Spending time participating in activities that are not attached to work or other commitments can help increase mental/physical health. The benets that come with a consistent hobby can ow into your work perfor-mance and ability to maintain healthy relationships. When choosing a hobby, try to focus on something that can take your mind off the demands of your daily life. Steven Gelber in his book Hobbies: Leisure and the Culture of Work in America found that performing an activity unrelated to work can increase work productivity and drive. They equate this productivity increase to the action of taking a break and the sense of purpose hobbies provide. As you continue your hobby, the sense of accomplishment increases your condence. This condence boost translates into participants being more likely to complete work-related tasks, provide more constructive feedback, and promote relationships by sharing stories with coworkers.

Additionally, Gelber illustrated that hobbies can be an outlet for preventing bad habits. Gelber found that during the time of the Great Depression, unemployed workers sought hobbies as a motivation of something to look forward to while relieving feelings of boredom and incompetence. As a social aspect of life, a hobby can introduce you to diversity, new perspectives, and even new opportunities. Relationships built on mutual enjoyment have been found to be long lasting and helpful networking opportunities. Similarly, hobbies provide a great outlet to give back to your community.

However, with hobbies there is always a risk of potential injury. Utilizing our health and safety training/culture outside of work can help mitigate this risk. As an exam-ple, I want to share my own personal story. On August 13, I was indoor bouldering at a rock climbing gym when I decided to nish one last climb. Without even thinking, I approached the wall, began to climb, and my arms gave

way resulting in a fall of approximately 5 feet to the safety mats below. That's when I heard a loud pop, and my immediate afterthought was if I had just taken a second to identify what could have gone wrong (making sure the landing mat was in the proper position, stretching before starting the climb, listening to my body's signs of fatigue, etc.), then I may have been able to prevent spraining my ankle, which meant days on crutches and missing valuable eld work experiences.

Below are a few tips and preventative measures for participating in physically active hobbies, which are similar to those we employ for work activities:

Ÿ Use correct equipment and maintain equipment;

Ÿ Wear recommended protective gear;

Ÿ Rest between workouts;

Ÿ Start slowly and gradually increase difculty, resistance, or length of activity to give muscles, bones, and other tissues the opportunity to adapt;

Ÿ Listen to your body and stop at the rst signs of pain, discomfort, stress, or overheating.

Above all else, always remember that good health and safety practices don't stop when you leave work.

Page 2 Utilizing

Technology to

Conquer Severe

Weather

As environmental consultants, it is our goal to provide the highest quality environmental services to our clients. In order to provide the

best service, it is paramount to ensure the continuing health and safety of our employees and subcontractors. The health and safety

success of our team assures the success of our projects. At Roux, we are dedicated to promoting a positive safety culture in the eld,

within our ofces, and throughout our personal lives.

Hobbies: Health and Safety Outside the Ofce

www.rouxinc.com

ISSUE 15 | 3Q 2018

Health & Safety

News

1

By Kevin Gray, Staff Assistant Engineer – Massachusetts

Page 3

Fatigue in the

Workplace

Page 4

In-House

Injection

System

Weather inuences essentially all outdoor work and

should be treated with respect when evaluating

hazards, whether you're in the workplace or mowing

the lawn (pun intended). We have already seen a 20%

increase in lighting fatalities throughout 2017 (National

Weather Service). Although the number of deaths will

uctuate year to year, based on a number of variables,

we can mitigate the risk of weather-related incidents

with the advancement of GPS data-based notication

systems. One free tool my Roux colleagues and I use is

the The Weather Channel Real-Time Weather Alerts

feature.

Notications can be

customized to alert you

of potentially hazard-

ous weather, including:

heavy rainfall, thunder-

storms, high heat, high

w i n d , d e n s e f o g ,

extreme cold, heavy

s n o w f a l l , a n d i c e

conditions.

The application will

notify you with the

approximate distance

of a lighting strike.

