SAFETY MATTERS
As every business owner knows safety MATTERS. Forget the “no brainer” financial benefits and take into consideration that a business and its employees are a family. Managers and superintendents can talk endlessly about the impact on productivity when they lose a valued employee to an accident. Yet, there is a belief by some that safety meetings are expensive and a waste of time. Safety is “expected” and categorized as simple common sense. Those in the trenches know this could not be farther from the truth. The following are four simple to do, inexpensive, safe habits for everyone which will decrease the odds of getting hurt in an accident.
- STRETCH YOUR BACK EVERYDAY – Stretching your back is the best method for preventing injury. Doing sit ups and crunches help to strengthen your stomach muscles and will do a lot in keeping your back muscles strong.
- PAUSE WHEN AGITATED – The time to take a break is when you start to get aggravated. This applies to any job. While there is no evidence of such a thing as an “accident prone” person, there is plenty of evidence that aggravation and aggressive emotions cause accidents. When you start to get upset, take a walk and chill a bit.
- WORK NEAT – One indication of a successful safety program is how neat everything is. This habit is not just about housekeeping. Putting tools and ladders away, rolling up hoses, sweeping one’s area really does increase productivity and prevent accidents such as trip hazards.
- PROMPT – Being early is simply a practice of giving yourself more time than you think you need for work and travel. This will not only reduce stress, but you’ll tend to slow down to a safer and more enjoyable pace. Speeding and rushing are closely related to pain and anguish.
Follow these simple habits and you might just be amazed at the positive impact around the plant and office.
Read MoreMBC Recognized as Sustainability Leader
Mark’s Barrel Company (MBC) is a model of sustainability for the drum industry and businesses throughout the Intermountain region. MBC reconditions containers for reuse for businesses throughout Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and California. Our primary customers are in the petroleum and chemical industries respectively.
In a 2008 report, the EPA estimated the quantity of used oil generated annually at 1.35 billion gallons (with a “B”) with 785 million gallons used as fuel, 161 million gallons re-refined and up to 200 million gallons going to landfills or illegally dumped. Some estimate nearly 50% of used oil goes to industrial burning for energy, 20 percent to re-refining into base lubricants and another 15% to on-site heating. Used oil is a big business, especially as the price of crude oil continues to grow. Even though used oil is dirty and exhausted of lubricity, a gallon contains 140,000 BTUs of energy, approximately the same heating value of a new gallon of oil.
MBC accumulates approximately 1500-2000 gallons of oil per month. While oil is not considered a hazardous material during transport, there remains a serious liability to the generator. The business that generates the used oil is responsible and liable for he oil until it is properly disposed, which could literally take years if the oil is held in a storage facility. We are a small generator and like many others, we cannot consume all we generate. MBC sells the excess to processors and environmental service providers, otherwise, we burn oil to heat tanks of water used for cleaning and heat for the buildings.
While burning oil for heating and energy may seem onerous to some environmentalists, it has less universal emissions and conversationalist benefits than newly refined or re-refined lacks. At MBC we consider on-site burning as part of our overall effort to clean up the planet and lower energy costs.
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