What’s at Stake?

As end-dump truck bodies and/or semi-trailer dump rigs get longer, instability of the vehicle gets higher and higher.  With high instability comes more of a chance of trucks tipping over.  This risk is greater in semi-trailer rigs than in straight trucks due to the length of the semi-trailer rig.

So, what can happen after a dump truck tips over?  In early May of 2017 an El Paso worker suffered life-threatening injuries after being trapped inside a tipped over dump truck.  Luckily for him, first responders were notified almost immediately, yet it still took over an hour to free the man and he had to be treated for serious injuries.

What’s the Danger?

Stability is the main issue in cases of tip-overs, and stability can come into play in many ways.

First, there are concerns with the vehicles.  The trucks’ design can be a problem when the box is in a raised position; if the center of gravity isn’t between the frame rails, the truck may become imbalanced and be at risk to tip over.  Also, the vehicles’ working conditions may be a problem, such as the suspension system needing repair, uneven or low tire pressure, or faulty lifting system parts and cylinders.

Second, there can be increased risk for tip overs when working with certain materials, or with amounts of materials.  For instance, when dumping materials that don’t flow out of the top portion of the box, or when there is a large amount of material in the upper portion of the box, the truck becomes uneven and unstable.  This can be further problematic if the wheels settle unevenly during the dumping process.

The third concern is with the working environment.  Wind, especially if the box is long as is found in end-dump semi-trailers, can cause risk for tipping.  Additionally, the ground or working surface can be a risk.  If the truck is not on a level surface to begin with, as dumping processes continue, the risk for imbalance becomes greater and greater.

How to Protect Yourself

One of the most effective way to prevent tipping is in controlling risk factors with the vehicles.

1. When possible, choose the right type of dump truck.  For example, using belly-dump semi-trailers for spreading aggregate for road construction, or using straight trucks or pup trailers instead of semi-trailers in areas where surfaces are uneven.
2. Maintenance and inspection of all vehicles is a must!  For example, tire pressure should be checked daily and should be equal on all sides of the truck.  Check and lubricate pins and bushings. Check hoist cylinders regularly and when needed replace with cylinders of the same size and operating pressure. Inspect suspension systems to make sure they work properly and have even suspension. Report damaged components and don’t use the equipment until all components have been fixed.
3. Always follow all procedures and safety policies from your organization and use manufacturer recommendations and instructions for maintenance.

Additionally, making good decisions when loading and dumping can greatly reduce risks for tipping.

1. When loading, always stay within regulated weight limits.
2. If working with poorly flowing materials, be sure to lighten the load in the top end of the box, use a smaller load instead of a full load, and use box liners if possible.
3. Recognize dumping site hazards such as soft or uneven surfaces, or inadequately compacted fill, and check that the vehicle is on an even surface before dumping.
4. When spreading material by dumping from a moving truck, the entire length of travel should be level.
5. Avoid dumping when trucks are parked side-by-side.

Final Word

Recognizing the risks associated with tipping hazards is key in prevention.  Trucks must be properly maintained and risk factors that cause imbalance to vehicles must be avoided to have a healthy and safe work environment.

You should be evaluating your safety program on a regular basis – at least annually – to determine what is working and what’s not and whether the program is on track to meet its goals. Tracking and analyzing leading and lagging indicators are one effective way to monitor the performance and progress of your safety program.

Leading and Lagging Indicators

In his 2014 article, Kyle W. Morrison gave a perfect example of leading and lagging indicators. “Leading indicators are pre-incident measurements, as opposed to lagging indicators, which are measurements collected after an incident occurs. For example, a flat tire is a lagging indicator because the blowout already has occurred, but an inspection that notes the poor quality of the tire and prevents a blowout from taking place is a leading indicator.”

To put it another way:

• Leading indicators are pre-incident measurements; and
• Lagging indicators measure performance based on past incident and injury numbers or statistics.

Lagging indicators tell you how many people got hurt, how they got hurt, and how badly the injuries were. Examples of lagging indicators include:

1. Injury logs
2. Injury frequency and severity
3. Days away from work/lost workdays
4. Worker compensation costs
5. Insurance premium costs
6. Property and equipment damage costs
7. Chemical release

Lagging indicators don’t tell you how well your organization is doing at preventing incidents and injuries. That’s where leading indicators come in.

Leading indicators are all about future performance and continuous improvement. Leading indicators help you see how well your organization is doing by measuring activities aimed at preventing injuries. Some popular leading indicators are:

1. Training
2. Tool box talks/safety meetings
3. Inspections and audits
4. Hazard assessments
5. Hazard and near-miss reporting (observations)
6. Equipment/machine maintenance
7. Safety committee participation

Leading and lagging indicators can be either quantitative or qualitative.

• The number of reported hazards and near misses would be a quantitative indicator.
• A single worker expressing a favorable opinion about program participation would be a qualitative indicator.

Whenever possible, select indicators that are measurable (quantitative). Quantitative indicators will help you better determine whether you’ve reached your program goals.

Improve and Correct

When a problem is identified in your safety and health program, you (the employer), in coordination with supervisors, managers, and workers—must take prompt action to correct the problem and prevent it from happening again.

How to accomplish it

• If you discover program shortcomings determine how to correct the issue. Get input from your managers and employees and research what others in your industry have done/are doing.
• Continually seek input from managers, workers, supervisors, and other stakeholders program improvements.
• Determine whether changes in equipment, facilities, materials, key personnel, or work practices trigger any need for changes in the program.
• Determine whether your performance indicators and goals are still relevant and, if not, how to change them so they tell a more accurate picture and drive improvements overall.

Scope and Timing

The scope and frequency of program evaluations will depend on the scope, complexity, and maturity of the program and on the types of hazards it must control. Program evaluations should be conducted periodically (and at least annually) but might also be triggered by a change in process or equipment, or an incident such as a serious injury, significant property damage, or an increase in safety-related complaints.

Safety Talk

What’s at Stake?

During a shutdown, process industries such as oil and gas slow or stop work and inspect, maintain, repair and replace equipment.  If you are working through a plant slowdown or shutdown, you need to be aware of the new hazards created during this time.

What’s the Danger?

Any change in the work environment can create hazards. Construction, demolition and renovation can turn your familiar work area into a strange, poorly lighted obstacle course. Temporary and contract workers carrying out maintenance can also be wild cards when it comes to your safety. They should be trained and supervised, but they don’t know the plant like you do.

Construction and maintenance work may also prevent areas from being locked and guarded as well as usual. The risk of theft or even assault can also be higher because of the influx of unfamiliar workers.

How to Protect Yourself

Get Clear Direction

Ask your supervisor about what you are supposed to be doing. If the duties are unfamiliar, get the necessary training.

Find out who is responsible for what.

• Who oversees the temporary workers and the contractors?
• How do you report safety concerns – has the process changed?
• Whom should you contact in an emergency?

ID New Hazards

• If lines and tanks are being drained, is there a chance of chemical exposure?
• Are there new fire hazards associated with welding or painting activities?
• Which machines will be locked/tagged out for repair or maintenance?

PPE

• You’ll need a hardhat for areas under construction and in any area where there are overhead hazards or the potential for falling objects.
• Safety footwear and other kinds of protective equipment also might be needed.
• Safety glasses are almost certain to be required and don’t forget to protect your hearing and wear your hearing protection.

Be Alert

• Doing your job on automatic pilot is a bad idea at any time, but particularly when the worksite is disrupted.
• Shutdowns can mean long hours and many days of work without a day off.
• Try and get plenty of sleep, watch your consumption of alcohol after work, and make healthy choices when it comes to food.

Security Concerns

• Report poor lighting inside and outside the plant.
• Ensure doors and windows are closed as required and badge and sign-in systems are observed.
• Stop and question strangers in the work area.

Final Word

Keep your attention on business and safety during a shutdown. All the usual hazards are there, and likely some new ones, too.

It can be tricky dealing with the various personality types, levels of experience, and differing backgrounds of meeting participants. You can’t always predict what their reaction will be, and you may not have advance knowledge of who will be in attendance, but you can still prepare. One way is by understanding the four general types of meeting participants you’re likely to encounter and how best to interact with them. You may also encounter entire groups that have these characteristics – the response is the same.

The Hostile Participant

Sometimes a meeting participant is just not that into you. They might be openly hostile or downright aggressive. The trick is to deal with their hostility as quickly as possible and get them on your side.

• Establish rules of engagement, keep control of the meeting, and keep it moving along.
• Challenge them if you know they are wrong or have incomplete evidence. Don’t humiliate them; illuminate them with the truth or rest of the story.
• Use humor to disarm them, but don’t sacrifice or undermine you authority as a speaker.
• Use stories and facts.

The Critic

Critical participants consider themselves intelligent – probably more intelligent than you. They will be skeptical of the information and actively look for ways to disprove what you’re saying.

• Present them with cold hard facts. Which means you’ll have to do your research and be prepared.
• Don’t exaggerate. Use simple and powerful examples to communicate your message.

The Uninformed Participant

Get a read on the level of knowledge, experience, and skill your participants have so you can engage participants across the spectrum.

• Question the audience to find out what they know and don’t know.
• Offer some basic facts to help fill in gaps – do this at the beginning and throughout the meeting as needed.

