The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is partnering with construction contractors, the Federal Highway Administration, the state of Georgia and local government organizations to sponsor a one-hour safety stand-down at construction sites around Georgia during National Highway Work Zone Awareness Week, which will be April 15-19.

Workers will voluntarily stop work at construction sites from 7 to 8 a.m. EDT to conduct work zone safety training focused on the prevention of distracted driving, such as texting while driving, and worker injuries from traffic objects and vehicles. Objects and vehicles striking workers are the leading cause of construction-related deaths. Approximately 75 percent of struck-by fatalities involve heavy equipment, such as trucks or cranes.

The stand-down is being organized by the Georgia Struck-By Alliance, which includes representatives from OSHA, the Georgia Branch of the Associated General Contractors of America, 3M Visibility & Insulations Solutions, Georgia’s Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration’s Georgia Division, and the Georgia Highways Contractors Association. It also includes the Georgia Utility Contractors Association, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Lamar Signs and the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia. Additional participants are Georgia Power, Pike Electric, the National Safety Council – Georgia Chapter, Ansco & Associates and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

“Alliance members have demonstrated initiative and leadership organizing this industry wide safety stand-down throughout Georgia to emphasize the importance of work zone safety. The stand-down will heighten construction workers’ awareness of and ability to identify and help employers eliminate work-related hazards,” said Teresa Harrison, OSHA’s acting regional administrator for the Southeast.

An informational flier and toolbox, in English and Spanish, are available on the Associated General Contractors of America Inc. Georgia Branch website at http://www.agcga.org/cs/safety_stand_down_program/georgia_struckby_alliance_safety_stand_down_april_2013. For more information, contact Christi Griffin in OSHA’s Atlanta-West Area Office at 678-903-7301, Bill Fulcher in the Atlanta-East Area Office at 770-493-6644, or Robert Vazzi in the Savannah Area Office at 912-652-4393.

Through its Alliance Program, OSHA works with groups committed to worker safety and health to prevent workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. These groups include unions, consulates, trade and professional organizations, faith- and community-based organizations, businesses and educational institutions. OSHA and the groups work together to develop compliance assistance tools and resources, and educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA programmed inspections. For more information on this and other cooperative programs, visit http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/index_programs.html.

Lafay

Lafayette Police are investigating a night that ended in a stabbing early Sunday morning.

The incident reportedly began with a party at Mountain Shadow Apartment on West Main with eight to ten people attending. A fight is alleged to broke out between an Alabama man, Buddy Wayne Henderson, and two local men, Acea Timmons and Derrick Narramore.

Timmons called friends to come and pick him up, and, according to witness reports, Sierra Hood of Lafayette, arrived a few minutes later. The three-way fight reportedly broke out again and police say Ms. Hood went into the apartment and came out with a five-inch steak knife. In attempting to break up the men, she allegedly stabbed Henderson in the thigh.

When police arrived, Henderson was the only person on sight and had lost a large amount of blood in the parking lot. 21-year-old Hood was picked up a couple of hours later. She led police to the wooded area she she had thrown the knife. She was charged with aggravated assault, but claimed she was defending her friends.

Henderson, of Cedar Bluff Alabama, was taken to Hutcheson Medical Center. Police say he will face an assault charge when he is released.

Due to extensive facial injuries from the right, Derick Narramore also was taken to the hospital for treatment.  

Listed on the April 14-15 Arrest Report are:

Matthew Spencer Adams — probation violation

Kimberly Marie Cook — probation violation

Stacy Lamar Crow — parole violation

Jimmy Lavern Guffey — probation violation; failure to appear

Jonathan Anthony Johnson — VGCSA/ possession of more than one ounce of marijuana; VGCSA/ within 1000 feet of a housing project or park; VGCSA/ possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; VGCSA/ abandonment of dangerous drugs/ poisons/ controlled substance; Willful obstruction of law enforcement officers

Robert Wayne Kinney — no charges

Jacob Jerome Ratliff — failure to appear

Holly Anna Adams — Compulsory School attendance law

Terri Lynn Blair — deposit account fraud

Jonathan William Taylor — hold for Walker County

Floyd Medical Center, is helping lead a massive effort to highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making—an effort that has culminated in the formal designation of April 16 as National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD).

“National Healthcare Decisions Day exists to serve as a reminder to all of us about the importance of advance care planning,” says Tim Adams, Palliative Care Nursing Director at Floyd Medical Center.  “These are issues we don’t like to think about, but we have to if we want to make sure our wishes are known and honored.”

Floyd is providing information and tools that will help people talk about their wishes with family, friends and healthcare providers, and execute written advance directives in accordance with Georgia state law

“Advance Directives cover all aspects of the decision making process,” says Joy Jones, Director of Heyman HospiceCare.  “This includes identifying the person who will make health care decisions for a patient, as well as what that patient’s treatment preferences will be.  It’s an invaluable tool.”

On April 16, from 10 am until 3 pm, health care professionals will be available at Heyman HospiceCare to provide free information about advance care planning and to offer assistance in completing advance planning forms.

Adams draws from personal experience when describing the peace of mind gained by having a plan in place.

“I had an uncle who experienced a prolonged illness that would have required some tough decisions to be made by my aunt.  Thankfully he had the foresight to prepare an advance directive, keeping her from having to shoulder an added burden in an already difficult situation.”  Adams continues, “I was able to see first hand how important and compassionate it is to plan ahead.”

Heyman HospiceCare is located at the Floyd Corporate Support Center, 420 E. 2^nd Ave., in Rome.

The Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care is also available online at www.floyd.org.

If you haven't filed your taxes yet, today is the last day to do so without paying a penalty, or getting an extension from the Internal Revenue Service

 According to Fortune Magazine, Congress passed the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which allows for implementation of personal income tax on February 3, 1913, and chose march 1 of the following year as the filing deadline. The deadline was changed to March 15 in 1918. It was changed to April 15 in 1955. Moving back the date from the end of the tax year served two purposes — it gave the IRS more time to handle the work and, more importantly, more time to hang on to your money before issuing a refund. 

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