August 2019 Safety Topic of the Month: Safe Work Environment for Personnel & Machinery

This month, I want to focus on the importance of defining spaces for equipment and personnel in any workplace situation. (In my opinion), the majority of pedestrian/equipment accidents, and countless "near miss" situations occur due to lack of proper pedestrian only areas and equipment only areas - and lack of enforcement/discipline. And that is discipline of an individual to adhere to the rules of safety - not reprimand. The common items that I have seen overlooked:

• Lack of floor markings, signage, guard rails, mirrors, etc. to mark where pedestrian and equipment traffic are allowed.
• Lack of / defective safety equipment: horns, lights, reflectors, etc. and/or lack of use of these safety items.  

With the above in place, the most common overlooked issue is having a consistent traffic safety plan in place, reinforced with safety training meetings regularly, and establishing an environment where personnel work together to keep each other safe. If a change has to occur to an established zone - communicate it  immediately to all affected staff, and make sure to have them pass the information on to absent coworkers and post notices in places where all employees can see.

For those workplaces that are less than conventional: outside, close spaces, and those where customers, vendors, or even regular local traffic drive through the middle of the work area, extra care and planning will be necessary. A heightened level of awareness should be encouraged throughout your team. Also consider adding personal protective equipment (PPE) such as high visibility uniforms, coveralls, or vests. The addition of temporary to permanent traffic redirection devices - cones to "K-rails" may be necessary to facilitate traffic around the workflow. Weekly or even daily team safety meetings would go a long way to keep up the safety mindset.

All of this has funneled down to safety training, and the primary topic to teach is awareness. Constant surveillance of surroundings is imperative. Achieving eye contact with equipment operators before proceeding at an intersection, as well as the equipment operator keeping a vigilant eye out for pedestrians and potential hazards - and from here we scratch at the topic of operator training, which I will cover soon.

Proper signage and safety implements will create an atmosphere where safe practices will thrive - vigilant communication of the safety policy and procedures will help your team come together to keep the workplace as safe as possible-
so everyone goes home at the end of the day!

Tom Kassen

Note: As I wrote this, I realized that I may have made a vague reference to construction environments. As construction environments are not my area of experience, I did not intentionally cover specifics for construction in particular. My experience has been that construction crews have a very high standard and a zero tolerance for any lack of safety practices. I would really like to hear some insight into construction safety from anybody who has experience, thank you!