If there is a large gap in knowledge, experience, and skill, for example a meeting with a mix of newly hired and veteran workers, consider breaking the group up into more uniform groups and tailoring information to each group.

Sympathetic Participant

Sympathetic participants are your ally against the hostile and critical. They can also help you win over the cynics and provide help to the uniformed.

• Appeal to what you have in common and how you’re alike to help create and strengthen your bond.
• But be sincere or you’ll lose their sympathy quickly.

Defining the Problem

In a 2013 webinar former, OSHA administrator David Michaels said, “We have known for decades that new workers, when they first start at a new job, are at greatly increased risk of injury – and we know why: New workers are often not adequately trained in the potential hazards at the new jobsite and the measures they can take to protect themselves.”

And yet, according to the Toronto-based Institute for Work & Health, only 1 out of 5 new workers receives safety training. Training – especially new employee orientation or onboarding, and reinforcement – is paramount to protecting new workers.

Risk Overview

In a 10-year study by Institute for Work & Health, the risk of injury for workers with shorter job tenure has consistently remained higher compared to those employed at a job for more than one year.

Risk is particularly elevated among those in the first month on the job, with over three times the risk of a lost-time injury as workers with over a year’s job experience.

Several other studies have found similar results:

• Bentley et al. (2002) reported that 32 % of injuries on logging skid sites occur within the workers’ first 6 months of employment.
• McCall and Horwitz (2005) reported that 51 % of the 1168 trucking accident claims they examined were made by drivers with less than one year of job tenure.
• Chi et al. (2005) found that 80.5 % of the 621 fatal occupational falls in the Taiwanese construction industry which they analyzed had occurred in the individual’s first year on the job.
• Jeong (1998) examined national statistics on industrial accidents in the construction sector in South Korea in the years 1991–1994 and found that 95.6 % of the 120,417 non-fatal injuries and 92.5 % of the 2,803 deaths examined had occurred in the employees’ first year on the job.

In addition, the IWH study found the risk of work injuries among new workers is greater among older workers, men and those in the goods sector, which includes construction and manufacturing, among others.

Risk Factors and Reasons

Risk factors:

• Lack of experience
• Age
• Lack of training/retention of training
• Turnover

With respect to experience and age, IWH Scientist Dr. Curtis Breslin, who led the IWH study, says the risk of a lost-time injury is highest among workers over 45 years of age compared to all other age groups.

“The key risk factor is newness, not youth,” says Breslin.

In addition to the outright lack of training, another risk organizations face is retention of training. Overloading your new worker with every process, step-by-step instruction, safety rule, and HR policy they are expected to know is not the best way for them to learn and retain the information. Our brains simply aren’t designed to handle that much information at one time.

Without reinforcement, learners lose 70% of what they learn within 24 hours of learning it.

Job change is becoming more the norm rather than the exception. People just aren’t staying with companies for a lifetime anymore. With each change, or turnover of an employee, comes the increased risk of “newness”.

Other reasons:

• New workers are unfamiliar with tasks, processes, and the work environment.
• New workers are often afraid to speak up or ask questions if they have safety concerns or aren’t sure how to perform a task.
• Workers new to a job are simply faced with a greater number of hazards due to their lack of experience.
• Risk perception isn’t as developed in a new worker because they don’t have the existing knowledge and awareness that comes with time and they simply underestimate the risks.

Making Work Safe for New Workers

New workers need training before they start working and continue to need training on an ongoing basis during the first 6-12 months of starting a new job. Training should focus on:

• Safety and emergency procedures
• Site and job-specific procedures
• On-the-job, hands on, and a demonstration of skills and competencies

Take time to learn what workers have been trained on, their experience, and their overall safety knowledge.

Follow-up initial onboarding training with safety talks, safety meetings, and work with a mentor.

Incorporate other types of training and reinforcement based on your organization’s specific requirements and needs.

Finally, don’t assume new workers know all their safety rights or feel comfortable voicing their concerns, asking questions, or pointing out hazards.

Lifting, pushing, pulling and carrying heavy objects remains a fundamental job task in just about all industries and work settings.

Performing these tasks – typically referred to as “manual materials handling” – puts workers at risk of musculoskeletal disorders (aka, “MSDs”), or serious and painful injuries to the back, limbs, joints and muscles. This Workplan outlines four steps you can implement over a 30-day period to prevent MSDs along with the insurance, citations, productivity, and other liabilities that can result.

Step One: Hazard Assessment (Day 1-5)

The first step in controlling MSD hazards is to conduct a hazard assessment. While workers may get MSDs from job tasks that don’t involve handling heavy objects – like sitting at a poorly designed office workstation over a prolonged period – for purposes of this Workplan, the hazard assessment required should focus only on manual materials handling operations and the job tasks putting workers at risk of MSDs during these operations. Hazard assessment methods should include:

• Directly observing workers as they perform manual materials handling operations.
• Interviewing workers and supervisors who do these jobs.
• Reviewing injury logs, workers’ comp claims, first aid records and other materials that may reveal MSD injury patterns or trends.

Use the following tools to identify hazards, review data, and survey workers:

1. Industrial Ergonomics Hazards Assessment Checklist
2. Ergonomic Injury Records Review
3. Model Employee MSD Symptoms Survey

Manual materials handling and ergonomics are closely related, so ergonomics-related hazards should be included in your assessment.

As you identify hazards, consider the risk factors that determine whether a manual materials operation poses an MSD risk, including:

1. How heavy the object being lifted, carried or moved is.
2. The object’s size, shape, texture and other characteristics affecting how it’s handled.
3. The horizontal distance between the worker and the object at boththe start and end of the lift.
4. How high the worker must lift the object at both the start and end of the lift.
5. How far the object must be moved.
6. The kind of terrain the worker must travel to move the object.
7. Whether the lift requires the worker to twist, bend, reach and/or assume an unnatural and uncomfortable posture.
8. How many times per hour and/or per day the worker must carry out such lifts.
9. The physical environment, e.g., temperature and climate conditions.
10. The health, age, stamina and skill of the worker performing the lift.

Once you’ve identified all hazards, evaluate the seriousness of each so you can make intelligent, economically viable and legally sound decisions about the measures necessary to control them. Your evaluation should rank hazards by:

• Severity, including, intensity, duration and frequency of exposure.
• Correctability, including the complexity of the hazard’s cause(s), whether technology or other solutions are available to control it, how much they cost, and how feasible they are to implement at your workplace

The following tools can be used to evaluate and rank the hazards you’ve identified:

1. Ergonomic Injuries: Data Summary & Corrective Actions
2. Manual Material Handling Checklist

Step Two: Choose & Implement Safety Controls (Day 6-10)

Now that you’ve identified all manual materials handling hazards, you must implement controls to manage the risks identified.

Three Control Methods

1. Eliminate

If reasonably practicable, totally eliminate the hazard. For example, do not perform the manual materials handling operations that expose workers to MSD hazards.

Implement Engineering Controls

If elimination isn’t reasonably practicable, take measures to control the hazards.  Start with engineering controls. OSHA expects employers to determine if mechanical devices such as forklifts, dollies, conveyors, and hand trucks can be used to move materials. Making workers handle materials by hand rather than using feasible mechanical devices can lead not only to MSDs but OSHA citations or concerns from your insurer. Simpler forms of engineering controls to consider include:

• Dividing materials into smaller, lighter loads
• Placing materials into smaller, more numerous containers
• Reducing the physical distance — both horizontal and vertical – that materials must be moved

2. Implement Work/Administrative Controls

The next layer of hazard control is use of “work” or “administrative” controls. These affect how the work is actually carried out. Start by developing and implementing safe work procedures for lifting and carrying heavy objects. Other work controls may include:

• Using teams of workers to lift heavy objects (or patients in healthcare settings)
• Rotating workers in and out of high-risk tasks to prevent repetition and continuous exposure
• Giving workers regular rest breaks to recover
• Alternating heavy with light tasks

3. Use PPE & Other Protective Equipment

Last but not least, make sure workers who handle materials by hand have – and use – appropriate PPE and safety equipment for preventing MSD hazards, which may include:

• Gloves making it easier for workers to grip and protecting hands from vibration, impact or cold
• Slip-resistant footwear
• Anti-fatigue mats to reduce musculoskeletal strain and fatigue from walking on hard surfaces
• Footwear with anti-fatigue insoles, which is especially useful for working on hard surfaces that can’t be covered with mats
• Knee and elbow pads to minimize the stress and fatigue from contact with hard or sharp surfaces
• Wrist splints and braces to limit arm and wrist movements that can cause or aggravate an injury

Note that back belts have not proven effective in protecting workers against MSD hazards.

Implementation Tip: Although listed in order of recommended implementation, recognize that engineering, work and PPE controls are not mutually exclusive.  In the real world, they often can and should be used in combination.

Step Three: Training (Day 11-20)

The next step is to train workers involved in manual materials handling operations, so they understand MSD hazards they face and how to manage the risks. At a minimum, safety training should explain to workers:

• What MSDs are.
• What causes MSDs and how workers can get MSDs by lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling and moving heavy objects by hand.
• The measures in place to ensure workers don’t get MSDs (or other injuries) while performing manual. materials handling operations, including lifting equipment, safe work procedures and required PPE.
• The symptoms and signs of an MSD.
• The procedures for reporting MSD injuries and hazards.

