Safety Tips from I-Safety
Spotlight Tip of the Week
Whether you are a college student going home for the summer, or a faculty or staff member heading out on vacation, pre-planning for your trip is always a good idea. For a trip to a familiar location, this may be as simple as making sure your vehicle is in good condition and checking the weather, while trips to new areas may require more planning and research.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provide numerous tips for travel; this is only a summary of their tips to keep in mind when traveling for personal reasons. If you are traveling for the university, please also refer to our policies on driving and other travel, which may differ from some of these tips.
If you are driving back home for the summer, you are likely to be at least somewhat familiar with the route you plan to travel, how long it might take and what you will need along the way. But if you are driving to a new location or taking a new route, it pays to do your homework – learn your route and identify places to rest or take breaks. Don't travel more than nine or ten hours in a day, or approximately 600 miles (U of I policy limits employees to 8 hours per day when driving for the university and recommends 15 minute breaks every two hours). With longer distances or time on the road, you become a risk to yourself and others. Keep your own limits in mind as well, you may need stop for the day after only 5 hours or so.
International travel requires much more planning – if you are traveling for the U of I, you'll need to register through the International Programs Office (IPO) Travel Registry. You should be directed to the registry when submitting a travel authorization. Questions or requests for assistance regarding this registration may be sent to the Education Abroad unit within IPO at abroad@uidaho.edu.
The U.S. Department of State has information you may need for traveling abroad, including any warnings for political unrest, places to avoid, natural disasters and rules and laws of which to be aware. Learn where your nearest embassy or consulate office is and how to contact them. Be sure that family or friends in the U.S. know where you are and what your travel plans will be. Schedule regular check-ins with them, leave a copy of your passport with family, and a list of all your medical conditions and medications. Finally, register your travel plans with the U.S. Department of State. This ensures that they know you are in the country, and they are better prepared to assist if needed.
When packing, review your list of everything you think you need, and all the "just in case" items. Depending on your destination, that list may include prescription medications, medical supplies, over the counter medications, hand sanitizer, insect repellents, sun screen and first aid kit essentials. Also be sure that you have copies of your passport, travel itinerary, list of prescriptions and dosing frequency, health insurance documents and a list of emergency contacts within your belongings.
Travel can be hard on the body, so prepare with proper diet, updated vaccinations and by procuring over-the-counter medications such as antacids, diarrhea medicine, antihistamines, decongestants, motion sickness medicine and pain and fever medicine. Also be sure to take breaks at least every 4 hours – stand up and walk around, this helps maintain proper circulation in your legs and prevent swelling. To recover from extended travel, avoid large meals and overindulgence of caffeine or alcohol, drink plenty of water and sleep when you can. Try to stay on a regular meal schedule, get out in the sun and work on getting on the local time zone schedule.
Most importantly, have fun! We want everyone back safely for the next semester.
The University of Idaho is blessed with a pastoral campus landscape and thousands of mature trees which provide an aesthetically appealing place to work, learn and enjoy. Ongoing maintenance and care is required to keep them safe and healthy so that they can provide our students, faculty and staff with decades of enjoyment, shade and clean air.
The Landscape Arboriculture team works year-round providing this service to keep the U of I campus safe and beautiful. Doing so requires pedestrian and vehicle safeguards be implemented whenever tree work is happening. The Fall Zone area is cordoned off with ribbon, cones or fencing to provide protection for you. Signage may be installed directing pedestrians and/or vehicles to use a different route. One or two ground persons in safety vests, hearing protection and helmets are there to deal with felled branches and logs and monitor the Fall Zone to make sure it remains clear of objects and people that could be damaged or injured.
As a pedestrian or vehicle driver it is imperative that you also make safety your priority by following all signage or verbal instructions when tree work is happening along your chosen route. When you see orange safety signs, vests and helmets in an area, pay attention to your surroundings. Avoid distractions like cell phones or conversations and follow the safety guidelines put in place to protect you.
Never cross into the Fall Zone unless specifically allowed to by an authorized ground person. This is a time when your convenience is not a priority — your safety is. Paying attention to this work and following directions will allow you to safely reach your destination.
Culture of Questioning
Questioning certain practices with safety in mind is an essential attitude to keep you and the rest of the Vandal family safe. Questioning challenges the complacency that grows in familiar situations and drives change. Questioning safety practices, or perhaps a lack thereof, is vital to developing a culture of safety at the University of Idaho. The goal is for everyone to return home at the end of every day just as healthy as when they arrived on campus.
Safety issues are often recognized but go unreported because a person doesn't know whom to contact or assumes that someone else is already taking care of it. At U of I, we want everyone to challenge these assumptions, question the situation and report the issues. The Report a Safety Concern form was created just for this purpose. It allows for anonymous reporting if you choose, as well as the option to upload an image of the safety problem when appropriate. It is available for anyone to use, and concerns will be directed to the proper campus unit to correct the problem.
Students and employees are the eyes and ears of the community, and your help is essential. Get involved in the safety training opportunities available to you, ask questions if you have a concern about a procedure, take part in safety inspections and report issues right away - issues cannot be corrected if no one knows about them. Timely questioning and reporting can prevent accidents and near misses. If an accident or near miss does occur, report this as well; investigating the reason will help avoid another injury.
As a supervisor, you have additional influence - lead by example and ensure safety is a core value in your team's activities. You are encouraged to do workplace inspections, ensure your employees are current on their safety training, talk regularly with your employees and discuss accident investigation reports with them and the U of I EHS staff. EHS has many resources available for you and the EHS staff can assist all supervisors in their safety efforts.
Our Vandal culture is how we think and act in all our activities. Avoiding complacency and continuously challenging existing conditions that might pose a safety risk allows us as a community to identify discrepancies and take appropriate actions before an accident or near miss occurs. Put safety first and we can achieve the safest possible working and learning environment for our Vandal family.