Monthly Archives: May 2019

General Safety Issues, Health Issues

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Workplace Health and Safety Representative

Written by Peter Scully

Employers have a duty of care towards their employees and that duty extends not just to talking (i.e. providing employees with relevant information and training) but also to listening, i.e. providing a channel through which employees can communicate any concerns they have about health and safety in the workplace.

One of the options for doing this is by means of a workplace health and safety representative. The team at ​Watson & Watson Health and Safety Consultants​ discuss the importance of appointing a health and safety representative in the workplace.

Companies may choose to forgo workplace health-and-safety representatives if they wish

It’s important to note that, at current time, it is optional for companies to have specific workplace health-and-safety representatives. If employees are happy to talk directly to business leaders then it is perfectly acceptable for them to do so and in smaller organizations this may be the most practical way of managing health-and-safety issues.

In larger organizations, however, the idea of having a direct line between employees and management may sound appealing in theory but in practice it could well turn out to be a recipe for confusion, which is bad news in any situation and, in particular, where health and safety is concerned.

Electing a workplace health-and-safety representative

Another key point to note is that workplace health-and-safety representatives are elected by workers, either directly or via their Trade Union, rather than being appointed by managers.

There are many reasons for this, not least the need for the workforce to have trust in them.  It is unusual for workplace health and safety representatives to be dedicated purely to health and safety duties, instead they are more likely to be workers who take on the role as an extra responsibility.

This can both promote trust and provide them with greater insight into how their colleagues feel about health-and safety issues.  At the same time, however, if the role is to have meaning, then the representative has to be given sufficient time (and resources) to perform it effectively.

The responsibilities of a workplace health-and-safety representative

According to the letter of the law, health and safety representatives appointed via a Trade Union are automatically granted stronger powers than health-and-safety representatives appointed directly by the workforce.

Specifically, they can inspect the workplace and also conduct investigations into accidents, hazards, near misses and any other health and safety related issues. Employers can, if they wish, grant these powers
to health-and-safety representatives appointed directly by the workforce and it may benefit them to do so in order to inspire a greater degree of confidence in them on the part of their staff, otherwise, the role of a directly-appointed health-and-safety representative is essentially one of a communicator and a facilitator.

Directly-appointed health-and-safety representatives will be expected to attend all relevant training, so that they are well-informed on health-and-safety matters (and so that their knowledge is kept up to date) and will act as a central point of contact for employees to raise health-and-safety concerns which they wish to be passed on to senior management.

Likewise they may be tasked with updating their colleagues with relevant information such as action taken by management on the issues raised. They may also be required to liaise with the HSE and any other relevant authorities.

General Safety Issues

Anticipating, reducing and mitigating risks using portable EX Equipment

Written by Christopher Latter

When you work in extreme environments like underground mining operations, there are various risk factors which need to be addressed. You can take various measures to cope with these risks, including performing risk assessments and modifying environments as necessary to minimise risks. When the primary risk on a site is an explosive atmosphere due to the presence of certain gases and temperatures, there are very specific steps that should be taken. One of the key measures is to implement portable EX Equipment that can be taken to the site during use and removed once the job is done.

What is EX Equipment?

EX equipment is designed and manufactured with systems that protect against ignition and thereby minimise the risk of explosion. It has to be fully compliant with ATEX directives on explosive atmospheres and protective systems to be used in them. It means workers can get the lighting, heating, ventilation and power they need without the fear that the hardware could cause an explosion in a volatile atmosphere.

Working in these types of extreme environments is impossible without electrical equipment such as:

  • Tools
  • Lighting
  • Ventilation
  • Generators

But ordinary electrical equipment is prone to heat and surges that could ignite flammable gases and lead to disaster. When a site is being assessed, the assessor should identify the hazards and specify what equipment will be needed. In addition to flammable gases, this could also involve hazards like darkness and toxicity of the air. Recommendations can then be made for the equipment to be implemented that will make the environment workable.

