SAFETY BLOG

Office Work Station Ergonomics

Office workers sustain over 70,000 injuries in the office setting annually.  Sprains, strains, and repetitive motion injuries account for many of these.

• Falls and slips 35%
• Strains and over exertions 22%
• Struck by or against objects 18%
• Caught in or between objects 10%

Ergonomics:  is the study of man's relationship with his or her workplace.  The employer must fit the task to the person.  OSHA's standards on office ergonomics are found within 29 CFR 1903.1

The ergonomically correct work station:

• Office chair should provide support for the lower back.
• The seat should be fully adjustable in height.
• Monitor terminal should be 18-24 inches away from worker.
• The employee's eyes should be at the same height as the top of the monitor screen.
• Anti-glare technology should be applied to decrease eye strain
• When seated, the employee should sit in an upright position with shoulders back.  Back fully supported.
• Foot rests should be provided for shorter people to add support to the hips and back.
• Upper legs and lower legs should form a 90 degree angle for optimum support.
• The employee's elbows should be level with the keyboard.
• Wrists straight
• This will form a straight line from the elbow to the fingertips
• Add wrist cushions to keyboard bases and mouse pads to decrease carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Adequate lighting to decrease eye strain, but not too much to contribute to monitor glare.
• Anti-slip mats under chairs decreases slips and falls.
• Work space dividers to reduce noise.
• Headsets decrease neck strains for employees that frequently use telephones.

Be safe out there!

Standards for Concrete Equipment

The following safety huddle reviews OSHA regulations pertaining to construction safety standards.  Today's safety huddle details the regulations that govern tools and equipment used in concrete and masonry operations.  The following standards are quoted from 29 CFR 1926.702

Requirements for equipment and tools:

• Bulk cement storage, containers, and silos shall be equipped with the following:
• Conical or tapered bottoms, and
• Mechanical or pneumatic means of starting the flow of material
• No employee shall be permitted to enter storage facilities unless the ejection system has been shut down, locked out, and tagged
• Concrete mixers with one cubic yard or larger skips shall be equipped with the following:
• A mechanical device to clear the skip of materials
• Guardrails installed on each side of the skip
• Powered and rotating type concrete troweling machines that are manually guided shall be equipped with a control switch that will automatically shut off the power whenever the hands of the operator are removed from the equipment handles
• Concrete buggy handles shall not extend beyond the wheels on either side of the buggy
• Concrete pumping systems using discharge pipes shall be provided with pipe supports designed for 100 percent overload
• Compressed air hoses used on concrete pumping systems shall be provided with positive fail-safe joint connectors to prevent separation of sections when pressurized
• Concrete bucket equipment with hydraulic or pneumatic gates shall have positive safety latches to prevent premature or accidental dumping
• Buckets shall be designed to prevent concrete from hanging up on top and sides
• Sections of tremies and similar concrete conveyances shall be secured with wire rope in addition to the regular couplings or connections
• Bull float handles, used where they may contact energized electrical conductors, shall be constructed of nonconductive material or insulated with a nonconductive sheath
• Masonry saws shall be guarded with a semicircular enclosure over the blade
• A method for retaining blade fragments shall be incorporated in the design of the semicircular enclosure
• No employee shall be permitted to perform maintenance or repair activity on equipment (such as compressors, mixers, screens, or pumps used for concrete and masonry construction) where the inadvertent operation of the equipment could occur and cause injury, unless all potentially hazardous energy sources have been locked out and tagged

 Be safe out there!

Aerial Lift Safety

On October 12, 2009, a construction worker in Philadelphia was killed when the aerial lift he was working from toppled over dropping him 125 feet.  In light of this tragic accident, now would be an excellent time to review the OSHA standards that govern aerial lift safety.  The following standards refer to 29 CFR 1926.453.

Scope and Application:

• Aerial lifts acquired for use on or after January 22, 1973 shall be designed and constructed in conformance with the applicable requirements of the American National Standards for "Vehicle Mounted Elevating and Rotating Work Platforms"
• Aerial lifts include the following types of vehicles:
• Extensible boom platforms
• Aerial ladders
• Articulating boom platforms
• Vertical towers
• A combination of any such devices
• Aerial equipment may be made of metal, wood, fiberglass reinforced plastic, or other material
• May be powered or manually operated
• May be field modified for uses other than those intended by the manufacturer provided that modification has been certified by manufacturer or any other equivalent entity

 Requirements:

• Aerial ladders shall be secured in the lower traveling position by the locking device on top of the truck cab, and the manually operated device at the base of the ladder before highway travel
• Lift controls shall be tested each day prior to use
• Only authorized persons shall operate an aerial lift
• Belting off to an adjacent pole, structure, or equipment while working from an aerial lift shall not be permitted
• Employees shall always stand firmly on the floor of the basket
• Shall not sit or climb on edge of basket
• Shall not use planks, ladders, or other devices for a work position
• Fall protection shall be worn and a lanyard attached to the boom or basket
• Body belts no longer acceptable as of January 1, 1998
• Never exceed boom or basket load limits
• Brakes shall be set when outriggers are used
• Outriggers placed on pads or solid surfaces
• Wheel chocks used when aerial lift is used on incline
• Aerial lifts shall not be moved when the boom is elevated in a working position when men are in the basket
• Except equipment that is specifically designed for this type of operation
• Articulating and extensible boom platforms shall have both upper and lower controls
• Lower controls shall not be used unless permission granted from employee in basket
• The insulated portion of lift shall not be altered in any manner

 Always consult OSHA standards for more details.

Be safe out there!

