The Safe Usage of Machinery

Know the Risks

Employees work with machines, tools and equipment every day. However, interacting with them has potential for serious injuries or fatalities if they are not used and maintained properly. The potential industrial hazards are numerous, and include:

Mechanical hazards

Contact with moving parts – The machines used in heavy industry often have moving parts with sufficient force to be able to cause injury. The kind of injury caused by contact with moving parts can be extremely horrific – crushed arms, legs, severed extremities, head trauma – that safety in the workplace is of paramount importance to workers.

• Safety Tip – There are various safeguards that can be applied to machinery with the aim of protecting workers. Safeguards can be attached to any part of a machine that is exposed and can cause damage to a worker. These safeguards restrict access to moving parts of the machinery like rotating shafts, moving transmissions, pulleys, conveyors etc. Further protective measures like machine guarding, isolators and emergency off-switches should also help protect your workers from the devastating consequences that come from body parts coming into contact with moving parts of machinery.

It is important to ensure there is a strict maintenance program for all the machinery. The best way of protecting workers from this risk is to restrict access to machinery to only fully trained workers. Even the best machine guarding can only protect workers who have the appropriate training and qualifications, and who are able to competently use the machinery.

Non-mechanical hazards

Contact with electricity – Electrocution is one of the ‘fatal four’ causes of death (along with falls, struck by object and caught in-between hazards) that, according to OSHA, was responsible for 64.2% of all deaths in construction in 2015. The scariest thing about electrocution is the ease with which it can occur. The power in a AAA or 9-volt battery is enough to kill someone if applied directly to the heart. Work site machinery uses many times that amount of power so the dangers should not be underestimated. Along with electrocution, contact with an electrical hazard can cause burns, fire, falls and electrical shocks.

• Safety Tip – Ensuring there is a safety scheme in place with a strict lockout/tagout procedure is vital to protect your workers. Electrical hazards should be avoided if at all possible. This means ensuring that all mechanical equipment is in good condition; workers are wearing the appropriate PPE, including rubber insulated gloves; and only qualified and trained workers are working with electrical circuits because of the associated dangers. Workers need to be trained to deal with electrical hazards, as well as fully informed of the hazards that exist.

Contact with pressurized gas or liquid – Pressurized gases or liquids are dangerous for quite obvious reasons. The substances inside the cylinder, be it acetylene, oxygen, propane etc, is being contained under very high pressure and any technical or human error can result in any number of hazardous situations. Some gases like butane are directly flammable while others. like nitrogen oxide, act as oxidising agents, raising the level of oxygen in the air if released. Both of these can easily lead to fire. The pressure these substances are being held at can also lead to explosions, a catastrophic scenario putting the lives of workers in serious harm.

• Safety Tip – The most important safety tip when dealing with pressurized substances is to ensure the cylinders are stored properly. They should also be regularly inspected before being used or moved. Check the description is legible and correct and ensure the valves appear to be in good working condition. Open the valve slowly when using the cylinder and never use one that doesn’t have a description of what’s inside. It is vital your workers have the appropriate PPE and are properly trained when dealing with pressurized gas or liquids, as the consequences can be so severe.

Contact with harmful chemicals or biological hazards – Dealing with chemicals is just a part of the job for many workers but this comes with its risks. 4,700 people die every year from some form of chemical poisoning, according to the World Health Organization. There are two broad categories of risks workers encounter with chemicals:

1) Health hazards: Serious health problems can be caused if chemicals are inhaled, ingested or come in contact with the skin. The initial symptoms are associated with general feelings of illness and can include headaches, nausea and vomiting. These are usually short-term health effects but chemicals can also pose long-term, chronic health effects. These can include asthma, dermatitis and even cancer.

2) Physicochemical hazards: Many chemicals have corrosive, explosive or flammable properties. Therefore, if these chemicals come into contact with skin, the results can be catastrophic to a person’s physical health.

Safety tip – The dangers of chemicals in the workplace can be greatly reduced if proper handling procedures, including using PPE, are implemented, in combination with a comprehensive risk management scheme. Risks need to be identified, assessed, controlled, maintained and monitored and then reviewed.Identifying risks is not the easiest thing to do, but with proper guidance and detail, the job can be done much more easier.

• Contact with radiation – We sometimes assume that the only workers who have to worry about radiation exposure are nuclear power plant workers, but that is not the case. There are a range of professions who are potentially at risk from radiation, including airline pilots and mine workers who are exposed to decaying radon and uranium. The most common forms of radiations are alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays. The last of these, gamma rays, is the most dangerous as they have the ability to easily pass through the human body. However, exposure to any of these forms of radiation, for any prolonged length of time, can lead to radiation sickness and possible death.

• Safety Tip – X-ray machines are the most common source of radiation in industry. X-Rays are used in construction and manufacturing to check for defects and weak points in materials. They are a very useful tool in industry but one that comes with risk given their radioactive properties. The use of X-Ray machines should be strictly restricted to highly trained professional performing specific tasks. As previously mentioned in regard to other hazards, the key to ensuring safety, and avoiding the dangerous consequences inherent to radiation, is properly training workers and maintaining high safety standards.

Exposure to ergonomic hazards and musculoskeletal system disorder (MSD’s) – Ergonomics refers to the fit of a worker to their job, while MSD’s are injuries of the musculoskeletal system often caused by occupational work and poor ergonomics. So common are they that it is estimated that MSD’s account for 33% of all worker related injuries and illness in the US. Carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, rotator cuff injuries, muscle strains and lower back injuries all fall under the MSD category. Given that MSD’s can be brought on by sudden movements or cumulative trauma, there are several causes including bending, pulling, heavy lifting and extended poor posture. Those working with machinery are particularly at risk if their work conditions are not ergonomically ideal.

• Safety Tip – The secret to mitigating the risk of MSD’s is for management and workers to cooperate in a productive manner. Workers can identify risks early before too much damage is done, allowing management to implement solutions. An employer needs to make a commitment to their worker’s health and perform consultations with workers to improve the conditions of work. In the long run, this will save an employer money as less time will be lost to injury and illness. There should also be training provided for workers on how best to perform their tasks as ergonomically as possible

Conclusion

For most workers, avoiding using machinery is not an option in their job. However, workers need to be aware of the risks that come with using machines, equipment, tools and chemical substances. Their employment is probably dependent on their use of equipment so it is essential that they are given the proper health and safety training.