Risk reduction and mitigation

If the working environment contains a gas that obscures vision or is toxic when inhaled, there needs to be ventilation to minimise the presence of that gas. But if there is also a flammable presence, an ordinary fan and shaft system could potentially cause an explosion. But with portable EX equipment, you get a solution that is tailored to deliver the safest possible environment where these types of risks are present. The portability of the solution makes it easy to install and modify to vent the gas, and the explosion resistance mitigates the risk of ignition. The result is the safest possible working environment where workers can be productive without worrying about the hazards of the space.

EX Equipment is an essential component of a comprehensive risk management plan for hazardous work environments. It provides the full range of necessary equipment to make an environment workable whilst reducing the risk of ignition and explosion to the bare minimum. It is built to the exacting specifications of the European ATEX directives, and no extreme work environment should be without it.

 

Uncategorized

Do you have Insomnia? What to do to get a good night’s sleep?

Written by Simon Morris

If you have Insomnia and don’t get enough or perfect sleep in the night, then you are absolutely standing the right place. It is because in the same article you are going to meet some good techniques and tips by which you easily get a perfect sleep at night. Insomnia is a disease in which a person isn’t able to sleep at night. After performing so much time and techniques also the person who is suffering from insomnia is don’t able to sleep properly.

Therefore, now the major question that arises here is what that person needs to do in order to tackle the problem of insomnia? Well, there are several simple methods present which people have to follow when they have insomnia. Among all the methods one of the best is counting sheep. In the same method, the person who is suffering from insomnia thinks that he is standing in a ground which is fully filled with sheep. After then, he has to start counting the sheep and count them all properly. By doing the same task, one becomes able to get a good sleep at night.

Take proper diet and use a good mattress

Well, the same thing which you listen to here is the most important among all to get a perfect sleep at night. One should know that taking the proper and fully enriched diet with nutrients and minerals help a person in getting off all types of sleep-related problems. People have to take that diet which is heavy or which help them out in getting more and a perfect sleep at night.

Another major thing on which they have to pay more attention is the sleeping process. They have to know that in order to get good sleep they have to choose the best and most appropriate type of mattress. It is because sleeping on it is scientifically good advice as it helps in getting proper sleep. Also, if a person wants to enjoy the proper sleep, then that person has to take a proper position to asleep in which that person feel more comfortable and relax.

Perform physical exercises regularly or take sleeping pills

These two are also the best methods to overcome the problem of sleeping related activities when you have insomnia. One should know that they have to do some physical exercises regularly on a daily basis as to become healthier and to get proper sleep. Yes, by doing the physical exercises a person’s calories burn, and then he required to take rest, and as a result, that person gets a good sleep at night.

On the other side, if a person isn’t able to sleep properly even after following all the methods or techniques which are mentioned above, then the last option is taking sleeping pills. It is the simplest and easiest method to make a deal with the same process. People who are suffering from insomnia only have to take pills, and then they simply get an appropriate sleep at night.

General Safety Issues

Keep Your Workplace Safe in Emergency Situations by Avoiding These 5 Common Mistakes

Written by Nora Mork

When there’s an emergency at work, you’ve got to stay calm, think clearly and have an effective plan in place in order to keep the situation under control. If something unexpected, frightening and potentially dangerous is taking place, it’s natural for people to begin panicking, but in order to keep everyone safe, being prepared for these situations is key.

Whether big or small, it’s essential to be ready for an emergency situation that may present itself. Here are 5 mistakes you’ll want to avoid to help maintain a safe workplace during an emergency:

Not Doing Drills

It’s one thing to talk about a plan, but it’s another to work through it in real time. It’s absolutely crucial that you’re drilling the plan you have in place in order to ensure all staff know what will happen, and what they need to do. Not only will this help them stay calmer during an emergency, because they know what’s happening, but you’ll also be able to see what potential snags your plan may run into.

“Things can happen by chance, that you may not have thought about before. For instance, perhaps there is a designated emergency exit for staff, but there was a heavy snowfall the night before, and now that exit has been blocked off. Drilling this before a real emergency happens means you can identify these problems and figure out solutions beforehand,” explains safety blogger Judith Archer of SimpleGrad and StudentWritingServices.

