Pedestrians and Forklifts As an operator of a powered industrial truck, you must safeguard other employees at all times. This rule is no different than what is required of you as a safe driver when you are operating your own car. Pedestrians, whether they are walking down the aisle of...
Bonding and Grounding When transferring flammable liquids, it is important that the containers involved are bonded and grounded in order to prevent static electricity from igniting the vapors. Static electricity results from the interaction of dissimilar materials. This can occur when materials are rubbed together, such as walking across carpet...
Benzene Safety Benzene is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is extracted from crude oil. It is also called Benzol, coal naptha, cyclohexatriene, phene, phenyl hydride, and pyrobenzol. Benzene is widely used to produce many other chemical compounds. Styrene and cyclohexane are major products of benzene as well as detergents,...
Respirator Protection Air that’s contaminated or lacks oxygen can be very harmful to your health. Inhaling chemical vapors, gases, fumes, or dust can irritate and even seriously damage the lungs, respiratory systems, or other organs, sometimes fatally. Lack of oxygen can cause death in minutes. Wear the respirator designed to...
Emergency Eye Wash and Deluge Showers Let’s hope you never need one, but if you do let’s hope it’s clean and accessible. If you get foreign particles in your eyes or a chemical spill on your body, an emergency eyewash station or deluge shower is the most important initial step...
Dangers of Carbon Monoxide Carbon monoxide poisoning in the workplace can be a serious problem. Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that can cause serious illness or death if it goes unnoticed in the air. It has been called the “silent killer” because without the proper safety equipment,...
Safety Signs Safety signs are too important to be ignored. They provide us with vital hazard information in a number of ways; through colors, words, and pictures. Signs tell you where the hazards are and how to protect against the danger. Safety signs come in all sizes, colors, and shapes....
Power Tool Safety Accidents involving portable power tools happen all the time. You’ve all heard of cases where a chip flew off a drill and hit someone’s eye or of someone getting a shock because a tool had a faulty ground. And then there’s the person who lost a finger...
Safe Storage and Disposal of Oil or Solvent-Soaked Rags The accumulation of oil or solvent-soaked rags in the normal daily function of a shop or manufacturing environment can be a major safety issue. Oil-soaked rags are a spontaneous combustion hazard because as the oil oxidizes, heat is released. If the...
Pinch Point Safety Each year, workers suffer approximately 125,000 caught or crushed injuries that occur when body parts get caught between two objects or entangled with machinery. These hazards are referred to as “pinch points.” The physical forces applied to a body part caught in a pinch point can vary...