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You are here: Home / Archives for safety

Should change my name to Safety Girl (but it is already taken) #safety

July 24, 2014 by Wendy S

Over the last few months, I’ve noticed a trend in some of the things I’ve been doing: Safety!  

My name is Wendy. I’m trained in _____ . Can I help you?

I’m the type of person who loves helping other people. When I was younger, I wanted to be a teacher.  Once I got to university, I ended up becoming a cartographer. Which I love!  My teaching and helping other people isn’t in a formal teaching position, but in many other ways.

Former Lifeguard and Swimming Instructor

Starting when I was 17, I worked as a Life Guard and Swimming instructor for several years. It was a great job!  This led me to become a camp councillor and lifeguard at several summer camps.  

Children’s Restraint System Technician (CRST)  aka Car Seat Tech

Since 2008, I have been helping parents keep their children safe. I joke that I’m saving lives, one car seat at a time.  But it’s true.  With a misuse rate of over 80%, parents need help getting their car seats installed properly and need tips and suggestions as to how to use the seats properly.  

Initially I was trained with St. John’s Ambulance, but have recently certified with Child Passenger Safety Association of Canada (CPSAC).

I have written many blog posts about car seat safety with the hope that I can reach as many parents as possible.

Certified Joint Health and Safety Committee Member

Last year, I became a Certified member of the Health and Safety Committee at my office.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) requires my workplace to have a Joint Health and Safety Committee consisting of worker and employer members.  We do regular building inspections to look for potential hazards, and make recommendations to our employer for ways that safety could be improved.

In an office building, the hazards are less than those working out on a construction site, but it is still very important that my fellow employees and I are safe. The most common safety hazard in an office, is probably ergonomic issues.  Too many people are sitting at their computers incorrectly and over time, that will cause injuries.

First Aid, CPR and AED Certification

Earlier this week, I got my First Aid, CPR and AED certification again.  I had done it a few years ago and it had expired. It was good to know that I was still confident in my abilities and aced the test!

At one point in my life, I event tossed around the idea of being an EMT. I might have been good at it!

Safety overload

There are times when having all of this knowledge is trouble some. I don’t shut my “safety” switch off very well.  I can’t go by a vehicle with car seats in it and not take a look to see how the seat is installed. If someone is coughing, I pause to make sure they are ok. When I see hazards (even outside my office), I’ll notice.  One of the hard things is knowing when to step in and help or when to back off because people aren’t going to be receptive to my help.  

Knowledge is power

I might not be a teacher by profession, but I sure have found other ways to help people.  And I love that I can!

safetygirl

Filed Under: Life, safety Tagged With: AED, CPR, First Aid, health, Lifeguard, safety

A winter coat is for playing in the snow, not in a #carseat !

October 23, 2013 by Wendy S

 

The weather in Ontario, is starting to get colder. Colder weather means warmer clothes, and soon we’ll be in winter coats.

Wearing a winter coat in a car seat is dangerous.

I took photos of Lauren in her car seat to prove my point. I tell parents to do this test so that they can see how dangerous it is to wear a winter coat in a car seat. (Lauren is squinting due to the sun.)

With your child in their winter coat, put them in the car seat and tighten it as tight as you can.

Here is Lauren in her car seat in her winter coat. I pulled the harness as tight as I could get it.

It passes the “Only 1 finger” test. It has to be tight enough, right?

UPDATE:  It’s best practice to use the “Pinch Test” to check to see if the harness is tight enough.

Pinch Test

(From: Britax)

 

Take the child’s coat off but don’t touch the harness

When Lauren takes her coat off, you can see how loose the harness truly is.

In a collision, the force will compress the bulky coat and then the harness will be this loose. As if the coat isn’t there.

Lauren shows how far she can pull the harness out and how far she can lean forward. This is very dangerous in a collision. The harness is to hold the child firmly in the seat to reduce movement during a collision.

In just her sweater, we pull the harness tight. This is safe.

Watch this segment from the Today Show(aired December 14, 2015):

(aired December 14, 2015):

 

“But my child will be cold going from the house to the car in just a sweater!”

This is the comment I hear most from parents. If you get a 3-in-1 coat that has an inner jacket and an outer shell, you can remove the outer shell before harnessing your child in the car seat.

For a child in an infant seat, you can harness them in the seat and then place a warm blanket over the top before taking them out to the car.

I hope these photos help you understand why a child should NEVER wear a bulky winter coat in their car seat.

How to keep them warm?

Here are some great suggestions from the Car Seat Lady on how to keep your child warm: http://thecarseatlady.com/warmandsafe/

swaddlingintheseat

 

Not all children will be this lucky:

Here is a story of an infant, in a snowsuit, who miraculously survived being throw from their car seat during a collision. They were ejected from the car seat because the harness was too loose.

http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/149235/the_important_winter_car_seat

Please comment below if you have any questions.

I am here to help your child be safe while in a vehicle.


Filed Under: Car Seat Safety Tagged With: car seat, photo, safety, winter

#CarSeats and other great deals at @SnuggleBugz’s Anniversary Sale (March 1st to 9th)

March 1, 2013 by Wendy S

 photo sb_march1.gif
They have some amazing deals!!
Clek Foonf ~ $399 
 photo foonf_colours.jpg 

 Britax Parkway SG ~ $99

 photo br_e9la91x_britax_parkway_sg_maui_blue.jpg 



Diono Monterey ~ $139 

 photo MontereyColours.jpg


Skip Hop Zoo plates ~ $5.99 

 photo SkipHopZooPlate-SH-252155.jpg


Plus cloth diapers, feeding, safety and other amazing items! Check out the sale now!