Step Four: Monitor, Reinforce, Improve (Day 21-30)

The final step is to monitor your controls to ensure they’re effective and determine whether adjustments or corrective actions are necessary. Monitoring must be carried out on an ongoing and continuous basis. Even though it’s scheduled for Day 21-30, the monitoring process should never end!

Monitoring should be carried out on a regular basis, e.g., as part of monthly work inspections and scheduled safety audits, and in response to indications that current measures may not be adequate. Such red flags would include:

• MSD symptoms or hazards reported by workers, supervisors, or contractors doing manual materials handling jobs.
• Safety incidents involving such operations.
• Significant changes to manual materials handling operations, personnel, work environment, equipment, etc. that aren’t accounted for or anticipated in the existing hazard assessment.

Remember: keep careful records documenting measures taken to assess and correct handling and ergonomic risks, so you can prove your compliance with safety regulations.

Safety Talk

What’s at stake?

Machines have all but replaced muscle power in modern industrial society. Forklifts are a prime example. Forklifts are utilized just about everywhere material needs to be moved. Operated properly, they save time and money, prevent back injuries, and help operations run smoothly.

What’s the danger?

Despite the overall positive contribution of forklifts to industry, there have been times when things have gone terribly wrong.

Here are some examples:

• Innocent by-standers have been pinned by the forks.
• Unsuspecting workers have been run over.
• Elevated loads have fallen.
• Unauthorized “hitchhikers” have been crushed under wheels.

Consider this real-life incident…

A senior rig toolpusher operating a forklift discovered a hydraulic leak of the lift controller for the forks. The load was raised about 10 feet (three meters) high and he began to repair the leak. He stood under the load and was attempting to tighten the fitting when it broke completely off the hydraulic line. This caused the load to drop, trapping the toolpusher under the load. He was killed immediately.

How to protect yourself

Machines of every description have standard operating procedures which include a “checklist” for its safe operation. Forklifts are no exception. There are procedures and protocols for the safe and effective use of the forklift.

These operating procedures are rooted out of common sense but are too often ignored or forgotten.

Follow safe speed limits – Drive only fast as you can comfortably walk. Forklifts can’t travel safely at high speeds. Without loads, they aren’t weighted and are especially unstable.

Keep the load low – While moving, forks should be low, with the mast tilted slightly back.

Maintain good visibility – If a load blocks forward vision, drive backwards.

Watch the slope – Back down slopes that have an incline greater than10 percent. Make sure your back up alarm is working properly.

Never carry hitchhikers – They are unsecured and can easily fall off and be injured.

Leave aisle room – Allow space for pedestrian and other traffic. Be alert at intersections. Honk your horn before and while you enter an intersection, even if it doesn’t appear to be busy.

Park safely – On a hill, always block the wheels, lower forks and set the parking brake.

AVOID TIPPING OVER

Don’t drive with tall loads – Too tall or top-heavy loads can change your forklift’s center of gravity and cause you to tip over.

Make sharp turns slowly – If you turn too fast, you’re likely to shift your load. Any sudden movement can cause you to tip over.

Keep load upgrade – To avoid tipping:

• Carry your load upgrade.
• Back down ramps.
• Never turn on grades.

Be wary of sudden bumps – Chuck holes and other uneven ground can cause you to tip. Watch the road and cross railroads diagonally.

LOAD AND UNLOAD SAFELY

Enter the pallet – Keep the forks high enough to enter the pallet and as wide apart as possible.

Capture the load – Lift and tilt load back so it is secure, and never load over your forklifts weight limits.

Minimum clearance – Forks should clear the road by six to eight inches (15 to 20 centimeters). Raise them higher for ramps and grades.

Plan your route – Be aware of surface conditions, visibility, pedestrian traffic, upramps and intersections.

Stack on a rack – Raise the load to the right height. Position load. Tilt the load forward and lower the pallet onto the rack. Withdraw the forks slowly. Back out, looking over your shoulder.

Stack on a truck – First, make sure the dock plate and truck can’t move. Position the load, tilt it forward and release. Back out carefully, looking over your shoulder as you drive.

There are also some precautions that should be observed by everyone in an area where there is forklift traffic:

• Don’t assume a forklift driver sees you.
• Understand that the forklift usually has rear-wheel steering and will swing out at the rear end when turning.
• Keep clear of all the parts of a forklift, including the forks and wheels, which can potentially catch you or crush you.
• Never drive a forklift unless you are qualified to do so. Fatalities have occurred when unqualified personnel have “borrowed” a forklift for just a few minutes.

Final word

Forklift power has replaced muscle power in the modern day industry. Don’t ignore or forget well-established rules of safe forklift operation.

Safety Talk

What’s at Stake?

Slips, trips and falls are among the leading causes of workplace injuries. They occur when housekeeping procedures aren’t followed and enforced, when you rush or fail to pay attention to what you’re doing and where you’re walking, when you don’t wear the right kind of footwear, and when stairways, parking lots, and other walking and working surfaces aren’t well-maintained.

What’s the Danger?

Slips, trips, and falls can happen anywhere, at any time. They can cause any number of injuries and falls are the second leading cause of accidental death in North America.

How to Protect Yourself

Safety is not an accident, it is the outcome of safe work practices and well-designed procedures to prevent slips, trips, and falls.

• Be aware – Pay attention to where you’re going and resist the temptation to take a shortcut that may have obstacles or be unstable, shaky or slippery.
• Be proactive – Report any holes or openings that you find in grates or decking that require repair.
• Resist skidding – Wear shoes or boots with skid-resistant soles and keep your footwear free of grease and oil. On slick surfaces, keep your hands at your sides for balance and take cautious, short steps. Don’t run.
• Shed light – Poor lighting can camouflage hazards. Report or replace fixtures or bulbs that don’t work; notify your supervisor or maintenance of areas that are poorly lit.
• Practice stair care – Always walk up and down stairs slowly, one step at the time. Sound too cautious? Numerous workers have been injured on stairways by going too fast or by skipping steps. And if you must carry a load on stairs, make sure the load doesn’t block your vision, and try to keep one hand free to hold the railing.
• Good housekeeping and clean up – Wipe up grease, water, and other slick substances as soon as they are spotted. Cover icy and greasy spots with sand, dirt or other absorbent material. If you’re doing repair or maintenance work keep equipment and the surrounding area free of scraps and debris.

Final Word

Pay attention to walking and working surfaces, practice good housekeeping, and be proactive to prevent slips, trips, and falls.

Fork lift accidents are a leading source of fatal and serious work injuries; failure to ensure proper use of fork lifts is also perennially among the Top 10 most frequent causes of OSHA and OHS citations. Here’s a 12-step compliance plan to help you avoid both things.

Step 1: Ensure Forklifts Meet Design Standards

All new powered industrial trucks you acquire, and use must meet the design and construction requirements outlined in the American National Standard for Powered Industrial Trucks and the Canadian Standard Association Safety Standard for Lift Trucks. You’re not allowed to make modifications and additions that affect the forklift’s capacity and safe operation without the manufacturer’s prior written approval. All forklifts must have legible nameplates and markings.

Useful Resources:

• Forklift Safety Checklists

Step 2: Ensure Forklifts Are Used Only in Locations Allowed for Designation

Know the different designations for industrial trucks (in general and specifically for those used at your site). These designations are based on how forklift is powered, e.g., diesel, electrical or gas.  These designations specific which forklifts can be used in what type of location – depending on the atmospheric conditions in the location. For example, diesel designated forklifts can’t be used in work areas that contain significant concentrations of flammable or combustible gases.

Step 3: Ensure Forklifts Have Right Safety Guards

A load backrest extension must be used whenever necessary to minimize the possibility of the load or part of it from falling rearward. All loads handled by the forklift and the facility it operates within must meet one of the requirements below:

• All loads do not go higher than the top of the forks.
• All loads are one piece, shrink wrapped, banded or crated.
• No loads in the facility are stacked or racked higher than the operator’s head that does not meet the load requirements above.
• Forklifts with the load backrest removed must be restricted to:
  • Handling only loads meeting the requirements above; or
  • A specific area of the facility that does not contain any loads presenting a hazard.

Step 4: Ensure Forklift Fuel Is Safely Handled & Stored

Your methods of handling and storing liquid fuels such as gasoline or diesel fuel must meet for your forklift such as gasoline and diesel fuel must meet the National or Canadian Fire Safety Association Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code. Storage and handling of liquefied petroleum gas fuel must also meet NFPA/CFPA Storage and Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases. NFPA is for U.S. based operations and CFPA is for Canadian based operations. The CFPA is modeled after the NFPA.

Step 5: Ensure Safe Methods Used to Change & Store Forklift Batteries

There are detailed rules to ensure safe changing, charging and storage of batteries used to power forklifts, including the requirement that you ban smoking in battery charging areas and keep tools and other metal objects away from the top of uncovered batteries.

Useful Resources:

• Emergency Procedures for Lead-Acid Batteries
• Lead-Acid Batteries Safety Talk

Step 6: Ensure Forklift Operating Areas Are Well Lit  

Operating areas must be properly illuminated, and auxiliary directional lighting must be provided on the forklift where general lighting is less than 2 lumens per square foot.

