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Three of the most common workplace eye and face hazards are flying objects, hazardous chemicals, and dust. And the most common of these three is flying objects.
Flying objects are believed to cause the majority of workplace eye injuries, and more than half the objects involved are smaller than the head of a pin.
Hazards might include:
- Fragments
- Chips
- Particles
- Sand and dirt
Depending on operations these objects may be bits of wood, metal, plastic, or other material.
Work processes that might put workers at risk of flying object eye and face injuries include:
- Chipping
- Grinding
- Machining
- Masonry work
- Wood working
- Sawing
- Drilling
- Chiseling
- Powered fastening
- Riveting
- Sanding
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The only way to know whether workplace hazards exist and whether or not they are safely under control is to look for them on a regular basis. That’s what self-inspections are all about.
- Processing, receiving, shipping, and storage, including equipment, job planning, layout, heights, floor loads, projection of materials, material handling and storage methods, and training for material handling equipment.
- Building and grounds conditions, including floors, walls, ceilings, exits, stairs, walkways, ramps, platforms, driveways, and aisles.
- Housekeeping program, including waste disposal, tools, objects, materials, leakage and spillage, cleaning methods, schedules, work areas, remote areas, and storage areas.
- Electricity, including equipment, switches, breakers, fuses, switch-boxes, junctions, special fixtures, circuits, insulation, extensions, tools, motors, grounding, and national electric code compliance.
- Lighting, including type, intensity, controls, conditions, diffusion, location, and glare and shadow control.
- Heating and ventilation, including type, effectiveness, temperature, humidity, controls, and natural and artificial ventilation and exhausting.
- Machinery, including points of operation, flywheels, gears, shafts, pulleys, key ways, belts, couplings, sprockets, chains, frames, controls, lighting for tools and equipment, brakes, exhausting, feeding, oiling, adjusting, maintenance, lockout/tagout, grounding, work space, location, and purchasing standards.
- Personnel, including hazard identification training, experience, methods of checking machines before use, type of work clothing, PPE, use of guards, tool storage, work practices, and methods for cleaning, oiling, or adjusting machinery.
- Hand and power tools, including purchasing standards, inspection, storage, repair, types, maintenance, grounding, and use and handling.
- Hazardous materials, including storage, handling, transportation, spills, disposals, amounts used, labeling, toxicity or other harmful effects, warning signs, supervision, training, protective clothing and equipment, and hazard communication requirements.
- Fire prevention, including extinguishers, alarms, sprinklers, smoking rules, exits, personnel assigned, separation of flammable materials and dangerous operations, explosion-proof fixtures in hazardous locations, waste disposal, and training of personnel.
- Maintenance, including regular and preventive maintenance on all equipment used at the worksite, recording all work performed on the machinery, and training of personnel on the proper care and servicing of the equipment.
- PPE, including type, size, maintenance, repair and replacement, age, storage, assignment of responsibility, purchasing methods, standards observed, training in care and use, rules of use, and method of assignment.
- Transportation, including motor vehicle safety, seat belts, vehicle maintenance, and safe driver programs.
- First aid program and supplies, including medical care facility locations, posted emergency phone numbers, first aid training for responders, and accessible first aid kits.
- Evacuation plan, including procedures for an emergency evacuation; procedures for specific emergencies such as fire, chemical/biological incidents, bomb threat, etc.; escape procedures and routes; critical plant operations; employee accounting following an evacuation; rescue and medical duties; and procedures for reporting emergencies.
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When EMS arrives the first thing they do is give oxygen.
There is a medical emergency in your future. Having emergency oxygen on hand prepares you to turn it into a lifesaving situation.
In the case of a heart attack and/or stroke the heart muscle does not receive blood and therefore, is not receiving any oxygen. If efforts are made early in the course of a heart attack to increase the amount of oxygen reaching the heart, then the patient’s chances of surviving increase. By supplying the patient with supplemental oxygen we can increase their chance of survival and quick recovery.
FACT: During an emergency, lay rescuers need a simple straightforward design in order to minimize the time necessary to start life-saving oxygen therapy. As the regulator is the main user interface it is important that is be as user friendly as possible.
FACT: SOS Emergency Response Technologies has the ONLY portable emergency oxygen unit with a two stage regulator. It’s like having two oxygen regulators in one unit:
- Dependable
- Safe
- Accurate
- Superb performance
- Reliable
A primary factor to consider before implementing an oxygen program in the workplace is the cost of the equipment, training and service versus the cost of the human factor. Other factors to consider include the possibility of decreased sick time post injury/illness and enhanced employee to employee relations due to health and safety improvement.
Emergency oxygen should be available in any safety conscious facility with properly trained personnel.
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Who can do the most to promote safety in the workplace? YOU!
You’re the one employees look to for leadership and guidance. You’re the one management relies on to provide safety training, enforce safety rules, and monitor employee performance.
Thank you for joining us the last few weeks to follow our 12 steps to safety.
Step # 12 Create a Want-To Safety Culture
Finally, try to create a safety culture in your department in which employees do the safe thing not because they have to, but because they want to- because they want to avoid injuries so that they can go home to their families in one piece at the end of the workday. Help employees see the value in making the safe decisions. Remind them how many safety-related decisions they make every day and how one bad decision is all it takes to get hurt.
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Who can do the most to promote safety in the workplace? YOU! You’re the one employees look to for leadership and guidance. You’re the one management relies on to provide safety training, enforce safety rules, and monitor employee performance. Each week for the next 12 weeks we will post a new step.
Step # 11 Be Patient and Listen
Maintain an “open door” policy and be accessible to employees. You want them to know they can always come to you when they have questions. If they feel you’re in a rush to hustle them out of your office, or if you’re taking calls or flipping through papers while employees are trying to talk to you, they probably won’t come to you the next time they have a question or a problem.