Miscommunication or lack of communication

When it comes to workplace safety, everyone has a role to play, whether they’re leading workers to safety, or simply remaining calm to help keep others calm. It’s important to effectively communicate your safety plan to everyone involved, so they know their role, and what everyone else is responsible for. If there’s a lack of communication or miscommunication about things, it’s easy for a stressful and panicked situation to quickly become chaotic.

Old or Missing Equipment

It’s great to have a fully prepared staff, but if the necessary equipment isn’t around or working when it’s needed, your plan will quickly become irrelevant. Make sure that there are plenty of the necessary supplies that would be needed in any emergency situation, they’re easily accessible and always in the same place. “If there’s maintenance that needs to be done, for example with a fire extinguisher, or if certain equipment has a shelf life, make sure that these things are being taken care of. Designate a specific person to look after these things, and have a secondary person act as a follow-up,” suggests Betty Gaddis, a health writer at Rated Writing and LetsGoAndLearn.

Not Keeping an Updated Emergency Plan

Things are always changing, so it’s important that your emergency plan is reflecting those changes whenever necessary. Whether it’s rearranging the setup of office furniture, adding more staff member or saying goodbye to a staff member who played an integral role in the emergency plan, there needs to be a frequent evaluation of the plan to ensure things are kept updated.

Being Ignorant to the Risks

There may be a very low risk for certain emergencies within your workplace, but it’s still important to have a plan and be prepared, regardless of what emergency you may be faced with. A trained safety consultant can present you with a number of different scenarios and help walk you through them. Just because something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it never will, so it’s good to be prepared even for an emergency that has a low risk of happening.

Whether the emergency is big or small, it’s important to be prepared for any situation that may present itself. Things can quickly become chaotic and even more dangerous if there isn’t a prepared plan in place. Avoid these mistakes, and you can help create a safer work environment that’s ready for any emergency situation.

Nora Mork is a business writer at Assignment writing services and Top Canadian Writers. She helps businesses create better content and writes posts for Grade on fire blog.

Uncategorized

Road Resurfacing Simplified

Critical data collected at highway speed

By Jeff Winke

Traditionally, highway resurfacing projects have been a challenge, not only for the contractor, but the inconvenienced community through which the road passes. To collect the project data needed to perform the resurface, typically required lane closures and a team of surveyors collecting data points from along the side of the road with diverted traffic whizzing past.  It was a slow, cumbersome, and dangerous process, that affected the daily commuter flow and affected the contractor’s project timeline.

But things are better.

Designed to work at the speed of highway traffic, the Topcon SmoothRide resurfacing system is intended to safely assist road resurfacing contractors without the need for road or lane closures. The system is fully automated with GNSS and sonic tracker control. It is designed to deliver accurate thickness boundaries while maintaining projected yield. It eliminates the need for survey strings, averaging skis, and lasers.

“In most situations, it’s inconvenient or impossible, to shut down a road and map its surface using traditional point-to-point surveying methods,” says Murray Lodge, senior vice president and general manager of the Topcon Positioning Group Construction Business Unit. “We’ve developed a way to scan roads at highway speeds with no need for lane closures, crash trucks, escorts or any other typical road survey collection obstacles. With the new RD-M1 scanning unit, the system maps the existing surface elevations — with many more points captured versus what can be expected with traditional tools — providing more accurate data needed to confidently estimate materials, as well as form the basis of the final design surface.”

The SmoothRide system uses a Topcon RD-M1 (Realistic Dimension – Mapping One) Road Resurfacing Scanner that is attached to a vehicle, typically a pick-up truck. The downward facing laser scanner connects to a standard tow hitch or the front of any vehicle with standard tow hooks. With using standard tow hitches and hooks, the scanner is designed to be easy to remove and adapt to any vehicle, thus eliminating the need to have a dedicated vehicle to operate the RD-M1. The unit is designed to collect millions of points at scan rates of up to 100 times per second.

