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3/4/2011
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Some of the most common workplace accidents are result of slipping, falling, and improper lifting.
Falling object impact is also a common accident cause.
Some of the types of personal
protective equipment (PPE)
widely used in the workplace.
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CAUSES OF FALLS
Falls are a major safety & health concern.
Over 16% of all disabling work injuries result from falls.
• Primary causes of falls:
– A foreign object on the walking surface.
– A design flaw in the walking surface.
– Slippery surfaces.
– An individual’s impaired physical condition.
KINDS OF FALLS
Common surface falls can be divided into four categories:
Trip and fall accidents occur when workers encounteran unseen foreign object in their path.
Stump and fall occurs when a worker’s foot suddenly meets a sticky surface or defect in a walking surface.
Step and fall accidents occur when a person’s foot encounters an unexpected step down.
Slip and fall occurs when the worker’s center of gravity is suddenly thrown out of balance.
• This is the most common type of fall.
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Measuring Surface Traction
An effective way for comparing the relative traction of a given surface is to use the coefficient of friction.
A numerical comparison of the resistance of one surface (shoe or boot) against another surface (the floor).
A continuum showing coefficients of frictionratings from very slippery to good traction.
Measuring Surface Traction
An effective way for comparing the relative traction of a given surface is to use the coefficient of friction.
A continuum showing coefficients of frictionratings from very slippery to good traction.
– Ice has a coefficient of friction of 0.10; Concrete, 0.43Linoleum has a coefficient of 0.33; Waxed white oak 0.24.
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WALKING AND SLIPPING
Good housekeeping can be a major factor in reducing slip and fall hazards.
Water, oil, soap, coolant & cleaning solvents on a floor can decrease traction, turning a safe surface to a danger zone.
General Strategies for Preventing Slips
Strategies that can help prevent slipping:
Choose the right material from the outset.
• Safety & health professionals should encourage selection of surface materials with the highest possible coefficient of friction.
Retrofit an existing surface.
• Using materials like runners, skid strips, carpet, grooves, abrasive coatings, grills, and textured coverings.
Practice good housekeeping.
• Removed spilled water, grease, oil, solvents, etc., immediately.
Require nonskid footwear.
• Such footwear should be a normal part of a worker’s PPE.
Inspect surfaces frequently.
• Conduct frequent inspections & act immediately when ahazard is identified.
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General Strategies for Preventing Slips
Effective strategies for preventing slips and falls:
Review/analyze accident statistics to determine where slip & fall accidents are happening and why.
Monitor the condition of walking surfaces continually, and make appropriate preventive corrections immediately.
Use high-friction surfaces on ramps & sloped floors.
Use safety mats, nonslip flooring & slip-resistant shoes.
Make sure stairs have handrails.
Make sure visibility is good in potentially hazardous areas.
Clean spills immediately & correct the underlying causes.
Use appropriate technologies such as vertical incidence tribometers to measure the slip resistance of floors and take appropriate action based on the results.
Building Lobbies
Building lobbies often have slick, highly polished floor surfaces, which can be a slipping hazard.
Often increased by rain, sleet, or snow.
• Methods to decrease hazard levels in lobbies:
– Use large welcome mats, wide enough to allow several “drying steps” to be taken before reaching the slick floor;
– Provide umbrella holders so dripping umbrellas are not brought onto the slick floor.
– Monitor floor surface continually, and dry any moisture that makes its way onto the floor immediately.
– Substitute nonslip surfaces for slick, highly polished flooring.
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Building Lobbies
Certain tiles become slippery when water from the sinks, toilets, or urinals splash the floor or overflow.
Multiplied when soap is added in restrooms.
• Methods to decrease restroom hazard levels:
– Monitor restrooms continually and clean up spills immediately.
– Use “wet floors” warning signs.
– Block off wet areas until they dry.
– Conduct periodic inspections of public restrooms on a systematic basis.
Building Lobbies
In commercial kitchens, the most common hazardis polymerized grease.
A serious hazard especially on tile, concrete, and linoleum.
• The following strategies will help decrease the level of hazard in commercial kitchens:
– Use a nonslip floor surface.
– Require kitchen employees to wear slip-resistant footwear.
