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How Preventative Maintenance Protects Employees

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Twitt

Preventative maintenance is often viewed as an annoying chore which does nothing to help the company. Some companies cherry pick which tasks they will and will not follow, while others completely ignore the manufacturer’s recommendations. But what ignoring some or all of these tasks does, is allows for certain parts to wear prematurely.

These prematurely warn parts can lead to any one of a number of potential issues down the road. From a bottom line standpoint, they can lead to equipment breaking down earlier than expected. This can mean costly repairs or even replacements. In the event of repairs, improperly maintained equipment may not be covered under warranty.

Inconsistent preventative maintenance can also have an impact on employee safety. Many of the parts, especially the wearable parts, in machinery are for the attached safety features. By allowing safety devices to prematurely wear, they may no longer work properly. This will not, like in the case of a required operating part, cause the system to stop working. And in many cases, there will not even be a system generated warning. Instead, the only way to find out is when the device is needed, which is often too late.

For these reasons, it is important to actively monitor the preventative maintenance being performed on your company’s machines. To do this, all that is required is a quick perusal of the operating manuals and other documents which came with all of your machinery, and charts for each machine which will allow you to mark off when all required maintenance is completed.

If you have any questions about the preventative maintenance procedures at your workplace, or to schedule an appointment for us to review your plans, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of preventative maintenance, please leave a comment.

Factory Solutions Software for Lockout Tagout

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Twitt

Lockout/tagout procedures are difficult to create, more difficult to maintain, and an absolute nightmare when regulations change. Lockout tagout issues are consistently on the list of the most commonly cited OSHA violations (placing fifth last year on the list), as well as the most expensive OSHA violations (consistently ranking in the top 5). In an effort to combat this, many business owners hire outside firms to manage their lockout tagout procedures, costing them thousands of dollars annually.

But in recent years, a new push has been made by business owners and safety consulting firms alike toward online lockout/tagout management. Online management is cheaper, more efficient, and allows for greater corporate inclusion. And the process of establishing online lockout/tagout procedures has never been easier.

With our Factory Solutions Software, for instance, you select a procedure from a preset library of procedures, then customize it to your facility based upon your layout, number of machines, and work force. The software is available anywhere the internet is available, and is fully scalable, allowing multiple users. When you update your procedures, you will work directly with our graphic illustrators who will create and annotate the graphical representation of the lockout/tagout procedure. Should you need help in updating the system when you make changes, our dedicated staff would be available to discuss your company’s needs and how to properly document them in the software.

If you have any questions about creating or monitoring lockout tagout procedures, Factory Solutions Software, or about lockout tagout in general, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the benefits of lockout tagout software, please leave a comment.

OSHA Compliant Safety Signs

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Twitt

Safety signs and tags must, at minimum, meet basic OSHA standards. OSHA sign and tag regulations can be found in Standard 1910.145. This standard covers the basic requirements for all signs. But just because a sign meets the requirements set forth in this standard does not mean it is fully compliant.

The reason for this is that many standards set additional requirements for signage relating to the hazards associated with that particular standard. Because of all the different standards which cover the practices at any workplace, it can be difficult to ensure that all of the signs are compliant. If, for instance, your facility has arc flash dangers, any signs associated with those dangers need to fit very specific guidelines as per the OSHA arc flash standards.

When we audit facilities, we pay careful attention to the safety signs around the facility. Signage is a common issue, whether it is missing, misplaced, or improper signage, and is also one of the easiest issues to avoid. By paying attention to the signs you have around your facility, you can easily reduce the potential loss during an OSHA audit.

Correct signage also ensures a safer workplace for your employees. So many guidelines and standards have been created regarding safety signs because they are an important warning or reminder to employees, and can help prevent needless injuries.

If you have any questions about the signs in your facility or the signs available through our online store, please contact us. If you have anything to add about the importance of OSHA compliant signs, please leave a comment.

Hazardous Waste Operations (HAZWOPER)

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Twitt

If your company handles hazardous waste in any capacity, it is important to ensure that your facility is compliant with OSHA Standard 1910.120. Standard 1910.120 covers HAZWOPER (hazardous waste operations and emergency response). This important standard helps protect employees who handle or work near hazardous materials.

