Z - NEWS Workplace Safety and Health
Safety Tip:
What to Know About Trenches.
Recently, a construction firm in Lebanon, Missouri faced a fine of nearly $200,000 for allowing two workers to enter a trench without any type of safety precaution in place, including not having any means of quick escape, or keeping the excavated earth at least two feet away from the hole. Trench collapses can trap workers under thousands of pounds of dirt, and they kill two workers every month.
Trenching Safety: An excavation is any man-made hole or trench that is made by removing earth. Trenching is recognized as one of the most hazardous construction activities. The greatest risk is a cave-in and even a small job can present serious safety hazards. The key to preventing this type of accident is good planning.
Any trench that is at least five feet deep must have protective measures in place unless they are dug into solid rock. Any trench four feet deep or less must be evaluated by a competent person to determine if they require protective measures. A competent person should also inspect the trench daily to determine if conditions have changed.
When done safely, trenching operations can limit worker exposure to cave-ins, falling loads, hazardous atmospheres, and hazards from mobile equipment. The best way to prevent a trench collapse is to slope or bench trench walls, shore trench walls with supports, or shield trench walls with trench boxes.
How to Prevent Cave-ins: Benching – is a method of leveling off the trench as it goes further down, so that it resembles a series of stair steps, however this method does not work in all types of soil. Sloping – is the procedure of digging diagonally into the sides of the trench, so that the walls are angled outward. Shoring – involves placing support beams across the trench along its width. Shielding – expands upon this idea with the Trench Box, a type of support beam permanently bonded on both ends to slabs of metal that effectively cut the workers off from the trench walls.
Every year, workers are seriously and fatally injured from trench collapses, often because the trenches are improperly sloped, shored, or shielded.
FIRE SAFETY Fire Triangle:
To understand how fire extinguishers work, you need to understand a little about fire. Fire is a very rapid chemical reaction between oxygen and a combustible material, which results in the release of heat, light, flames, and smoke. Heat, Oxygen, Fuel For fire to exist, the following four elements must be present at the same time: ◾Enough oxygen to sustain combustion. ◾Enough heat to raise the material to its ignition temperature. ◾Some sort of fuel or combustible material. ◾The chemical reaction that is fire.
How a Fire Extinguisher Works:
Portable fire extinguishers apply an extinguishing agent that will either cool burning fuel, displace or remove oxygen, or stop the chemical reaction so a fire cannot continue to burn. When the handle of an extinguisher is compressed, agent is expelled out the nozzle. Underwriter's Laboratories and the UL logo, listed, dry chemical fire extinguisher, classification 1-A:10-BC All portable fire extinguishers must be approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory Safety Pin, Nozzle, Handle, Pressure gauge, Tube, High Pressure Gas Canister, Dry Chemical, Carbon Dioxide, or Water to verify compliance with applicable standards. [29 CFR 1910.157(c)(2)] Equipment that passes the laboratory's tests are labeled and given an alpha-numeric classification based on the type and size of fire it will extinguish.
Let's take a look at the label pictured. The classification is:
1-A:10-BC
The letters (A, B, and C) represent the type(s) of fire for which the extinguisher has been approved.
The number in front of the A rating indicates how much water the extinguisher is equal to and represents 1.25 gallons of water for every unit of one. For example, a 4-A rated extinguisher would be equal to five (4 x 1.25) gallons of water.
The number in front of the B rating represents the area in square feet of a class B fire that a non-expert user should be able to extinguish. Using the above example, a non-expert user should be able to put out a flammable liquid fire that is as large as 10 square feet.
Trenching Safety: An excavation is any man-made hole or trench that is made by removing earth. Trenching is recognized as one of the most hazardous construction activities. The greatest risk is a cave-in and even a small job can present serious safety hazards. The key to preventing this type of accident is good planning.
Any trench that is at least five feet deep must have protective measures in place unless they are dug into solid rock. Any trench four feet deep or less must be evaluated by a competent person to determine if they require protective measures. A competent person should also inspect the trench daily to determine if conditions have changed.
When done safely, trenching operations can limit worker exposure to cave-ins, falling loads, hazardous atmospheres, and hazards from mobile equipment. The best way to prevent a trench collapse is to slope or bench trench walls, shore trench walls with supports, or shield trench walls with trench boxes.
How to Prevent Cave-ins: Benching – is a method of leveling off the trench as it goes further down, so that it resembles a series of stair steps, however this method does not work in all types of soil. Sloping – is the procedure of digging diagonally into the sides of the trench, so that the walls are angled outward. Shoring – involves placing support beams across the trench along its width. Shielding – expands upon this idea with the Trench Box, a type of support beam permanently bonded on both ends to slabs of metal that effectively cut the workers off from the trench walls.
Every year, workers are seriously and fatally injured from trench collapses, often because the trenches are improperly sloped, shored, or shielded.
FIRE SAFETY Fire Triangle:
To understand how fire extinguishers work, you need to understand a little about fire. Fire is a very rapid chemical reaction between oxygen and a combustible material, which results in the release of heat, light, flames, and smoke. Heat, Oxygen, Fuel For fire to exist, the following four elements must be present at the same time: ◾Enough oxygen to sustain combustion. ◾Enough heat to raise the material to its ignition temperature. ◾Some sort of fuel or combustible material. ◾The chemical reaction that is fire.
How a Fire Extinguisher Works:
Portable fire extinguishers apply an extinguishing agent that will either cool burning fuel, displace or remove oxygen, or stop the chemical reaction so a fire cannot continue to burn. When the handle of an extinguisher is compressed, agent is expelled out the nozzle. Underwriter's Laboratories and the UL logo, listed, dry chemical fire extinguisher, classification 1-A:10-BC All portable fire extinguishers must be approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory Safety Pin, Nozzle, Handle, Pressure gauge, Tube, High Pressure Gas Canister, Dry Chemical, Carbon Dioxide, or Water to verify compliance with applicable standards. [29 CFR 1910.157(c)(2)] Equipment that passes the laboratory's tests are labeled and given an alpha-numeric classification based on the type and size of fire it will extinguish.
Let's take a look at the label pictured. The classification is:
1-A:10-BC
The letters (A, B, and C) represent the type(s) of fire for which the extinguisher has been approved.
The number in front of the A rating indicates how much water the extinguisher is equal to and represents 1.25 gallons of water for every unit of one. For example, a 4-A rated extinguisher would be equal to five (4 x 1.25) gallons of water.
The number in front of the B rating represents the area in square feet of a class B fire that a non-expert user should be able to extinguish. Using the above example, a non-expert user should be able to put out a flammable liquid fire that is as large as 10 square feet.