– Frequently dry clean the floors after-hours using a method other than wet mopping—which typically just distributes the grease.
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Processing Areas
Companies that process materials typically experience high hazard levels in processing areas.
Meat processors must contend with blood, fats, and meat juices on the floor.
• Firms that process chemicals also contend with spillage.
• Strategies to decrease hazards in processing areas:
– Use nonslip flooring.
– Monitor floor surfaces continually & take immediateaction to clean up spills.
– Require processing employees to wear slip-resistant footwear.
– Inspect & clean floor surfaces on a regular basis.
SLIP AND FALL PREVENTION PROGRAMS
A company’s overall safety & health program should include a slip and fall prevention component:
A policy statement/commitment.
• Management intent, responsibility/accountability, scope of activity, the safety professional’s role, authority & standards.
Review and acceptance of walkways.
• Establish the criteria that will be used for reviewing allwalking surfaces and determining if they are acceptable.
Reconditioning and retrofitting.
• Recommendations/timetables for reconditioning/retrofitting walking surfaces that do not meet review & acceptance criteria.
Maintenance standards and procedures.
• How often surfaces should be cleaned, resurfaced, replaced.
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SLIP AND FALL PREVENTION PROGRAMS
Inspections, audits, tests, and records.
• A comprehensive list of inspections, audits & tests—including how frequently & where—maintaining records of the results.
• A company’s overall safety & health program should include a slip and fall prevention component:
– Employee footwear program.
• Specify type of footwear required of employees who workon different types of walking surfaces.
– Defense methods for legal claims.
• Aggressive action to be taken, to be able to show thecompany has not been negligent.
– Measurement of results.
• Explanation of how the program will be evaluated & how often.
• Records of the results of these evaluations.
This trigger height means that virtuallyevery small residential builder & roofing
contractor is subject to the standard.
OSHA Fall Protection Standard for Construction
The most comprehensive—and most controversial—fall protection standardis OSHA Subpart M of 29 CFR 1926, which sets the trigger height at 6 feet.
Any construction employee workinghigher than 6’ off the ground must usea fall protection device such as a safety harness and line.
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Opponents counter that the cost of complying with the standard is almost
$300 million annually.
OSHA Fall Protection Standard for Construction
The OSHA argues that the 6-foot trigger height saves up to 80 lives per year,and prevents more than 56,000 injuries.
6% of all lost-time construction industryfall injuries are caused by falls fromless than 10 feet.
OSHA Recommendations for Fall Protection
OSHA recommends the following strategies:
Have a plan - An organization should develop a written plan that is part of its larger safety & health plan.
Establish proper fall protection requirements - Any time an employee works above 4’ feet in general industry; 6’ in construction, and 10’ or more when on scaffolding.
Provide proper fall protection equipment/procedures and require their use -Personal fall arrest systems, guardrails, safety nets, positioning devices, warning lines, controlled access zones, and safety monitoring.
Ensure fall protection device replacement - Regularly, even if there are no significant signs of wear.
Provide training - Including how to recognize hazards & properly use all applicable fall protection equipment.
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LADDER SAFETY
The National Safety Council (NSC) recommends that ladders be inspected before every use.
Look for a manufacturer instruction label about weight capacity and applications.
• Determine if the ladder is strong enough.
Look for cracks on side rails; loose rungs, rails, braces, or damaged connections between rungs and rails.
• Check for heat damage and corrosion.
Check wooden ladders for moisture that may causethem to conduct electricity.
Check metal ladders for burrs and sharp edges.
Check fiberglass ladders for signs of blooming, deterioration of exposed fiberglass.
Do’s and Don’ts of Ladder Use
Following simple rules for proper use can reduce risk of falls and other ladder-related accidents.
Check for slipperiness on shoes & ladder rungs.
• Don’t lean a ladder against a fragile, slippery, unstable surface.
Secure the ladder firmly at the top & bottom.
• Set the ladder’s base on a firm, level surface.
Apply the four-to-one ratio
• Base one foot away from the wall for every 4 feet betweenthe base and the support point).
Face the ladder when climbing up or down.
• Don’t carry tools in your hands while climbing a ladder.
