62nd Annual Safety Awards Banquet

On Friday, January 23, 2015, the United Safety Council held its 62nd Annual Awards Banquet at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.

 

 

 

The banquet had a great turn out with many award recipients. It is apparent that the United Safety Council is growing through the use of the internet due to the many award recipients from overseas.

A delicious three course meal was served. Starting with a small appetizer salad with your choice of dressing, chicken and rice served for lunch, and even some chocolate cake for dessert. The theme of this year's banquet was Safety in the Social Media Era. Intern Briana Hauck and I introduced the Selfie Stick to our guests to help present the theme. There was also a selfie station in the back corner of the room lit up like a stage. Pictured below are some shots taken from my cell phone attached to the Selfie Sticks!

 

 

 



 

 

Here is a photo of the Directors at this year's Awards Banquet.

 



 

 



 

What's the Number One Cause of Car Accidents?

     Have you ever been driving down the road when all of a sudden a song you can't stand comes on, so of course you have to change it. You have to keep turning the dial until you find a good station. Then you realize you're hungry, so you reach into your bag and grab a granola bar to munch on. Badink badink, you got a text message. You don't know who it is but it might be important so you have to check. It's your boyfriend so you decide to text him back. Everything that was just described falls under the category of distracted driving. Distracted driving is the number one cause of car accidents in America.

     In 2011, 23% of auto collisions involved cell phones; that's 1.3 million crashes. The safest thing you could do is turn your cell phone off when you get in the car. Whatever someone has to say can wait, it's not worth putting yourself in danger. It's becoming a common misconception that texting while driving is normal and can be done safely. A group called Responsible Young Drivers did an experiment that tricked young people into thinking that in order to pass their driving test they must perform a new task: texting and driving. It proved to be incredibly distracting and quite impossible. Click HERE to see their reactions. If you simply cannot turn your cell  phone off, the next best thing to do is use a Bluetooth system that will allow you to speak on the phone through the radio.

 

     While eating and changing the radio stations are both very distracting and extremely dangerous, driver fatigue is actually the next most dangerous way to drive. Last year 37% of adults in the United States admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel. And out of that 37, 13% admitted to doing it at least once a month! When you drive drowsy you're not only putting yourself at risk, but also everyone who is driving around you. Here are some tips to avoid driver fatigue. Get a good nights sleep, don't drive more than 8 to 10 hours in a day, stop for a break every 2 hours, share the driving whenever possible, don't consume any form of alcohol, and don't travel at times you'd normally be sleeping. And if you do feel yourself becoming extremely drowsy, pull over and take a quick 15-minute power nap.

Remember these tips and you can become a safer, more focused driver.

10 Things You Should Always Keep In Your Car

Here are the 10 essential things that you should always keep in your vehicle. You never know, they may just save your life. The best part is whether you have an SUV or a mini cooper, you will be able to shove these things somewhere into your car.

1. First Aid Kit: This one is pretty self explanatory. First aid kits contain the basic items needed to patch up an open cut or wound (band aids, gauzes, etc.). It's always good to keep one in your house as well as your  vehicle.
2. Flashlight: Power outages are very common, especially during storm seasons. Keeping a flashlight in your car will allow you to see in the dark better, which is especially important if it's nighttime and your car happens to break down.
3. Matches: You never know when you'll need to start a fire. A lighter (which is probably more convenient) can be used in place of matches.
4. Energy Bars: These are a good, healthy snack and can provide you with essential vitamins that you will need in case you are unable to reach other sources of food. They're also very delicious.
5. Water Bottles: The longest that a human can survive without water is about 8 to 10 days. So water is a definite necessity.
6. Weather Radio: It's always important to have a radio as a source of information to let you know what's going on outside. Information about storms provided by the weather stations can be vital in your decisions as to whether you should drive or not.
7. Flares or Reflective Triangle: Good to use when pulled over on the side of the road in the dark.
8. Maps: When your cell phone service gets lost, you don't want to get lost too. Keep a paper map in your glove box for navigating when you're not quite sure where you are.
9. Ice Scraper: This one is less relevant to those of us who live in the sunny state of Florida... but better safe than sorry, right?
10. Seat Belt Cutter: This is possibly the most important item on the list. Make sure to keep this in your glove box where you have easy access to it, not the trunk. If you're in an accident and locked into your seat belt, this could save your life. Seat belt cutters give you the perfect amount of sharpness and leverage to slice through the average seat belt. You can buy one fairly cheap on a website such as amazon.com or by clicking on this link. A recent article based out of California told about a mother and 17 month old daughter who were in a car accident. Their car flipped 7 times and landed upside down in a canal. They both drowned because they were unable to remove their seat belts to get out of the vehicle. Don't underestimate the important of these items. They're not "extra junk", they're your safety protection.

Sources: http://lifehacker.com/30-essential-things-you-should-keep-in-your-car-1263514115

Briana Hauck

   Hello everyone, my name is Briana Hauck and I'm a new intern here at the Safety Council. This is only my second day of work but I already feel at home. Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming, how could I not. I'm an advanced first year student at the University of Central Florida. This means that I graduated high school with an Associates Degree. So although it's my first year at UCF I'm already in my major, which is Advertising and Public Relations. I tend to be a bit of an over-achiever so I also decided to have a marketing minor. I spend a lot of time in the library and focus (probably way too much) on school work and constantly improving my grades.

