Tag: Toolbox Talks

Gas Lines — Don’t Try to Repair Them

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Let’s talk about fixing natural gas lines – especially the half-inch to one-and-one-half inch size plastic lines commonly used as service feeds to residential homes. Gas utility owners state very clearly that they only want their own personnel to repair damaged or leaking gas lines.

Natural gas comes from the earth and is a byproduct of the decomposition of plants trapped beneath its surface. This gas is mainly methane, the most simple hydrocarbon molecule. It has a heat value of about 1000 BTU per cubic foot of gas. By comparison, propane has a much higher heat value of about 2500 BTU per cubic foot of gas. While natural gas does burn, it isn’t the most efficient in terms of heat generated. This helps us understand the explosive characteristics of natural gas. It’s important to understand that it takes a lot of oxygen to sustain the burning or the explosion of natural gas.

Natural gas burns or explodes within a very narrow concentration range. According to gas utilities, the flammable range of natural gas is between four and 15 percent gas in air. This means if there is less than four percent gas in the air, it’s too lean to burn. If there is more than 15 percent gas in the air, it’s too concentrated to burn; the concentration is too rich (similar to flooding your car’s engine with too much gas). This narrow range might make you feel like natural gas isn’t dangerous. That is exactly why the gas companies don’t want anyone other than their employees to do anything around a leaking gas line. It’s more dangerous than you think, and it’s hard to know if the gas concentration is in a relatively safe zone. Gas company personnel use special gas monitors to determine the gas concentration in the air and then determine how and when to respond.

When the gas concentration is within the four and 15 percent range, it only takes a spark to ignite the gas. The most common spark source is static electricity. The simple friction of gas flowing through a line, or rubbing your hands against your jacket can build up a static charge that could spark an explosion.

Gas companies train personnel in grounding lines and tools to prevent static discharge. Utility personnel are also experienced at using gas concentration meters.

It’s important not to damage gas lines. Utilities designed the one-call system to help locate lines so you can avoid them while you’re working. Following the regulations about safe-dig zones and using hand tools, vacuums or hydro techniques to expose lines also helps prevent damage. However, even with care, we can sometimes damage a gas line. If this happens, don’t attempt to repair it yourself. Call the gas company, and let their crews handle it.

Prevent Overexertion Injuries

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Caring for our bodies is critical in creating and maintaining a successful construction career. This doesn’t mean you need to be a champion weight lifter or an Olympic athlete, but success involves taking care of your primary asset – your body.

According to the National Safety Council, physical overexertion is the most common cause of workers’ compensation claims. Repetitive motions such as typing, lifting heavy objects or working in awkward positions usually cause these injuries. The overexertion pain is often acute, but it will decrease after medical care and preventative measures to prevent further injury. Constant overexertion can result in chronic pain, leading to problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome and osteoarthritis.

You can avoid physical overexertion by:

  • Using ergonomic workspaces. This will ensure that you use materials and tools in a way that minimizes stress on your body as you work.
  • Lifting lighter loads. Reduce the actual amount of weight you are lifting, or use a dolly or mechanical means of lifting.
  • Decreasing the distance you stretch to lift a heavy object. You may be tempted to overstretch when tools are just out of reach. This can also lead to falls.
  • Strength training and stretching. Many resist the idea of stretching before work, but statistics prove that this is an excellent way to avoid an overexertion injury.
  • Knowing and respecting your body’s limits. This is key to avoiding injuring yourself as you work.

Other important factors linked to overexertion include:

Fatigue

Burning the candle at both ends is an unsustainable and unhealthy way to live. Sleep is essential to your health; it allows the mind and body to heal and recharge after dealing with the previous day’s stress.

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and Dehydration

Did you ever have such a busy day that you forgot to eat or drink enough water? This can contribute to your health risk, particularly if you are overexerting yourself. Hypoglycemia and dehydration can have serious health implications.

Line-of-Fire Injuries

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An analysis of the most recent five-year history of accidents and injuries reported by the IDOL/ICA Safety Partnership members shows workers caused 20 percent of reported injuries by putting themselves (or some part of their body) in the direct pathway of oncoming harm, or the line of fire. While most of these accidents result in crushed fingers and hands or broken toes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 17 percent of U.S. workplace fatalities are the result of line-of-fire accidents.

When we hear about accidents – such as the one where a worker crushed his hand in a tri-axle truck tailgate that was swinging shut – we might be tempted to ask, “What were they thinking?” Nobody wants to get hurt, and we design most jobs to eliminate the risk of injury. So, how do workers get into these line-of-fire situations?

They don’t believe they are placing themselves in real danger. Sometimes workers who place themselves in the line of fire are making a decision based on imperfect information. They either assume that something is true when it is not, or they assume something is not true when it is.

They believe the time of exposure is short enough that nothing can happen to them. How many line-of-fire injuries are the result of thinking, “I’m only going to be in there for a second?” It’s a big temptation to take a risk when you believe that your probability of injury is directly proportional to the length of time you will be exposed to the hazard. Too few workers truly comprehend the dangers that some line-of-fire hazards pose irrespective of the length of exposure. If a worker contacts a sufficiently energized piece of equipment, he will be electrocuted, even if he touches the equipment for one second.

Familiarity causes people to be too comfortable. For most of us, the longer we work around a hazard or place ourselves in the line of fire without negative consequences, the less we respect the hazard’s ability to harm us. We convince ourselves that an activity is safer than it is. We think we won’t get hurt as long as we’re careful. But, placing ourselves in the line of fire is anything but being careful.