Barricade the base of the ladder when working near an entrance.
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Do’s and Don’ts of Ladder Use
Following simple rules for proper use can reduce risk of falls and other ladder-related accidents.
Don’t lean too far to either side while working.Stop and move the ladder.
Don’t rig a makeshift ladder.Use the real thing.
Don’t allow more than one person at a time on a ladder.Don’t allow your waist to go any higher than the last rung
when reaching upward on a ladder.Don’t separate the individual sections of extension
ladders and use them individually.Don’t place a ladder on a box, table, or bench to make
it reach higher.
WHAT TO DO AFTER A FALL
If a fall occurs on the job, what employees do in the immediate aftermath can mean the difference between life and death for the victim.
Make sure your organization has a fall rescue plan:
Training for all personnel in how to carry out a rescue—what to do and what not to do.
• Proper equipment on site, and readily available.
Coordination with local emergency authorities
• Assigned responsibilities.
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WHAT TO DO AFTER A FALL
Employees who work at heights or with others who work at heights understand the following basics:
Never work alone - There should always be two or more people working in close proximity when working at heights.
Keep legs moving -When a worker is dangling from fall arrest gear, moving legs—rhythmically & regularly—helps prevent venous pooling of blood that can lead to shock.
• If possible, the worker should try to move to an upright position.
Raise the worker to a seated position - Once on the ground, the tendency is to lie down in a horizontal position.
• This is a mistake because it can suddenly release pooledblood that can strain the heart and cause death.
MONITOR EQUIPMENT & KNOW WHY IT FAILS
The number of fall injuries & deaths is increasing.
Reasons include poor training, deterioration of equipment over time & selection of the wrong equipment for the job.
• However most failure is due to lack of monitoring.
• When inspecting fall protection equipment, look for the following types of potential problems:
– Webbing cuts/abrasions; Broken stitching.
– Weld splatter; Frayed/burned/knotted webbing.
– Chemical damage; discoloration.
– Deformed hardware; loose, distorted or broken grommets, or malfunctioning snap hooks.
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IMPACT AND ACCELERATION HAZARDS
Examples of accidents involving acceleration and impact:
An employee working on a catwalk drops a wrench.
• A robot loses its grip on a part, slinging it across the plant and striking an employee.
Any type of fall—having fallen, a person’s rate of fall accelerates (increases)—until striking a surface (impact).
Motor vehicle accidents involve acceleration and impact.
Head Protection
Approximately 25% of workplace accidents each year involve objects that become projectiles.
Falling objects are involved in many of these accidents.
About 120,000 people sustain head injuries on the job each year.
In spite of the fact that many were wearing hard hats.
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Head Protection
Originally introduced in 1919, the first hard hats in an industrial setting were inspired by the helmets worn by soldiers in World War I.
Originally made of varnished resin-impregnated canvas, hard hats have been made of vulcanized fiber, aluminum & fiberglass.
Today’s hard hats are typically made from polyethylene, a thermoplastic material, using an injection-molding process.
The use of hard hats in industrial settings in which falling objects are likely has been mandated by federal law since 1971.
Head Protection
Hard hats are designed to provide limited protection from impact, primarily to the top of the head.
To reduce impact transmitted to head, neck, and spine.
It is important to wear them properly.
Never wear them backwards.
Hard hats are tested to withstand a 40-ft/lb impact.
Equivalent to a two-pound hammer falling about 20 feet.
They are also designed to limit penetration of sharp objects & give some lateral penetration protection.
Some companies adhere double- stick tape or flat magnets to the upper visor area.
To minimize dust or iron filings that fall into workers’ eyes.
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Three out of every five workers with eye injuries weren’t wearing eye protection, or not wearing the
right kind of eye protection.
Eye and Face Protection
Eye & face protection are critical in the workplace.
About 1,000 U.S. workplace eye injuries occur daily.
• Nearly half of accidents occurred in manufacturing, with just over 20% in construction.
– Flying particles cause most eye injuries.
– 70% resulted from flying or falling objects or sparks.
– About 20% were caused by contact with chemicals.
Eye and Face Protection
Eye and face protection typically consist of safety glasses, safety goggles,
or face shields.
