05 Jul General Safe Work Practice Rules

General Safe Work Practice Rules

Safe work practices apply to every employee and every job. Employees are expected to follow established safety procedures, use required protective equipment, recognize and report hazards, and perform only work they are trained and authorized to perform.

General Responsibilities

1. Follow all company safety rules, procedures, safe work practices, and supervisor instructions.
2. Immediately report unsafe conditions, unsafe practices, near misses, and other hazards to your Supervisor.
3. Supervisors shall take appropriate action to correct unsafe conditions and enforce company safety requirements.
4. If you do not understand a task or are uncertain about the safest way to perform it, stop and ask your Supervisor before proceeding.
5. Assist new and inexperienced employees by identifying hazards and reinforcing safe work practices. Employees shall not instruct others to perform work contrary to company procedures or their training.
6. Employees shall receive appropriate safety and accident-prevention instruction applicable to their work and changing jobsite conditions. Required safety meetings and training shall be documented.
7. Work shall be properly planned, coordinated, and supervised to prevent injuries involving employees, equipment, materials, and simultaneous operations.

Personal Protective Equipment and Clothing

8. Wear all PPE required by company policy, the jobsite, and the hazards of the task. Depending on the work, this may include hard hats, safety footwear, safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection, face shields, respiratory protection, and other specialized PPE.
9. Inspect PPE before use and immediately report damaged or defective equipment.
10. Wear clothing appropriate for the work. Loose clothing, jewelry, long hair, or other items that could become caught in moving machinery shall be removed, restrained, or otherwise controlled.
11. Footwear shall be appropriate for workplace hazards and maintained in serviceable condition. Do not wear footwear with excessively worn, damaged, or unsuitable soles.
12. When grinding or performing work that creates significant flying-particle hazards, wear safety glasses or goggles in combination with an appropriate face shield. A face shield does not replace required primary eye protection.

Housekeeping and Material Handling

13. Maintain work areas, aisles, stairs, and walkways free of unnecessary materials, debris, hoses, cords, and other tripping hazards.
14. Remove, bend over, or otherwise protect exposed nails, sharp banding, and similar hazards.
15. Stack, store, and unstack materials carefully so they remain stable and do not create falling-object, struck-by, or collapse hazards.
16. Use proper material-handling techniques. Keep loads close to the body, avoid unnecessary twisting, and use mechanical assistance or obtain help when a load cannot be handled safely by one person.
17. When working with another employee, clearly communicate before moving, releasing, lowering, or dropping materials that could endanger that person.
18. Do not throw or drop materials from elevated locations unless the area below is properly controlled and an approved chute or other suitable means is provided.
19. Warn employees working above, below, or adjacent to you when your activities could create a hazard.
20. Never stand, walk, or work beneath suspended loads. Keep clear of loads being handled by cranes, forklifts, hoists, and other lifting equipment.

Ladders, Scaffolds, and Elevated Work

21. Inspect ladders before use. Use only ladders that are in good condition, properly positioned, and appropriate for the task.
22. Face the ladder and maintain three points of contact while climbing. Carry tools and materials in a manner that allows safe climbing; use tool belts, hoists, or other methods when necessary.
23. Do not overreach from a ladder. Descend and reposition the ladder when necessary.
24. Immediately report damaged scaffolds, falsework, ladders, platforms, or other supporting structures. Do not use damaged or unsafe equipment until it has been evaluated and corrected.
25. Use required fall protection whenever employees are exposed to fall hazards.

Tools, Machinery, and Equipment

26. Operate tools, machinery, vehicles, and equipment only when trained, qualified, and authorized to do so.
27. Inspect tools and equipment before use and report defects immediately.
28. Machine guards and other protective devices shall be installed, properly adjusted, and maintained. Never remove, bypass, defeat, or modify a safety device unless specifically authorized as part of an approved maintenance procedure.
29. Do not handle, operate, adjust, or tamper with electrical equipment, machinery, compressed-air systems, water lines, or other systems outside the scope of your assigned duties or training.
30. Follow applicable lockout/tagout procedures before servicing or maintaining equipment when unexpected startup, energization, or release of stored energy could cause injury.
31. Do not use compressed air for cleaning yourself or others.