Cruising at normal highways speeds, the 3-D surface scanning can cover miles of road in a short time. The collected data is automatically timestamped and stored for the next step of data management and point cloud generation. The mounted scanner captures millions of data points that are collected safely from the cab of the truck or car. Topcon points out that the driver can begin a road-surface surveying session by simply clicking the start button on their laptop computer and go.

The RD-M1 employs Collect 2.0 graphical collection software, which features an interface status bar that indicates the optimum speed for collecting road information based on the project requirements. Capturing road details at proper speed helps enable SmoothRide to deliver the best possible results.

“I like that we can collect accurate topos while driving 50 miles per hour,” stated Chris Smithson, project manager with Big Creek Construction, Lorena, TX. “We used it recently on a 3.5-mile section of Ranch Road 2838 in Mexai, TX where we were able to give the State more accurate cross sections and dirt quantities on the two-lane road and shoulders project we worked on. It saved us time and money.”

Knowing the surface details in advance allows the contractor to successfully plan for an accurate material calculation, which can help with knowing how much asphalt or milling will be required for the project. SmoothRide is considered to be especially appropriate for mainline paving or milling projects requiring long sections of road that needs resurfacing.

A feature called Memos is designed to allow operators to create balloons with messages on the map. The collected data can also be made visible in the processing software — enabling specific site conditions to be noted for future reference.

A Manage Runs feature is designed to enable operation without necessitating an internet connection. The software display’s large buttons which are intended to make using a tablet or laptop with touch screen easier. Operators can copy data collections to a USB drive, delete them from the hard drive, and add or remove them from the manager.

The RD-M1 Collect 2.0 software has a Plan Route feature that allows for the import of kml files of predetermined routes, designed to help ensure that nothing is missed during the data collection run.

“Using the map downloader, operators can be assured of having all map details visible while collecting data, without the need of an internet connection. Additionally, overlapping locations can be managed by creating areas where predefined overlaps are required for the project,” said Kriss Maas, manager of machine control, Topcon. “The detailed road surface scanning can be used to create and manage large point cloud information with our intuitive ‘Mobile Master Office’ software. The data can then be seamlessly transferred into MAGNET Office software’s ‘Resurfacing’ module to bring out the full array of software features needed to meet smoothness and cross slope requirements, while adhering to any minimum or maximum thickness specified for the job.”

The SmoothRide system can assist contractors with variable depth milling and achieve uniform thickness in paving. The system is said to eliminate the time and costs of survey work and to benefit bid and spec jobs in advance by providing more accurate surface data.

“For rehabilitation and maintenance projects, the system simplifies scanning the existing roadway surface, which we can then use for building the model for automatic machine control of our cold planers,” said Ryan Zenahlik, technology specialist for Pavement Recycling Systems, Inc., Jarupa Valley, CA.

The system is said to reduce the costs and need for survey work, and to benefit bid and spec jobs in advance by providing more accurate surface data.

“We use the 3D scanner part of SmoothRide as a survey tool to safely collect the data we need and eliminate hours of cross-section measurements,” stated John Dowalter, survey and machine control manager for Shelly and Sands, Zanesville, Ohio. “The system’s RD-M1 Scanner is great for capturing bridge approaches that sometimes have a big skew leading up to the bridge surface. That feature helped tremendously on a recent resurfacing section of I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland, which has a number of bridges that could have occupied hours of time for my crew.”

In summary, the Topcon SmoothRide system is designed to offer 3D scanning collected while driving the job-site road, which is said to replace hours of surveyor-obtained cross-section measurements. The system’s software is designed to deliver confidence throughout the paving and milling process by providing the key data needed to complete the job accurately to spec. As Topcon would phrase it, this resurfacing roadwork system fits squarely in the intersection of infrastructure and technology.

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Jeff Winke is a business and construction writer based in Milwaukee, Wis. He can be reached through jeff_winke@yahoo.com.