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Eye and Face Protection
OSHA has adopted ANSI standard Z87.1–2003 for face and eye protective, which requires that nonprescription eye & face protective devices pass two impact tests:
A high-mass, low-speed test.
A low-mass, high-speed test.
Eye and Face Protection
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Assessing the Workplace for Eye Hazards
OSHA recommendations for workplace assessment:
Do employees perform tasks, or work near others who perform tasks that may produce airborne dust or flying particles?
Do employees handle, or work near others who handlehazardous liquid chemicals or blood?
Do employees work in conditions in which their lenses may become fogged?
Do employees work in situations that may expose their eyes to chemical or physical irritants?
Do employees work in situations that may expose their eyes to intense light or lasers?
Requirements for Vision Protection Devices
OSHA criteria for selecting vision protection devices:
Select only those meeting ANSI Z87.1–2003.
Select devices that protect against specific hazard(s) identified in that assessment.
Select devices as comfortable as possible to wear.
Select devices that do not restrict vision in any way.
Select devices with fogging prevention capabilities built-in.
Select durable, easy to clean, easy to disinfect devices
Select devices that do not interfere with the functioningof other personal protective equipment.
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Training
OSHA recommends training employees on the following topics:
Why it is important to use the eye protection devices.
How the devices protect the eyes.
Limitations of the devices.
When the devices should be used.
How the devices are properly worn.
How straps are adjusted for both effectiveness and comfort.
How the employee can identify signs of wear that may lessen the effectiveness of the devices.
How the devices are cleaned & disinfected and how often.
Aid for Eye Injuries
When an employee sustains an eye injury:
Be gentle with the employee.
Don’t add to the injury with rough treatment.
Do not attempt to remove objects embedded inthe eyeball.
Rinse the eyes with a copious amount of water for15 to 30 minutes to remove the chemicals.
Call for professional help.
Cover both eyes after the rinsing has been completed.
Never press on an injured eye or put any pressureon it (as when covering the eyes).
Do not allow the employee to rub his or her eyes.
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Contact Lenses in a Chemical Environment
Environments in which contacts lens should not be worn include those in which certain chemicals are present, such as:
1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP).
4,4’-methylene dianiline (MDA).
Ethyl or Isopropyl alcohol; Ethylene oxide; Methylenechloride.
• NIOSH’s Intelligence Bulletin 59: “Contact Lens Use in a Chemical Environment” is a good source of information when conducting hazard assessments of chemical environments.
This list is neither exhaustive nor comprehensive.
Foot Protection
Foot and toe injuries account for almost 20% of all disabling workplace injuries in the U.S.
Over 180,000 workplace foot & toe injuries each year.
• Major injury types to the foot & toes:
– Falls or impact from sharp or heavy objects.
– Compression when rolled over/pressed by heavy objects.
– Punctures through the sole of the foot.
– Conductivity of electricity or heat.
– Electrocution from an energized, conducting material.
– Slips on unstable walking surfaces.
– Hot liquid/metal splashed into shoes or boots.
– Temperature extremes.
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Foot Protection
The key to protecting workers’ feet & toes involves:
Identify the various types of hazards present in the workplace.
Identify the types of footwear available to counter the hazards.
Require that proper footwear be worn.
Foot Protection
The best safety boots provide these types of protection:
Steel toe for impact protection.
Rubber or vinyl for chemical protection.
Puncture-resistant soles for protection against sharp objects.
Slip-resistant soles for protection against slippery surfaces.
Electricity-resistant material for protection fromelectric shock.
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Foot Protection
Employers are not required to provide footwear for employees, but are required to provide training on foot protection:
Conditions when protective footwear should be worn.
Type of footwear needed in a given situation.
Limitations of protective footwear.
Proper use of protective footwear.
LIFTING HAZARDS
Back injuries from improper lifting are among the most common in an industrial setting.
Accounting for $12 billion in annual workers’ comp costs.
20 to 25% of all workers’ compensation claims.
About 46,000 back injuries in the workplace, causing100 million lost workdays each year.
Typical cause of back injuries in the workplace:
Improper lifting, reaching, sitting, and bending.
Poor posture, ergonomic factors, and personal lifestyles.
