Tag: Toolbox Talks

Tire Safety

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 08/30/2019

A commonly-overlooked object on any piece of equipment is the tires. In construction, we work with, and around, rubber-wheeled equipment all the time. Properly maintained tires improve vehicle handling, fuel economy, the load-carrying capability of your vehicle or equipment and increase the life of your tires.

Studies of tire safety show that the most important things you can do to avoid tire failure are maintain proper tire pressure, observe tire and vehicle load limits, avoid road hazards, and inspect tires for cuts, slashes or other irregularities. Doing this can help you avoid tire failure, such as tread separation, blowouts and flat tires. Here are some safety tips for proper tire inspection:

  • Inspect tires daily for uneven wear patterns, cracks, cuts, slashes, foreign objects or other signs of wear or trauma. Remove bits of glass and other foreign objects wedged in the tread.
  • Use a tire pressure gauge to check the tire pressure at least once a month. Do this when the tire is cold (meaning the tire has been still for at least three hours). You can find the manufacturer-recommended tire pressure information on the vehicle door edge, door post, glove box door or in the vehicle owner’s manual. Improper tire pressure can lead to uneven wear, making the tire less effective when stopping or turning, which may cause collisions, sliding and/or stability problems.
  • Check the tire tread depth at the same time you check the tire pressure. In general, tires are not safe and should be replaced when the tread is worn down to one-eighth of an inch.
  • Make sure the tires are properly balanced. This adjustment maximizes the life of your tires and prevents your vehicle from veering to the right or left when driving on a straight, level road.
  • Do not overload your vehicle. Check the tire information placard or owner’s manual for the maximum recommended load for your vehicle.
  • If you are towing a trailer, remember that some of the weight of the loaded trailer is transferred to the towing vehicle.
  • Slow down if you have to go over a pothole or other object in the road.
  • Do not run over curbs, and try not to strike the curb when parking.

Remember to do your part: be tire smart.

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Preventing Soft Tissue Injury

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 08/16/2017

Soft tissue injury is one of the most common injuries in construction. Soft tissue refers to tissues that connect, support or surround other structures and organs of the body. Here are some of the most common soft tissue injuries reported in construction:

  • Muscle sprains and strains;
  • Injuries to muscles, ligaments, intervertebral dics and other structures in the back;
  • Injuries to nerves, ligaments and tendons in the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck or legs;
  • Abdominal hernias; and
  • Chronic pain.

These injuries can occur suddenly or over a prolonged period of time. Risk factors for soft tissue injuries include awkward postures, repetitive motion, excessive force, static posture, vibration and poorly designed tools. The good news is that soft tissue injuries, and the conditions caused by them, are preventable.

The following precautions can help prevent soft tissue injuries:

  • Stretch before you use your muscles.
  • Avoid bending or twisting the back or neck.
  • Avoid overexertion.
  • Use ladders to reach overhead objects and mechanical equipment to carry and move heavy materials.
  • Use proper lifting techniques. Lift with your legs, not your back.
  • Make the most of your break times and stretch muscles that have become tense from continuous sitting and/or exposure to vibration.
  • Use tools properly. When possible, keep tools between your waist and shoulder height, which is considered the “lifting zone.” This gives you the most leverage, and allows the strongest muscles to do the work.
  • Keep your work area clean and free of hazards. Pick up loose objects from the floor, and clean up spills immediately to eliminate tripping and slipping hazards.

Take action today. Decide what you can do right now to help prevent a soft tissue injury, and then do it. You’ll end up with a safer workplace and fewer workplace injuries.
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Safety Tips for Working Alone

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 08/23/2017

Some construction jobs require an employee to work in an isolated environment for a period of time. Doing a job alone can be more hazardous than doing the same job in the company of others. If you’re injured, ill or trapped, there’s no one nearby to help or call for assistance. It’s a good idea to assess the situation and see if it’s possible to reschedule the job, so others can be present or close by. This is especially true if the project requires an employee to work at heights, operate hazardous equipment or materials, enter confined spaces or enter areas with insufficient lighting.

