Housekeeping - Tool Box Talks

Maintaining good housekeeping is an important part of the overall job of supervision. There are a number of advantages to having a clean and orderly plant, including: avoidance of accidents, better fire prevention, improved health of employees, and increased worker efficiency and morale.

Avoidance of accidents is one of the major goals of any company. That occasional piece of scrap or wet spot on the floor can cause slip, trip, and fall hazards. Cluttered aisles and congested work areas can add to the dangers. A thorough, regular, and successful program of good housekeeping that eliminates hazards makes good sense for everyone.

Housekeeping can appear to be a never-ending and thankless job, but if too much dirt, debris, and disorder are allowed to accumulate, this can eventually lead to production problems caused by increased accidents, absenteeism, and turnover. Typically, you will find that places that have good housekeeping will have competent foremen and a low accident rate.
People don’t really enjoy working in areas that are disorderly and crowded with booby traps. They don’t want to continuously climb over excessive accumulations of spilled material, be hit by objects falling from above, or scrape up against poorly placed materials.

Keeping everything in order will prevent these incidents from occurring.
A responsible foreman and responsible employees know that good housekeeping cannot be maintained simply by an occasional large cleanup. It must be planned on a regular basis. It should also be a part of everyone’s daily routine.

Here are some real life examples of what did happen because of bad housekeeping:
• A plumber fractured his ankle after he slipped on some pipe while attempting to get to his crowded work area/.
• A carpenter slipped on a wet floor and sprained his back.
• An electrician stepped on a tool while climbing down a ladder and sprained his ankle.
All of these accidents could have been prevented through better housekeeping. With good housekeeping, you can reduce operating costs, increase production, and prevent injuries. Good housekeeping is just good business.

Checklist for Housekeeping
• Is your workplace neat and orderly?
• Have you emphasized the importance of housekeeping to your workers on a regular basis?
• Do your employees know that housekeeping is everyone’s responsibility?
• Are spills and slippery spots cleaned up immediately?
• Are employees provided with adequate storage areas to put tools and other work items away?

This information is provided by: Assurance Agency

Violence in the workplace - on the job tool box talks

Overview

Violence in the workplace is a growing threat for businesses of all sizes and all over.

What constitutes violence at work?

Common acts of violence in the workplace can include:
• insubordination
• verbal bullying
• threats
• harassment
• sexual assault and rape
• theft
• make fists and beatings
• stabbings and shooting
• suicides
• vandalism and arson
• kidnapping or hostage-taking

What should I do?
Violence in the workplace affects not only the victims, but coworkers and the company also. It is important that employees cooperate with the company to limit or eliminate the violence at work through controls of the methods of work.

What should my employer do?
Your employer will review the plan of the company for the prevention of violence at work and controls the working methods.

This information is provided by: Assurance Agency

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Walking- Working Surfaces

Overview
Slips, trips, and falls account for many industry accidents. Slips, trips, and falls are responsible for 10 percent of all accidental deaths. They are also the fourth leading cause, following motor vehicles, homicides, and being struck by objects or equipment, as a cause of fatalities. In an attempt to remove potential hazards from the workplace, OSHA developed 1910, Subpart D—Walking—Working Surfaces. Subpart D.

Hazards involved with using walking-working surfaces The main hazard involved with walking and working surfaces include slips, trips, and falls. Stairways are also taken for granted, and so become a source for accidents in the workplace.

What must my employer do?
Your employer is responsible for providing a safe working environment. That includes reducing or eliminating hazards in walking and working areas by:
- Keeping all employment, passageway, storerooms, and service rooms clean, orderly, and sanitary.
- Maintain floors in a clean and, so far as possible, dry condition. If wet processes are used, drainage shall be maintained. Gratings, mats, or raised platforms must be provided.
- Floors, working places, and passageways are to be kept free from protruding nails, splinters, or loose boards.
- Keeping aisles and passageways clear and in good repair with no obstruction across or in aisles that could create hazards.
- Appropriately marking permanent aisles and passageways.
- Maintaining proper aisle width so as to not limit passage or egress.
- Providing covers and/or guardrails to protect open pits, vats, tanks, ditches, and other hazards.
- Following load rating limits for all floors or roofs.
- Maintain adequate lighting in areas to illuminate walking surfaces.
- Providing handrails as required.