   Although it may sound like it, I'm not a complete nerd. I do have many interesting hobbies. I love to dance, and have been dancing for five years now. I'm currently part of a hip hop dance team at UCF called Rukus. We perform at a lot of UCF events and other sorts of showcases. I feel that this has helped me open up and make some new friends; I tend to be quite shy. A little fun fact about me is that I'm a third degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. So don't let my girlish appearance fool you, I know how to kick some serious butt. Another hobby of mine is shopping. This may sound silly to some, but I take it very seriously. I have over fifty pairs of shoes, and a closet stuffed to the brim with the latest shopping spree outcomes. And of course I follow all the best fashion bloggers on every social media site you can think of. My goal is to one day work as part of an advertising team for a high fashion clothing company.

   Some of the most important things in my opinion is family and friends. What's the point of being successful if you have no one to share your success with. I'm from a small town called Port Charlotte, which no one here seems to have heard of. It's located just north of Fort Myers, if that helps. It's a place where ninety percent of the population is over ninety years old, but it's home. I have a two little brothers who I love to death, so I visit often to see them. I came to Orlando completely on my own, not knowing anyone or having any friends. It was a big adjustment for me moving to such a big city. But one day on campus I met a very strange boy who asked me out on a date, and he is now my boyfriend. So that's made the journey a little more exciting.

   Although it's only been two days, I can already tell that this internship is going to teach me a lot and help me gain plenty of experience. I look forward to making mistakes, because that's how we learn. I feel like this is a step in the right direction, the direction toward a long lasting career. Thank you for making me a part of the safety council family.

You've Been Catfished: Hiring Fake Repairmen Off the Internet

When something breaks, you hire a repairman. However, repairman are expensive. No one wants to waste thousands of dollars by hiring a contractor, so individuals seek advice from friends and family. If friends and family don't have expertise, you take to the internet! The internet is a wonderful place, having many different sites. One site in particular allows you to buy and sell things for cheap, and find local persons in the area that are "qualified" as service repairmen. This site is craigslist. You browse around, and find a repairman that charges a decent price, and you call him up and hire him. You have complete faith and trust in this person, since they listed themselves as "Professional" and you have no doubt in your mind that they will do just as good a job  as the service companies that cost a fortune.

A group of men arrive at your house, you invite them in and have them take a look at the problem. They give you an estimation and a timeframe for it to be completed, for example two weeks, and you write them a check, and pat yourself on the back for being responsible and not getting "ripped off"...

Well, two weeks have gone by. A month has passed, and these workmen still say they are not finished with the job. You start to question their work, and also begin to question whether you have hired the right people for the task. Then, your worst nightmare happens: they stop showing up. You paid them for the job, yet the job is unfinished. You call the man that put the ad on craigslist, and the number has been disconnected. You call the police and file charges. You then hire a well-known company to come out and take a look at the job. They say the problem was exasperated by the previous workers, since they wanted you to pay more money or they just had no idea what they were doing. You accept this as reality, and realize that you should have hired the reputable company in the first place.

This is the LAST thing you want to happen to you, but it happened in the Orlando area, and happens frequently around the country. Not only do you need to protect your kids from the dangers of the internet, but you also have to protect yourself and take some safety precautions of your own. If something doesn't seem reputable, chances are it's not. This is not to dissuade you from using sites like this. just one thing you have to realize is that anyone can post anything on the internet.  This is what makes the show "Catfish" so entertaining to watch since it's about people posting pictures of other people that don't look like them on their online dating profiles. Recognize you've been catfished, and hire a reputable serviceman from a reputable company that won't take your money and run.

EDC Orlando

This past weekend, Orlando became home to people from all over the country that were attending the EDC concert two-day event downtown, at Tinker Field. For those of you unaware of the electric music rave scene, EDC stands for Electric Daisy Carnival. The concert event hosts many famous DJs, playing music in categories techno and house. According to the Orlando Sentinel, 43 individuals were hospitalized that attended the event. On the EDC website, they offer safety tips and advice for people going to the event with the title "Hang out, Don't Pass out". Here are a few tips taken from them:

• Don't drink Under 21
• You do not need to consume excessive amounts of alcohol to have fun
• Drunk people are not capable of being responsible for other individuals; therefore, if you think you or a friend are dehydrated or may have alcohol poisoning, head to the one of the health tables immediately.

For more tips, check out the link above, even if you're just attending a regular concert and not just a techno carnival. Having never been to a techno type concert, I found the pictures of the outfits that people wear are very entertaining. I thought wearing tutus and sparkly tops were something only little girls did for dress-up, but the outfits people concoct are beyond garish. It almost seems as if going to one of these concerts is to enter a world of its own, where you can wear anything you want, dance uncontrollably, and listen to the music.  Maybe I'll have to attend next year :)

October Networking Luncheon

This past Friday, the Safety Council hosted it's monthly Networking Luncheon, taking place at Mimi's Cafe in Orlando. The topic of interest at the event was I-4 construction, and all the changes that are being made to this major highway and it's effects on the greater Orlando area. Speaking at the luncheon were Mike Wacht and Dave Parks, both spokespersons for the I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project. The project is estimated to begin in early 2015, and have a total span of six and a half years. Because most of the construction will be occurring at night, there shouldn't be problems with traffic during the day. Thanks guys for the information, and we hope to catch up with you both this time next year to see how the project is going! Watch out for the video of the luncheon on our YouTube channel, coming soon.