Do You Know How to Keep Santa and His Elves Safe?

Santa Claus’ big day is coming and his job is surprisingly full of safety hazards. Take this quiz from Tulane University to see if you know what steps Santa and his elves should take to keep themselves safe this holiday season:

1. What should Santa wear to protect himself from chimney dust’

2. What type of clothing should Santa have for going down the chimney’

3. Santa gets some chimney dust in his eye. How should he get it out’

4. What must Santa wear at all times while operating his sleigh’

5. Santa’s elves are repairing the conveyor belt in Santa’s workshop. What should they do to protect themselves’

6. Santa gets overheated delivering gifts. What should he drink to cool off’

7. What should Santa do before lifting his heavy pack’

8. If Santa thinks the sack is too heavy, what should he do’

ANSWERS:

1. Respirator/dust mask’but he must first be medically evaluated, fit-tested and trained on how to properly use this respiratory protection. (See, Answers to 8 FAQs about Respiratory Protection)

2. Fire-proof clothing. (See, Fire Preparedness & Response: What the OHS Laws Require)

3. Use an eyewash station to flush it out with water for 15 minutes’and he shouldn’t rub his eye. (See, Spot the Safety Violation: Would You Wash out Your Eyes Here’)

4. His seatbelt. After all, Santa’s sleigh is a type of powered mobile equipment. And seatbelts help to keep workers from being thrown out of such equipment and crushed in the event of a rollover. (See, Spot the Safety Violation: Operating Powered Mobile Equipment)

5. Use lockout/tag out procedures for the equipment. (See, How to Comply with Lockout Requirements)

6. Water. To avoid dehydration and heat stress, water is the best thing to drink’and alcohol the worst. So no spiked eggnog, Santa! (Of course, cold winter weather and flying at high altitudes also expose Santa to cold stress. Thus, Santa should make sure he’s warmly dressed.)

7. Stretching exercises. Here are examples of some good stretches Santa should try.

8. Lugging a heavy bag of toys around all night exposes Santa to the risk of all sorts of musculoskeletal injuries, particularly back problems. So Santa should assess the risks of lifting the bag himself. And if he thinks it’s too heavy for him to safely carry alone, he has several options. He can get help from the elves, divide the load into smaller, lighter bundles or use a mechanical device to carry the load. (See, Ergonomics Compliance Centre)

The OHS Insider wishes all of you a happy’and safe’holiday season!

Robin L. Barton,

Editor-in-Chief/Senior Writer