Back in May I observed a delivery driver for a major rental company picking up a JLG man lift from one of my subs. See first picture. 3 weeks later I was in an OSHA 500 class with his regional safety manager and asked him what their loading/unloading procedures were. He assured my his employees always use proper fall protection when doing this. His face turned a little red when I informed him of what I had observed his driver doing and that I had pictures of it, if he would like to see for himself. I emailed them to him. And as they say The proverbial S$#t hit the fan. But some good did come from this. I saw the same driver today picking up another lift from my site, He got out of the truck and put on his harness before he even tilted the lift bed on his truck. Had it on and used it the whole time he was loading. See picture # 2. This is to let everybody know that letting our other safety reps know what is going on is NOT a bad thing... And I'll do it again if I can prevent an accident or injury.
Saw this set up on an unannounced site visit - all prepared for a sewer manhole entry later in the day. Note both the main and rescue winch on the tripod.
Many thanks to Mary Jo XXXXXX for sharing this photo of how to set up a CSE job the RIGHT WAY!
I enjoy your web site and as a safety professional in Florida, I use the photos on your site to show my customers what can happen if they don't use PPE and / or safe work practices. I took the attached pictures at a Daytona Beach job site today. In 16 years as a safety professional, I have never seen anyone go to this length to protect workers from falling from a roof.
Amongst its many other tasks, WorkSafe Victoria regularly reviews the workers’ compensation claims details related to sprains and strains injuries within the construction industry. Selected claims are followed up by WorkSafe inspectors to find out what the employer has done to prevent a recurrence of these types of injuries, and, if applicable, to take the appropriate action to require the employer to comply with the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety (Manual Handling) Regulations 2000.
One such claim involved a worker employed by an earthmoving company who had injured his back whilst attempting to tip a 205 litre drum of oil onto its end so that a pump could be inserted. Apart from his obvious pain and discomfit, this incident resulted in 15 weeks off work and $7,500 in medical costs. On following up this claim, the WorkSafe inspector found that, instead of treating the injury as "just one of those things", the company had made sure it would never happen again. Previously the three grades of oil used in the company’s yard were supplied in 205 litre drums that were moved, one by one, from the flammable goods store using a forklift. The work practice was to lay the drum down on its side, supporting it between the forklift’s tynes. This meant each drum was tipped over at the store and righted at the maintenance yard. The usual method used at the yard was for two men to grab one end of the drum and lift up until it tipped onto its end.
The company has now eliminated the manual handling effort altogether. The three grades of oil are now purchased in 1,000 litre bulk containers (as illustrated). These are transported by forklift from the store to the yard. The bulk containers are then placed on stands and pumps fitted so that oil can be transferred by hose directly to the earthmoving equipments’ differentials, gearboxes, etc.
So not only was the immediate cause of the injury dealt with, but the overall risks associated with the work were reduced and the process has become more efficient. Construction Hazard Solutions are published by the Construction Safety Circulation Service in the interests of improving the health and safety standards of the construction industry.
This document may be freely copied. The Construction Safety Circulation Service is an initiative of WorkSafe Victoria.
WorkSafe Victoria is a division of the Victorian WorkCover Authority.
To find out more, visit www.workcover.vic.gov.au/construction
I don't know much about scaffolding, but I know what I like. These pics are of the restoration work on a cathedral in central Melbourne. I'm no expert on scaffolding, but I reckon this must be a good example of "doing it right". Below is a very busy city.
Cheers,
John
Since John nor I are scaffolding experts I turned to my dear friend and scaffolding expert Phil Court at WORKSAFE Victoria. It turns out GREAT EYES see the same thing, as WORKSAFE had done a "Pat on the Back" special on this very same scaffolding in 2002. Here's what the experts at WORKSAFE Victoria had to say about this scaffolding...
When Cathedral Stone won the contract to refurbish the spires on one of Melbourne’s landmark buildings, St Paul’s Cathedral, the company turned to Concept Hiring Services Pty Ltd to solve its height access needs. According to Concept Hiring Services’ General Manager Sales & Contracts, Laurie Hartley, "in many respects, it was the hardest job we’ve ever done". The age and condition of the spires meant that the scaffold had to be free-standing, so that no additional loads were placed on them. Once Concept Hiring Services completed the initial design work, it was assessed by an independent consulting engineer. Rigweld was chosen to erect the steel support grillage and Nomad Scaffolding was selected to erect the scaffold. Before starting the job, Laurie held meetings to brief all relevant parties, including the client, the architect, the steel erectors, the scaffolders, the the CFMEU’s OHS Unit and WorkSafe Victoria. Once the scaffold for the first spire was complete, Laurie held a debriefing meeting with the scaffolders at which the handover certificate was prepared. He also used this opportunity to document the lessons learned during the erection, to assist in the dismantling. When Melbourne experienced gale - force winds not long after the scaffold was complete, Laurie spent a sleepless night, but was re-assured the next morning to find that not even a single plank had blown off. Which goes to show that there is nothing you cannot achieve with a well-designed and well-constructed scaffold.Concept Hiring Services is a member of the Master Builders Association of Victoria and the Scaffold Association of Victoria. To find out more, go to the company’s website: www.concepthire.com.au
My hats off to Laurie Hartley! Laurie is a true OHS professional who goes out of his way, time and again, to "give something back" to the construction industry -- well above and beyond his role for his company.