Step 7: Keep Forklift Noxious Gas & Fume Emissions below Required Levels

Concentration levels of carbon monoxide gas and other toxic substances generated by powered industrial truck operations may not exceed regulated levels. Check with federal, state, and jurisdictional requirements.

Step 8: Ensure Forklift Dockboards Meet Safety Standards

Dockboards (or bridge plates that forklifts ride over to get to higher or lower surfaces) must be strong enough to carry the expected load. Portable dockboards must be anchored or have devices that prevent slipping and have handholds or other effective means to permit safe handling.

Step 9: Ensure Only Competent Persons Operate Forklifts

Forklifts are only to be operated by those trained to operate a powered industrial truck, as demonstrated by successfully completing the training and evaluation requirements. Forklift training involves instructional training and a skills test. Training should happen:

• Initially and every 3 years after. In some cases, a re-evaluation of skills is required after 18 months.
• When new equipment is introduced into the workplace;
• When the operating conditions and environment have changed;
• When applicable legislation changes; or
• When skill or knowledge deficiencies are identified.

Step 10: Ensure Forklifts Are Operated Safely

The ANSI and CSA standards lay out detailed requirements to ensure the safe use of forklifts, including how they’re parked, mounted and dismounted. They also include a separate section on “traveling” establishing traffic rules, e.g., forklifts must keep at least 3 truck lengths from the vehicle ahead.

Useful Resources:

• Forklift Travel Safety

Step 11: Ensure Forklifts Are Safely Loaded

Tilting and tipping of loads is a leading cause of forklift accidents. The Standard sets out detailed loading and unloading requirements to ensure that loads are stable and prevent such accidents.

Useful Resources:

• Forklift Loading Safety

Step 12: Ensure Forklifts Are Properly Maintained & Inspected

Forklifts must be inspected at least daily and removed from service if any dangerous defect is found. The Standard explains when and how inspections should be conducted and repairs effected.

What’s at Stake?

Materials handling work is part of many jobs. Think about the different things you lift, move, and store as part of your job – frequently or infrequently.

What’s the Danger?

For those that regularly perform materials handling, you know it can sometimes be backbreaking and monotonous work. This can lead to carelessness, complacency, and mistakes due to being bored, losing focus, or worn out physically and mentally.

Which in turn, can lead to unstable stacks of materials, chemical leaks and spills, damaged product, frustration and wasted time searching for materials, and ultimately injuries and fatalities.

How to Protect Yourself

Follow safety procedures, always practice safe lifting techniques, and get help when you need it, to ensure materials handling work is carried out safely and efficiently.

Here are 10 material handling guidelines:

1. Inspect skid steers, forklifts, hand carts, and other equipment used to move materials, before use.
2. Before stacking any materials, consider the type, height, and weight of the material.

• Bigger, heavier items should be at the bottom of the stack.
• Put materials that aren’t frequently used towards the back and keep frequently used items near the front of the storage area, shelf, or rack.
• Keep items within reach. Stacking materials too high or too deep increases the risk of injury when materials are moved.

3. Start with a solid, level base when stacking and storing material and follow guidelines for safe stacking so materials don’t fall or roll.
   • When stacking drums, barrels, and kegs, use a symmetrical pattern.
     • If they are to be stacked on their ends, use a sheet of plywood or skid inserted between the levels to provide stability and an even surface for each level.
     • When stored on their sides, block the bottom tier to prevent the bottom drums from rolling out from under the load.
   • When stacking bags or bundles, use interlocking rows to increase the stability of the load.
   • All cylindrical materials such as structural steel, poles, and tubing must be stacked and blocked to prevent spreading or tilting.
     • Pipes, bars, and tubing should be stored in racks that run parallel to the warehouse aisles to eliminate a safety hazard for those who use those aisles.

4. Remove nails from lumber before stacking.
   • Watch for burrs, jagged edges and other hazards when storing materials.
5. Observe the maximum load limits for floors, shelving, racks, elevators and other surfaces.
   • Remember, shelving must be safely anchored to prevent tipping and falling.
6. Maintain appropriate clearances.
   • Emergency responders need to be able to get to a worker, fight a fire, or clean up a hazardous spill.
   • Don’t store materials directly under sprinkler heads. Check with your supervisor on clearance requirements.
7. Store non-compatible materials separately.
   • Flammables, oxidizers and reactives all have special storage requirements because of the risk of fire, explosion or chemical reaction.
8. Practice good housekeeping.
   • Clean up trash and spills to prevent slips, trips and falls.
   • Properly dispose of discarded steel strapping to prevent cuts.
   • Keep aisles clear of clutter and stored materials to prevent trips and falls and ensure there is enough room for safe operation of forklifts, pallet jacks and other equipment.
9. Practice safe lifting and carrying.
   • Sacks should be lifted using opposite corners. Once the sack has been lifted, shift it so it rests against your hip or stomach, then swing the sack up and over your shoulder. If you cannot swing it over your shoulder, the sack is too heavy.
   • Irregular objects can be shaped irregularly or unevenly weighted. If the object is unwieldy and you can’t securely grasp and lift it, get help and/or use a handcart.
   • Long objects such as pipes and tubing should be carried by two or more persons when possible, walking in step. If you handle it alone, keep the front end as high as possible.
10. Use material handling equipment to move loads when possible.
    • Depending on the job, a forklift, crane, hoist, conveyor or lift table may be appropriate.
    • Use this equipment only if you have been trained and authorized to do so.

Final word

Materials handling is an important part of many jobs, but it can also be hazardous. Practice safe lifting, moving, and storage techniques and follow established safety procedures to keep yourself and others safe.

You need to perform evaluations of your materials handling procedures, equipment and operations annually or sooner after major changes occur in the workplace. This tool will help you keep up-to-date. Use this Checklist to conduct a general review of materials handling compliance, and ensure you’re free from incidents and citations. Any “no” answers should be investigated and corrected.

Victim

A 40-year-old experienced warehouse supervisor died when he was struck by a pallet stacking machine and crushed against a storage rack support.

Location

The incident occurred at a finished goods warehouse for a cigarette manufacturing plant. The warehouse was used to store cases of cigarette products awaiting shipment and was arranged with nine aisles having storage bins on either side.

Each aisle contained a computerized pallet stacking machine which could be operated automatically or manually. The machines traveled up and down the aisles retrieving cases of cigarettes and delivering them to a conveyor belt, where they were forwarded to the loading dock for shipment.

The clearance between the storage bins’ vertical 4-inch I-beam supports and the stacking machine’s metal frame was approximately 7 inches. The stacking machine was approximately 17-feet 6-inches long by 50-inches wide and weighed 36,000 pounds. The travel speed was about 300-feet per minute or 3½-miles per hour as it traveled in an east and west direction between the storage bins.

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/In-house/full9226.html

What Happened

On the day of the incident, the victim had been working the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift at the finished goods warehouse. The incident was unwitnessed, but evidence suggests the victim had walked down aisle number 7 to an area around bin number 15. At that area, the bin was arranged such that a person could stand in the bin area while the stacking machine passed by.

For unknown reasons the victim was in the aisle and had his back to the approaching stacking machine. It struck and crushed him between the stacking machine’s frame and the storage rack’s vertical support I-beam. His body was dragged several feet until some part of the victim’s body contacted the bumper, causing the machine to stop.

The medical examiner pronounced the victim dead at the scene. The cause of death was mechanical asphyxia due to crushing chest injuries.
Fatality Factors and Prevention

The pallet stacking machine, which could be operated automatically or manually, was equipped with a switch that could have been locked out prior to entry into the aisles. Lockout was not performed in this case.

Investigators recommended:

• Creation of specific procedures to follow prior to any work being performed in the aisles. Including:
  • Locking and tagging the machine in the off position when personnel are in the aisles.
  • Retaining the key until all work is completed and the aisles are clear of personnel.
• Consider using two workers to perform any work in the aisles. One worker would be responsible for monitoring the movement of the machine while the other worker performs the task.
  • If the victim hadn’t been working alone it is possible the second employee could have used the emergency stop which may have saved the victim’s life.
• Consider installing stationary aisle warning lights and redesigning the stacking machine’s pressure-sensitive stop bumpers.
  • Although the pallet stacking machine had green travel warning lights and pressure-sensitive stop bumpers located on the front and rear ends of the machine, the incident still occurred.
  • The warning lights may be effective when an employee is facing the machine, but in this incident the victim had his back turned toward the machine, apparently did not hear its approach and was struck and killed.

Investigators further recommended engineers should consider the:

• Installation of stationary travel warning lights at conspicuous areas within the aisles.
  • Any time the machine is in operation, the stationary travel warning lights would illuminate to warn any worker in the area that the machine is in operation and to be alert to its location and movement.
• Redesigning the pressure-sensitive stop bumpers so an object located laterally, or adjacent to the machine, would contact the bumper causing it to stop.
  • The pressure-sensitive stop bumpers located on the front and rear ends of the machine, could only be activated by direct forward or rearward pressure on the bumpers.
  • An object which was positioned laterally, or adjacent to the direct line of travel (as was the case in this incident), would not engage the bumpers and stop the machine.

