Forecast is Safety!
October 16, 2018Drive Safe
October 29, 2018Good Morning Team,
Looks like Wichita did not have what would be considered a hard freeze after all. We did manage to break a record with the earliest measurable snow fall received in any year in recorded history. Nothing really stuck to the ground, but I noted several vehicles had snow clinging to them, often on un-scraped windows. Uh, isn’t that a safety hazard? Anyway, I now know that we do have some folks out there that picked up the gauntlet thrown down in my previous safety email and provided some very solid safety considerations as add-ons to my hypothetical window caulking project. I share some of them with you now so that we can all benefit from their particular perspective.
The first to respond was Travis Metsker who works in the Kansas City, Ks area. He wrote: “Make sure you tell somebody you will be outside on a ladder.” His sound reasoning is that should you have an accident, someone will at least know where you are at. Whether it is working from a ladder or not, those of us in the maintenance field do often tend to work alone much of the time and having others know where we might be at any given point is an important safety consideration for sure. In the Facilities Department, one of our SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) is for the team members to always text they’re arrival at the jobsite, text when they are moving from job to job, and then text out at the end of the day. Should one of them fail to report in or they are unable to be reached at some point in the day we at least have a location to start our search from. Also, in cases where we have to use fall restraint equipment, they must text they are donning it, and then again, when they are safely back on the ground with it removed.
Speaking of fall restraint, Todd Zauner – does anyone not know him? – suggested this question to ask ourselves when using a ladder. “Is the work at a height that requires a tie off for the ladder or even a harness for myself?” Tying off an extension ladder to prevent unexpected movement is always required. Consider that tying off might start at the bottom though. If there is a chance that the extension ladder could slip out from under you, then tying off or staking it at the base would be your first step. Tying off the top is required if you are transferring from it to a higher level. The ladder’s side rails need to be at least 36” above the level you are accessing though. And there could be situations where it might be a good idea to have fall restraint on while working from a ladder. You need to be very sure that your tie-off point is capable of holding the weight should you fall. Fall restraint is a must if you are working closer than 6 feet to an unprotected edge that is 6 feet or more higher than the lower surface. More on this later, but never use a tie off to secure an improperly set-up ladder and then work from it. And fall restraint cannot be worn so that you can then work in an otherwise unsafe manner either.
Another consideration for working safely comes from Erin Kofoed. I trust that many of you know her already, but she is an Executive Assistant in the corporate office and self-taught handyperson for sure. She asked; “Is there a YouTube video that shows safety precautions for this procedure that I can watch?” Since we are mostly vision oriented, it could be argued that a video might just be one of the most effective in delivery of such information. Certainly, YouTube, or perhaps a products manufacturer, will have some videos out there that will detail out safety considerations for some tasks, just be sure to use your own common sense to make sure you are. For ideas on what happens when one doesn’t consider safety, searching YouTube for “Workplace Fails” will provide some unfortunate examples for you. You can only hope that no one was seriously injured in some of them!
I really want to thank all of you that rose to the challenge (?) and provided some feedback, it’s much appreciated. To Travis, Todd, and Erin I extend a special thanks for your very good points and in your willingness in sharing those whether you realized it would happen this way or not! In the end though, safety is a team event and we all benefit when we participate. If any of you reading this should have a particular safety topic you would like to see covered please share that with me and I will do my best to shed some light on it. I will not always have the answer, but will do my utmost to get one for you. We just might all get a chance to up our safety game!
Please a great and safe week.
Sincerely,
Raymond D. Moore
Director of Facilities Services