March/April 1997
Implementing an effective safety program needn’t be expensive, but it does require heart-and-soul commitment and strict adherence to safe working practices.
Here’s a refresher in safety program basics to get you going in the right direction.
By Kristina Rundquist
Kristina Rundquist is an associate editor of
Scrap.
“How can I believe in God,” Woody Allen once asked, “when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?”
While Woody Allen could poke fun at his journalistic safety problems, everyone in an industrial business knows that safety is no laughing matter. The fact is that occupational accidents carry a heavy cost—financially and personally—for both companies and injured employees.
That’s why it’s so important for industrial businesses, including scrap processing operations, to have an effective safety program. The value of such programs goes beyond the financial perks of lower insurance premiums and fewer workers’ compensation claims. The main benefit is the reduction or elimination of employee injuries, with other positive results being improved employee morale, higher productivity, and less absenteeism.
But how do you create a quality safety program? And what are some simple safety rules to follow to ensure that the program succeeds? Here’s some advice to help you get started.
The Basic Ingredients
According to Mike Mattia, ISRI’s director of risk management, “The absolute essentials of a good safety program are management commitment, training, and employee involvement. Without these, a safety program won’t go anywhere.”
Although some companies may believe that incentives—such as fast food coupons, token gifts, or pizza parties—are enough to motivate employees to work safe and smart, no amount of incentives can create a safety mindset if management is lukewarm in its support.
Conversely, if employees see that management stands behind the program and cares about their well-being, they’ll be more likely to comply with the firm’s safety rules. As Mattia observes, “The most important thing for employees is that management does something to signify it cares about their safety.”
After management commitment, training is the next essential component of a successful safety program. And this training doesn’t have to be expensive, Mattia is quick to point out, noting, “The key isn’t costly training, but regular and effective training.”
When training employees, the rule to remember is that safety practices can’t be emphasized once, then forgotten. The information has to be repeated and repeated until it’s ingrained in each employee’s mind and incorporated automatically in their behavior. “You can’t teach employees common sense,” says Mattia, “but you can preach something enough so that they’ll take the time to think.”
And last but not least, the success of a safety program hinges on getting employees to buy into the process, so it’s essential to have strategies for getting them involved. “Think about how to reach them as people and how to make them an integral part of the program,” says Mattia. “If you can do that, you’re on your way to succeeding.”
One example of this is having employees create safety posters to post around your facility. This can be accomplished by holding a contest for the best safety jingle or slogan and having the winning submission laminated and posted as the company’s safety motto for the week, month, or year. “Don’t just buy slogans and posters off the rack,” Mattia says. “If employees do it themselves, there’s an automatic buy-in factor.”
Other ways to get employees to participate and pay attention include placing safety posters in obscure locations and offering an award to whomever finds the new one, as one scrap company has done. Another tactic involves writing safety messages backward in places where they can be read in the rearview mirrors of loading or other equipment.
Aside from the three essential components of management commitment, repetitive training, and employee involvement, there’s one other point to keep in mind when launching a safety program, notes Mattia: It’s important to not start off too ambitiously, but rather to set realistic, achievable goals. For instance, instead of starting out with the goal of being accident-free for six months, aim for a week, then two, then build to a month, Mattia suggests.
One scrap company, he notes, wanted to reach the goal of having no lost-time accidents for a year. To achieve that goal, the firm divided the year into smaller time frames and gave prizes each time the goal was met, culminating with a year-end total.
Getting Down to Specifics
Once you have the basic components of a good safety program in place, you can get down to the details, which involves outlining the potential danger areas of your operation, as well as the safe working practices and procedures employees should follow at all times. While there are dozens of safety areas that should be addressed, the following five have general importance to most scrap processing operations. Here are some key safety points to keep in mind on these crucial topics.
Lockout/Tagout
Before working on equipment, OSHA rules require that all energy sources be “isolated and rendered inoperative.” But just because the power is off, that doesn’t mean there’s no danger. Equipment with stored energy such as guillotine shears and cranes can literally spring into action, potentially harming employees. To help companies comply with its lockout/tagout rules, OSHA has established the following three-point program: All lockout procedures must be documented. Training must be provided for authorized personnel who carry out service and maintenance work, personnel who might be in the vicinity when this work is carried out, and other employees who might inadvertently pass by during a routine service job. And periodic audits must be conducted at least once annually.
To make sure your lockout/tagout procedures are up to snuff, keep these specific points in mind.
- Make sure lockout/tagout procedures are documented and, if possible, posted on each piece of equipment. These procedures should include instructions on preparations for shutdown, actual shutdown, equipment isolation, application and removal of lockout/tagout devices, procedures for double-checking, and employee notification.
- Lock out all machinery before any maintenance or cleaning is performed, and attempt to start the equipment prior to commencing work to verify that the lockout was effective.
- The locks used for lockout should be distinguished from locks used for other purposes and standardized according to color, shape, or size. Each lock must identify the user and be able to withstand excessive pressure.
- Tags used for tagout purposes should be uniform in print and format and be marked with the equivalent of “Do Not Operate.” They, too, must identify the user, be able to withstand variable forces up to 50 pounds of pressure, and hold up in inclement weather conditions.
- Review each new piece of equipment for all potential energy sources and make sure hidden sources are well-identified and able to be isolated. Similarly, it’s a good idea to examine older machinery every few years to ensure that lockout procedures are up-to-date.