Victim

17-year-old warehouse worker was fatally injured when the sit-down type forklift he was tipped over on its side and crushed him. The victim was employed under a work-based learning program and had been working for three months when the incident occurred.

Location

The incident happened at an agricultural cooperative (co-op). The co-op’s retail store was connected to the co-op’s tire shop and a warehouse. Also, on the grounds was an equipment storage shed, a fertilizer shed, and an outdoor storage area where 200-pound molasses animal licks were stored. A large flat concrete parking lot extended in front of the store entrance and around one side of the warehouse where a loading dock and ramp were located – Photo 1.

Photo 1

What Happened

At the time of the incident a customer was helping the victim as he loaded a molasses lick into another customer’s trailer using a forklift. Approximately 5 minutes later, the customer heard a loud crashing sound. He ran over to the area where the victim had been operating the forklift and saw the forklift tipped over on its side. The victim was lying face down and pinned under the cage of the forklift and with one leg extended and the other leg doubled up under him.

Imagine how you would feel and how you would react if you were the customer, or the victim’s supervisor or co-worker and you were the one who found the victim.

The customer ran to get help. While he and a co-worker ran back to assist the victim, another coworker ran into the company’s store to call 911. The customer and co-worker were unable to lift the forklift manually and told another co-worker to get a front-end loader. As co-workers lifted the forklift off the victim using the front-end loader, the customer pulled the victim clear. The victim was conscious but having difficulty breathing.

Photo 2

It appeared the victim was traveling toward the warehouse ramp on the level surface of the parking lot and made a sharp right turn to enter the narrow ramp leading up to the warehouse. It is surmised this is when the forklift tipped over onto its left side. The forklift was not loaded but its forks were raised approximately 20 inches. There was a single 12-foot skid mark located on the parking lot where it is surmised the victim started into a right turn toward the ramp.

Photo 2 illustrates the parking lot, warehouse and ramp, and other co-op buildings. Lines on the photo approximate the travel path of the forklift on the day of the incident. An “X” marks the approximate location of the forklift that had tipped over. Photograph courtesy of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

The police and fire department responded to the scene at 2:00 p.m., the ambulance was dispatched at 2:08 pm. and responded at 2:09 p.m. EMS personnel examined the victim and inserted an endo-tracheal tube at 2:18 p.m. followed by a needle chest decompression immediately after, to help the victim breathe.

A medical helicopter was dispatched to transport the victim to a trauma center, but while the ambulance was en route to meet the helicopter, the victim’s condition deteriorated, and the victim was transported instead to a local hospital. The victim arrived at the hospital at 2:32 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 3:16 p.m. in the hospital’s emergency room.

In less than 90 minutes this young man went from a teenager with the rest of his life in front of him – to a barely breathing, terrified child – to another needless workplace fatality.

Fatality Factors and Prevention

The entrance/exit of the warehouse was narrow, measuring 70 inches in width. A post and an abandoned grain feed dispersal bin located inside the entrance left just enough room for the forklift to pass through.

• Old scrape marks on the forklift and on the post and grain bin inside the warehouse were likely indicators of a tight fit.
• The local manager said that forklift operators had to speed up to make it up the ramp and then had to slow down at the entrance to fit through the narrow passage after passing through the warehouse door.
• The ramp’s surface was patched and rough where the ramp joined the flat, level parking lot.
  • The co-op was being relocated so the rough pavement in the transitional area where the level parking lot met the ramp, and the confined areas in the warehouse had not been changed because of the planned move.
  • It is worth noting these issues were known and identified as problematic.
• A well-developed safety and training program were lacking.

To help prevent similar occurrences:

• Conduct periodic inspections and frequently remind equipment operators to use seat belts provided and never try to jump from an overturning sit-down type forklift.
• Check travel routes used by forklifts are free of obstacles and other unsafe conditions.
• Establish work policies that comply with child labor laws prohibiting youths less than 18 years of age from performing hazardous work, including operating power-driven hoisting equipment such as forklifts. All employees should be aware of this policy.
• Develop, implement, and enforce a comprehensive written safety program for all workers which includes training in hazard recognition and the avoidance of unsafe conditions.
  • A written training plan should require training for all forklift operators that includes the equipment manufacturers’ recommendations for safe equipment operation.
• Identify and label equipment not to be operated by workers under 18 and only provide keys to trained and authorized operators.

https://i.redd.it/kfsxkt04lhgz.jpg

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve seen this image before, but I never gave any thought to just how misleading it is. Most of us know to lift with our legs and not our backs – quite the opposite of what this label is showing us to do. And even though we know the right way to lift, it’s likely most of us don’t always practice it.

Manually moving materials is one of the quickest and the most prevalent way to injure your back. Back injuries are painful for the worker and costly for the employer. To reduce back injuries at work, it is important to find and avoid risk factors that increase the chance of injury.

Share the following with your workers, stop and correct any lifting or moving being done in an unsafe way, and remind them frequently of the right way to lift and move materials.

When any of the following occur in combination your risk of a back injury is increased:

1. Awkward posture
2. Overexertion
3. Repetition
4. Fatigue

Awkward Posture

Whether standing or sitting, there is a neutral position for your back. Postures that differ from the neutral position increase stress on the back, especially when combined with other risk factors.

Avoid:

• Strenuous activity while the body is in a twisted or bent position.
• Repeated bending, twisting and reaching.
• Bending forward while lifting.

Reduce Awkward Postures:

• Change the work height so you can handle the item with your back in a neutral position.
• Store materials at waist level to avoid bending to lift.
• Use material handling devices, such as dollies, carts, skid loaders and lift trucks.
• Bend the knees, not the back, to lift.
• Move your feet, instead of twisting, to move materials.
• Ask a coworker to assist your lift or divide the load.

Overexertion

Tasks that require forceful exertions place higher loads on the muscles, discs, ligaments and joints and can lead to fatigue and injury.

Your Risk Depends On:

• Type of grip
• Weight of an object
• Type and duration of the task
• Body posture

Reduce Overexertion:

• Use material handling devices, such as dollies, carts, wheel barrows, lift trucks and skid loaders.
• Divide the load for safer transport. 4Push materials rather than lift.
• Ask a coworker to assist your lift.

Fatigue

Job tasks that require the same muscles or motions for long durations can increase fatigue. In general, the longer the period of work, the longer the recovery or rest time required.

Reduce Fatigue:

• Alternate tasks and postures that use different motions and muscles groups, such as sitting and standing.
• Take time to stretch during scheduled breaks. 4Break standing tasks with seated.

Repetition

Repeating the same motions over and over again places stress on muscles and joints. If repetitive motions are frequent or sustained and combined with excessive force or awkward postures, they can cause injury. Y

Your Risk Depends On:

• How often the action is repeated.
• Speed of the movement.
• Number of muscles involved.
• Required force to lift or move the material.
• Body posture.

Reduce Injury from Repetition:

• Alternate tasks and postures that use different motions and muscle groups.
• Take time to stretch during scheduled breaks.
• Use material handling devices, such as dollies, carts, skid loaders and lift trucks.

Source: https://www.osha.gov/dte/grant_materials/fy06/46g6-ht22/back_injury_prevention.pdf

Warehouse racks and material stacks are nothing to take lightly. A damaged rack can lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost and damaged inventory. Then there are the injuries and fatalities caused if the racks and materials fall. Your co-workers, delivery drivers, and even customers can be injured and killed if a rack or material falls. You certainly don’t want to be the one who causes any of these unfortunate outcomes or the supervisor in charge when an incident occurs.

https://imgur.com/a/r5oyd

Share these guidelines with your warehouse teams, including managers, and ensure they know how to spot racking hazards and what to do when they identify a hazard.

1. Floors and supporting surfaces. Where is your stacking racking to be situated? Floors or surfaces that are to support stacks, shelving, racks or other means of storage need to be able to sustain the intended load, as well as shock loads. If the stored material becomes waterlogged because of rain or after a fire has been put out, the floor needs to be able to take this extra weight too.
2. Adequate designs. Racking and other structures used for the storage of materials need to be designed to support and contain the materials that they will store. Again, make allowances for the possibility of stored materials becoming waterlogged, and for shock loads from placing materials or from accidental contact by the handling equipment. If pallet loads are to be stacked tier on tier, the lower pallets need to be of suitable strength and in good condition. The unit loads must be able to support the weight above.
3. Fire safety. Fire-protective partitions must be used between stored items that are more or less vulnerable to fire risk.
4. Corner ends. The corners or ends of shelving and racking need to be protected from damage by forklift trucks or other mechanised equipment by steel posts, angle irons or other methods.
5. No racking, shelving, fixture or other means of storage should be placed somewhere, or extended in height, so that someone climbing on to it or removing stored goods, either manually or mechanically, can come into contact with live electrical wiring or unfenced machinery. Material shouldn’t be loaded or unloaded from stacks or racking if there’s a risk of workers directly or indirectly contacting unfenced machinery, or touching live electrical wiring.

