved building terrariums and other small eco systems.
I had a subscription to Mother Earth News long before that was cool. I loved reading stories about how to be self sufficient I the wilderness.
One story I remember clearly – I wish I could find the back issue – was about how just a small increase in CO2 in the atmosphere would greatly increase the productivity of agriculture. The article showed how at earlier periods of time on the earthy, higher CO2 levels had caused plant life to flourish on the earth. If we had just a little more free CO2 in the air, then the deserts would be green again and there would be plenty of food for everyone. I tried to design a terrarium to test the theory on a small scale but adding a bit of CO2 was beyond my capabilities as a middle school student.
After getting my Chemical Engineering degree and going to work as an environmental engineer, I was shocked that people were suddenly concerned about global warming. What had changed? At the time I knew nothing of environmental economics and world conspiracy theories.
I looked at the global warming data and saw that all the fuss seemed to be about 0.6 degree rise over thousands of years. I never did figure out how they knew the actual temperature to with a tenth of a degree before Mr. Fahrenheit was even born.
What I did find out when I looked into the data further was that the research into Global Warming was funded by people who were promoting nuclear energy. Having worked in Oak Ridge for a while, nuclear energy seemed like a good way to clean up the environment. The coal fired power plant down the river from us would set off our radon alarms when the wind was right.
As one researcher commented, “If I want to get funding for a study on the mating habits of squirrels, I can’t get it. But if I want to study the mating habits of squirrels as affected by global warming, there is money for that.” This statement gave me the insight I needed to understand what all the fuss over global warming was really all about. Funding.
As the push for nuclear energy died off, I expected to see the emphasis on global warming to fade away. And after seeing how poorly some of the nuclear waste was managed, I was not too keen on promoting nuclear energy myself.
As the years went by I was continually amazed by the persistence of the Global Warming hoopla. It seemed to have taken on a life of its own. Personally, I like warmer weather, so I became a big fan of Global Warming.
Looking at the history of the modern world it is clear that we have had periods of warmer and cooler weather. There were times when rivers froze over and people drove across them. There were also times when it was much warmer and people got out and invented new stuff instead of staying in and huddling by the fire.
In Mississippi, there are stories of people going to the Tombigbe river and cutting out chucks of ice to store in ice houses for the summer. It certainly never froze like that during my life time. There are also stories of years without a winter where people played outside and swam at Christmas time.
AS we celebrate earth day this year, I am trying to filter out the hype from the facts. It is clear that the temperature of the earth is affected by the activity of the sun. There are predictable sun spot cycles.
One volcano produces more emissions than all of industry in the history of mankind. However, that does not mean we can’t all do a part to make our environment better.
Instead of blaming others for the problems, I choose to look at the things I can do to improve things around my property. I can use more environmentally friendly cleaners. I can protect my trees and green spaces. I can also stop worrying about dire consequences that might occur sometime in the future. I can focus on enjoying the environment right now.
This morning I enjoyed going for a walk with my dog down by the creek. The wildflowers are beautiful. The dogwoods are in bloom and many other trees are budding. Happy earth day to all.