Confined Spaces
According to OSHA, a confined space is one that is large enough to enter and work inside, offers limited options for entry and exit, and is not intended for continuous occupancy. The hazards inherent in such spaces are many, including the presence of toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide from machine fumes or hydrogen sulfide emitted from bacteria-laden water; flammable gases emanating from tank walls or leaks in an acetylene torch; previously stored gases such as helium, nitrogen, or methane; too much or too little oxygen; and the potential for electrocution, the presence of suffocating materials, and equipment-based injuries.
These tips can help counter some of these threats.
- Before entering an area, determine if it meets the definition of a confined space. If it does, carefully examine the potential hazards and, if any exist, check with a supervisor before entering.
- When handling tanks or cylinders, test for residual gases with a calibrated tester capable of detecting flammable gases and vapors. In addition, carry out a visual inspection to ensure that no internal compartments exist, that all valves have been removed, and that a large vent hole has been made in the container. If the tank needs to be cleaned, use inert gases, steam, or water.
- Never torch-weld in a confined space.
- Keep an accurate count of the number of people working in a confined space and keep in constant contact with them.
Machine Guarding
While lockout prevents machinery from starting up, machine guarding protects employees while equipment is operating. There are two OSHA-accepted means of guarding: One deals with guarding the machine and its moving parts, while the other focuses on guarding employees. In the latter case, for instance, employees working with alligator shears can be required to wear wrist restraints, which allow the employees to feed the shear but prevent them from reaching into the machine’s cutting area.
Here are some other guarding suggestions to enhance your safety efforts.
- Make sure guards are installed over all conveyor nip-points and anyplace clothing or other objects could get caught.
- Examine machinery for the not-so-obvious danger spots and put up guards. For instance, someone working downstream on a shaker table could be hit by flying debris.
- In addition to protecting employees, some equipment parts should be guarded as well to prevent damage to sensitive or dangerous components. A flying piece of metal, for example, could sever an electric or hydraulic line, causing a serious and potentially deadly equipment malfunction.
Personal Protective Equipment
While most scrap recycling employees generally know what protective equipment they should wear, it can be a battle getting them to actually wear it. One way to get employees to dress the part is to include them in the equipment selection process.
Here are a few pointers to keep in mind regarding work clothing and protective equipment.
General Rules of Thumb - Always wear proper-fitting clothes with no loose, unbuttoned, or dangling parts.
- Don’t wear jewelry, keys on chains, Walkman-type headsets, eyeglasses with strings, or toolbelts slung over one shoulder and across the chest.
Headgear - Any protective headgear should not only resist penetration, but also absorb the shock of a blow, and, when necessary, provide protection against electrical shock. Class A protective hats offer limited voltage protection but overall general service. Class B hats, used mostly by electrical workers, offer high voltage protection, while Class C offer none and are used only in circumstances where there is no danger posed by electricity or corrosion.
- Before cleaning hard hats, check with the manufacturer as some cleaning solvents can weaken or damage the protective shell or negate the hat’s electrical resistance.
- Don’t store or carry hard hats in the rear window of a vehicle as sunlight and extreme heat can weaken their protective properties.
Eye and Face Wear - Any employee who could be exposed to flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, gases or vapors, or light radiation should wear appropriate eye or face protection such as glasses or goggles. These so-called primary protectors can be worn in conjunction with secondary protectors such as faceshields and helmets and should come with side shields if flying objects are a potential hazard.
- All eye and face wear should be inspected for cracks and scratches prior to wearing.
- Clean protective wear regularly with a soft cloth and mild detergent. Avoid using alcohol or similar cleaners because they can diminish the equipment’s protective qualities.
Body Wear - When working near a source of heat or sparks, employees shouldn’t wear nylon or polyester clothing, but rather flame-resistant fabrics such as cotton, wool, and Kevlar or flame-retardant fabrics such as Nitrile/Nylon or Pyrolon. Shirts should also sport flame-resistant Melamine buttons. In addition, when repairing clothes, use cotton thread rather than nylon, which is flammable.
- Clothing should cover not only the torso, but the neck, ankles, and arms as well.
- Turned-up collars, cuffed pants, and rolled-up sleeves are asking for trouble as all three can catch and hold a spark.
- To keep flame-resistant and flame-retardant materials in top condition, clean them regularly following the label’s instructions. Make sure all grease and oil spots are cleaned, but do not scrub material excessively because this may affect its protective qualities.
Housekeeping
Many employee injuries can be traced to poor housekeeping. Oily materials and debris on the ground, for example, can cause employees to slip, trip, or fall. Material left on rail tracks or roadways can become dangerous projectiles when struck by a railcar or vehicle. To prevent these potential mishaps, plant supervisors should encourage all employees to keep their work areas—and the operation in general—neat and tidy.
These pointers can give you a housekeeping heads-up.
- Employees should keep all work areas and equipment free of oil and greasy debris, scrap materials, and loose tools or equipment.
- Make sure that walkways, roadways, stairs, and rail tracks are completely clear of materials and debris.
- Employees should regularly check equipment for leaks and immediately clean up any spills that occur, not only on the floor but also on the equipment.
- Don’t allow materials and scrap to accumulate under ladders, stairs, or ramps.
- Make sure truck cabs are kept clean and their floors free of greasy residues.
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While implementing a safety program is far from easy, it’s essential for the financial and personal well-being of both your company and your employees. With the requisite management commitment, training, and employee involvement—and a little creativity—you’ll find that the results will be more than worth the money, time, and effort expended. •