Supervisors should also:

  • Assess whether the worker might be more vulnerable than others. Consider age, disabilities and medical suitability of the individual.
  • Assess the worker’s levels of training and experience.
  • Make sure they know where their lone workers will be and have a system in place to touch base with and monitor them.

If you are working alone, consider these safety tips:

  • Talk to your supervisor and colleagues about your job, the hazards and how to minimize risks.
  • Ensure that others on your crew know where you will be working and when.
  • Have a check-in system in place. This could include:
    • Prearranged intervals of regular phone contact. Be sure your mobile phone is fully charged, or you have another communications tool in the event there’s no phone coverage.
    • Periodic visits to the site by a coworker or supervisor, so they can visually check on you.
    • Use of a “man down” or personal monitoring device that recognizes when a worker has stopped moving.
    • Arranging to call someone at the end of your shift to let them know you are OK.
  • Have a first aid kit, and know how to use it.
  • Keep a fire extinguisher on-site at all times, and know how to use it.

Establish an emergency plan in case an accident occurs, and make sure everyone on the site understands it and knows what their responsibilities are. Consider publishing these helpful tips in your company’s health and safety policy statement.

Download the recording form here.

Lyme Disease

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 08/08/2017

During the construction season, we work outside from early spring until late fall. One of the hazards of working outside is Lyme Disease. We’ve all heard about it on the news, but what is it?

Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by the bite of an infected tick. Rarely, if ever, fatal it can cause serious problems without proper and timely treatment. Generally, the symptoms include a rash and flu-like symptoms such as muscle aches, joint pains, lymph node swelling, neck stiffness, headaches, chills, fever and fatigue. If not caught and treated early, the symptoms can progress to severe fatigue, neck stiffness and aches, tingling or numbness in the arms/hands and legs/feet, and even facial paralysis.

How do you protect yourself?

  • Wear light-colored clothing to help spot the ticks more easily.
  • Wear long sleeves and long pants and tuck pant legs into socks or work boots.
  • Wear a hard hat or any type of hat that covers your head.
  • Use insect repellents containing DEET (Diethyl-meta-toulamide) on skin and clothes. Be careful not to spread the insect repellent on your face.
  • Avoid sitting directly on the ground or on stone walls.
  • Do a final, full-body tick check at the end of the day. Note: a shower and shampoo may help to dislodge crawling ticks but is only somewhat effective. Thoroughly inspect yourself after a shower.
  • Wash and dry your clothing at high temperatures to kill unseen ticks.

If you find a tick, what should you do? 

  • Don’t panic; not all ticks carry the bacteria. Using a pair of tweezers, grasp the tick by the head (not the body – you don’t want to squeeze the body). Pull firmly and steadily outward. Don’t twist the tick or use a hot match, alcohol, nail polish, petroleum jelly or other irritant on the tick. This could backfire.
  • Place the tick in a jar or vial with alcohol to kill it.
  • Clean the bite or wound with disinfectant.
  • Monitor the site of the bite for signs of a “bullseye rash” for one to two weeks, or the symptoms described above. If any of these symptoms occur, see a physician immediately. Again, don’t panic. Treatment with antibiotics will usually kill the bacteria.

Some commonly asked questions:

Do all ticks carry the Lyme Disease bacteria?
No, only the deer tick and its close relative, the Western black-legged tick are known to transmit the bacteria.

Is Indiana a high-risk state?
No, Indiana is a relatively low-risk state. Less than one person in 100,000 in Indiana will get Lyme Disease annually. Ohio and Missouri have a slightly higher risk than Indiana.

How do ticks get on a person?
They are found under leaf litter or on plant stems and blades of grass within three feet of the ground, especially at the edge of woodlands. Ticks will latch onto people as they brush by the tick, then it will climb until it reaches a protected or creased area of skin (often the back of a knee, groin, navel, armpit, ears or nape of the neck) and begin feeding.

Studies have shown that deer ticks begin transmitting Lyme Disease 36 to 48 hours after attachment. Therefore, if you remove a tick within 24 hours your chance of contracting the disease is greatly reduced.

References: Center for Disease Control, OSHA and the American Lyme Disease Foundation, Inc.