General Safety Issues

Best Practices for Aerial Lifts in Construction

Written by Brandon Olson

Working on a construction job site is a risky business. The hazards that can lead to injury or death are many and varied. Using an aerial lift on the job increases the risks. That’s why it’s so important to practice safety on the job at all times. Here are five common aerial lift accidents and how to prevent them.

How to Avoid Worker Electrocutions

Electrical shock is a leading cause of aerial lift worker deaths. Electrical safety on a construction job starts with this: always treat overhead lines as live unless told otherwise by a power company rep. Other safety best practices include:

  • When possible, don’t position the lift between overhead power lines
  • Belt off only to the lift’s attachment points; do not use a pole or other structure
  • Keep at least 10 feet away from live power lines at all times
  • Have the power company shut down the power lines in the work zone before starting a job
  • Wear insulated gloves, boots, clothing, and hard hats when working on or near power lines
  • Use insulated buckets near overhead power lines

Make sure all workers wear fall protection equipment . If a worker becomes unconscious after receiving a shock, the equipment can prevent a fall.

How to Prevent Falls from Aerial Lifts

Falls are the leading cause of death for construction workers. They account for one-third of all deaths in the industry. Not all of them are falls from aerial lifts. But there are enough of them to mandate fall protection gear for aerial lift workers.

Preventing falls from aerial lifts starts with walking the work site to identify hazards. These can range from nearby workers or vehicles to unsafe weather or terrain. Nearby objects that could strike the lift are another hazard to be dealt with. These hazards are why OSHA requires all aerial lift workers to wear fall protection equipment. This includes body harnesses, lanyards and fall arrest gear that attach to the platform or basket. Other fall prevention best practices include:

  • Ensuring all access gates or openings are closed before raising the platform of bucket into the air
  • Standing firmly on the floor of the bucket or platform
  • Not climbing or leaning on the guardrails
  • Never using ladders or planks while in the lift bucket or platform
  • Never tying off to structures or poles while in the bucket

All aerial lift workers should be trained in fall protection practices. Managers need to make sure workers follow them.

Avoiding TipOvers and Collapses

Tipovers and collapses lead to some of the deadliest accidents because they can crush people in the bucket and on the ground. Tipovers have many causes. The two most common are improper handling of the lift and careless pre-start inspections. Tipovers can also result from:

  • Exceeding the lift’s max load limit
  • Carrying objects that are too large
  • Driving the lift with the platform raised
  • Exceeding vertical and horizontal height limits
  • Operating the lift during strong winds or severe weather

To practice tipover safety best practices, stay within the lift’s load limit at all times. Never travel to the job site with the bucket or platform raised. Don’t raise the platform while driving on soft, uneven or sloping terrain. Avoid using too much horizontal force when working on scissor lifts. Don’t raise the platform in high-wind conditions.

Collapses most often occur due to mechanical failures. These can be avoided through regular maintenance and detailed pre-start inspections. Training plays a key role in knowing how to conduct a good inspection.

How to Protect Against Objects Falling from Lifts

There’s a reason hard hats are required on construction sites – falling objects.

Even more so when the job involves an aerial lift. Workers on the ground are usually the victims of falling objects. But workers on lift platforms can get injured as well.

Objects fall from aerial lifts for many reasons:

  • Carrying objects larger than the platform
  • Carrying unstable objects or unbalanced loads
  • Failure to close all openings on the bucket or platform
  • Striking a fixed object that causes items on the lift to fall off

Best practices to prevent falling objects involve doing the opposite of these bullet points. Operators should also avoid setting up the lift underneath overhead objects. Ground workers should avoid working underneath or near the lift when it is in the air.

