It's time for our second safety themed geocache series. This
time around the theme is Hand Safety! We can't reach our goal of
ZERO injuries until we eliminate ALL hand injuries.
The physical cache is a 6" pill bottle at the Sunnyvale Water
Treatment ponds. Please keep in mind that there is a healthy gopher
snake population in the area, and at times the bugs are thicker
than the smell. Safety glasses are not an uncommon sight on these
trails.
The Hand Safety cache series was placed with your safety in
mind. A few careful steps will have you safely grabbing this cache.
But take a peek before reaching inside and take your hand safety
into consideration. You’ll know that you’re close to
the cache when you look to your left and see a concrete slab with 4
rigging connection points. At one time someone was required to
safely rig and lift this piece of concrete. I wonder what methods
they used to protect their hands?
The goal of this cache is to familiarize you with methods of
hand protection while rigging.
In order to prevent hand injuries, we first have to consider the
hazards associated with rigging. The fact that we’re rigging,
indicates that we’re getting ready to lift or move something.
So we know that we’re dealing with some type of lifting
device (i.e. crane, chainfall, etc.). When we lift objects into the
air we apply stress to the lifting device, the rigging, and the
object(s) being lifted. When lifting devices or rigging are in poor
condition, or overloaded, they may fail. These types of failures
can subject us to much more than a hand injury. So the first items
to add to our list of hand injury prevention methods during rigging
are:
Crane Inspections
Rigging Inspections
Now that we know our equipment has been properly inspected we
have to make sure that we have a qualified/certified lift operator
to perform the evolution. An unqualified operator may subject you
to hand injuries (or more) during the rigging process. In addition,
we’ll need a certified rigger to do the rigging. In the
Beyond Safety workplace it’s mandatory that we also use a tag
line during all lifts. A tag line is a line attached to the load
that allows a member of the lift team to help control the load
while it’s in the air without having to actually place their
hands on the load. So let’s add these items to our list of
hand injury prevention methods during rigging.
Certified Crane Operator
Certified Rigger
Tag Line
Now we know that our lifting equipment is safe and that our
people are qualified to do the rigging and lifting. Our next step
is to make sure that we’re all wearing the appropriate
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including the proper gloves.
In the Beyond Safety workplace we take into consideration the type
of rigging, amount of dexterity that’s required, conditions
(i.e. wet, cold, etc.). If you take a look at the EN 388 glove
performance level rating chart (see the gallery for pic), you may
settle on a glove with a minimum rating of 4343. Will it have the
necessary grip? Dexterity? Visibility? These are all decisions that
have to be made carefully. Without a proper selection of gloves to
choose from, our workers are forced to make poor glove decisions.
So let’s update our list of hand injury prevention methods
during rigging.
Proper Glove Selection
As we prepare to lift, we have to make sure that we have a lift
plan, and that all team members understand the lift plan. The lift
plan should include items such as the weight of the load, rigging
equipment ratings, and rigging configuration. In our Beyond Safety
workplace we also utilize a tool called the “Safe Plan of
Action (aka SPA).” In the SPA we will identify the steps of
our lift, the hazards associated with our lift, and the actions
that we’ll take to eliminate the hazards. In our SPA we will
actually identify the specific type of gloves to be used during the
lift. You may utilize tools similar to the SPA in your workplace
such as the Job Hazard Analysis (JHA). So let’s update our
list of hand injury prevention methods.
Lift Plan
Safe Plan of Action (JHA)
Now it’s time to make sure our lift area is safe. Are
people clear of the area? Are the appropriate barricades in place?
Is ground in our lift path clear of items that can cause us to
slip, trip, or fall? Can all parties communicate properly (verbal,
radios, hand signals)? So let’s update our list one final
time.
Barricades in Place
Area Free of Slip, Trip, and Fall Hazards
Communication
Because you’ve taken the time to properly plan your task
that involved rigging, you have likely prevented a hand injury or
something much more serious. Let’s take a look at our final
list.
Crane Inspections
Rigging Inspections
Certified Crane Operator
Certified Rigger
Tag Line
Proper Glove Selection
Lift Plan
Safe Plan of Action (JHA
Barricades in Place
Area Free of Slip, Trip, and Fall Hazards
Communication
Here's the entire Hand Safety series:
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 1 of 8 – Hand Safety –
Inattention Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 2 of 8 – Hand Safety – Rigging
Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 3 of 8 – Hand Safety – Just
Don’t Slip, Trip, or Fall
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 4 of 8 – Hand Safety – 100%
Glove Policy
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 5 of 8 – Hand Safety – Line of
Fire Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 6 of 8 – Hand Safety – 10 Hand
Hazards
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 7 of 8 – Hand Safety – Cut
Resistant Gloves
Bonus Multi-Cache!
Beyond
Safety Series #2 - Cache 8 of 8 – Hand Safety –
Mechanical Hazards
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Below are the links for the first Beyond Safety cache
series:
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 1 of 6 – Hearing
Conservation
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 2 of 6 - Eye and Face
Protection
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 3 of 6 - Voluntary Protection
Program
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 4 of 6 - BZ Walking Club
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 5 of 6 - Earthquake
Preparedness
Beyond Safety Series #1 - Cache 6 of 6 - Slips, Trips, and
Falls