Weekly Safety Meeting – Good Housekeeping Is a Virtue!

Good housekeeping is a very important safety concern. This should not be a surprise, especially when we consider all the many articles normally necessary in a productive work area. Even materials lying around could easily be ready to present troubling conditions. Items that are not normally considered hazardous can become hazardous when left laying around where employees might trip over them or bump into them.

Good housekeeping is a very positive work behavior. Work areas that are clean and neat, with a place for everything and everything in its place, result in amazingly pleasant outcomes! The task of locating all the parts and pieces of your work area puzzle become easier and the stress of the task become less troublesome. Good housekeeping simply makes the workflow seamless, resulting in increased workplace efficiency.

Good housekeeping makes responding during an emergency easier and faster!

Who Is Responsible?

Good housekeeping is everyone’s responsibility. Your organization may have specific personnel in positions to maintain many cleaning tasks; those personnel may not know your unique workspace and the placement of every tool and associated materials. Your workplace training has alerted you to the importance in maintaining your work area in specific ways.

Good housekeeping has to be constant and ongoing if it’s going to prevent and eliminate hazards in your work area.

Identify Hazards:

There are several types of hazards that you should always be on the alert for so that they can be eliminated immediately.

Floors should be kept clear.

Tripping and falling hazards are anything on the floor that doesn’t belong there:

• Machines;
• Tools;
• Extension cords;
• Air hoses;
• Materials, scrapes and debris; and
• Boxes.

Impact Hazards are objects that can hit you or that you can bump into. Open drawers and tools left perched on the edge of your worktable are typical examples.

Puncture and Splinter Hazards exist when sharp-edged or pointed tools are left out of their storage location. Splinters can develop on any surface or on a variety of materials.

Best Practices to Prevent Housekeeping Hazards:

Preventing housekeeping hazards can start by applying the safety rules and procedures you have learned directly to your own work area.

• Protect yourself and others from tripping and falling hazards by not keeping anything on the floor, even temporarily. Every machine, tool, material, and substance should belong in a very specific location. That location should never be the floor.
• Other items that do not belong on the floor include empty boxes that are waiting to be removed. Place cords, cables, and air hoses on elevated hooks, not on the floor you walk on.
• Keep the floors clear, especially the aisles and passageways.
• Contact hazards can be prevented by properly storing items away. Place tools in holders and materials in waist high bins or containers. Keep drawers closed. Keep all items in assigned locations.
• Puncture hazards can be prevented by proper storage and placement of sharp or pointed objects.
• Splinter hazards may require touching up rough surface areas with sandpaper or grinding down the area.

Summary:

Workplace housekeeping is an essential part of workplace safety. Poor housekeeping can lead to hazards on the job. Good housekeeping prevents and removes hazards by keeping work areas in good condition. Leave nothing to trip over, bump into, cut or puncture yourself with.

Good housekeeping is everyone’s responsibility.

Keeping your work area neat and clean will keep you safe.

Evaluate your work area for the hazards and environmental conditions mentioned in this safety talk.

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE!!