Prevention is critical in back safety.
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Back Safety/Lifting Program
A six-step program for back safety:
Display poster illustrations - Illustrate proper lifting, reaching, sitting, and bending techniques.
Preemployment screening -Many back injuries in the 1st year of employment are related to preexisting problems.
Regular safety inspections - Identify potential problem areas so that corrective action can be taken immediately.
Education and training -Help employees understand how to lift, bend, reach, stand, walk, and sit safely.
Use external services - Determine what services local agencies & organizations provide, and contact persons.
Map out the prevention program - The plan should be reviewed & updated as part of the safety/health program,
Back Safety/Lifting Program
Treatment for reconditioning addresses five goals:
Restoring function, reducing pain.
Minimizing deficits in strength, reducing lost time.
Returning the body to preinjury fitness levels.
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Back Safety/Lifting Program
A concept gaining acceptance in bridging the gap between treatment or therapy and a safe return to work is known as work hardening, to achieve:
Return to maximum physical abilities as soon as possible.
Improvement of general body fitness.
Reducing the likelihood of reinjury.
Work simulation that duplicates real work conditions.
Employees who undergo work center therapy should have already completed a program of acute physical therapy and pain management.
And they should be medically stable.
Proper Lifting Techniques
Plan Ahead
• Determine if you can lift the load—Is it too heavy or awkward?
• Check your route for obstructions and slippery surfaces.
Lift with Your Legs, Not Your Back
• Bend at your knees, keeping your back straight.
• Position your feet close to the object.
• Center your body over the load & lift straight up smoothly.
• Keep your torso straight; don’t twist while lifting or after theload is lifted.
• Set the load down slowly and smoothly with a straight backand bent knees; don’t let go until the object is on the floor.
Push, Don’t Pull.
• Pushing puts less strain on your back; don’t pull objects.
• Use rollers under the object whenever possible.
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NIOSH & Guidelines for Manual Material Handling
NIOSH lifting/lowering guidelines include a formula for recommended weight limits for a given lifting job.
It also takes into account nonsymmetrical lifting andlifting of items that don’t have handles.
A multitask-analysis strategy gives a method for considering a variety of related lifting variables.
Useful when dealing with tasks in which the lifting variables change throughout the task.
For example, ergonomics of a stacking job change with each successive item added to the stack.
As do the corresponding hazards.
NIOSH & Guidelines for Manual Material Handling
To apply the equation, certain information must be collected for mathematicians or computer programs:
LC: Load constant - always 51 pounds or 23 kilograms.
HM: Horizontal line -measured from midpoint between the ankles forward to the midpoint between the hands.
• At both the origin and destination of lift
VM: Vertical line - from the floor to the hands.
DM: Vertical distance - between lift origin & destination.
AM: Turning or twisting - angle of asymmetry.
FM: Average frequency rate - of lifting measured in liftsper minute.
CM: Coupling value - Does the item to be lifted have a good, fair, or poor grasping mechanism?
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NIOSH & Guidelines for Manual Material Handling
Guidelines providing more than one safe way to approach the various material handling tasks are available on the NIOSH Web site: www.cde.goc/niosh
They are divided into four parts:
The ergonomic process.
A matrix of common material handling tasks.
Several chapters on how to approach common material handling tasks.
A resource index.
STANDING HAZARDS
Prolonged walking and/or standing can cause lower back pain, sore feet, varicose veins, and a variety of other related problems.
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Test mats on a trial basis before buying a large quantity.
Mats that become slippery
when wet should be avoided.
Where chemicals are used,
select mats that will hold up
to the degrading effects of
chemicals.
Antifatigue Mats
Antifatigue mats provide cushioning between feet hard working surfaces such as concrete floors.
This effect can reduce muscle fatigue and lower back pain.
Shoe Inserts
When antifatigue mats are not feasible, shoe inserts may be the answer.
Providing the same type of cushioning as mats, they can help reduce lower back, foot, and leg pain.
It is important to ensure proper fit.
If too tight, they will do more harm than good—employees may need to wear a slightly larger shoe size.
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Foot Rails
Foot rails allow employees to elevate one foot at a time four or five inches and can help relieve the hazards of prolonged standing.