Electrical Safety

32. Treat electrical equipment and conductors as energized until they have been properly de-energized and verified safe in accordance with applicable procedures.
33. Electrical work shall be performed only by employees who are qualified and authorized for the work involved.
34. Inspect electrical tools, extension cords, plugs, and equipment before use. Remove damaged equipment from service.
35. Obey electrical hazard signs, barricades, approach boundaries, and other access restrictions.

Confined Spaces

36. Never enter a confined space or permit-required confined space unless you are authorized, properly trained, and all applicable confined-space entry procedures have been satisfied.
37. Atmospheric testing alone does not make a permit-required confined space safe to enter. Required precautions may include hazard evaluation, isolation, lockout/tagout, ventilation, atmospheric testing and monitoring, an attendant, communications, entry authorization, and rescue provisions.
38. Never enter a confined space to rescue another employee unless you are trained, equipped, and authorized to perform confined-space rescue.

Hazardous Materials

39. Read and follow applicable container labels, Safety Data Sheets (SDSs), and company Hazard Communication procedures.
40. Wear required PPE and wash or decontaminate thoroughly after handling hazardous substances.
41. Gasoline shall never be used as a cleaning solvent.
42. Store, handle, and dispose of hazardous and flammable materials according to established procedures.

Hot Work and Fire Prevention

43. Burning, welding, cutting, grinding, or other ignition-producing work shall be performed only when required fire-prevention precautions are in place.
44. Never perform hot work on a tank, drum, vessel, pipe, or other container that contains or previously contained a flammable or combustible substance until it has been properly evaluated, isolated, cleaned or otherwise made safe, and the required authorization or hot-work permit has been obtained.
45. Keep combustible materials away from hot work and provide appropriate fire-extinguishing equipment and fire watch protection when required.
46. Obey all No Smoking and ignition-control requirements.

Signs, Barricades, and Restricted Areas

47. Obey all warning signs, labels, barricades, and restricted-area requirements, including those for electrical hazards, lasers, powder-actuated tools, PPE, confined spaces, and other workplace hazards.
48. Never remove, cross, alter, or disregard a safety barricade or warning device unless authorized to do so.

Vehicles and Mobile Equipment

49. Do not crowd, push, or engage in unsafe behavior while entering or exiting vehicles or other conveyances.
50. Wear seat belts when provided and required.
51. Do not ride on equipment unless a manufacturer-approved passenger position is provided.
52. Stay clear of equipment blind spots, swing radiuses, backing zones, and suspended or elevated loads.

Fitness for Duty and Conduct

53. Horseplay, practical jokes, fighting, and other conduct that could endanger employees are prohibited.
54. Employees shall not perform work when their ability to work safely is impaired by fatigue, heat illness, medication, alcohol, drugs, or another condition affecting alertness or coordination. Notify your Supervisor when you are not fit to safely perform assigned work.
55. Alcohol, illegal drugs, and misuse of medications that impair safe job performance are prohibited in accordance with company policy.

Injuries, Illnesses, and Emergencies

56. Immediately report all work-related injuries, illnesses, exposures, and incidents to your Supervisor, regardless of apparent severity.
57. Promptly obtain first aid or medical evaluation when required. Employees shall not delay reporting an injury because they believe it is minor.
58. Know the site’s emergency procedures, alarms, evacuation routes, assembly locations, and methods for contacting emergency assistance.
59. Do not attempt emergency response, rescue, firefighting, or other hazardous activities unless you have been appropriately trained and authorized.

Stop-Work Responsibility

Every employee has the responsibility to stop or refrain from work when an imminent or serious hazard is recognized and immediately notify the Supervisor. Work shall not resume until the hazard has been evaluated and appropriate protective measures have been implemented.

Remember

Safety rules apply even when a task appears routine or will take only a few minutes. Plan the work, recognize the hazards, use the required protection, communicate with others, and stop when conditions are unsafe.