Worksafe Technologies – Earthquake Preparedness

Worksafe technologies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so it’s the start of another year and while you probably didn’t make earthquake preparedness your New Year’s resolution, the truth is that utilizing worksafe technologies for your business should be one of your goals in 2011.

It’s not just the start of a new year, it’s also the beginning of a new decade and that should provide the impetus you need to ensure your equipment is secured and your work space is safer for your  employees.  And sooner rather than later would be better.

We probably sound like a broken record, but the reality is that if your business is located in an earthquake zone you can’t afford to continue procrastinating about earthquake preparedness.

It will do you no good if you keep putting it off and then you’re suddenly rocked by an earthquake.  If that happens and you’ve done nothing about seismic mitigation in your business, you might as well stick a fork in it because there may be nothing left afterwards.  And that’s no exaggeration.

Think about it.  If an earthquake knocked out all your equipment, computers and everything that you need to operate on a daily basis, what would happen to your business?  At the very least it would set you back and at worst it could be the death knell.

To avoid that possibility, it would be in your best interests to look into earthquake preparedness worksafe technologies that have been developed specifically with the needs of businesses in mind.

Worksafe Technologies

There are state-of-the-art fastening programs available for every work environment from offices, clean rooms and laboratories, to data centers and warehouses.

Fastening systems typically consist of a combination of flexible nylon straps and quick-release buckles or ratchet straps and other fastening techniques that are designed to secure equipment.

The strategy is to secure items to prevent them from toppling over and crashing during an earthquake.  In an office setting, tall, top-heavy pieces of furniture, file cabinets, computers, desktop appliances, wall hangings and even smaller breakables on shelves need to be fastened down.

In labs, bigger, more expensive equipment such as centrifuges, fume hoods and bio safety cabinets (BSC) must be secured to wall studs or the floor, and the same goes for things like LAN cabinets and communication equipment racks in data centers.

Apart from giving you and your staff peace of mind by knowing that equipment is secured, another major benefit of undertaking a fastening program is that it also helps prevent potential injuries to employees, who can be hurt by falling items.

The majority of personal injuries that occur in an earthquake are caused by falling objects and that ought to send up red flags for any business owner who has been lackadaisical about earthquake preparedness.

And it doesn’t matter if your business is large or small; there are worksafe technologies for any size operation.  A site survey and evaluation will determine what’s best for yours.

Earthquakes are unpredictable, so being prepared makes good business sense.  If your work environment isn’t secured, you could suffer damages or loss, as well as risk injuries to your employees, so the best plan of attack is to take action well ahead of time before it’s too late.

Seismic Protection Products and Services

If your business is in an earthquake zone don’t put off earthquake preparedness any longer.  Look into which worksafe technologies will work best for your situation and start getting prepared.  Do it today.

LABORATORY FASTENING – EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS

This article explores drastic convenience of seismic mitigation to restore laboratory function instead of to fasten it at the time of earthquake.

When most of us think about earthquake preparedness, we don’t automatically conjure up thoughts of laboratory fastening, but it’s part of being prepared particularly for companies in the biotech and life sciences fields.

It doesn’t matter if yours is a multi-national corporation or a smaller independent business, earthquakes don’t differentiate between the two.  A laboratory that hasn’t undergone a program of non-structural seismic mitigation runs an extremely high risk of damage and loss of equipment.

And it’s not as if we haven’t been warned about that risk.  Earthquake experts constantly tell us that we’re overdue for a big one, so it would make good business sense to listen to them and do something about seismic mitigation on your campus.

Laboratory Fastening can sometimes be an afterthought, or put into the ‘I’ll do it later basket’; although as earthquakes are so unpredictable, being prepared is the smartest thing you can do if your company has a lab in an earthquake zone.

Bottom line is if you live in earthquake country don’t stick your head in the sand and hope you’ll be okay.  All that will do is leave your business wide open to potential disaster.

Laboratory Fastening

A laboratory is a good case in point.  Typically, labs contain all kinds of valuable equipment including HPLCs, mass spectrometers, centrifuges, robots and a host of other countertop items, all of which need to be fastened down.