The elevated foot rounds out the lower back, thereby relieving some of the pressure on the spinal column.
A rail should not be placed in a position that inhibits movement or becomes a tripping hazard.
Workplace Design
The key to workstation design is allowing employees to move about while they work, and adjust height of the workstation to match their physical needs.
Sit/stand chairs—higher-than-normal chairs—allow employees who typically stand while working to take quick mini-breaks and return to work with hazards associated with getting out of lower chairs.
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Proper Footwear
Proper footwear is critical for employees who stand for prolonged periods.
Well-fitting, comfortable shoes that grip the work surface and allow free movement of the toes are best.
HAND PROTECTION
In the U.S. there are more than 500,000 hand injuries every year—both serious and costly for employers and for employees.
Section 138 of OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132 requires employers to base selection of hand protection (gloves) on a comprehensive assessment of the tasks performed for a given job, hazards present, and the duration of exposure to the hazards.
The assessment must be documented in writing.
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HAND PROTECTION
Selecting the right gloves is not a simple task.
A poorly fitted set of gloves cannot offer the degree of protection that a responsible employer or employee wants.
• The only way to determine whether a pair fits properly is for the employee to try them on.
Other critical features include, protection capability, comfort, and tactile sensitivity of the gloves.
• Greater comfort/tactile sensitivity can mean less protection.
• Greater protection can mean less comfort & tactile sensitivity.
HAND PROTECTION
ANSI/ISEA joint hand-protection standard simplifies glove selection by defining characteristics of protection, and standardizing tests to measure them.
Cuts, puncture resistance, abrasion.
Protection from cold and heat; flame/heat resistance.
Chemical resistance (permeation and degradation).
Viral penetration, dexterity, liquid-tightness.
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Common Glove Materials
Depending on individual hazards in a given situation,the right gloves for the job may be made of a varietyof different materials.
Common Glove Materials
Most widely used materials in making gloves are:
Leather - Offers comfort, excellent abrasion resistance, and minimum cut resistance.
Cotton - Offers comfort, minimal abrasion resistance,and minimum cut resistance.
Aramids - Offer comfort, good abrasion resistance, excellent cut resistance, and excellent heat resistance.
Polyethylene - Offers comfort, excellent abrasion resistance, and minimal cut resistance.
• Should not be subjected to high temperatures.
Stainless steel cord (wrapped in synthetic fiber) - Offers comfort, good abrasion resistance, and optimal cut resistance.
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Common Glove Materials
Most widely used materials in making gloves are:
Chain link or metal mesh - Offers very little comfort, but maximum abrasion and cut resistance.
Butyl rubber - Little comfort, but excellent resistance to heat, ozone, tearing, and certain chemicals.
Nitrile-based material - Offers greater comfort and protection, and there is increased use of this type of material for the substrate coating of glasses.
Viton rubber - Little comfort, but performs well with chemicals that butyl rubber cannot protect against, including aliphatics, halogenated, and aromatics.
Also perform well in handling alcohols, gases, and acids.
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Head, hand, back, eye, face, foot, skin & breathing protection all involve the use of PPE—a critical component in the safety program of most firms.
Making employees comfortable with PPE is a serious, sometimes difficult challenge.
They don’t like the way it looks or how it feels.
They think it is cumbersome in which to work in ortime consuming to put on and take off.
Sometimes, they just forget to use it.
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PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Strategies can be used to meet this challenge:
Maximum use of engineering/administrative controls.
• Use every control available to minimize potential hazards.
Ensure optimum PPE choice by using risk assessment.
• OSHA requires that PPE be selected on the basis of a comprehensive risk assessment.
Involve employees in all aspects of the PPE program.
• Employees may be able to provide input that will improve the quality of the decisions being made.
• Employees who are involved in the decision making are more likely to buy into and support that decision.
Provide comprehensive education and training programs.
• Employees need to understand why PPE is important, and how to properly use it.
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Strategies can be used to meet this challenge:
Reinforce the proper PPE use & challenge improper use.
Employers should never take PPE use for granted—proper behavior should be reinforced by supervisors and managers.
Be clear on who pays for PPE.
OSHA requires the employer to pay for basic minimal PPE.