Preventing Ejections from the Lift Platform

Ejections are a type of aerial lift fall that can lead to serious injury and death. They can occur for one of three reasons:

  • The bucket or platform makes forceful contact with another object
  • Falling objects hit workers on the bucket or platform
  • A sudden jerk of the lift causes workers to lose their footing

Avoiding worker ejection begins before the lift even goes up into the air. It starts with making sure the outriggers are set on solid, level ground. If not, they should be set on pads. The operator needs to check that the lift brakes are set. Wheel chocks should be used on sloping surfaces, but only when safe to do so. Warning signs should be placed around the work zone. Once in the air, operating the lift according to OSHA guidelines can also help prevent ejections.

What’s the best safety practice of all? Making sure all aerial lift workers are OSHA trained and certified before they get on the lift. It won’t prevent all accidents. But it will greatly reduce the chances of one happening on your job site.

Tom Wilkerson is CEO of CertifyMeOnline.net (CMO), a national leader in online, OSHA-compliant aerial lift training and certification. CMO has helped thousands of companies throughout the U.S. discover the easy way to self-certify their aerial lift operators in-house.

Resources:

http://www.elcosh.org/document/1596/d000538/Aerial+Lift+Safety+in+Construction.html https://www.certifymeonline.net/blog/safety-tips-for-construction-workers/

Fall Safety

Ensuring the Safety Of Employees Who Work At Heights

Image source: Unsplash.com

Nobody needs reminders that working at great heights can be dangerous. Construction is one area where height is a near-omnipresent danger. Lots of things can go wrong when you’re working with a lot of equipment and machinery. Keeping your employees safe is an absolutely crucial aspect of working on a construction site. To prevent them from falling and injuring themselves, you need to take some special precautions.

  • Make use of railings

Passive protection is the best way to keep your workers safe when they’re working at great heights. Your workers will often tread on walkways and areas that are unprotected and pretty high up. Relying on them to protect themselves when they’re in a rush might not be feasible. Railings take that element of choice away from them. Unless they purposely decide to jump the fence, there’s no way that they are going to fall over the railing.

You can find a railing for every style of rooftop. If the roof has a low slope, you can make use of non-penetrating railing. There are prefabricated railing options that can be affixed permanently or temporarily, which makes them pretty versatile for construction sites.

There are other benefits that come with using sturdy railings. They can be used as a point of stability when the worker is carrying a load in one hand. Many of them make it very difficult to climb outside the protective area, which will provide additional protection from employee negligence.

  • Select proper active protection systems

Personal fall arrest systems can be a great tool to protect from injuries on the worksite. Even when something goes catastrophically wrong, they will make sure that the worker remains unscathed. When you opt for fall arrest systems, make sure you’re getting quality safety technology. A full body harness might perform similarly in a controlled environment, but you should consider other variables. Does it have proper heat and arc protection? How comfortable is the suit for workers in any environment? These are all factors you have to take into account before making your decision.

The fall arrest system has to have all the amenities you need to protect from work accidents. If it meets ANSI standards, it should have every functionality available. Extra D-rings have to be available on the equipment. Remember to select your lanyards properly. Workers should be able to fit snuggly into their harness and adjusting them should be a breeze. Convenience of use is extremely important when you’re talking about safety measures.

  • Understand fall distance

All the active fall protection equipment in the world won’t save you from a miscalculation of distance. If it doesn’t engage by the time an employee hits the ground, it’s going to be completely useless. It might seem like common sense, but a lot of employers don’t take into account the math that goes into lanyard length and fall protection.

For example, if you have an employee working six meters off the ground while wearing a three-meter lanyard with a decelerator, that seems like it should be enough to prevent any kind of fall injury. Unfortunately, the math in question isn’t that simple. First of all, you need to take into consideration the time it takes for the deceleration device to activate. By the time it’s functional, your employee has traversed some distance. This is usually in the range of a meter or so. When you take into account the height of the worker and any sag in the harness. With these additional numbers, the length of the lanyard seems a bit too short for complete safety.

  • Use lifts properly

Lift operators have an enormous responsibility to keep employees safe during the lifting process. Employees need to keep their harness properly tied-off. This means that they need to be secured to the engineered anchor point of the lift in order to prevent any mishaps. Not only does it keep them safe from falling over, but it also prevents them from wrapping their lanyard around the rails

Lift protection extends to safety measures that need to be taken while on the lift. Proper training of employees during lift usage is crucial for preventing injury in the event of machinery failure. Many experts like Sydney Rescue Consultants urge construction managers to train their workers to comply with safety measures when operating lifts.

