Tag: procedures

Work Zone Flagger Safety

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 06/07/2017

Work zone flaggers are the first line of defense for road construction workers and are there to help protect the public. It is a critical and dangerous job. Because they are the ones that deal with the speeding, distracted or sometimes angry driver, they must also know how to protect themselves while on the job.

What flaggers should do to protect themselves:

  • Most importantly, all flaggers should have the appropriate flagger training and have periodic refresher training.
  • Wear high-visibility clothing such as orange, yellow or green vests. Use retro-reflective vests at night.
  • Wear other protective equipment such as hard hats, long-sleeved shirts and pants, safety footwear and eyewear.
  • Dress appropriately for the weather.
  • Stay alert and out of harm’s way by following these guidelines:
    • Stand alone on the shoulder in clear view.
    • Never stand in the open traffic lane.
    • Plan an escape route for emergencies.
    • Stay alert and focused on your work.
    • Make sure your hand signals don’t conflict with the traffic signals.
    • Treat motorists with respect and courtesy. Don’t pick fights or respond in anger. If a driver is a problem, record the make, model and license number of the car, and report the incident to law enforcement.
    • If a driver violates your warnings and trespasses your flagging station, warn the other workers in the work zone. Establish a warning signal ahead of time for the work crew in case of an emergency.

Dangerous behaviors flaggers should avoid:

  • Standing where you can be crushed;
  • Standing in the shade, over the crest of a hill or around a sharp curve;
  • Leaving your position until properly relieved;
  • Standing near equipment;
  • Standing in a group;
  • Participating in unnecessary conversation;
  • Reading or daydreaming while on duty;
  • Using your cell phone;
  • Listening to music or using ear phones; or
  • Turning your back on traffic.

Remember, working in traffic areas always presents some risks. The job of a flagger is an essential component of worksite safety.

Download the recording form here.

Tips for the Safety Supervisor

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 05/31/2017

In past Toolbox Talks, we have discussed the safety responsibilities of construction workers. This week, we’ll discuss ten tips for supervisors to use when supervising safety.

  1. Demonstrate a genuine concern for worker safety. Be sure your workers understand and accept personal responsibility for safety. Provide them with the proper tools to get the job done. Reinforce safety where required and lead by example.
  1. Know the rules of safety that apply to the work you supervise. Be aware of the precautions required on the job. Attend safety training to gain knowledge of safety hazards.
  1. Anticipate risks that may arise from changes in equipment or methods. Use available safety information and advice to help guard against new hazards. It may be appropriate to conduct a periodic hazard assessment of the tasks your workers perform to determine the safest method and what personal protective equipment is needed for each job.
  1. Encourage workers to help identify hazards on the job and recommend a solution. Also encourage workers to stop work on a job if they have unanswered safety questions. Let them know that providing input on safety is not only allowed, but strongly recommended.
  1. Instruct your employees to work safely, with persistence and patience. When you observe employees who are not observing the safety rules, correct the unsafe behavior immediately. Unsafe work practices that go uncorrected can have long-term effects on your safety program.
  1. Follow up on safety issues and suggestions. Keep your workers involved in your company safety program. All safety suggestions and questions deserve a response. When communication breaks down and supervisors do not respond to workers’ suggestions, workers can easily lose interest.
  1. Set a good example. Demonstrate safety in your own work habits and personal conduct so that you don’t appear hypocritical in the eyes of your workers.
  1. Analyze all accidents and near-misses. When minor injuries go unheeded, crippling accidents may strike later. Minor accidents and near-misses provide an opportunity for safety improvements that could result in avoiding a serious accident or fatality.
  1. Recognize your role in the company’s overall safety program. It is vital to know that the company’s safety director does not own the safety program and that your involvement and input is welcomed and encouraged.
  1. Embrace your supervisory role and carry it out. Remember that managing safety on the job is as important as managing the project itself. Safety on the job is an investment that always pays dividends. Every effort that we make to prevent accidents on the job leads to a more productive work atmosphere and can contribute to improved employee morale.

Download the recording form here.

Bloodborne Pathogens

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 02/28/2017

Bloodborne pathogens are infectious materials in blood that can cause disease in humans including: hepatitis B and C, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Workers exposed to these pathogens risk serious illness or death.

Pathogens may be acquired through a single exposure. Medical experts agree that exposure occurs by contact with any body fluid that is contaminated with blood or blood components, including saliva and a variety of other body fluids. Some people are concerned that normal physical contact can transmit exposure, but experts deny this. The risk of exposure to a bloodborne pathogen is highest when body fluid contaminated with blood is ingested, inhaled or absorbed by another person. The occupational risk is for specific work assignments that may expose individuals to unknown body fluids. Since you can’t determine by sight if fluids are contaminated with blood, you must assume that pathogens may be present and take precautions.

Construction industry employers should consider developing and documenting the following:

  • For each construction jobsite and/or operation:
    • Identify the processes or procedures where exposure to bloodborne pathogens could occur. (For example: injuries could occur during a paving operation, a grading operation, an excavating operation, etc.)
    • Develop a strategy to: (1) control, minimize or eliminate those injury hazards; and (2) reduce the risk of employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens when accidents and injuries occur.
  • Strategies used by many contractors include:
  • Designate and train a person to be the “first responder” in handling emergency situations on the jobsite;
  • Train employees on how to respond to accidents and injuries;
  • Provide ready access to personal protective equipment on the jobsite including: gloves, eye protection such as goggles or glasses with side shields, resuscitation mouth pieces and first aid kits;
  • Routinely inspect, maintain and re-stock personal protective equipment and document your actions;
  • Routine and regular jobsite housekeeping;
  • Administer the hepatitis B vaccine to employees with the potential for exposure;
  • Arrange for a physician’s post-exposure evaluation (follow-up medical care) to any employee exposed to bloodborne pathogens;
  • Designate an area or areas on the jobsite for employees to eat and take breaks away from the hazard areas;
  • Provide antibacterial cleansers, soap, and where possible, hand washing areas on the jobsite; and
  • Provide red plastic bags (labeled “biohazard”) to store contaminated clothing and bandages should an accident occur.