This information was proviced by: Assurance Agency

Access to Scaffolds - On the Job Tool Box Talks

Getting to the work level of a scaffold has always been a serious problem. Workers, when not provided with a proper stairway or ladder, might be tempted to use crossbraces to climb the scaffold. This is strictly forbidden in the new scaffold rule. The OSHA rules apply to all employees gaining access to a scaffold work surface. For your safety, you should observe the following OSHA and your company rules when getting on or off a scaffold work area. Access to and between scaffold platforms more than two feet above or below the point of access must be made by:
- Portable ladders, hook-on ladders, attachable ladders, scaffold stairways, stairway-type ladders (such as ladder stands), ramps, walkways, integral prefabricated scaffold access, or equivalent means; or
- by direct access from another scaffold, structure, personnel hoist, or similar surface.

Portable, hook-on, and attachable ladders — It is critical that portable, hook-on, and attachable ladders are
- Positioned so as not to tip the scaffold.
- Positioned so the bottom rung is not more than 24 inches above your starting point.
- Equipped with a rest platform at 35-foot maximum vertical intervals.

Stairway-type ladders must:
- Be provided with rest platforms at 12 foot intervals.
- Have slip-resistant treads on all steps and landings.

Stairtowers must:
- Be equipped with a stairrail consisting of a toprail (handrail) and a midrail on each side of each scaffold stairway.
- Have slip-resistant surfaces on treads and landings.
- Have guardrails on the open sides and ends of each landing.

Ramps and walkways six feet or more above lower levels must have guardrail systems in place.

Scaffold frames that are used as access ladders must:
- Be specifically designed and constructed for use as ladder rungs.
- Be uniformly spaced within each frame section.

As a user of scaffolds you are not allowed to erect or dismantle them — unless you are trained and designated to do so. However, you still must be able to recognize hazardous conditions when climbing up and down, to and from, a work surface. To totally ignore a problem is asking for trouble. Study the above OSHA rules and have a better understanding of when things do not look right. When they don’t, don’t climb.

Never use crossbraces to gain access to a scaffold working platform.

This information was provided by: Assurance Agency

Recognize the Warning Signs-On the Job Tool Box Talks

Overview
In an effort to decrease the number of accidents and injuries in the workplace, OSHA developed two standards on safety color-coding and specifications for accident prevention signs and tags. A sign refers to a surface on prepared for the warning of, or safety instructions of, industrial workers or members of the public who may be exposed to hazards. The information is located in 29 CFR 1910.144 and 1910.145.

What must I know?
There are a few different means of designating signs and tags. Color and shape work well for the purpose of communicating required information. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has developed the following color scheme:

Safety colors:
- Red - Fire, danger, or stop
- Orange - Warning
- Yellow - Caution
- Green - Safety
- Blue - Notice

Shapes:
- Triangle - Hazard alerts
- Circle - Mandatory actions
- Square/rectangle - Information
- Circle with slash - Prohibited activity

According to the National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association/American National Standards Institute (NEMA/ANSI), the lettering must be in upper case block letter, and large enough that a person with normal vision can read it. The labels on piping also play a vital role in informing employees and emergency personnel what is contained in the pipes in your workplace. These labels are color-coded and include the substance name.

Labels on piping:
- Yellow - Flammable
- Green - Liquid, non-flammable
- Blue - Gaseous
- Red - Fire quenching material

Adequate lighting should be available for signs so that the message is readable. Your employer strives to maintain the safest workplace possible, and the communication of hazards plays an important role. Knowing the difference between red and green may sound simple, but it could save a life.

This information was provided by: Assurance Agency
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Eye Protection - On the job tool box talks

The Importance of Eye Protection
The majority of work-related eye injuries are a result of flying or falling objects or sparks striking the eye.

Other Common Potential Hazards Include the Following:
- Fumes
- Vapors
- Chemical splashes
- Extremely bright or hazardous light, such as from welding

Common Types of Eye Protection
A job hazard assessment performed prior to the start of a particular task will determine the type of eye protection required.
- Safety glasses are a common form of protection against low-to-moderate impacts and sparks from activities such as grinding and woodworking. Only use safety glasses with side shields.
- Goggles form a protective seal around the eye area to better protect from hazardous chemical vapors, splashes, or dust or other small particles that may enter the eye. Make sure that your goggles include ventilation mechanisms to prevent fogging.
- Face shields provide protection for the entire face against flying particles, sparks, splashes, harmful mists, and other hazards.
- Welding masks are specially designed to protect from radiant energy, sparks, and metal splatters from welding.

Proper Use
- Always wear proper eye protection where required, even if danger to your eyes seems remote.
- Before use, verify that your equipment is appropriate for the task.
- Inspect eye protection prior to each use.
- If you wear prescription eyewear, use eye protection that accommodates it. Prescription eyewear by itself is not a substitute for safety glasses or goggles.
- When welding or cutting, always wear safety glasses or goggles underneath face shields or welding helmets.
- When your work is complete, store eye protection properly and away from extreme temperatures or direct sunlight.

This information is provided by: Assurance Agency