Category Archives: Hand Protection

Eye Protection, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Home Safety Products, Respiratory Issues, Uncategorized

Protective Clothing and Work Safety during Plumbing

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Before you begin working on any DIY projects or plumbing repairs, you would do well to review some of the simple basics concerning safety. By following certain methods you will spare yourself injury and failure as well as being able to complete your projects on time. The following safety tips should be followed no matter what type of project you’re after:

Protective Clothing and Work Safety during Plumbing2

• Stay informed
You need to check the local building and plumbing codes before you start working on your project. Knowing what you can do to make things work that way will keep things professional and safe when you need to be careful.

• Eye protection
Work only with safety glasses if you need to do any plumbing work done, especially if you suspect you may have anything that could potentially endanger your eyes. Any work that involves using a drill, snaking a drain, hammering, working under a sink or using a reciprocating saw will pose a danger and potential hazard for the eyes. Sometimes small objects, droplets of sewer water and so on may fly into your eyes if you lack proper protection, so make sure that never happens.

• Hand protection
You would do well to focus on wearing proper protection for your hands at all times when you work. Hands will often come into contact with different chemicals, sewer water and more when you work on plumbing. If your hands have any scratches you may risk infection, not to mention handling things that way is simply unsanitary. Whenever you use a drain machine of any sort, you would do well to use leather or latex gloves to protect yourself from the germs of your drain lines. Good drain gloves will not only protect your hands, but it will also become a good habit to handle tools with them for added safety.

Protective Clothing and Work Safety during Plumbing

• Lung protection
You will need to work with a face mask if you want to protect your lungs. Sanding, sawing and more are sometimes needed when you work on some plumbing projects, not to mention the unpleasant smell of sewer gases that would be filtered through a mask so you won’t have to inhale it.

• Being careful
You would do well to be extra careful whenever you’re handling any tools, as you will need to follow the manufacturer’s suggestions if you want to succeed. Many people are often injured when they don’t keep both hands on the power tools they use, not staying vigilant as they work and so forth. Don’t be one of them and keep your eyes open and your hands steady.

• Get some help
Having someone to give you a hand when you need it will make completing your tasks far easier to handle. Running a drain machine for example means you will need to have two hands on the cable, as well as someone else unplugging the machine when you’re done, not to mention other tasks that need more than a single pair of hands. This will be very useful whenever you deal with plumbing emergencies, as you never know what you may need.
Read more helpful practical tips go at: http://www.plumbingservicesplumbers.co.uk/bayswater-plumbers-W2/local-plumbers-bayswater.html

General Safety Issues, Hand Protection

Hand Protection Tips while Working

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Hand injuries are extremely common on the job, no matter where you work, up to the point where nearly 80% of most common occupational injuries are hand injuries. There are hardly any jobs that don’t really use our hands in the process, so we need to take great care to avoid any accidents with our hands. There is much that can be done to avoid such issues, but for the most part common sense should be involved before you make any decisions. The following tips will give you more information you can count on to make a difference and protect your hands:

• Wearing gloves

This is the first line of defense against blisters, scrapes, burns, cuts and splinters you will have on the job, so look for several good pairs of work gloves you can count on to get you through your tasks without fail. Make sure you’ve chosen the right gloves and that they fit comfortably against your hands, allowing you to work with ease. You would do well to wear some chemical resistant gloves when you’re working with acids or caustics. There is no way to avoid things without proper protection, so never underestimate its importance. Always keep the insides of your gloves nice and clean, as any contaminants inside will only negate their protection. Make sure you replace your gloves as soon as you see any damage to their material. Always remember to use gloves when you’re using knives and box cutters and you need to do fine work with them and cut away from your body as you work.

Hand Protection Tips while Working2

• Working with machines

Always stay vigilant so you can avoid the terrible danger posed by machines with exposed moving parts. You need to make sure you use the proper controls built into the machine to stay safe, especially when it comes to machine guards and the tool rests used. Under no circumstances should you try to reach inside the machine while it is powered and unless you possess the necessary technical expertise and credentials to do so. You would also do well to keep all watches, rings and bracelets off your person to ensure they will not get in the way while you work. If there are any shavings you need to get out of the way when cleaning, never use your hands to do so but use a brush or a scraper to do it so you will not get hurt while cleaning.