And don’t forget about the Minus 80s, deli coolers, production equipment, flammable cabinets and liquid nitrogen tanks.  There are innovative and cost effective methods of floor equipment fastening for all these things based on client preference.

If you are an EH&S or facilities manager, the question you really need to ask yourself is can you afford not to have a seismic safety program in place for your lab?  Clearly the answer is no, you can’t.  Why?  Because you want to create a safe work environment, you want to comply with OSHA safety codes and you want to ensure your business continuity.

To that end, non-structural seismic mitigation systems can be custom designed for every aspect of your lab.

All work can meet Seismic Zone 4 standards, or better, and getting it done is not difficult.  A site survey and evaluation will determine what needs to be done to secure your equipment.

The biggest no-no is procrastination.  It’s a trap that many fall into thinking they can wait until next week, next month or the next budget, but that’s pushing the envelope unnecessarily.

laboratory fastening

As mentioned above, you just never know when an earthquake is going to strike and if your lab isn’t secured beforehand, you could lose your expensive equipment and all of your valuable data.

Seismic Protection Products and Services

So how do you get started?  You can research the full range of seismic protection products and services at http://www.quakeholdindustrial.com and schedule a free risk assessment of your operations. If you run a lab in an earthquake zone you need to be prepared and we strongly encourage you to start the process of laboratory fastening today.

EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS PLAN – WHEN TO START

earthquake preparedness plan

Despite what many people think, there is no such thing as “earthquake weather” and because there is no correlation between quakes and weather, having an earthquake preparedness plan is absolutely essential.

You’d be surprised at how many people believe that summertime is when earthquakes are more likely to strike because the air temperature is warmer. Of course the reality is that earthquakes happen under ground and the air temperature has no bearing on what occurs beneath the surface.

The fact of the matter is that earthquakes can happen at any time anywhere, so you need to have an earthquake preparedness plan so you’ll be ready when it comes.

From a business’s standpoint, the most prudent approach is to undertake equipment fastening programs to make sure all of your equipment is secured in place and to have earthquake preparedness supplies and disaster kits on hand for your employees.

And now would be a really good time to start working on those things.

Earthquake Safety

The first step to earthquake safety is to identify potential hazards around the workplace and fix them. What that means is to secure them in place.

It’s known as seismic mitigation and is a system whereby your equipment is fastened down to prevent it from falling over and smashing while all the shaking is going on. Tall, top-heavy equipment will do that if it isn’t secured to the wall or braced to the floor.

There are many ways to secure equipment depending on the size and shape of the items that need to be fastened.

Some examples of fastening systems that have been developed for commercial application include laboratory fastening, data center seismic mitigation, warehouse seismic mitigation and computer monitor fastening kits.

Most of the fastening systems consist of flexible nylon straps, Thumb Lock buckles and industrial strength adhesives and they really work.

These fastening programs are used widely throughout the biotech industry in California. Those companies make substantial investments in equipment for research and development and can’t afford to lose their equipment or data in an earthquake.

It would be a massive setback for them; therefore they see the tremendous value of undertaking non-structural seismic mitigation programs. The cost of securing the equipment is far less than what it would cost to replace it if it was lost in an earthquake.

Survival Kits

Having an earthquake preparedness plan means you and your employees need to know what to do before, during and after an earthquake, and as mentioned above, an integral part of that strategy is having emergency kits at the ready.

earthquake preparedness plan

Depending on the size of your workforce, it might make sense to have four-person emergency kits, or 10-person or even 20-person site safety kits on hand, rather than individual survival kits that are better suited to smaller operations.

Either way, kits should contain enough food, water and other essential supplies to get your staff through the first 72 hours after a big quake. That’s the minimum requirement as determined by FEMA, which says it’s unlikely that first responders will get to you before then so you should be self sufficient for at least three days.

Seismic Protection Products and Services

With more than 50 years’ combined experience in seismic mitigation and earthquake preparedness, QuakeHOLD! Industrial can recommend the right solutions to meet your needs.

You can research the full range of seismic protection products and services at http://www.quakeholdindustrial.com and schedule a free risk assessment of your business.

If you run a business in a seismically active zone you definitely need to have an earthquake preparedness plan in place and we strongly suggest that you start today.