What You Need To Know About Welding & Cutting Protecting yourself when performing welding operations depends on your understanding of the hazards involved and the proper way to control them. Control of welding hazards includes avoiding eye injury, respiratory protection, ventilation of the work area, protective clothing and having safe equipment to use. Eye hazards include exposure to ultraviolet and infrared light. Welders and their helpers should wear filter glasses with shades ranging from 2 to 14, depending on the type of welding being done, to protect their eyes. Unless a welding arc is behind a screen, not only the welder, but...

Working Safely With Lead It used to be thought that only children were exposed to lead poisoning hazards which occurred mostly from eating lead based paint chips from doors or windows in the home. This is no longer the case. Studies conducted over the past few years now suggest many adults are exposed to lead in the work place and suffer from varying degrees of lead poisoning. These studies have also shown that eating lead based paint chips is not the only or even the primary way for lead to enter the body. Workers that use lead based paints, or work with...

Cumulative Trauma Disorders How Can You Prevent Them? Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTD's) are strains that may result from long-term repetitive motion or from continually working in an awkward position. Strains commonly occur in the wrists, arms, shoulders or back, affecting the body's joints and surrounding muscles and tendons. CTD's are said to be today's fastest growing occupational problem, affecting all types of employees, from computer operators to construction workers. Modern equipment, tools and machinery have increased production capabilities in many ways. But in some cases, they have also increased the potential for strain injuries in people. These disorders not only cause great discomfort,...

Unexpected Hazards In Demolition Work Remodeling of buildings sometimes involves demolishing parts of existing structures to make room for new improvements. Demolition can expose workers to dangerous materials that are sometimes difficult to recognize. In many cases, even the building owner may not know these hazards are present. Potentially dangerous materials include lead, silica and asbestos. Lead dust is caused by removing, grinding, or cutting materials covered with lead based paint, or from handling metallic lead. Lead fumes can also be created when a torch is used to cut tanks that have contained leaded gasoline or other lead containing products. Since lead...

Forklift Fatalities OSHA estimates forklift fatalities account for 85 fatal accidents per year; 34,900 accidents result in serious injury; and 61,800 are classified as non-serious. According to the Industrial Truck Association, there are about 855,900 forklifts in the U.S. Therefore, over 11% of all forklifts will be involved in some type of accident each year (assuming only one accident per forklift). The ITA also reports that the useful life of a lift truck is about 8 years. This means that about 90% of all forklifts will be involved in some type of accident during their useful life--again assuming only one accident per...

Seven Common Accident Causes Consider this statistic: 80 out of every 100 accidents are the fault of the person involved in the incident. Unsafe Acts cause four times as many accidents & injuries as unsafe conditions. Accidents occur for many reasons. In most industries people tend to look for "things" to blame when an accident happens, because it's easier than looking for "root causes," such as those listed below. Consider the underlying accident causes described. Have you been guilty of any of these attitudes or behaviors? If so, you may have not been injured-but next time you may not be so lucky. ...

Extension Cords Safety-Take No Chances! We use extension cords almost every day both at work and at home. These are very useful devices, but they can present a fire or shock hazard when either worn out or used improperly. Types of extension cords Extension cords come in either two or three-wire types. Two-wire extension cords should only be used to operate one or two small appliances. Three-wire cords are used for outdoor appliances and electric power tools. The third wire on this cord is a ground and this type of cord should never be plugged into any ungrounded electrical outlet. Only grounded extension...

Don't Gamble With Personal Fall Arrest Equipment  Unsafe fall arrest equipment contributed to the fatal 150-foot fall of an Oregon construction worker recently. Burn holes in the worker's fall arrest straps and a faulty self-retracting lanyard were blamed for the failure. These could have been discovered if adequate equipment inspections had been conducted. Would you gamble with your life? A lot of people do just that when they fail to inspect their personal fall arrest equipment daily. They gamble that the equipment will save their life if they fall. Wearing fall arrest equipment without inspecting it, provides a false sense of security. This...

Office Safety Many workers think that the office environment is the safest workplace. But, a safe office workplace requires hazard control, good housekeeping, and safe work practices. Arrange your office to allow clear walkways and aisles throughout the rooms and near exits. Attach tall and heavy office furniture to the wall to avoid tipovers in an earthquake. Do not store heavy items or hang pictures over your head in your office or cube. Close file cabinet drawers, file doors, and pull-out work tables when not in use. To avoid jamming your fingers or hands, make sure that cabinet and desk drawers do...

Warning: Welding May be Hazardous to your Health You’ve heard the expression, “You are what you eat.” Well, with welding, one could say you are what you breathe. Welding smoke is a complex mixture of very small, condensed solids (fumes) and gases. The base and filler metals, fluxes, coatings, and shielding gases all contribute. Even chemical changes to the surrounding atmosphere from the intense radiation and heat can add to the mix. The effects of welding smoke on a person will depend on the particular components of the smoke and how much of it the welder breathes. Some effects may occur shortly after...