Often, on a subsurface

investigation, back-

ground noise is very high, reducing a eld worker's

ability to hear the roar of thunder. The vibratory notica-

tions can alert you when your hearing is impaired. The

notication feature is also compatible with various

smart watches, alerting personnel when it is time to

seek shelter.

Once the The Weather Channel application is installed

on your smartphone, click on the X settings icon. From

there, you can access “My Alerts.” Within the “My

Alerts” screen, you can customize the items you

receive notications for and set alerts to geographic

areas. To receive alerts based on your current position,

you can select the option to share your location data

with the application “Always.”

Real Time Weather Alerts are a great way for project

managers to stay in touch with eld conditions at their

projects effortlessly. An informed team is a safe team.

OSHA recommends that you follow the “30/30 rule”

when lightning strikes. The idea behind the rule is that if

the time between visual strike and sound is less than 30

seconds, then you are at risk of being shocked. Any

lighting strike within 6 miles is also considered to be

hazardous. It is best to wait 30 minutes after the storm

has subsided prior to resuming work activities.

If you cannot get to shelter and you feel your hair rising

up, go into the position shown below:

Notice how the employee stands on the balls of his feet

and connects his heals together. The idea of this is to

create a short trajectory for the electric current and

keep the current away from vital organs such as the

heart. He also covers his ears to protect his hearing

from the damaging sound of thunder. Electric shock

can cause heart conditions and the victim may need

CPR if the heart is not beating, even if the victim is

breathing. Roux's eld personnel are certied in First

Aid, CPR, and use of automated external debrillator

(AED), preparing them to respond in even the worst of

situations.

www.rouxinc.com 2

Utilizing Technology to Conquer Severe Weather

By Raymond Olson, Staff Geologist Illinois

While it is easy to put a healthy sleep schedule on the

back burner while managing the demands of daily

work, family, and social life, fatigue in the workforce is a

safety issue across industries. Approximately 38

percent of workers in the US sleep less than seven

hours a night, according to NIOSH. While fatigue is

often equated to lack of sleep/drowsiness, it is also a

condition that can result from prolonged mental and

physical work, extended periods of anxiety, or expo-

sure to a harsh environment. The presence of this

condition while in the workplace can affect worker

performance and impair mental alertness, which can

lead to dangerous errors. Fatigue on the job is not only

a danger to one's own health and safety, but also to that

of his or her colleagues.

Dangers of fatigue while in the eld

Although the effects of fatigue vary from person to

person, common hazards associated with fatigue

include: reduced decision-making ability, reduced

communication skills, reduced attention, reduced

reaction time, increased tendency for risk taking, and

increased forgetfulness. These effects pose a particu-

lar threat while on a jobsite, where you and your

coworkers must be aware of the specic hazards in

play at all times. Risks of fatigue on a jobsite may

include:

Ÿ Decreased effective communication with cowork-

ers and subcontractors.

Ÿ Decreased attention while operating machinery.

Ÿ Driving to and from the worksite with decreased

reaction time.

Dangers of fatigue while at the ofce

Although there are fewer physical hazards while

working at the ofce, fatigue can still pose risks to one's

wellbeing. For example, driving home from the ofce

after a 10-hour day may increase risk of a motor vehicle

collision. Impaired judgement and decision-making

may cause faulty design work. Fatigue may even

increase chances of slip, trip, fall hazards at the ofce.

Additionally, it is estimated that fatigue-related produc-

tivity losses cost about $2,000 per worker each year.

Can fatigue make you sick?

Yes! Fatigue is not only dangerous to your immediate,

physical health while on the job, but can have lasting

impacts on your overall wellbeing if it remains a chronic

condition. According to the Department of Safety and

Health Training Institute, chronic fatigue can contribute

to depression, increased weight gain, anxiety, diabe-

tes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.

These adverse effects can subsequently lead to

increased turnover rate, sick time, absenteeism, and

medical costs.

