07. Common Hazards 15-18 Flashcards
All work equipment should be: 3
suitable for the intended use, and for the conditions in which it is used; safe for use, maintained in a safe condition and, in certain circumstances, inspected to ensure this remains the case; and used only by people who have received adequate information, instruction and training.
Risks, created by the use of the equipment, should be eliminated where possible or controlled by: 2
taking appropriate ‘hardware’ measures, e.g. providing suitable guards, protection devices, markings and warning devices, emergency stop buttons and personal protective equipment; and taking appropriate ‘software’ measures such as following safe systems of work for maintenance activities, and providing adequate information, instruction and training.
Machinery hazards may be mechanical or non-mechanical. Mechanical hazards include: 5
entanglement, traps (crushing, shearing; and drawing in), impacts, contacts (friction or abrasion cutting or severing and stabbing or puncture) ejection (including high pressure fluid injection).(Remember – EnTICE).
Machinery hazards may be mechanical or non-mechanical. Non-mechanical hazards include 5
chemical and biological hazards; electricity; dust and fumes; noise and vibration; fire and explosion.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) requires employers to protect workers from the dangerous parts of machinery by either:
preventing access to the dangerous part; or stopping the dangerous part from moving before a person can come close to it.
PUWER also specifies a hierarchical approach to machine guarding which must be applied in order, so far as is practicable. 4
provide fixed guards (thus preventing access to the dangerous part); provide other guards (such as interlocked guards, adjustable or self-adjusting guards) or protection devices (such as light curtains, bump strips or two handedcontrols – to ensure the dangerous part stops moving before it is reached); and provide protection appliances (jigs, holders, push sticks – to distance the workers hands from the dangerous part). Employers are also expected to provide any information, instruction, training and supervision as required.
‘Workplace transport’ refers to
any vehicle or piece of mobile equipment, used in any work setting, apart from travelling on public roads.
A workplace transport risk assessment should identify all work activities involving vehicles. Activities may include: 6
arrival and departure; travel within the workplace; loading, unloading and securing loads; sheeting; coupling; and vehicle maintenance work
The workplace transport assessment should consider hazards associated with 3
VehicleWorkplacePeople
Control measures for maintaining thermal comfort include: 6
Appropriate timing – if the temperature fluctuates between comfortable and uncomfortable; Climate control by air warming, cooling or conditioning; Local heating, cooling or ventilation equipment; Suitable thermally protective clothing; Rest facilities with means for warming or cooling; and Work planning (e.g. task rotation) to limit the time that individual workers are exposed to uncomfortable temperatures.
The Work at Height Regulations 2005 state that a place is ‘at height’ if
a person could be injured falling from it, even if it is at or below ground level.
Investigations show that the causes of fall from height accidents are usually attributable to poor management control rather than equipment failure. The most common factors involve failure to: 6
recognise a problem; provide safe systems of work; ensure that safe systems of work are followed; provide adequate information, instruction, training or supervision; use appropriate equipment; and provide safe equipment.
Employers are required to do all that is reasonably practicable to prevent anyone falling. This is achieved through ensuring that:
all work at height is properly planned and organised; those involved in work at height are competent; the risks from work at height are assessed and appropriate work equipment is selected and used; the risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled; and equipment for work at height is properly inspected and maintained.
There is a simple hierarchy for managing and selecting equipment for work at height: 3
avoid work at height where it can be avoided; use work equipment or other measures to prevent falls where working at height cannot be avoided; and where the risk of a fall cannot be eliminated, use work equipment or other measures to minimise the distance and consequences of a fall should one occur.