This standard specifically covers the storage, handling, transportation, disposal, and cleanup of all hazardous materials. A HAZWOPER plan must be in place in applicable facilities, and should, at a minimum, include policies for reporting hazardous materials to management, local authorities, and local law enforcement, policies for the storage of hazardous materials, and the processes in place surrounding the transportation of these materials. The plan should also include policies relating to who has access to areas with hazardous materials, the locations of the hazardous materials, the frequency with which these individuals have access to the hazardous materials, the medical screenings performed for these individuals, and the frequency of the screenings performed.

An effective HAZWOPER plan should cover every step of the lifecycle of hazardous material while it is in your company’s control. If you cannot track hazardous material from the time it enters your control to the moment you get rid of it, then there is something wrong. If you need help in finalizing a plan, we recommend having an audit of the plan completed.

If you have any questions about HAZWOPER guidelines, or if you would like to have your HAZWOPER plan audited, please contact us. If you have anything to add about HAZWOPER, please leave a comment.

Establishing an Emergency Action Plan

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Twitt

Emergency action plans should be incorporated into any work facility, be it a small retail space, a large warehouse, or an office in a skyscraper. This is not only because OSHA requires it, but because these plans are directly responsible for saving lives in the event of a serious emergency. If an emergency incident should occur, a well developed plan to evacuate, ensure employee safety, coordinate with local first responders, and account for employee whereabouts is of the utmost importance.

To help guide employers, OSHA created Standard 1910.38, which guides emergency action plans. This standard requires an emergency action plan be created, and available in writing for any company with more than 10 employees. In addition, an emergency action plan must include procedures for reporting a fire, procedures for an evacuation, procedures for any employees who remain after the evacuation for critical plant operations, procedures to account for employees after the evacuation, procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties, and the name of every employee who may be contacted by employees who need more information about the emergency action plan.

Further, there are specific requirements for an employee alarm system, employee training, and dissemination of the emergency action plan. In addition, emergency action plans can ensure business continuity. Companies with a well designed emergency action plan are more likely to return to normal business operation, faster.

If you have any questions about how to establish a compliant emergency action plan which takes business continuity into account, please contact us. Should you have anything to add about the importance of an emergency action plan, please leave a comment.

Creating Lockout Tagout Procedures

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Twitt

Creating lockout tagout procedures is never an easy task. It is difficult to calculate the potential energization of machines and equipment, and if a machine is miscalculated, the resulting damage could be fatal. OSHA created Standard 1910.147 as a guideline for creating these procedures, however if you are inexperienced in lockout tagout, this standard can just leave you more confused than when you started.

Because of this, many employers find help guides online. These guides help you to determine where your isolation points are, where you need to put guards, and what signage is needed for your machines. What these guides cannot, unfortunately, do, is walk you through establishing the procedures and calculating isolation points. And unlike many other OSHA regulated procedures, lockout tagout procedures are different for literally every single business. Further, those procedures need to be updated every time a piece of machinery or equipment is replaced or added.

For these reasons, we generally recommend consulting a professional when initially creating lockout tagout procedures if you are inexperienced with them. From there, maintaining them can be as easy or hard as you would like to make them. With our Factory Solutions Software, which our clients have access to, you can ensure your procedures are always compliant. Or, you can manage it yourself. Either way, if a professional helps you with your lockout tagout procedures, you will be armed with the tools to properly manage them.

For more information on how we can help you create your lockout tagout procedures, please contact us. If you have anything else to add about creating lockout tagout procedures, please leave a comment.

Flammable and Combustible Liquids

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Twitt

Any company which utilizes flammable or combustible liquids obviously has safety procedures in place for them. At a minimum, there must be procedures for handling, moving, storing, and using these dangerous liquids. But, to be sure the procedures are OSHA compliant, it is important to refer to Standard 1910.106, which regulates flammable and combustible liquids.

This standard will usually need to be reviewed in conjunction with others, as it does not cover the individual substances. Instead, it covers how to properly store, use, move, or handle these hazardous liquids. It draws from NFPA Publication 30, relying on the expertise of the NFPA in the area of fire protection.

When storing flammable and combustible liquids, you must determine what medium you will use to store them. Will it be a small container, such as a propane tank, or will it be a huge cylinder beside a building? This is generally determined based upon your company’s needs, but how you manage these different sized storage devices can drastically change how your procedures should look.

