National Safety Month Tips – Workplace Safety Starts with Commitment and the Right Equipment

Keeping our employees safe is a primary objective here at Austin Hardware, as we expect it to be with many companies. In recognition of June as National Safety Month, we will share some educational content to help you keep your employees safe.

Safety in the workplace starts with a commitment. That commitment must come from both leadership (management) and employees. Management should demonstrate its commitment to safety through its actions, allocating resources to safety training and equipment and encouraging employees to report potential safety issues without fear of reprisal.

Subsequently, employees need to show commitment through involvement. This includes forming committees to identify safety issues, volunteering for training, and helping to develop solutions.

Emergency preparedness requires planning, training, and practice. Companies need to identify potential risks, invest in training, create a communication plan, and practice their plan through regular drills such as fire drills.

Essential Products to Help Your Employees Stay Safe on the Job

Equipment is a major part of a management team’s commitment to providing a safe working environment for employees. Here is a partial list of common items needed for a safe manufacturing environment.

• - Anti-Slip Tape: Commercial grade, high-grit safety tapes for high traction that meet Prop 65, ADA, and OSHA standards.
• - Back-Up Alarms: To notify passersby when a vehicle is moving in reverse.
• - Conspicuity Tapes: Reflective conspicuity tapes for better nighttime visibility of your vehicle.
• - Emergency Reflector Kits: To keep your drivers safe in the event of a vehicle breakdown.
• - Fatigue-Reducing Floor Mat: A fatigue–reducing floor mat can relieve pressure on the knees and backs of your employees who stand for extended periods.
• - Fire Extinguishers
• - Safety Clothing: Gloves, hard hats, safety glasses, earplugs, and more to protect the personal safety of your employees.
• - Ventilators: To condition the air and keep air quality safe in vehicles for drivers in every condition.
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Our Paint Shop Catalog contains many of our Safety products and a full line of MRO consumables.

The biggest challenges facing the EMS industry include staffing (finding the next generation of employees and retaining existing employees) and reducing stress. A 2023 EMS Trend Survey of more than 3,100 paramedics, EMTs, and EMS leaders has shed more light on these topics that are most concerning to emergency service professionals.

The survey shows that EMS managers must prioritize their employees' mental and physical health and safety due to chronic understaffing and the demanding nature of the job, which are having a more significant impact than ever before.

While the nature of the job will always create a stressful environment, managers need to look for small ways to reduce their employees' physical and mental stress. Improving how these critical care providers go about their day and finding logistical improvements can help. In turn, this will help to address the industry’s retention challenge along with leading to better patient outcomes.

The Genesis™ Power Plate from Austin Hardware® – A Green Solution for Your Business.

Austin Hardware® is excited to introduce an eco-friendly solution for your vehicle– the Power Plate by Genesis™. Our new line of products includes an inverter charger and lithium-ion batteries. With these products, you can power tools, equipment, and accessories, including air-conditioning, on any utility vehicle without idling the engine.

If you want to extend the life of your vehicle and save on fuel costs with an easy, greener energy source, keep reading below.

EMTs, paramedic’s and other critical care workers have an incredible responsibility and they’re often doing it while racing to the hospital and against the clock. They don’t have time to think about their own safety while caring for a patient. LifeDefender™ Cabinet Security Frames were developed with these dedicated workers and their patients in mind. The 3rd generation of this revolutionary product is the fruit of the feedback from ambulance manufacturers and their customers. 
 

Improved features in the 3rd generation updates include:

- An optional key locking feature is now available pre-installed for both the fixed and restocker (a.k.a. "speed-load") frames. 

- Tag brackets, an optional inventory control feature that can be pre-installed onto the frame, have been improved with more mounting options and soft, over-molded covers on exposed areas.  

- The slider handles have been redesigned smaller while maintaining the same operation and latching function. The smaller size allows the slider to open further, providing an extra inch of access space when the slider is open. 

- Hinges are now anodized aluminum to improve the appearance against the frame as well as cosmetic durability.
  
- To more easily adjust a cabinet's latch clearance and door position, the hinge shims have been improved with all hole locations now slotted, allowing the shims to be added or removed between the hinge and cabinet without removing the hinge screws.  

- Frames are now available with an optional pre-installed protective film on the outer frame. The film can remain on the frame without affecting the frame function.  