Fatigue Management

Increasing worker safety means taking control of your

sleep and work schedule. Although it is easy for life to

get in the way, prioritizing sleep quantity and quality

can help mitigate fatigue risks in the work place. Most

people need 7-9 hours every night to maintain full

alertness throughout the day. In order to get “better”

sleep, it helps to go to bed and wake up at the same

time every day, exercise regularly, try not to do work or

watch tv in the same place you sleep, keep your

bedroom a comfortable temperature, and avoid

caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol close to bed time.

Additionally, see a doctor if you are struggling with

insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or other sleep-

disrupting medical issues.

Lombardi DA1, Folkard S, Willetts JL, Smith GS. Daily sleep, weekly working hours, and risk

of work-related injury: US National Health Interview Survey (2004-2008). Chronobiol Int.

2010 Jul;27(5):1013-30.

www.rouxinc.com 3

Fatigue in the Workplace By Caroline Loffredo, Staff Assistant Engineer – Oakland, California

Knowing that you were instrumental in improving the

soil and groundwater quality at a site can be a satisfy-

ing feeling. However, in many cases the work we

conduct has unique, inherent risks. In particular,

special training and care needs to be taken when using

Roux's In-House Injection System (Injection System).

This article highlights the benets associated with the

use of our Injection System specic to our Southern

New Jersey Ofce and identies the risks and hazards

associated with utilizing this piece of equipment in the

eld.

Overview of System Use

The Injection System comprises a progressive cavity

pump, a tank mounted mixer, an injection manifold,

injection well heads, gauge hoses, and a mixing tank.

The Injection System is designed to mix the selected

injection amendment and clean water into a homoge-

nous solution. Once mixed, the manifold regulates the

ow rate and pressure at which the progressive cavity

pump injects the amendment solution through the well

head, into the subsurface. The Injection System allows

for the introduction of amendment solution into the

desired aquifer for treatment of groundwater. This

equipment allows our remediation projects to achieve

remedial goals without having to hire outside contrac-

tors, thus creating additional value for our clients.

Hazards Associated with Using the In-House

Injection System

So, I know what you are thinking, “How hazardous can

it be to open up a valve and pump liquid into the

ground?” The answer to that question is more convo-

luted than you think. The level of risk can vary based on

what you are injecting, what formation you are inject-

ing, and what features you are injecting around. As is

the case with working with any piece of equipment, it is

extremely important to know the capabilities and

limitations of each component associated with the

Injection System. For instance, if you are injecting into a

tight formation, it is essential that you know the maxi-

mum pressure rating of your equipment to ensure that

the equipment you are using does not fail. The same

goes for the amendment you are injecting into the

subsurface.

Before performing any injection activities, it is impor-

tant to know what actions are required to be taken if the

amendment surfaces or comes in contact with worker's

skin and/or eyes. The more you know about your work

surroundings and equipment, the more measures can

be implemented to safe guard against any future harm.

The main hazard that is associated with the use of the

Injection System is chemical contact. Employees run

the risk of being exposed to chemicals through

absorption, inhalation, and in some rare instances,

ingestion. To mitigate these exposures, employees

using the Injection System are trained to wear the

appropriate PPE (long sleeve shirts/chemical suits,

goggles, and face shields when applicable, and

NIOSH-approved dust masks when applicable).

Additionally, regular and pre-use system component

inspections and testing are performed to ensure that all

components are functioning as designed.

Ensuring Safe Use of the Injection System

When conducting remediation with the Injection

System, we always use the buddy system. Days are

typically long and work intensive, so it is important for

the project team to have a clear plan ahead of time (with

subsequent contingency plans) to ensure that work

stays on schedule and the eld teams' morale stays

high. As we all know, when things go wrong and morale

decreases, short cuts are taken, and that is when

people can get hurt. Prior to using the Injection System,

the project team should review the Injection System's

Standard Operating Procedures to ensure that all

activities are being performed as required to ensure the

continuous safety of our employees, our clients, and

the community.

www.rouxinc.com 4

In-House Injection System By James Kazanjian, Project Engineer – Logan Township, New Jersey