Workplace Safety in Question

The construction industry has suffered another workplace accident that has taken a man's life on Monday, October 12.  A construction worker in Philadelphia was working from a mobile lift platform when it toppled over while performing construction work on a church roof.  National news is reporting that it was believed the platform rolled over a sidewalk grate which became unstable and caused the lift to become unbalanced, thus falling over with the employee in the basket.  It is believed the boom on the lift was fully extended at the time of the accident and the worker fell approximately 125 feet.

Once again workplace safety will be examined to determine if this construction accident could have been avoided.  The safe utilization of mobile platform lifts is regulated by OSHA standards.  While the details of this accident are still sketchy, we must assume that an adequate safety assessment of the days work may have identified potential hazards to the stability of the lift.  How many more workers are we going to lose in this country before workplace and construction safety is taken seriously?

Employee Substance Abuse

October is drug-free workplace month.  Substance abuse among employees can greatly decrease workplace safety and drastically increase costs for their employers.  This safety huddle will outline the dangers of substances in the workplace, the basic elements of a successful drug-free workplace program, and helpfull lifelines for employees in need.

Statistics

When we hear the term "substances" we must realize that this is not exclusive to illegal drugs, but rather to any legal or illegal substances that are prohibited in the workplace.  Employees must read their employers substance abuse policy and be familiar with the substances and levels of those substances that are prohibited.  The bottom line; substance abuse is extremely dangerous and costly in the workplace.

• Substance abusers are 5 times more likely to have an accident in the workplace.
• Their accidents are 150% more severe than the normal employee.
• not only are they more likely to injure you at work, but they are more likely to maim or kill you
• Substance abusers have 5 times more worker compensation claims that the non-abuser.
• Abusers use 300-400% more of their employee health benefits for themselves and their dependents.

 Program Basics

A successful drug-free workplace program will prohibit the use of illegal substances and the abuse of legal substances.  A common complaint among anti-program employees is "what I do in my free time is none of the company's business".  We do agree that an employee's personal time is their own, but when they arrive to work and the substances that they have been abusing are still in their systems affecting their physical and mental abilities, thus decreasing safety to themselves an others, then it becomes everyones business.  The following are the basic components of a successful drug-free workplace program:

• A program will never succeed without supportive and committed leadership within a company.
• A thorough written policy that is signed by all employees is the foundation for a successful program.
• Must state company view on substance abuse in the workplace
• Must list all substances tested for
• Must list the blood alcohol composition (BAC) that will put an employee in violation of the policy
• Must list the different criteria that warrant drug testing in the workplace
• Must state the consequences of violating the policy
• Employee education and training
• Covers the structure of company's program
• Discusses the dangers and health effects of substances
• Discusses socio-economic effects of substance abuse
• Drug testing
• A good written policy is worthless without the enforcement of actual drug testing
• Potential criteria for drug testing:
• Pre-employment testing
• Post-accident testing
• Return-to-duty testing
• Random Testing
• Reasonable suspicion testing
• Help resources for employees in need (non-mandatory)
• Does the company offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?
• Lists of potential counselors and treatment centers within the community?
• Management support within company for employees voluntarily seeking help.
• Job protection
• Follow-up support services for post-treatment employees.

Generally, the employees who have a problem with drug testing in the workplace are the employees who have something to hide.  Every employee has the right to go home safe at the end of the day.  Substance abusers greatly decrease your chances of making it home in one piece.

Be safe out there!

Warning Line Systems

The following safety huddle lists the OSHA standards that regulate and define the specifications for warning line systems in construction fall protection.  Refer to 29 CFR 1926.502(f) for more details.  Remember, workplace safety is every everybody's responsibility.

Definition: warning line system means a barrier erected on a roof to warn employees that they are approaching an unprotected roof side or edge, and which designates an area in which roofing work may take place without the use of guardrail, body belt, or safety net systems to protect employees in the area.

Warning line systems and their use shall comply with the following provisions:

• Shall be erected around all sides of the roof work area.
• When mechanical equipment is not being used, the warning line shall be erected not less than 6 feet from the roof edge.
• When mechanical equipment is being used, the warning line shall be erected not less than 6 feet from the roof edge which is parallel to the direction of mechanical equipment operation, and not less than 10 feet from the roof edge which is perpendicular to the direction of mechanical equipment operation.
• Points of access, materials handling areas, storage areas, and hoisting areas shall be connected to the work area by an access path formed by two warning lines.
• When the path to a point of access is not in use, a rope, wire, chain, or other barricade, equivalent in strength and height to the warning line, shall be placed across the path at the point where the path intersects the warning line erected around the work area.
• or the path shall be offset such that a person cannot walk directly into the work area.
• Warning lines shall consist of ropes, wires, or chains, and supporting stanchions erected as follows:
• the rope, wire, or chain shall be flagged at not more than 6 foot intervals with high-visibility material.
• shall be rigged and supported in such a way that its lowest point (including sag) is no less than 34 inches from the walking/working surface and its highest point is no more than 39 inches from the walking working surface.
• stanchions shall be capable of resisting, without tipping over, a force of at least 16 pounds applied horizontally against the stanchion, 30 inches above the walking/working surface, perpendicular to the warning line, and in the direction of the floor, roof, or platform edge.
• The rope, wire, or chain shall have a minimum tensile strength of 500 pounds.
• The line shall be attached at each stanchion in such a way that pulling on one section of the line between stanchions will not result in slack being taken up in adjacent sections before the stanchion tips over.
• No employee shall be allowed in the area between the roof edge and a warning line unless the employer is performing roofing work in that area.
• Mechanical equipment on roofs shall be used or stored only in areas where employees are protected by a warning line system, guardrail system, or personal fall arrest sytem.

 Be safe out there!