Flagging Safety

 

A flagger is a person who provides temporary traffic control when permanent traffic controls (signs, signals, and barricades) do not provide the necessary protection for operations on highways or streets. Because flaggers are responsible for public safety and make more public contacts than any other highway worker, they should meet the following minimum qualifications:

·            Sense of responsibility for safety of public and workers;

·            Adequately trained in safe traffic control practices;

·            Average or higher intelligence;

·            Good physical condition, including sight and hearing;

·            Mental alertness and ability to react in an emergency;

·            Courteous but a firm manner; and

·            Neat appearance.

29 CFR 1926.201 requires that flaggers conform to the signaling methods found in Part VI of either the 1988 Edition of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), with 1993 revisions (Revision 3) or the Millennium Edition of the FHWA MUTCD (Millennium Edition). This information is found in the table below:

Employee training
Sections 1926.200-.202 do not contain training requirements. However, §1926.21 requires employers to instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to his/her work environment to control or eliminate any hazards or other exposure to illness or injury.

This may include training flaggers in hand-signaling, warning clothing and other life-saving equipment, the flagger’s role and location, traffic patterns, heavy equipment operations, communication methods and alarms, signs, channelizing devices (i.e., cones and barricades), working next to traffic and equipment, escape routes, hazards (i.e., vehicles, equipment, carbon monoxide, asphalt fumes, extreme heat/cold, rain and fog, darkness), and being as visible as possible.

Training tips
Dress as a flagger. You may want to add white trousers or coveralls, a reflectorized hard hat, clothing for weather conditions, yellow rain gear, special equipment (i.e., radio, hard hat mounted mirror, and motion detectors), and/or the sign paddle, flag, and/or light normally used by your flaggers.

Demonstrate the hand signals and the proper use of sign paddles, flags, and lights. Have trainees practice. Obtain a copy of Part VI of the MUTCD to train employees on proper flagging. Remind them of the danger of vehicles approaching from behind and the need for a spotter, a motion detector, alarm, or hard hat mounted mirror. Demonstrate these devices. Use the jobsite as a training ground, if possible.

Where to go for more information

·                  29 CFR 1926, Subpart G—Signs, signals, & barricades.

·                  Part VI of either the 1988 Edition of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), with 1993 revisions (Revision 3) or the Millennium Edition of the FHWA MUTCD (Millennium Edition).

 This information is prThis information is provided by Assurance Agency https:www.assuranceagency.com

 

Protect Yourself During Abrasive Blasting

 

Overview

During abrasive blasting operations, both the abrasives and the surface coatings on the materials blasted are shattered and pulverized. This creates particle “dust” which workers breathe in. The composition and toxicity of the dust from these sources must be considered in making an evaluation of the potential health hazards.

Respirators

Use only respirators approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under 42 CFR 84 to protect yourself from dusts produced during abrasive-blasting operations.

Abrasive-blasting respirators must be worn when you are:

(a) working inside of blast-cleaning rooms, or

(b) using silica sand in manual blasting operations where the nozzle and blast are not physically separated from you in an exhaust ventilated enclosure, or

(c) working where concentrations of toxic dust dispersed by the abrasive blasting may exceed the limits set in 29 CFR 1910.1000 and the nozzle and blast are not physically separated from you in an exhaust-ventilated enclosure.

Dust filter respirators

You may use properly fitted particulate-filter respirators, commonly referred to as dust-filter respirators, for short, intermittent, or occasional dust exposures such as cleanup, dumping of dust collectors, or unloading shipments of sand at a receiving point when it is not feasible to control the dust by enclosure, exhaust ventilation, or other means.

The respirators used must be approved by NIOSH under 42 CFR 84 for protection against the specific type of dust encountered.

You may use dust-filter respirators to protect yourself outside of abrasive-blasting operations where nonsilica abrasives are used on materials having low toxicities.

Dust-filter respirators must not be used for continuous protection where:

·         silica sand is used as the blasting abrasive, or

·         toxic materials are blasted.

Respiratory protection program

If you use respirators required by this section, your employer must implement a respiratory protection program in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.134.

Other protective equipment

You must be equipped with heavy canvas or leather gloves and aprons or equivalent protection to protect yourself from the impact of abrasives.

Safety shoes must be worn to protect against foot injury where heavy pieces of work are handled.

Safety shoes must conform to the requirements of American National Standard for Men's Safety-Toe Footwear, Z41.1-1967.

You must use equipment for protection of your eyes and face when the respirator design does not provide such protection. This equipment must conform to the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.133.

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