Sometimes safe stacking is as easy as following the “DO NOT DOUBLE STACK” label and yet sometimes even the simplest of instructions are not followed. More often than not, safe stacking takes a bit more thought and planning than just reading a label.

https://i.redd.it/atd83k8bv3gz.jpg

Stacking guidelines include:

• Block Stacking – Stack square items in a cube, making sure to secure them with some kind of strapping like wire or plastic shrink wrap.
• Brick Stacking – To ensure even more security, turn each level of a stack 90 degrees. This helps hold the items in place should the stack be bumped.
• Pinwheel Stacking – For even more protection than the brick pattern, turn each quadrant—not just each level—of items 90 degrees. Patterns like this help “lock” everything in place.
• Irregular Stacking – When dealing with irregularly shaped items, try adding sheets of plywood between each layer for added stability.
• Lumber — remove all nails removed before stacking and as a general rule don’t stack lumber more than 16 feet (5 meters) high if workers will be handling it manually.
• Cylindrical Materials — poles or pipes need to be blocked on the sides so they don’t roll off the pile.
• Bagged Materials —use tapered stacking (a bit like a pyramid, with the layers getting narrower the higher up they are) and place in interlocking rows.
• Barrels and Drums — stack symmetrically and if stored on their sides, block them to prevent rolling.
• Moving Materials — when removing materials from a stack, always take them from the top of the stack first.

There are over 10,000 warehouses in the United States and Canada, employing over 200,000 workers, and countless ways to be injured or killed.

The FIVE most accident-prone areas and activities in a warehouse are:

1. Loading docks
2. Forklift operations
3. Conveyors
4. Materials handling
5. Manual lifting and handling

Top THREE warehouse injuries?

1. Slips and falls
2. Injuries from lifting, pushing, pulling, and reaching
3. Material handling / forklift accidents

As many as 20,000 workers are injured in forklift accidents alone each year and 25% of those accidents happen when a forklift overturns.

When it comes to pallet jack failure, the seven top causes are: damage from the forklift, racks overloaded, racks with altered configurations, a change in operation (such as rearrangement), not using the equipment correctly, buying a smaller rack capacity to save money, and faulty equipment.

$38,000 direct cost and $150,000 indirect costs – according to the National Safety Council – that’s how much a worker injury can cost a company.

Safety Talk

What’s at Stake?

Chemicals can cause burns to eyes, skin, and internally if swallowed or inhaled. Chemical burns can be deceiving with some chemicals causing damage deep within body tissue.  The amount of damage a chemical can cause depends on many factors including the chemical, its strength, whether it was inhaled or swallowed and the time it was in contact with body tissues.

A liquid gas burn is a cold contact or a cryogenic burn, that damages the skin and underlying tissues, by freezing them rather than overheating them. This is commonly known as frostbite.

Most liquid gases are colorless and/or odorless and stored in a pressurized environment. This increases the chances of leaking gas getting into your eyes, mouth and throat as well as on the skin. There is also a high chance of damage to underlying structures such as nerve, muscle and bone.

What’s the Danger?

The biggest danger of treating a chemical or liquid gas burn is using the wrong first aid approach.  Prompt action to reduce the effect of the burn is also crucial. However, what this action is, depends on the chemical or gas and the route of exposure. In many cases, the person will be experiencing both internal and external damage. For this reason, most exposures to chemical or liquid gas do need medical help. First aid responders also run the risk of being exposed to the chemical or gas at the scene. It can be particularly dangerous because these hazards may not be obvious, visible, or detectable by smell.

How to Protect Yourself

First aid for chemical burns and liquid gas

1. Keep yourself safe

• Call 911.
• Put on gloves to avoid touching the chemical or gas.
• Check the container the chemical or gas was in for first aid advice.

2. General burn care

• FOR ALL CHEMICAL OR LIQUID GAS BURNS – CALL 911 UNLESS:
  • The chemical or liquid gas has touched only a small area of skin that is not the eyes, hands, feet, face, or genitals.
  • The chemical or gas has been quickly removed.
• If the person does not need medical help after providing first aid:
  • Don’t break the blisters and cover the area with a sterile dressing.
  • Don’t apply butters or ointments – these may cause infections.
  • A tetanus shot may be needed; booster shots are recommended every 10 years.

3. Signs and symptoms of chemical burns include the following:

• Redness, irritation, or burning where the chemical is in contact.
• Pain or numbness at the site.
• Blisters or black dead skin at the contact site.
• Vision changes.
• Cough or shortness of breath.
• Vomiting

In severe cases, or cases of hypersensitivity to the chemical, a person may develop any of the following symptoms:

• Low blood pressure
• Faintness, weakness, dizziness
• Shortness of breath or severe cough
• Headache
• Muscle twitching or seizures
• Cardiac arrest or irregular heartbeat

4. Treating a chemical burn

• Check the chemical container for first aid instructions.
• Brush off excess chemical if it reacts with water e.g.
  • Dry lime
  • Phenols
  • Elemental metals, e.g.
    • Sodium
    • Potassium
    • Calcium oxide
    • Magnesium
    • Phosphorous
  • Move the person away from chemicals if safe to do so.
  • Remove any contaminated clothing.
  • Flood area with cool (not cold) water for at least 20 minutes.
  • Do not let the water flow onto another part of the person’s body or onto you.
  • Don’t use a strong stream of water.
  • Remove any jewelry while you are rinsing the area – not before as this could spread the chemical.
  • Do not give the person liquid to drink, unless you are told to do so by the 911 operative.

5. Treating a liquid gas burn/cryogenic burn

• Remove the person from the area if it is safe to do so.
• Remove clothing from affected area.
• DO NOT rinse the area with cool or cold water.
• Immerse the area in a bowl or tub of warm water.
• Keep the person warm with a blanket or similar.
• If eyes are affected, rinse under a warm running tap, with the eyelid open for at least 15 minutes.
• Do not give the person liquid to drink, unless you are told to do so by the 911 operative.

Final Word

Chemical and liquid gas burns may make only a small mark on the skin; however, they are very serious. The type of first aid given will depend on the type of chemical or gas involved and the extent of the injury.

Safety Talk

What’s at Stake?

Strains and sprains, sore shoulders and bad backs – these are facts of life if your work involves manually moving materials. Manual lifting can result in injury, particularly when it involves a heavy load, twisting motion or repetition.

What’s the Danger?

Continuous lifting, moving, and handling activities can cause minor discomfort to snowball into serious and debilitating ergonomic disorders through the deterioration of the musculoskeletal system. These activities can also cause acute trauma such as cuts or fractures due to accidents.

Factors that increase the risk of injury include the load being unstable or too heavy, large, or difficult to grasp; the task being too strenuous or involving awkward postures or movements; and the working environment lacking enough space, having slippery, uneven or unstable floors, having extreme temperatures, or poor lighting.

EXAMPLE

A worker was assigned to move items from a pallet located under a shelving unit. He bent over and lifted the items out one at a time. The next day his back hurt so much he had to miss work, and it took weeks of therapy for him to recover.

How to Protect Yourself

Access to lifting equipment, better workplace layout, and improved work habits and practices can reduce these Injuries. Here are tips for you and your employer to help warehouse work not hurt.

1. Use a stock pick or a hook to pull small, lightweight items closer to the shelf edge before lifting.
2. To apply plastic wrap to palletized product, use an automatic plastic wrapping machine and place the product on a turntable. For manual wrapping, use lightweight rolls.
3. Use an ergonomically-designed knife for opening cartons. Wear protective cut-resistant gloves with a good gripping surface.
4. Ask suppliers to provide product in smaller, lighter containers, and to provide handhold cutouts or handles on all heavy products.
5. Ask suppliers to leave the bottom of the box free of plastic so the item can slide better on the cardboard.
6. Ask suppliers to put a slip sheet between layers of product, to decrease the force needed to slide the product toward you.
7. Elevate pallets on a palletizer. This device sinks under the weight of a full pallet and rises as items are removed.
8. Have pallets regularly turned with a forklift to maintain good access to items.
9. Position the pallet on a turntable, walking around it or unloading in a diagonal pattern instead of layer by layer.
10. Keep the floor well-maintained with no ruts or bumps. Good surfaces will reduce the force required to operate materials handling equipment and will reduce driver exposure to vibration on motorized equipment.
11. Maintain handcarts, pallet jacks and walking forklifts so they can operate with a minimum of arm, hand, and finger force.

Final Word

Lifting, moving, and handling materials is a leading cause of back pain and injuries, strains and sprains, and ergonomic-related injuries of the shoulders and neck. But, it doesn’t have to. You and your employer can work together to make sure warehouse work doesn’t hurt.

What’s at Stake?

Did you know your mental, physical, and emotional fitness is part of a safe work environment? If you are fit and healthy, you are likely to have more energy and stamina.

This can mean you are able to stay alert throughout your shift. Your overall health can also reduce the possibility muscle strains, back problems and other injuries.

What’s the Danger?

When you’re not physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy your work and your safety suffer.

Example

• Stress can contribute directly to injuries. Worrying about personal problems instead of concentrating on the task can cause serious accidents.
• Muscle tension caused by stress can contribute directly to problems such as back injuries

How to Protect Yourself

Improve Physical Health

• Get regular exercise to strengthen your heart and lungs. A brisk walk for a half-hour each day or two is highly recommended. Activities such as running, swimming, dancing and aerobics are other ways to get your heartbeat up and improve heart and lung function.
• Strengthen your muscles. A program of exercises at home, or a weight-training program at a gym are two ways to accomplish this. Be sure to include routines to strengthen the muscles in your abdomen and back to help prevent back injuries.
• Increase your flexibility. Include stretches in your exercise routines to help your muscles and joints stay limber.
• Quit smoking. This one lifestyle change will pay you big bonuses in health and fitness. Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol, caffeine and other drugs.
• Get regular medical and dental checkups. Follow the advice of health professionals.