Be sensitive to fit, comfort, and style issues.
Ill-fitting PPE may not provide the necessary protection, and if it does not fit well, employees may be reluctant to wear it.
Work to make PPE a normal part of the uniform.
When this happens, using PPE becomes standard operating procedure, and proper use will cease to be an issue.
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FORKLIFTS & POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
Forklifts differ from cars & trucks in several ways, and employees who drive them must understand how different.
Forklifts are typically steered by the rear wheels.
An empty forklift can be more difficult to steer thanone with a load.
Forklifts are frequently driven in reverse.
Forklifts have three-point suspension so the center of gravity can move from the rear of the vehicle closer tothe front when it is loaded.
It is important to ensure that only properly trained employees drive forklifts.
FORKLIFTS & POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
General Rules rules of accident prevention.
Keep arms, hands, and legs inside the vehicle at all times.
Face in the direction of travel at all times.
If the load blocks your view, drive backward.
Allow plenty of room for braking—at least three vehicle lengths.
Make sure there is sufficient overhead clearance beforemoving a load.
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FORKLIFTS & POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
Rules for Picking Up a Load:
Make sure the load is within the capacity of the forklift.
Make sure forks are positioned properly.
Make sure the load is properly balanced.
Make sure the load is secure.
Raise the load to the proper height.
Run the forks all the way into the pallet, and tilt themast back to stabilize the load before moving.
Back out and stop completely before lowering the load.
FORKLIFTS & POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
Rules for Traveling with a Load:
Always give pedestrians the right-of-way.
Never allow passengers on the forklift.
Keep the forks low while moving.
Keep the load tilted back slightly while moving.
Drive slowly—a forklift is not a car.
Slow down at intersections—stop & sound hornat blind intersections.
Drive up and back down ramps and inclines.
Never lift or lower the load when traveling.
Keep to the right just as you do when driving a car.
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FORKLIFTS & POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
Rules for Traveling with a Load:
Watch for oil, grease & wet spots, which can inhibit traction.
Cross railroad tracks at a skewed angle, never at aright angle.
Watch for edges on loading docks and other changesin elevation.
Maintain at least four seconds of spacing betweenyour forklift and the one in front of you.
FORKLIFTS & POWERED INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
Rules for Placing a Load:
Stop the forklift completely before raising or loweringthe load.
Move slowly and cautiously with the load raised.
Never walk or stand under a raised load or allowanyone else to do so.
Be certain the forks have cleared the pallet beforeturning and before changing height.
Stack the load square and straight.
Check behind and on both sides before backing up.
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OSHA Training Requirements
Before they are allowed to operate a powered trucks employees are required to complete initial training:
Operating instructions, warnings, and precautions for the types of trucks the operator will be authorized to operate.
• Differences between the truck and the automobile.
Truck controls and instrumentation: where they are located, what they do, and how they work.
Engine or motor operation; Steering and maneuvering.
• Visibility (including restrictions due to loading).
Fork/attachment adaptation, operation & use limitations.
• Vehicle capacity and stability; Operating limitations.
Operator vehicle inspection & maintenance.
• Refueling and/or charging and recharging of batteries.
OSHA Training Requirements
Workplace-related topics include:
Surface conditions where the vehicle will be operated.
Composition of loads to be carried and load stability.
Load manipulation, stacking, and unstacking.
Pedestrian traffic where the vehicle will be operated.
Narrow aisles & restricted places the vehicle will operate.
Hazardous locations where the vehicle will operated.
Ramps & other sloped surfaces that affect vehicle stability.
Closed environments & areas where insufficient ventilation or poor vehicle maintenance could cause a buildup of carbon monoxide or diesel exhaust.
Other unique or potentially hazardous workplace environmental conditions that could affect safe operation.
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Refresher Training Program Content
Refresher training is required whenever:
The operator has been observed operating a vehicle in an unsafe manner.
The operator has been involved in an accident or a near-hit accident.
The operator has received an evaluation that indicateshe/she is not operating the powered truck safely.
The operator is assigned to drive a different type of truck.
Any condition in the workplace changes in such a manner that it could affect the safe operation of the truck.