It is important to think through a task and find ways to prevent putting yourself in the line of fire.

Danger: Fall Zone

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One of the most important steps in planning for, and making, safety a reality on the worksite is knowing where people are going to be working while high hazard activities are taking place. So far in the 2015 construction season, there have been several types of dangerous conditions taking place repeatedly. We must stop these behavior patterns before a life-threatening injury takes place. One of those dangerous behaviors is allowing non-essential personnel in fall zones.

Today we will talk about the necessity to keep the fall zone clear when we lift materials with a crane. The OSHA Crane Standard Subpart CC defines a fall zone as:

“Fall zone means the area (including, but not limited to, the area directly beneath the load) in which it is reasonably foreseeable that partially or completely suspended materials could fall in the event of an accident.”

Suspended loads can fall, and they can seriously injure anyone under, or near, the load in the fall zone. There are times when workers must be in a fall zone area, and OSHA regulations allow for this if they are working on an essential job related to the suspended load. The following standard identifies the essential jobs:

29 CFR 1926.1425(e)(2)

“Only employees essential to the operation are permitted in the fall zone (but not directly under the load.) An employee is essential to the operation if the employee is conducting one of the following operations and the employer can demonstrate it is infeasible for the employee to perform that operation from outside the fall zone: (1) physically guide the load; (2) closely monitor and give instructions regarding the load’s movement; or (3) either detach it from or initially attach it to another component or structure (such as, but not limited to, making an initial connection or installing bracing.)”

Only workers directly involved with managing or rigging the load should ever be in the fall zone. When workers are in the fall zone, the crane operator must know where they are in relation to where the load is and where it’s going. They should either be in the crane operator’s line of sight or in communication with the crane operator. All other employees should stay out of the fall zone until the crane operator delivers the load.

Plan ahead, and stay out of a fall zone. If the lift or rigging fails, you will have saved lives.

New OSHA Construction Standard – Part II

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Last week in our Toolbox Talk about the new confined space regulation (29CFR 1926.1204 Permit-Required Confined Space Program), we defined and listed examples of confined spaces we commonly find in construction activities. Briefly, a confined space is one that:

  • Is large enough and configured so that an employee can bodily enter it;
  • Has limited or restricted means of entry and exit; and
  • Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

Confined spaces can present many hazards or conditions that are hostile to your well-being. This week, we’ll cover steps to keep employees safe while working in a confined space.

Once the competent person has identified a confined space, it is the responsibility of the employer to do the following:

  1. Implement the measures necessary to prevent unauthorized entry.
  2. Identify and evaluate the hazards of the space before allowing employees to enter.
  3. Develop and implement the means, procedures and practices necessary for safe entry and operations in the space, including, but not limited to, the following:
    1. Specify acceptable entry conditions;
    2. Provide each employee authorized to enter (or his/her authorized representative) with the opportunity to observe any monitoring or testing of the space;
    3. Isolate the space and physical hazard(s) within the space; and
    4. Eliminate or control atmospheric hazards by purging, inerting, flushing or ventilating the space. [Note to paragraph §1204(c)(4): When an employer is unable to reduce the atmosphere below 10 percent lower explosive limit, the employer may only enter if he/she neutralizes the space to render the entire atmosphere non-combustible and the employees use personal protective equipment (PPE).]
  4. Put monitoring procedures in place that can detect an increase in atmospheric hazard levels in sufficient time for employee(s) to safely exit the space should the ventilation system stop working.
  5. Provide pedestrian, vehicle or other barriers as necessary to protect employees in the space from external hazards.
  6. Continuously verify conditions in the space are acceptable throughout the duration of the authorized entry.
  7. Ensure that employees have the appropriate PPE needed to work in a confined space with a hazardous atmosphere.

Remember: Manage or mitigate the hazards of a confined space before you enter. Your safety depends on it.

New OSHA Construction Standard – Part I

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OSHA published the final rule covering confined space in construction in the Federal Register on May 5. The rule will become law before the end of this summer. With this in mind, all workers and supervisors should understand the general expectations of the law and be ready to comply with the specific requirements.

We rarely encounter confined space issues in some types of construction work. However, because there is a new and specific regulation, compliance officers should be aware of the hazards of confined space and be watchful for possible situations where confined space protocols should be applied.

In order to understand the requirements for this new regulation, we must first understand the definition of confined space. A confined space is one that:

  • Is large enough and configured so that an employee can bodily enter it;
  • Has limited or restricted means of entry and exit; and
  • Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

Some of the more common confined spaces we encounter on construction sites include:

  • Pits (elevator, escalator, pump, valve or other equipment. A pit can have a wide-open top and still be a permit-required confined space.);
  • Manholes (sewer, storm drain, electrical, communication or other utility);
  • Tanks (fuel, chemical, water, or other liquid, solid or gas) and machinery (incinerators, scrubbers, concrete pier columns and sewers);
  • Vaults (transformer, electrical connection and machinery);
  • Ducts (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and all forms of HVAC, air receivers, air preheaters and ID fan systems, bag houses and exhaust);
  • Storm drains (water mains, precast concrete and other pre-formed units);
  • Drilled shafts;
  • Enclosed beams;
  • Vessels;
  • Digesters;
  • Lift stations;
  • Cesspools;
  • Silos; and
  • Sludge gates.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. In fact, the basic definition of confined space can apply to hundreds of situations where workers might be in a hazardous situation, and escape would be difficult.

Part II of this discussion will cover programs to put in place that will provide maximum safety for workers in a confined space.