Improve Mental and Emotional Health

• Get enough sleep. The body needs sleep to repair the body and refresh the mind. Studies show North Americans are chronically short of sleep. Fatigue has been a factor in many serious accidents – vehicle collisions, train wrecks, plane crashes, chemical spills and even nuclear disasters.
• Learn to manage stress before it causes emotional or physical problems. If you have a problem, find a trusted person with whom you can talk it out. Some situations need to be tackled head on; others must be simply accepted as having no solution.
• Learn some deliberate relaxation techniques to help you deal with stress. Don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor or do some research on your own to find techniques that work for you.
• A well-balanced diet can improve your physical, mental, and emotional health. It can increase your energy level, help you stay alert, reduce your body weight, and prevent illness and diseases

Final Word

When you pay attention to your physical, mental, and emotional health you improve your chances of working safely. This helps reduce your chances of being in an accident or being injured. Follow these tips to stay strong and healthy

Safety Talk

What’s at Stake?

Compressed gases play a useful role in a variety of industries including healthcare.

However, healthcare workers and patients, are at risk of injury or death from gas inhalation, burns, flying debris, and unsafely handling heavy cylinders.
What’s the Danger?

If a compressed gas cylinder is not stored, moved, or maintained correctly there is a risk the cylinder will explode as the gas becomes agitated and volatile. Not only is there a risk of burns from the explosion, there is a risk of harm from flying debris.

Many compressed gases are toxic if inhaled or if they come in contact with the skin, in inappropriate amounts.

The biggest risk for people working with compressed gas cylinders, is suffering fractures, strains, sprains, and bruising from moving, lifting, and working with cylinders.

How to Protect Yourself

9 easy ways to keep yourself safe while working with compressed gases.

1. Know the risks – in a healthcare setting

• Exposure to carbon dioxide can cause burns if touched (dry ice) or suffocation because it replaces oxygen in the air.
• Breathing pure oxygen can cause dizziness and vision loss.
• Nitrogen can cause suffocation if it is present in confined spaces.
• Nitrous oxide – sometimes known as laughing gas, can cause drowsiness, dizziness, suffocation, and is flammable.

2. Know the risk, no matter the setting

• Always work in well ventilated areas if working with compressed gas e.g. changing gas supply over to a full bottle.
• Check the cylinder is equipped with the correct regulator.
• Check regulator and cylinder valves for grease, oil, dirt, or solvent.
  • Remove what you find or do not use the contaminated component.
• Never grease or oil the regulator, valve, or fittings of an oxygen cylinder.
• Know the risks specific to the gas inside the container, they can create added hazards.
• Flammable gases can be ignited by the smallest of ignition sources.
  • Smoking is not allowed near cylinders – whether they are being stored or are in use.
  • Control other sources of ignition such as open flames, sparks, or static electricity.

3. Protect yourself

• Your employer must train you to work with compressed gases.
• Wear the right PPE, including chemical safety goggles and a face shield – standard safety glasses are insufficient.
• Wear gloves when handling compressed gas cylinders, protective footwear if moving cylinders, and wear a respirator if required.

4. Check new cylinders on delivery

• A stamped hydrostatic test date within the last five years.
• A stenciled or labeled identification of its contents.
• Cylinder condition issues and the presence of a valve protection cap.
• If the test date, identification, markings, or cap are not in order or if the cap is rusted or inoperable, the cylinder should not be accepted.

5. Before use

• Always read the label prior to use.
• Use a cylinder that clearly identifies the contents by the following means:
  • Stenciled or stamped on the cylinder.
  • Has a label that is solidly attached to the cylinder.
  • Commercially available tag systems may also be used for identification.
• If the cylinder label becomes unclear, mark the cylinder “contents unknown” and return it to the supplier—it’s safer that way.

6. Don’t rely on color

• Do not rely on the color of the cylinder for identification; color coding is not reliable because cylinder colors may vary with supplier, and containers are reused.
• Also, do not rely on the cylinder cap label because the caps are interchangeable.

7. Move it safely

• For yourself
  • Use equipment such as a hand truck, to reduce the need for you to lift, carry or drag a cylinder.
  • Tilt slightly and gently roll a cylinder into place rather than lifting or dragging it.
• For the cylinder and contents
  • Always secure cylinders with chain or cart.
  • Never lay a cylinder down and roll it on its side to move it.
  • Never move or carry a cylinder by the valve.
  • Never leave an open or unsecured cylinder unattended.

8. Store it

• Do not secure more than four cylinders in any one row.
• Do not subject cylinders to sources of heat or temperature extremes.
• Segregate full and empty cylinders.
  • If a cylinder with an insufficient supply is used for patient care, the patient could die.
• Make sure cylinders are securely fixed while being stored, to prevent them toppling over.

9. Stop leaks

• Always double check valves are closed before leaving the cylinder.
• Report leaks promptly.
• Evacuate the area until appropriate staff and equipment can be found.
  • Never use an open flame to find the source of the leak.
• Do not use adapters or converters to change equipment to different threads.
• Only use regulators that have both high and low-pressure gauges.

Final Word

Compressed gases are widely used in healthcare settings, mostly in patient care areas. Working with compressed gas carries minimal risk provided you are correctly trained and you follow the rules for safe use, handling, and storage.

What’s at Stake?

Near misses make up more than half of the incidents that occur in workplaces. A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage but had the potential to do so.  A near miss needs attention, as they are a warning that conditions are right for a possible accident.

The two most common causes of near misses are unsafe acts like improper lifting; walking under an overhead load; not using proper personal protective equipment and unsafe conditions – such as poorly maintained equipment, oil or grease on floors, welding leads that have been laid in walkways, or trash and boxes that have been left in hallways.

What’s the Danger?

If an unsafe act or condition causes a near miss and it isn’t corrected, the likelihood of a serious injury or incident occurring goes up. The danger is not from the near miss itself, but from:

• Not acting on the incident by not recognizing it as a near miss.
• Not following the correct reporting procedure.
• The relevant people not taking appropriate and timely action to remove the risk.

Hazards

• Staff not understanding what a near miss is.
• Inadequate reporting processes.
• Accepting the near miss was a lucky escape and taking no action.

How to Protect Yourself

3 easy ways to stop a near miss from becoming actual injury, illness, or death

1. Pay attention!

a. Recognize near misses are warnings.

b. Letting a near miss go unreported provides an opportunity for a serious incident to occur.

c. Correcting these actions or conditions will enhance the safety within your department and provide a better work environment for everyone involved.

d. Don’t let yourself or your co-workers become statistics.

2. Know what to report.

a. An incident where you did not hurt yourself, needs reporting because others may not be as lucky as you.

i) You trip over an electrical cord stretched across a walkway, but you don’t fall.

ii) You drop a heavy object but missed your toes…this time.

iii) While working on a piece of equipment, you receive a shock, but are not injured.

b. Report something you see that could be a risk or hazard – before it turns into a near miss.

i) You see a trailing electrical wire.

ii) The floor is wet from a leaking pipe.

iii) You see a co-worker standing on the top step of a step ladder and overreaching to do his or her work.

3. Know the reporting process.

a. Who to tell if something needs addressing urgently.

b. What documentation is needed.

c. What the follow-up process is, including how you will be notified of corrective actions.

Final Word

Recognizing and reporting hazards in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility. Doing so can reduce the number of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths. New hazards often appear over time, after a policy, procedure or safety plan has been written. This means recognizing and reporting near misses is vital to keep the company’s hazard mitigation strategies up to date.

Safety Talk

What’s at Stake?

What’s at stake is your life. Trenching and excavating involve serious hazards. If you’re in an excavation you need to know how to identify the hazards and how they can be prevented.

What’s the Danger?

Each year excavation and trenching cave-ins cause thousands of injuries and deaths. More injuries and fatalities occur from hazardous atmospheres in the trench, being struck-by equipment operating in and around the excavation, falling loads or spoil piles, and tripping and falling on materials in the dig. For this talk we are going to focus on what makes a trench or excavation unsafe and ways your employer must protect you.

How to Protect Yourself

There are important things to know and consider when digging and working in an excavation. An experienced excavation crew know that a stable excavation is compromised and made unsafe by the following factors:

Soil Type

• There are four general types of soil to be aware of:
  1. Hard, very dense, with little natural moisture, high internal strength. Excavation usually requires mechanical equipment.
  2. Very stiff and dense, with low-to-medium moisture content, medium internal strength.
  3. Stiff to firm and compact to loose, with low degree of internal strength.
  4. Soft to very soft and loose, very sensitive to vibration and motion, with almost no internal strength and often wet or muddy.
• If you can recognize the different types of soil you can get an idea if protective measures should be in place, i.e. shoring, trench boxes. A competent person or engineer should be on site to perform soil analysis and regular inspections of the excavation.

