Here It Is Safety Stuff Subscriber,

. . . just for you--the first July issue of the "funnest" safety & health e-zine around.

My trips to Houston and then Steamboat Springs were memorable--for a bunch of reasons, including a four- hour cab drive from Denver to Craig, CO! Thank you Rhonda from ExxonMobil for choosing me. I was especially impressed with how you transformed the gym. And thank you Debbie from Tri-State T & G. I had fun. Whew! Sure glad I made it. (Oh, and thanks Tim for the black hands!)

Congratulations Barry Fach from C&E Vision Services, Inc! You are this week's safety & health meeting/promotion idea winner.

Safety & health meeting/promotion idea winners get 25 Safety & Health Puzzles on CD which they can copy and give out to their employees. They also get a copy of Spice It Up! 52 Easy Ways to Turn Your Safety Meetings From Bland to Grand! If you'd like to purchase these helpful products just go to: www.makesafetyfun.com

If I publish your idea on how to use a prop to make a point, or some way to get your audience involved in a safety & health meeting, or an innovative way to promote safety & health on and off the job, you'll win the puzzles and booklet.

Send your ideas to me at richard@richardhawkinc.com or click on the link at the bottom of this message.

Even though the last sentence is painful, let's move on to what Barry sent in:

FIRE DOG

Hello Richard,

As you probably know, keeping employees' attention at safety meetings is one thing. Having them remember and constantly be reminded of the things discussed and talked about is another thing.

We recently had a safety meeting about fire safety and prevention. To continue to keep the employees thinking about fire safety, we gave everyone attending, a 6" high stuffed Dalmatian "fire dog" wearing a red fire man's hat. We purchased them from a mail order novelty company for a little over a dollar each. We told everyone to take their "fire dog" back to their desks or work stations as a constant reminder to think about fire safety and the things we talked about in the meeting.

We thought it was a "dog gone" good idea even though some might say that our company has "gone to the dogs."

TIDBITS

You are more likely to die of skin cancer in Maine than California.

On average, there are 30 elevator and escalator deaths per year in the U.S. About half of the deaths occur to workers trying to repair or maintain an elevator.

During their first year, babies cause between 400 and 750 hours of lost sleep for parents.

Dumb: Last July, Mike Harstad of Jamestown, California, used a can of Pledge and a cigarette lighter in an attempt to destroy a wasps' nest. He wound up causing a fire that destroyed his mobile home, a truck, a boat, a trailer and an outbuilding.

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Dumber: "I saw a flash of light and I just jumped up and went in the kitchen. I saw my friend and his beard was on fire," Richard Creech recalled. "It was very shocking," What Creech was referring to was his friend, Henry Laskin, who was trying to light a cigarette from his stove.

So how did Laskin catch on fire? He was wearing nasal prongs connected to an oxygen tank and, when the oxygen came in contact with an open flame it caught his beard on fire. Laskin was airlifted to Florida's Tampa General Hospital following the December 16, 2004 accident. --Source: Cruel & Unusual Idiots by Leland Gregory

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Dumbest: According to an article in Newsday, Thomas Woods and his roommate, Rod Bennett, had been drinking heavily when Woods challenged Bennett to a test of endurance. Before Bennett knew what was happening, Woods set fire to a rug in their Davis Park, New York house, and threw down the gauntlet--"Let's see which one of us leaves first."

Bennett decided to forfeit the challenge and ran out of the house. Bennett went to a neighbor's house and asked him to call 911. Even though the fire was quickly contained, Woods never made it out. So by losing his life, Woods actually won the dare.

MY FIRST TIME

Hi Richard,

I really enjoyed your presentation last week in Dubuque. It was my first time to attend a safety conference and I have to admit that I actually wasn't looking forward to going. I thought it would be very boring and dry, but you started my day out great!

Not only did you keep my attention but I got several tidbits that I'm already starting to use. I've been pegged as a "driver/driver" and know that I come across very strong sometimes. I've decided to adopt an attitude of seeing the lighter side of things and stop "ripping my heart." I know it won't be easy but every time I do something to stop that cycle it's one step to being a little less driven.

Anyway, thanks for the time and effort you put into your presentation! I really enjoyed your teaching and sharing of your experience!

Theresa Smedley
Engineering Dept./General Mills

If you'd like to get the same type of results at your next convention or employee day (or are looking for ways to improve your safety & health culture) contact Michele Lucia (972-899-3411 michele@richardhawkinc.com) or click on the link at the end of this email message.

If you'd like to see a video of yours truly go to my safety website www.makesafetyfun.com.

DIET SCAMS

In America alone, 50 million people go on a diet every year. More than 15 percent of those people--about 8 million--try to do it in a structured program with supervision. The only real solution is simple: eat fewer calories, exercise more (or become more physically active), and you'll lose weight.

Nevertheless, if someone offers a way to avoid a sacrifice that dieters don't want to make, people have a tendency to believe less-than-logical explanations. That's one reason why the diet industry rakes in about $40 billion per year from Americans alone.

Staying Scam Free

The Federal Trade Commission monitors weight-loss scams and false claims. Here are some of the commissions warning signs of diet scams:

1. Claims of losing two or more pounds per week.
2. Products that promise you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight.
3. Permanent weight loss.
4. The ability to block fat or calorie absorption.
5. Weight loss of more than three pounds a week for more than four weeks in a row.
6. Claims that the product works the same for everyone.
7. Creams, patches, wraps, earrings, and things to be worn or applied to the body to lose weight.

It's true. Companies sell magnetic earrings that supposedly work on pressure points around the ear to stimulate weight loss. Eye glasses and other products that hang on the ear are also available. Not surprisingly, no measurable weight-loss results have ever been recorded from these in any scientific tests.