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Poisonous Plants

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published on 08/02/2019

Poisonous plants are common on or near construction sites. Most people develop a skin rash and skin irritations lasting up to three weeks when they contact poison ivy or poison oak. The reaction is caused by urushiol (“oo-roo-shee-ohl”) oil found in the sap. The oil is in the stems, leaves and berries of these plants and can be transmitted by brushing against the plant, or from secondary contact with animals or clothing.

Poison ivy

Found throughout the United States, except in the Southwest, Alaska and Hawaii, poison ivy has three shiny green leaves, a red stem and typically grows in the form of a vine, often along riverbanks, roadsides and woodlands. Old vines are very hairy; in late summer and fall the vines will have green-to-white berries. Poison ivy is most dangerous in the spring and summer, when they have plenty of sap and a high content of urushiol. However, cases have been reported in people who used the twigs of the plant for firewood or the vines for Christmas wreaths. Even dead plants can cause a reaction, because the oil remains active for several years after the plant dies.

Poison oak

Poison oak grows as a low shrub in the eastern part of the U.S. (from New Jersey to Texas), and as 6-foot-tall clumps or vines up to 30 feet long along the Pacific coast. It has oak-like leaves, usually in clusters of three and clusters of yellow berries.

Treatment if you’re exposed:

  • First, cleanse the exposed skin with generous amounts of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. (Note: alcohol removes your skin’s natural protection along with the urushiol, so avoid any additional contact because skin washed with alcohol will allow the urushiol to penetrate twice as fast.)
  • Second, wash the affected area with water.
  • Third, take a regular shower with soap and warm water. Do not use soap before this point because soap tends to pick up some of the urushiol from the skin’s surface and move it around.
  • Clean clothes, shoes, tools and anything else that may have been in contact with the urushiol with alcohol and water, then wash with soap and water. Be sure to protect your hands during this process.
  • To help reduce the itchiness, apply lotions with an anti-inflammatory and cooling effects (talc, calamine). Oral antihistamines can also relieve itching.

Poison ivy blisters don’t contain urushiol, so any oozing fluid is not contagious and will not spread the rash further. A rash will only occur where urushiol has touched the skin. However, the rash may seem to spread if it appears over time instead of all at once, because the urushiol is absorbed at different rates in different parts of the body, is trapped under the fingernails, or because of repeated exposure to contaminated objects.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that people who have had severe reactions in the past to any of these plants, contact a dermatologist as soon as possible after a new exposure.

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Trench and Excavation Safety

Posted on by admin_ici
Originally published 07/12/2017

Trench collapses can occur without warning, regardless of the depth. The vast majority of trenching fatalities occur in trenches 5 to 15 feet deep. But trench cave-ins don’t have to happen. They are preventable with proper planning and execution of safety precautions.

Here are some practices that will help reduce the risk of on-the-job injuries or fatalities on excavation sites.

  1. Know where the underground utilities are located before digging.
  2. Keep excavated soil (spoils) and other materials at least two feet from trench edges.
  3. Keep heavy equipment away from trench edges.
  4. Identify any equipment or activities that could affect trench stability.
  5. Test for atmospheric hazards such as low oxygen, hazardous fumes, and toxic gases when workers are in trenches more than four feet deep.
  6. Inspect trenches at the start of each shift. This should be done by the competent person. The competent person should be authorized to order immediate corrective action, including restricting entry into the excavation, until any hazards or potential hazards have been eliminated.
  7. Ensure that employees working in trenches four feet deep or more have an adequate and safe means of exit, such as ladders, steps or ramps. These must be within 25 feet of all workers at all times and will need to be relocated as the job progresses.
  8. Inspect trenches following a rainstorm or other water intrusion.
  9. Inspect trenches after any occurrence that could have changed conditions in the trench.
  10. Do not work under suspended or raised loads or materials.
  11. Ensure that workers wear high-visibility or other suitable clothing when exposed to vehicular traffic.
  12. Develop a trench emergency action plan and train workers and supervisors on the proper actions to take in case of an emergency.

Remember: Unlike most accidents, the cave-in of an excavation can usually be predicted if closely watched. So stay alert. Don’t take anything for granted.

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