- Fixed-frame LifeDefender™ units now include a new tether system to provide an extra connection between the cabinet and frame, which is especially helpful in wooden cabinets.  

- Unframed LifeDefender™ doors (CW series) are now available with pre-engineered motion control options (gas springs or dampers) to move and hold the door in its open position. 

The United States Congress has designated October 28 as National First Responders Day.

Our team at Austin Hardware would like to say Thank You to all of our nation’s first responders on National First Responders Day. When we need you most, you are there for us. It requires courage and sacrifice to do what you do, and it is appreciated more than we could possibly convey.

As a supplier of hardware for fire, rescue, and emergency vehicles, we are incredibly proud of the small role we play in the industry.

We are especially proud of the Austin-engineered products designed to help keep first responders safe, including:

• B Lift Hydraulic Bariatric Lift
• LifeDefender™ Cabinet Security Frames
• Ceiling IV Hanger System for EMS Vehicles
• & more!

Thank a first responder in your community.

Austin Hardware® is a leading supplier for essential, life-saving industries, including life-saving devices for ambulances, EMS, and other emergency vehicles. Our engineering team works hard to provide top-of-the-line products that save lives. The average EMS response time is less than 20 minutes. Each minute during an emergency response is crucial for patient care. We work hard to provide quicker response times for emergency medical teams, and enhancing patient care is important to providing the best safety solutions. Our complete line of safety solutions is designed to save lives and support essential industries.  

Companies are looking for ways to safely allow employees to return to the workplace as businesses open back up amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the primary modes of transmission of COVID-19 is via airborne droplets.

A simple solution to mitigate the transmission of these droplets is to place a physical barrier between employees working in an office environment. Placing a partition at individual workstations, and other key areas throughout the business can help to insulate workers from the potentially virus-carrying particulates emitted by others.  

EMT’s and ambulance personnel are under tremendous pressure. They have to concentrate and react quickly to care for their patients, and they have to do it while trying to stay on their feet in a fast-moving vehicle.

A critical moment for EMT’s is when they need to change out IV bags. Most IV hangers used in ambulances today require the EMT to use two hands to thread the bag onto the hanger. The process of identifying the hanger then trying to quickly thread the bag onto a stiff clasp can rob them of critical seconds. Moreover, with no extra hand available to provide balance, they’re exposed to injuring themselves, coworkers, or even the patient in the event of a quick turn or sudden stop.

Austin Hardware® is a leading supplier for critical industries including life-saving devices for ambulances, ems, and other emergency vehicles. We are proud to offer the B Lift hydraulic bariatric power lift as part of our complete line of solutions for life-saving industries. We truly believe that this is a beneficial and innovative product, that will save lives, and make the jobs of our important first responders easier, and more efficient. Not only does our product provide safety solutions, but it is also durable, strength tested, and made in the U.S. with quality parts and craftsmanship. The average EMS response time is 14-16 minutes, meaning that each minute is crucial, we aim to maximize the time that emergency medical technicians can focus on response time while providing a safe way to accomplish that. Providing quicker response times for emergency medical care, as well as enhancing patient care is important to providing the best solutions for safety. 

When it comes to safety, LifeDefender™ not only meets the industry standards, we helped to establish them. From our beginnings, we worked with a select group of emergency vehicle and ambulance manufacturers to set the toughest safety standards as well as design products that meet these standards. Our rigorous safety standards keep occupants inside emergency vehicles safe during transport. Austin Hardware's LifeDefender™ Cabinet Security Frames have been designed to provide a solution to meet the *SAE, CAAS GVS & NFPA safety standards. In addition to meeting strict safety standards, our frames are crash tested to ensure that the vehicle occupants, ems workers, and patients are safe during transport and in case of an accident.  

Not only is safety our top concern, but we also created a top-quality design for all of our products. We utilized our custom engineering services to create efficient, quality designed products. The LifeDefender™ line designs feature a quick and easy install for quick assembly of emergency vehicles. Our cabinets are designed for ease of use, and some only require one-handed use for on-the-go applications. The simple, functional design is not only handy but is also suitable for many different uses, including marine and RV applications. LifeDefender™ has designed one tough frame and offers a variety of products to fit different needs and applications. Each product is designed with safety in mind as well as easy installation and use.