13. Colored Hard Hats as Differentiators One of the most immediate identifiers is a colored hard hat. Besides using badges to identify visitors and contractors, consider categorizing them by hard hat color. #14-#18 Employee Engagement 14. Report Unsafe Issues (Without Retaliation) Encourage employees to report all incidents, including near misses or potential hazards. By encouraging a transparent and open safety reporting environment, more safety gaps will be closed. 15. Investigate Incidents Thoroughly All safety incidents should be investigated for root cause. Actions should be developed and tracked that will address the root cause. With a culture of continuous improvement, the safety of the site will im- prove through these activities. 16. Authorize All Employees to Stop Work All personnel onsite should be empowered to call a halt to work if it seems unsafe. This policy gives everyone a sense that they have some voice in the safety of the site. 17. Adopt a Safety Suggestion Program An official safety suggestion program is often a great way to drive participation and improvement. Formal tracking of the suggestions can help increase visibility and get them enacted. Of course, following through on some of the suggestions is important to keep people engaged. 18. Enact a Safety Committee Form a site safety committee with representatives from all major work functions. By gathering diverse opinions and experiences, the site When equipment is not running properly, it can lead to non-standard working conditions. In turn, this can lead to safety issues. Keeping equipment properly maintained and running smoothly can help avoid many risky situations. Adopting preventive maintenance measures in conjunction with a capable CMMS is the most straightforward way to ensure machine health. 20. Use Remote Inspections When Possible safety team will benefit. #19-#23 Equipment 19. Keep Equipment in Good Condition Inspecting equipment and structures is often a part of preventative maintenance procedures. Traditionally, inspectors have had to enter confined spaces in unsafe atmospheres to perform some of these in- spections. Today these can be done remotely via modern technology, Maintaining a clean and organized worksite will go a long way in re- ducing incident risk. Besides fostering a culture of ownership, using techniques like 5S can improve worker safety. 22. Guard Machines All machines with nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks need to be properly guarded - preventing personnel from placing their body in the danger zone during the operating cycle. eliminating these hazardous tasks. 21. Maintain Good Housekeeping
23. Install Emergency Stops Emergency Stops should be readily available to operation team. They should be design to safely and rapidly stop the process in case of safety emergency. These may be emergency interlocks that automatically shut down the line when certain conditions are met. #23-#25 - Materials 24. Store Materials Properly Materials should be stored properly. For example, flammables must be in flammable rated storage cabinets or rated rooms with adequate fire protection. Incompatible materials (such as acids and bases) should not be stored together to reduce the chance of mixing. 25. Label Appropriately Label all chemicals at the work site clearly and properly, so that all onsite can quickly identify the contents of each container. If an inci- dent occurs, proper labeling will help the response team to identify the hazards quickly. The site team should understand the basic hazards 26. Fire Protection Ensure suitable fire protection is available and adequate for the op- eration. This includes an overhead fire suppression system and ex- tinguishers. Both should be inspected and maintained periodically to certify they are in good working order. #27-#30 Procedures 27. Make Procedures Easily Understandable and Accessible To help the operations team work successfully and safely, make sure that they can be straightforwardly found and not overly confusing. If procedures are complex or difficult to locate, they are less likely to be followed correctly. As businesses are adapting to younger workforces, they are starting to move procedure guidance to more visual means, such as online video. 28. Perform Proper LOTO Before working on potentially energized equipment, confirm it is safely locked out and tagged out. Develop procedures and/or visual checklists for commonly serviced equipment so that all parties agree before work begins. Use a permit system to track and approve main- tenance work. 29. Follow Confined Space Entry Guidelines Confined space entries can be extremely dangerous, so it is critical that policies are in place if needed. Use atmosphere monitoring equipment, require at least one person on “hole watch”, and do not immediately rush in after a downed worker. 30. Audit Procedures should be routinely audited for accuracy. Inaccurate proce- dures can lead to a lack of understanding and unsafe situations. Lastly, audit the safety program to determine gaps, and develop action plans to correct the gaps.
BRYAN CHRISTIANSEN is the founder and CEO at Limble CMMS. Limble is a modern, easy to use mobile CMMS software that takes the stress and chaos out of maintenance by helping managers organize, automate, and streamline their maintenance operations.
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csengineermag.com
may 2020
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