I noticed that your "Doing it right "section is both under repairs and looking a bit thin so I went for a walk to check on our crews to see what I could find. This particular job involves handling Synthetic Mineral Fibres. The guys have attended to the following 1/ Barricaded the area with a three metre radius as per Australian Code of Practice. 2/ Signed the work area as per SMF C.O.P. 3/ Using required P.P.E. for handling SMF as per C.O.P. 4/ Using correct fall protection whilst working from an elevated work platform. What the photographs don't show is the Job Safety Analysis which included these control measures as well as others Hope these can be used.
I love your newsletter and agree that it is a constant struggle to get associate's to think about not only doing their job correctly, but to do it safely. I am attaching some photos I took and put into one of our monthly safety talks on PPE and why we use it. The forklift in the photos is commonly referred to as a stockpicker, cherrypicker or liftpicker. There is a platform incorporated into the lift that the operator stands on and operates the lift from there. All the steering, forward/reverse and lift/lower functions are done from this platform. Typically, the operator removes product from the racking and places or stacks it on the pallet behind the platform. I reviewed the photos again and I can see that someone not familiar with this type of lift would think the operators were standing on a pallet. The platforms are actually about 2/3 the size of a standard pallet.
Dean Taylor
Safety Manager
Northern Tool and Equipment Company
Southeast Regional Distribution Center
When re-mounting your lift, always check to make certain your tether is attached to your harness or safety belt.
When using safety equipment such as an approved lift cage, always make certain they are correctly and securely attached to the forklift.
Proper inspection of safety equipment will reveal worn or damaged equipment and prevent injury.
Making sure your harness is adjusted correctly insures it works properly. Always make sure you wear the correct size harness.
Harness and tether properly attached. Should associate slip or fall, the safety equipment will prevent a fall to the floor 10 feet below.
The higher associates work, the more apparent the need for a safety restraint system.
You always have the bodgey scaffold of the week. This time I have one that must take the prize for the best scaffold of the week.
What do you think?
Casper
This is a fine example of a galvanised tube-and-coupler hung spurred scaffold. Note the use of check couplers . A check coupler is a coupler fixed hard against a loadbearing coupler, to restrict or prevent slippage of that coupler along the tube. If you look closely you will see that the load-bearing hung standards and spurs in tension have check couplers fixed immediately below the right-angle couplers to which the lower lift of ledgers is fixed, whilst the spurs in compression supporting the outermost ledgers of the working lift have check couplers immediately above their connection to the lower ledgers, and immediately beneath their connection to the upper ledgers. The butt tubes near the base of the hung standards have also been provided with check couplers immediately below their connections. The butt tubes are there to provide support for the scaffolders during the initial erection and final dismantling of the scaffold. They are fixed to the standards before they are lowered into position and fixed to their overhead supports. Prior to and upon removal of the working platform, scaffolders erecting and dismantling a hung scaffold such as this should be equipped with safety harnesses and inertia reels securely anchored to the overhead supporting structure. In this case, as the scaffold is over water, the scaffolders would also require life jackets. In Australia, hung scaffolds from which a person or object could fall more than 4 metres must be erected, altered and dismantled by, or under the direct supervision of, persons holding the Advanced Scaffolding certificate of competency (Class code SA). For further information on recommended rules for this sort of scaffold, refer to Clauses 9.8, 10.6 and 10.9 of AS/NZS 4576, Guidelines for Scaffolding.
Where I work (please no names), we have a sheet metal shop that makes HVAC duct work to install in people's homes. When I first started as safety manager, I noticed that the guys in the shop were using old blowers from furnaces as fans because the shop gets extremely hot in the summer. I also noticed the blowers had fan belts and fans that weren't guarded, so I brought it to the foreman's attention, and he made his own. I went over the OSHA standards for machine guarding, showed him how to use a "gotcha-gauge", and here is what he came up with. He also made machine guards for some other machines in the shop, which I have also attached.
I would normally find these laying where the guys took them off......on the ground. But this contractor made it clear to their workers how it was gonna be. Good Job!
One of the things I like to do is post pictures of the guys on a BB of them doing things right.. I work for a large GC and have lots of subs on site.. The guys and gals it seams always hear the negative stuff from their supervision. I like it when they take the extra steps to make it safe for themselves and others without being told "you have to do this" to that end here is a Pic I got this morning. An employee of one of my subs found a lanyard that had gotten burned during welding. He destroyed/removed it from service with out being told to get a new one!