For transportation of flammable and combustible liquids, you must think about how you plan to transport said liquids. Will you move the canisters in which they are held? Will you use pipes with valves and specific fittings? How will you test your system of moving the liquids? Depending on your answers to these questions, you may need to have a number of specific procedures in place.

For the handling and use of flammable and combustible liquids, there are basic guidelines set here, but you will likely need to consult the specific standards based upon the materials being used.

Finally, you need to set an auditing schedule for flammable and combustible liquids. This schedule must meet the minimum requirements set in Standard 1910.106.

If you have any questions about Flammable and Combustible Liquids, please contact us. And if you have anything to add about the dangers of flammable and combustible liquids, please leave a comment.

Benefits of a Safety and Health Management System

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Twitt

A Safety and Health Management System should be an integral part of any safety plan at any company. Whether a multinational manufacturer operating facilities in multiple countries, or a small startup with 10 employees and 1 tiny office, a Safety and Health Management System can help your staff avoid dangerous situations, and better prepare your staff in the event of an emergency.

What a Safety and Health Management System is, is a centralized system which is used to house all of your company’s safety regulations. Rather than having dozens of safety procedures stored in dozens of places, they will all be stored together, in a logical order, to allow for quick and easy access to the company policies.

This helps business owners by creating an environment where safety staff, management, and employees can easily and efficiently look up relevant policies to ensure they are being followed. It also allows you to easily cross reference one policy with another. So, if you are performing a task which is governed by multiple policies, such as entering a confined space or reviewing your lockout tagout procedures, you can easily ensure all policies are being followed. Similarly, if you are updating a policy, you can efficiently ensure that all related policies are updated, as well.

If you would like to create a Safety and Health Management System, or if you have any questions about how incorporating one would help your company, please contact us. And if you have anything you would like to add about the many benefits of a Safety and Health Management System, please leave a comment.

Software for Monitoring Lockout Tagout Procedures

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Twitt

Lockout tagout procedure monitoring can be a difficult task. Every time a change is made, no matter how small, the entire procedure needs to be reviewed to make sure this minor change does not have some far-reaching change on another part of the procedure. This can make lockout tagout a very time consuming, and very costly, process to monitor and maintain.

In addition, many companies employ safety personnel who are not properly trained on lockout tagout procedures, meaning some of the nuances of the regulations might be lost on the individual in charge of the procedure. OSHA Standard 1910.147, which governs lockout tagout procedures, can be very convoluted, and without an in depth understanding of the regulation, it is almost impossible to fully understand.

Fortunately, we at PF Safety have recently released our Factory Solutions Software. This software creates, tracks, monitors, and updates your lockout tagout procedures for you. It keeps a record of all changes and updates, and notifies you of these changes. Our software is created in such a way that it will automatically notify you of any compliance or OSHA regulation updates, so that you can properly update your policies. In addition, the software is fully customizable, fully scalable, and only requires an internet connection to access it.

If this software sounds like something that could help streamline your business, please contact us so that we can explain in more detail how the software works. If you would like to add a comment on how this or similar software has worked for your business, please leave a comment.

Personal Protective Equipment Policies

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Twitt

Policies surrounding personal protective equipment must be carefully created and consistently followed to protect employees at work. Personal protective equipment is a last line of defense for employees working in potentially dangerous jobs, and without this equipment a simple malfunction or slip of the hand can turn into a tragedy.

When creating a personal protective equipment policy, it is important to start by looking at OSHA Standard 1910.132, which governs general personal protective equipment requirements. After this standard has been reviewed, it is then time to consider your specific company and the operations which you perform. Based upon your industry and your business, you then need to review the OSHA standards for each of those operations to determine what, if any, further personal protective equipment requirements are listed in those standards.

Once you have determined the additional requirements as per the relevant standards, you need to integrate these requirements into an effective personal protective equipment policy, keeping Standard 1910.132 in mind as you create it. By creating a policy in this way, you are ensuring that each person working in your facility is properly protected with personal protective equipment.

Finally, you must make sure that all equipment is regularly checked and maintained, to ensure it is still working properly. Gloves with holes, for instance, will not be very effective if an employee comes into contact with fire.

If you have any questions about your current personal protective equipment policy, or if you would like to establish a personal protective equipment policy, please contact us. Please leave a comment if you have any other best practices for creating an effective personal protective equipment policy.