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety, Oakville, snugglebugz Tagged With: safety

Keeping our families safe is a Chicken Farmer’s #1 Priority

September 25, 2012 by Wendy S

(From chicken.ca — Not John’s farm)

After his 4th or 5th time out to the barn, but not his last for the day, John Opsteen took time out of his day to talk to me about being a chicken farmer.

John Opsteen and his brother are a 2nd generation chicken farmers. In 1971, John’s parents bought their first chicken farm. In 1991, his brother bought his farm and later, in 1999, John got his own farm after graduating from the University of Guelph.

John had grand plans for this first farm which included a new barn and a lot of renovations.  However, due to an unfortunate fire at his parents’ farm, 10,000 chickens moved into John’s old boiler-heated barn.  What made things a bit more difficult was that the previous farm owners were still living in the farm house until their new home was ready.  John lived in a trailer on the property for many months, sometimes sleeping on the barn steps where it was warmer.

13 years later, John is very proud to talk about his 18,000+ square foot barn with a computer-operated heating and ventilation system and automated feeder that is home to 46,000 chickens.  My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard that number.  That is a lot of chickens!!

The safety of those chickens is John’s number one priority.  The chickens are “free run” — they are free to move about, but stay inside the barn as Canada’s weather doesn’t always lend itself to the environment that is best for the chickens.  Keeping the chickens in the barn keeps them safe from diseases and they are protected from wild animals.  As John checks the barn, each time taking up to 2 hours, he’s monitoring their food, their health, the temperature, the conditions in the barn and so many other things.  Providing a healthy, safe product to Canadians is very important to John.

To ensure that John is providing the best chickens to Canadians, a yearly audit is done.  Everything from the cleanliness of the straw and shavings to where the food comes from and how it’s stored is checked to make sure that there is no cross contamination.

There are over 1000 chicken farmers in Ontario and 4 of them are right here in Halton region.  Each farmer has a contract with a processing plant.  The processing plant has specific expectations for the farmer to meet.  This starts by them providing the chicks.

The process starts at the “hatcher” where there are hens and roosters so that the eggs get fertilized.  21 days after incubation, the chicks hatch and are delivered to John’s farm.  All 46, 000 of them!

(Oh, in case you were wondering like I was, eggs are produced at “layers” where there aren’t any roosters.)

There are two different types of chickens that John raises — Cockerel (males) and Pullet (females).  It takes 5 weeks for the chickens to be full grown.  The males will get to be 2.0kg and the females 1.7kg.

In the dark of night, when the chickens are most calm,  the processor sends the chicken catchers to collect the chickens.  About 7 hours later, 8 transport trucks roll away with all of the chickens.  John’s chickens will end up at Swiss Chalet (the males) and KFC (the females).

Once the chickens are gone, John cleans and disinfects the barn in preparation for the next crop of chickens.  But they don’t come right away because allowing time for the barn to sit empty will make sure that nothing is transferred from one crop to the next.  It is a 9 week cycle, so the barn sits empty for 4-5 weeks.

John isn’t sitting still during those weeks though. Part way through that month, his brother’s chicken barn will be emptied and ready for cleaning.  They work together, especially at cleaning time.

During our conversation, I asked John what happened to his parents farm.  They still own the farm, but without a barn, they don’t have any chickens.  What keeps them busy is a huge, charity garage sale that they organize, using one of their garages as storage for the items that people donate.

Also, I found out that John also gives back to his community by educating others about chickens and chicken farming.   He won an award for the great work that he has done!

I’m sure that after we got off the phone, John headed back out to the barn to check everything one more time.   Thank you John for the hard work that you do and for caring so much about providing safe, healthy chickens for us to eat!

Want to meet a chicken farmer from Nova Scotia?? Read Lynette’s post!
 
And a farmer from Saskatchewan!  Read Stacey’s post!

I am proudly participating in the Chicken Farmers of Canada program by ShesConnected.  I received compensation in exchange for my participation in this campaign.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

Filed Under: Ambassador, Chicken Farmers Tagged With: chicken farmer, chicken safety, safety

You’ve Come a Long Way Baby — celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ontario’s car seat law!

September 20, 2012 by Wendy S

Monday, September 24th, at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, is the kick off event for this year’s Ontario Provincial Seatbelt Campaign.
2012 marks the 30th anniversary of Ontario’s child car seat law. 

To spotlight the anniversary, the theme for this year’s campaign is ‘You’ve Come a Long Way Baby’. This year’s campaign runs from September 24th to October 6th.

Today, Transport Canada survey results show that 96 per cent of all Ontarians buckle up. Ontario was the first province to require all drivers and passengers to wear a seatbelt in 1976. Since the law first came into effect, the number of people killed and injured in motor vehicle collisions has steadily dropped and it is estimated that seatbelt use has saved over 8,000 lives. However in 2009, approximately 1 in 6 drivers and passengers killed in motor vehicle collisions were not wearing a seatbelt.

On Monday, September 24th, 
at Yorkdale Shopping Centre from 6am to 9am,
there will be a drop in Car Seat clinic!  

Come early!

What Happens at a Car Seat Clinic?
Click here to find out!


Some of the events that will be going on at this year’s launch:

  • Toronto Police Service will have a Breathalyzer station setup
  • OPP will have the Rollover simulator
  • Toronto Fire Department will be performing a vehicle extrication
  • CAA will be demonstrating the car-fit program
  • DRIVEWISE will be demonstrating a virtual driving simulator
  • Half-car demonstrations

Filed Under: Car Seat Safety Tagged With: safety

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mapsgirl@gmail.com

Why “mapsgirl” ?

Wendy is a cartographer! She draws maps!

When not mapping, Wendy is also a mom to two daughters. They are the inspiration of this blog. Passionate about child passenger safety, Wendy was a certified Car Seat Technician in Ontario, Canada from 2008 to 2020. [Read More …]

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