Welding & Cutting Safety

Everyone involved in welding operations must take necessary precautions to prevent fires, explosions, or personal injuries. Even for small or routine jobs, you should always follow established safety procedures and resist the temptation to take shortcuts.

As with any job activity, you will have hazards involved. Some common welding dangers you should be aware of include fumes, gases, radiation, electric shock, fire and explosion, lead poisoning, metal splatter and sparks, noise, and slips, trips and falls. While these are a lot of hazards, OSHA allows a lot of ways to control or eliminate them in order to protect you:

• Ventilation—Exhaust hoods at the arc, fans, and open spaces all help to reduce the concentration of hazardous fumes, gases, and dusts, and prevent the accumulation of flammable gases, vapors, and dusts that could cause
fire. Know the symptoms of fumes and gases and get out of the area if they develop. Perform atmospheric tests.

• Respirators—When ventilation and plume avoidance don't give enough protection or when welding creates an oxygen-deficient area, wear a respirator.

• Personal protective equipment (PPE)—This includes flame-resistant aprons; leggings and high boots; ankle-length safety shoes worn under your pant legs; shoulder cape and skull cap; ear plugs or ear muffs; insulated gloves; safety helmets; goggles; helmets; and shields. Use ANSI-approved filter lenses and plates. Protect those nearby by putting up shields.

• Electrical precautions—Do not arc weld while standing on damp surfaces or in damp clothing. Properly ground, install, and operate equipment. Do not use defective equipment. Use well-insulated electrode holders and cables. Insulate yourself from both the work and the metal electrode and holder. Don't wrap a welding cable around your body. Wear dry gloves and rubber-soled shoes. Do not use damaged or bare cables and connectors.

• Fire protection—Wear flame-resistant clothing. Have someone be your fire watcher when you weld. Move all combustible material at least 35 feet from the work area and try to move away from combustible materials, or cover them with fire resistant material. Don't weld in atmospheres containing dangerously reactive or flammable gases, vapors, liquids, or dust. Clean and purge containers which may have held combustible material before applying heat. Get a hot work permit and follow its safety precautions.

• Confined space precautions—Assess limited work spaces and slipping hazards, and evaluate hazardous atmospheres and interior surfaces for flammability, combustibility, or toxic fumes that could result from welding processes.

• Clothing—Wear wool, leather, or cotton treated clothing to reduce flammability for gas shielded arc welding. Long sleeves and pants without cuffs/front pockets are recommended to avoid catching sparks.

• Don't get too close to the fume or plume or weld on lead-painted surfaces.

This information is provided by: Assurance Agency

Work Safely on Powered Platforms

Overview
Performing maintenance work while using a powered platform presents special hazards. One type of hazard is walking and working surfaces where the potential for falls exists.
Maintaining a safe work atmosphere on a powered platform involves proper inspection and maintenance, as well as a thorough understanding of emergency procedures.
How can I protect myself?
Follow the manufacture’s guidelines when operating and using a powered platform. Some basic rules to follow for any type of powered platform include the following:
• Do not exceed the load rating for the powered platform in use. (The load rating is found on the platform load rating plate).
• Clear platforms of ice, snow, and other slippery materials.
• Protect the platform, its components, wire ropes, and lifelines from damage.
• Do not use the platform in winds exceeding 25 miles per hour.
• Use the mounted anemometer to measure wind velocities during the use of the platform.
• Keep the platform free of debris, unused tools, and materials.

Inspection
To ensure the proper operation of a powered platform, competent persons must inspect it at regular intervals. Inspections of a powered platform consist of the following:
• Checking the platform and its components for visual defects in a daily inspection before use.
• Inspecting the building supporting structures for the powered platform on a yearly basis.
• Inspecting all parts of the powered platform according to manufacturer’s guidelines at least yearly.
• Inspecting and testing the governors and secondary brakes according to manufacturer’s guidelines at least yearly.
• Inspecting all suspension wire ropes visually after each use and after each incident that might affect the rope’s integrity.
• Examining all ropes that have not been in service for more than 30 days.

Use a personal fall arrest system
Another factor in safe powered platform work is the use of personal fall arrest systems. A personal fall arrest system limits the fall of a worker from the platform. The personal fall arrest system consists of a full body harness, lanyard, rope grabs, lifeline, lifeline anchorage points, and riggings.
When using a personal fall arrest system, you should know and understand the following items:
• Application limits.
• Proper anchoring and tie-off techniques.
• Deceleration distance.
• Elongation distance.
• Damage.
• Other deterioration.

This information is provided by: Assurance Agency

Flagging Safety

When signs, signals, and barricades do not provide enough protection for operations on highway or street construction, then flaggers or other traffic controls must be provided. Because flagging exposes the flagger to traffic—the number one cause of death for highway construction sites—the use of flaggers is avoided. Using the proper flagging signals, warning garments, and work practices, however, makes the job of flagging safer.

• Use proper STOP/SLOW paddles when hand signaling. STOP/SLOW paddles have a red STOP sign on one side and an orange SLOW sign on the other. Red flags should only be used in emergency situations. Use retroreflective hand-signaling devices at night.

• Use signals that conform to the Part VI of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Here are the signaling methods for STOP/SLOW paddles:

• To stop traffic—Face traffic and hold the STOP sign paddle toward traffic with your arm extended horizontally away from the body. Raise your free arm with your palm toward approaching traffic.

• To direct stopped traffic to proceed—Face traffic and hold the SLOW paddle toward traffic with your arm extended horizontally away from the body. Motion with your free hand for traffic to proceed.

• To alert or slow traffic—Face traffic holding the SLOW paddle toward traffic with your arm extended horizontally away from the body. You may motion up and down with your free hand, palm down, indicating that the vehicle needs to slow down.

• Wear an orange, yellow, or yellow-green vest, shirt, or jacket.

• Wear a retroreflective vest, shirt, or jacket at night. It's also a good idea to wear white pants and a retroreflective hard hat at night.

• Coordinate with other flaggers and communicate by "walkie-talkie" if you have no visual contact.

• Know how to combat both heat and cold exposure, dress appropriately, and know where shelter is available.

• Be alert to symptoms associated with carbon monoxide from vehicular traffic (nausea and headache). If symptoms develop, get to fresh air.

• Use barricades, cones, tubular markers, vertical panels, drums, and barriers to mark areas.

• Be aware of construction equipment around you. In order to know what is approaching from behind, you may need to wear a hard hat mounted mirror, have a buddy "spot" you, or use some kind of motion detector. Equipment operators, too, should know where you are. Heavy equipment can crush and kill in a matter of seconds!

Flagging can be a safe job if you remain alert to everything around you at all times.

This information is provided by Assurance Agency