The potential exists every day for exposure to a bloodborne pathogen on a construction jobsite. Plan for the possibility and protect yourself and your co-workers.

Download the recording form here.

Vehicle Battery Safety

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 12/14/2016

Whether on the construction site or at home, it’s important to know how to safely handle batteries. Batteries can be dangerous and injuries have occurred while working with them. Each year, a significant number of motorists suffer serious eye injuries or even blindness because of improperly jump starting a dead vehicle battery.  

Automotive lead-acid batteries contain sulfuric acid in the electrolyte. The acid inside the battery is highly corrosive and can burn your skin if it leaks out. This is especially probable when batteries contain liquid acid and have removable caps on top. Sealed-top batteries should contain the liquid as long as the battery remains in an upright position. Never store a battery on its side or upside down. Acid may also leak if the battery case is cracked or damaged, so handle with care.

Cold weather can affect batteries, especially on equipment that is stored outside and hasn’t been started for a while. Whether in the yard of a field office or on a construction site, it is quite typical to grab a set of jumper cables and attempt to jump start a vehicle. However, there are hazards associated with jump starting that need to be taken into consideration.

  • DO NOT lean directly over the battery while making jumper connections (in case of explosion).
  • DO NOT smoke around a battery, or use anything that produces an open flame or spark. When a battery charges, it gives off hydrogen gas. Hydrogen is flammable and can explode if a spark occurs near the battery.
  • DO NOT attempt to jump start or recharge a frozen battery. Remove the battery from the vehicle, bring it into a warm room and let it thaw before charging or testing.
  • ALWAYS wear safety glasses and gloves when jump starting a battery.
  • NEVER touch a metal object (such as a wrench) between the positive and negative battery posts to see if the battery will spark. It will, and could produce a current similar to a welding arc that may damage the tool, the battery and/or cause the battery to explode.

Download the recording form here.

Hazardous Energy Control (Lockout/Tagout)

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published Aug. 19, 2015

Effective lockout/tagout programs protect employees from serious or fatal injuries that could occur during an unexpected release of energy while servicing machinery or equipment.

Stored energy from many systems (electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, chemical, nuclear, thermal and gravitational) can cause injury.

Let’s discuss what happened when a rock crusher malfunctioned on a worksite, allowing large pieces to pass through the conveyor. A worker stopped the conveyor, climbed onto the catwalk and began pushing the large pieces off the conveyor belt. Another large piece of concrete rolled down the conveyor as the worker reached to remove the first piece, crushing his hand. Other workers reported the conveyor belt back traveled, possibly causing large chunks of debris to dislodge and roll.

This example demonstrates two different forms of energy – gravity and mechanical. Falling or rolling objects and unexpected machine movement can crush or trap you. Machine movement can even pull you into the workings of the machine. The worker in our example should have stopped and locked the machine before dislodging the concrete.

Workers should learn appropriate lockout/tagout procedures and follow them.

  • Look around you. Make sure you understand the different kinds of energy that could harm you. Think about the obvious things, like gravity.
  • Turn off controls.
  • Disconnect machines from their power source.
  • Tell others what you are doing.
  • Dissipate (bleed or neutralize) residual energy.
  • Clear work areas, and warn others before you restart the equipment.

Thousands of injuries occur every year because workers didn’t follow the appropriate lockout/tagout procedures. Don’t be one of the statistics.

Internal Traffic Controls

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published on Aug. 2, 2016

Internal traffic control plans detail how construction traffic should be set up inside the construction area so that vehicles and equipment are separated – as much as possible – from workers on foot. Pedestrian workers are those employees who perform most of their duties outside vehicles and equipment, and they are particularly vulnerable to being struck by equipment.

According to the Work Zone Hazards Workbook published by OSHA in 2008, “the majority of fatalities that occur in road construction work zones in the United States involve a worker being struck by a piece of construction equipment or other vehicle. A worker in this industry is just as likely to be struck by a piece of construction equipment inside the work zone as by passing traffic.”

Workers are at risk when:

  • They are preoccupied by their work and are not paying attention to what is going on around them.
  • They become comfortable in a dangerous environment.
  • They don’t have convenient access to and from their work space for restrooms, food and water, shade or breaks or other local work areas.

The purpose of an internal traffic control plan is the safety of all employees. An effective plan will inform all parties operating within the work site about the location of others, focus on worker safety within the work site, and establish “No On-foot Worker Zones” designed to minimize interaction between workers and vehicles.

Internal traffic control plans should:

  • Designate routes and operating procedures for large trucks delivering materials.
  • Create a traffic pattern to minimize backing.
  • Use temporary traffic control devices to mark traffic paths.
  • Facilitate communication among key work zone parties in advance of their arrival on the construction site.
  • Limit access points to the work zone.
  • Coordinate truck and equipment movements.
  • Provide information on traffic paths and safe/unsafe work areas for employees.
  • Heighten the awareness of pedestrian workers to vehicle traffic in the work zone.
  • Maintain smooth traffic flow.
  • Restrict the use of cell phones while near heavy equipment.

Develop and follow a good internal traffic control plan to ensure the safety of everyone on the construction site.

Download the recording form here.