Weather and Moisture

• Water in an excavation can undermine the sides of the excavation and make it more difficult for workers to get out of the excavation.
• You are not safe in an excavation where water is accumulating or has accumulated unless certain precautions are taken to protect you. Some of these precautions include:
  • Special support or shield system to prevent cave-ins.
  • Water removal to control the water level.
  • Safety harness and lifeline.
• The competent person on site must inspect excavations every day, before the start of each shift and after rain, leaks and other hazard-increasing events.

Vibration and Equipment

• Vibration from vehicles and equipment can shake the ground and loosen soil which can lead to a cave-in.
• Vibration can also cause spoil piles near the excavation to shift and possibly fall into the excavation.
• The weight of vehicles and equipment parked close to the edge of a trench puts extra pressure on the excavation walls, making it more likely to collapse.
• Be alert to these hazards and speak to your supervisor or competent person if vehicles and equipment are causing a hazardous condition.

Previous Excavation

• A site that has been excavated before is more likely to cave-in because previous digging weakens the strength and stability of the soil.
• The competent person on site must see that these, and all excavations have shoring, shielding, or other protective measure in place before allowing anyone to enter.

Time

• The longer an excavation is left open and unprotected the more likely it is to cave in.
• In fact, with most unprotected excavations it’s a matter WHEN a cave-in will happen – not IF one will occur.

Final Word

Qualified personnel and a competent person should always be on hand to provide supervision during excavation. You also must look out for your safety and the safety of the excavation. Knowing what causes cave-ins will help you do that.

What’s at Stake?

Every year thousands of workers are injured, and some are killed, “at the office.” Broken bones and head injuries from falls, burns, and electrical shock hurt just as badly when they occur in an office setting as when they happen at an industrial site.

What’s the Danger?

Office hazards cover the spectrum of workplace hazards common in most other workplace settings. For example, the leading causes of office injuries are slipping, tripping, and falling. Sound familiar? Falls are also a big cause of incidents in industrial, construction, manufacturing, and many other jobsites. Other hazards include, fire, chemicals, materials handling and ergonomics, falling objects and personal safety.

How to Protect Yourself

Fall Prevention

• Keep the office free from clutter.
• Boxes should be stacked out of the way of traffic.
• Trash and spills should be cleaned up from the floor.
• Re-route electrical cords away from traffic areas.
• Remove any defective chairs or office equipment from service.
• Close drawers so nobody will trip over them; and
• Don’t use makeshift climbing equipment such as boxes stacked on chairs or your desk to reach high-up items. Instead, use a stepladder or stepstool and get help if you need it.

Fire Prevention

• Make sure you know where to find emergency numbers, first aid contacts, and evacuation procedures for your office. If you don’t, ask your supervisor for help. Your employer must have this information posted where everyone can see it and must train employees on emergency procedures.
• Know where the fire extinguishers are located. If you are expected to use a fire extinguisher to fight small fires in their beginning stage, your employer must provide hands-on training on how to use an extinguisher to put out a fire.
• Don’t overload electrical circuits by “daisy-chaining” power strips together, or overloading outlets by using adapters to plug in multiple items.

Chemical Safety

• Know the chemicals you work with or those used nearby. A tour of your office could reveal a surprising number of hazardous materials such as cleaning fluids, art supplies and solvents.
• If hazardous chemicals are present or you work with them, you must be trained on their safe use, including how to read a safety data sheet and where they are located.

Safe Lifting

• Whenever possible use materials handling equipment such as carts to avoid lifting and moving heavy objects.
• Get help moving heavy and/or hard to comfortably and securely hold objects.

Ergonomics

• Adjust your workstation so you can work comfortably and avoid strain to your neck, back, shoulders, wrists and other areas vulnerable to injury from repetitive work and static posture.
• Talk to your manager or safety contact if you are experiencing ergonomic issues – the sooner the better!

Falling Objects

• Filing cabinets can cause serious injury. Open just one drawer at a time. If you open more than that, you risk the cabinet falling over onto you. Load filing cabinet drawers evenly, starting with the bottom ones.
• Make sure shelves are securely anchored, and do not overload them. Do not place heavy objects on overhead shelves

Personal Safety

• Get familiar with your company’s antiviolence policies.
• Observe rules about lockup, escorts to parking areas, visitor badges and other security procedures

Final Word

Just because you work in an office environment doesn’t mean you are immune to hazards. One mishap or error can lead to an injury that could result in a lot of grief

What’s at Stake?

Some of the worst hazards in any work area are the ones you don’t see – because they’re above you. What’s at stake is your life, and there are two basic ways you could lose it: electrocution or falling objects.

What’s the Danger?

Overhead electrical power lines have caused instant death when people accidentally touch them with ladders, scaffolds, poles, pipes, vehicles and vehicle loads. These accidents involve both high and low voltage current.

The other danger above you is simply due to gravity. Materials or tools can fall from work platforms or shelves. Even a small object can pick up enough speed to crack a skull. Loads lifted by a forklift or crane are risky to walk under.

How to Protect Yourself

First, let’s review avoiding contact with overhead electricity such as power lines:

• Before working near a power line, call the power company to deenergize the line or have the lines guarded.
• Follow the safety regulations for working around power lines. This includes keeping a specific distance from power lines of certain voltages. Why? Because the power can arc through the air as it seeks the shortest route to the ground.
• Use a signal person to direct the operator of a crane or another piece of heavy equipment. This person stands a safe distance away and can warn the operator if the crane is getting too close to a line.
• Check for overhead electrical hazards when moving scaffolds and other objects extended high into the air.

Overhead electrical hazards also exist when doing home projects. Rooftop work such as installing a satellite receiver dish or replacing shingles can put you dangerously close to power cables.

• Watch for electrical connections under the eaves when painting or doing renovations.
• Look for fallen or sagging power lines at vehicle accidents and remember, a severed/fallen line can still be energized and deadly.
• Power lines can also be knocked down in a storm. Be careful; some power lines can be buried under snow.
• Keep trees and power lines apart. If a tree grows too close to a line, call a tree-trimming expert to shut off the power and trim it.
• Don’t forget indoor electrical installations. Touching a light fixture with a metal ladder is easily done and can be fatal.

Protect yourself and your co-workers from falling objects:

• Wear your hard hat. It’s made to protect you from falling objects and certain hard hats give some protection against electrical hazards.
• Get the advice of your safety supervisor to choose the right head protection and replace a hard hat that’s taken a hit.
• Store materials safely. Don’t place heavy objects out of sight in a high location where they could be pulled down accidently.
• Practice good housekeeping when working on elevated platforms to prevent materials from falling.
• Place items where they won’t slide, be knocked or kicked off the platform.
• Use toe boards, kick guards and screens around elevated work platforms to catch any items which might fall.
• Don’t walk under these elevated work areas on or off the job – in building construction along a street, for example.
• Observe flagging and “off-limits” signs.
• Lastly, don’t walk or stand under elevated loads.

Final Word

Use your head to avoid hazards over your head. Take care not to become entangled with overhead power lines or electrical installations. Use safe work practices to prevent objects falling from above.

What’s at Stake?

Electricity is the movement of electrons between atoms. In their normal state, electrons in a conductor such as copper, freely and randomly move from atom to atom.

To get them to move in the same direction they need a push. The technical term for this push is electromotive force, abbreviated EMF, or sometimes simply E. But you know it more commonly as voltage.

1. Voltage is the force that causes electrical current to flow.
2. Current, or amperage, refers to the rate electricity is flowing.
3. Resistance is a material’s tendency to resist the flow of the current.
4. Conductivity refers to how mobile the electrons can be within a certain material.
   1. Materials with high electron mobility are called conductors.
   2. Materials with low electron mobility are called insulators.

What’s the Danger?

You get an electrical shock when a part of your body completes a path, or circuit, between two conductors or a grounding source. An electrical ground is a connection between a circuit and the earth or some other major conducting body.

The amount of current (amps) that flows through your body, how long the current flows, and where the current flows through your body are what determine how badly you are injured.

But don’t disregard volts. As a general rule, the higher the voltage, the greater the amount of current. Some people can survive shocks of several thousand volts, but others die from as low as 12 volts — car battery levels, because of the amperage present.

How to Protect Yourself

It is likely you’ve heard these before, but electricity continues to maim and kill so a refresher can’t hurt.

• If you use a portable electrically powered hand tool it must be an approved double-insulated type unless you are certain the non-current-carrying part of it is grounded.
  • If your double-insulated tool needs repairs, the manufacturer must do them.
  • Never use a power tool that is wet.
• Check electrical cords regularly for fraying, cracking or exposure of wires.
  • Make sure any electrical equipment you use is in top condition with no damage to plugs, insulation or connections.
  • If you see any defects, take the item out of service and tag it to prevent another person from using it.
  • If you find a three-prong plug that has the third prong broken off, don’t use the tool.
• Damaged tools and cords must be repaired by an authorized person before returning to service or replaced with safe equipment.
• Don’t do electrical work you’re not qualified to do, even if someone requests it.
  • Not only would you put yourself in danger, incorrect repairs could endanger someone else much later.
  • Electric work isn’t any place to use ingenuity – makeshift repairs kill.
• Report any sign of electrical malfunction. Malfunctions can cause shocks and fires.

Final Word

While we’ve only covered the basics in this talk, there is nothing basic about the dangers of electricity. Know the hazards, respect electricity’s power, and always work safely.