  • Create an acceptable anchor point

If you visited an average construction site right now, you might be appalled to see the things workers use as anchor points for their harnesses. Not everything is strong enough to take that kind of weight. Many are under the misconception that something that can hold a human body is adequate for use as an anchor point. Unfortunately, this is not true. There are more factors at play in the physics of a fall. You have to take into account the inertia from a moving body, which will create additional tension on the harness and anchor.

A lot of workers will just strap the harness to just about anything in sight. A PVC pipe is completely unacceptable for fall protection systems. Not even steel is safe from accidents. If the steel beam is decorative, it won’t hold the weight of an employee when they fall. Teaching your employees how to anchor their harness is extremely important because without a proper anchor you don’t have any protection whatsoever.

Conclusion

When you work at a great height, you only need one mistake for tragedy to occur. This is why many regulatory agencies make sure to stress the importance of proper fall protection. Without it, you could be looking at hundreds of injuries per year. Fatalities aren’t uncommon on construction sites that don’t follow the safety measures by the book. If you make sure your employees follow the rules set by regulatory agencies, your construction site will be all that much safer from any potential fall injuries.

 

General Safety Issues

Things to do if You are Involved in a Car Accident

Written by Eada Hudes

Car accidents can happen any time and that is why it is a good idea to be prepared in advance – at the least, you need to know what you need to do if you are ever involved in a car accident. Of course, no one wants to be in one but car accidents are unexpected and can take place due to variety of factors. And if you prep in advance, then you could well save a life, the next time you are involved in a car accident or a big pile up on the highway.

  • Have the required numbers on speed dial: If you are involved in a car accident, then the first thing that you need to do is to dial for help. It is a good idea to have the local cops, some important medical centers/ hospitals on speed dial so that you can call in for assistance right away.
  • Check yourself: The next thing that you need to do is to slowly examine your body; granted that you would be in shock, but you need to carefully examine your   body as well as various external parts to ensure that you are not seriously injured or bleeding from anywhere. And if you are bleeding  from some parts of your body, then you need to immediately staunch   the flow and apply first aid to that particular area.
  • Check out the other party: Make sure that you check out the other party and see if they are If they are injured, then carry out an assessment. And if they happen to be unconscious, then you may have to carry out CPR as well, to make sure that they continue breathing.
  • Check the vehicle: You may also want to check out your vehicle and the extent of the damage to the same. If your car is totaled, then you may not have much option other than to search online for agencies that advertise their services as ‘cash for scrap cars’. You can contact these agencies and they would send someone over who   can carry out an on-spot assessment and valuation and they would let you know how much they are willing to pay, to take your totaled car.

Just Google “scrap car removal in Auckland” and that should help list the various agencies that would be more than happy to take your car off your hands.

  • Exchange information: Make sure that the other party is comfortable enough; now, you can exchange contact information as well as insurance details with each other, as you wait for the authorities to arrive.
  • Do not drink: Yes, a car accident would indeed be a sudden shock but that does not mean that you immediately consume alcohol to help deal with the same.   Furthermore, when the authorities arrive and they find you drinking on the scene, they are immediately going to assume that you caused the accident. So make sure that you stay well away from drinks and  other artificial stimulants.
  • Check others: You may also want to check your passengers, as well as the other party’s  passengers to make sure that no one else is hurt as a result of the  accident. You may also want to apply first aid to any cuts and  bruises as well.

These are some of the things that you need to do when you are involved in a car accident. You may want to read over these tips again and again until you feel that you have prepared yourself. It is important that you take all measures to prevent accidents but failing that, you may want to make sure that you know what to do, when you are involved in an accident. Furthermore, it is a good idea to always know CPR, for you never know when you need it and it would help save other lives as well.