Take Safety seriously

In a Company, Safety culture doesn’t happen by Accident. That Company decides to take the Safety Seriously, because all the life of employees are priceless. When we keep this in mind, it’s impossible to ignore safety in the Workplace.

By Reducing the Risks, Preventing accidents, keeping up with the training, there will be a Safe Working environment.

In WSH Experts we are doing Health & Safety Training and QEHS Services.

Here some safety measures for you..

If you use poorly designed tools and equipment of low quality, then chances are things WILL break at some point and you may get hurt in the process, not to mention the long term health hazards that may lead to. Carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger, white finger and so forth are something you do not want to deal with.

You should never carry a tool by its cord or doing so with its hoses. Even though this may seem like a good idea at some point, you would do well to avoid it as much as possible. Keep the cords away from any oil, water, heat and sharp edges to avoid any damage. Look for power tools that have lower vibrations overall and make sure you protect your ears and eyes from harm by using goggles and ear protection.
You must make sure you have tools that don’t conduct electricity or heat so you can do your job well.
Make sure you maintain a good posture while you work and use the tools as intended to avoid accidents during your renovation or construction efforts.
You need to make sure you keep people away from any areas where you operate machines, especially if they have no business there and it poses danger to yourself and them.
You need to be constantly aware of your surroundings while you work, especially when it comes to low clearance areas, obstructions of all sorts and any obstacles that end up in your path so you won’t trip and hurt yourself or worse. This happens more often than you may think.

Do not rely on the emergency services:

It is not their duty to rescue a fallen worker. However, you still need to alert the emergency services as soon as someone falls they will be able to offer first aid support.

What you need to consider

Risk assessment first
Risk assessment is the first step you need to take before starting any kind of work at height. This should be carried out by surveyors prior to the work starting. If the existing rescue procedures are not considered safe enough, work should not be carried out before a safe solution is found.
Work with a fall protection specialist to help you create a comprehensive rescue plan.
Walk around the premises, think of potential hazards, who might be harmed and how you can minimize the consequences and risks.

PPE during the fall

Everyone working at height needs to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and they need to be trained on how to use it safely as well. The specific PPE that you will use depends on your circumstances and the type of work at height that you do.

Where possible, work in fall restraint rather than fall arrest at all times done properly, this will significantly reduce the risk of falls by stopping the worker reach dangerous areas in the first place.

However, fall restraint systems are not suitable for all work at height; in this case, fall arrest systems should be used, but extreme care needs to be taken when doing so. No one should ever use fall arrest systems without undergoing rigorous training.

Rescue procedure

Decide on a rescue system that will help you retrieve the fallen worker as soon as possible. Will the worker be able to perform a self-rescue or will he need to be assisted?
In dangerous situations, workers should always work in teams if they work alone, it won’t be possible for a rescue procedure to be carried out on time.
Preparation is key: make sure that there is a rescue kit at the point of work prior to the work commencing. If you fail to do this, there might not be enough time to collect if should someone fall. This will deem your rescue procedure unsuccessful.
When a fall happens, another worker (who has been previously trained in rescue procedures and rescue equipment handling) needs to assess the situation and make contact with the fallen worker, determining his status. In the meantime, the emergency services will need to be contacted and the company alerted about the accident.
The next step is to immediately implement the rescue procedure in accordance with the company policy and safety guidelines.
It is preferable that the rescuer does not descend and is not suspended while rescuing someone else, so that further complications are avoided. The rescuer should not endanger himself when carrying out a rescue procedure.

Rescue training

Everyone involved in working at height and rescue procedures should be trained on fall protection, rescue equipment and procedures.

The authorized rescuer must be trained by a competent rescuer trainer and then retrained should the nature of his work change, or if there are other changes in circumstances. He must also be evaluated by a competent trainer at least once annually.

The rescuer should be able to inspect, anchor, assemble and use fall protection and rescue equipment safely.

Training should include:

Fall hazard recognition
Fall hazard control methods
Fall protection and rescue procedures
Inspection of equipment and systems before use.
All training needs to be well documented; documents need to be archived for a number of years, depending on the situation.