• Staying vigilant

Always keep an eye on what you’re doing and make simple and smart choices so you can avoid any injuries while working on the job. Know all your potential sources of hazards and stay vigilant. Inspect your protective equipment and gloves as well as your hands after you’re done working if you’re handling dangerous chemicals. Never allow carelessness to become a danger to your safety. You would do well to keep your eyes open when you clean your machines and workplace as well, as sometimes periodic cleaning may need to be completed by a professional cleaning company trained in dealing with hazardous chemicals and similar problems.

Hand Protection Tips while Working

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Eye Protection, First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection

Magnatech Guest Blog Post – Welding Eye Safety

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While welding techniques have gradually improved over the years, there are still many risks that come with the job. This includes repeated contact with harmful dust, smoke and fumes as well as exposure to light and heat radiation. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention) states that “each day about 2000 U.S. workers have a job-related eye injury that requires medical treatment. About one third of the injuries are treated in hospital emergency departments.”

There are many severe eye-related injuries that a worker can sustain, including small metallic particles that can strike the eye, leading to painful cuts and abrasions; the CDC reports that “metal slivers, wood chips, dust, and cement chips… nails, staples, or slivers of wood or metal [that] penetrate the eyeball and result in permanent loss of vision. Large objects may also strike the eye/face [and] chemical burns to one or both eyes from splashes of industrial chemicals or cleaning products are common.” Because of such serious wounds, it is essential for a welder to remain as safe as possible while doing their job, regardless of their levels of expertise and competence.

One of the most frequent and all-pervading injuries that a welder may experience given improper eye protection is known as photokeratitis or “welding arc flash.” This is a non-permanent condition, although it may affect your vision for some time given that it damages the tissue around the eye (although thankfully not the retina itself). In this case, the cells on the outer layer of your cornea are inadvertently burned by UV rays. This is similar to sunburn on the skin, but instead on the surface of your eye. Although the affected area will slowly heal over time, UV eye burns may take a great deal of time to recover from and, as you can imagine, they can be wholly excruciating to experience. You can read more about photokeratitis and its effects on the body here.

Welding eye injuries are extremely common and, regardless of whether you are doing a quick 30-second job or a 30-minute task, eye protection is a must. Utilizing a helmet as well as safety glasses or protective goggles is vital to effectively shield your vision. The U.S. Department of Labor OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) states that “goggles or other suitable eye protection shall be used during all gas welding or oxygen cutting operations… All operators and attendants of resistance welding or resistance brazing equipment shall use transparent face shields or goggles, depending on the particular job, to protect their faces or eyes.” PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is also crucial.

PPE clothing should provide adequate coverage in case of sparks, fumes or smoke, as well as reducing the possibility of skin burns. In most cases, clothing manufactured from heavy cotton or a wool blend will better endure the outside elements of your workplace. Flame-resistant gloves and a flame-resistant apron are also essential protective attire. For more details on what you should wear when welding, ANSI (American National Standards Institute) offers some useful advice.

Although there have been notable advances in the manufacture of protective gear over the years, eye injuries are still widespread. This may be due to a low perception of the risk involved in the assignment itself, or perhaps because welders feel discomfort while wearing them. However, the discomfort caused by a serious eye injury will easily outweigh the pain caused from wearing a helmet and goggles for a small period of time. The Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety once estimated that a quarter of welding injuries are eye-related, so eye protection should always be enforced. In essence, it is important that workers are educated about the dangers they will encounter during their day-to-day routine, as well as implementing a “No Excuses” eye protection plan whenever someone is welding. Magnatech, LLC has been manufacturing systems for orbital tube and pipe welding applications for more than 40 years. We are proud to supply products that put an emphasis on reliability and user-friendliness.

If you would like more information on what we can do for you, please visit us online at Magnatech or call 860-653-2573 today.

Guest Post from Jaclyn Passaro

Eye Protection, Fall Safety, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Hearing Protection, High Visibility Safety, Protective Clothing, Respiratory Safety

Taking Preemptive Measures for Vehicle Accidents in Construction (Guest Post)

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Since reducing the risk of fatal accidents and death rate within the construction industry is not an easy job, taking timely, effective preemptive measures is the only way out. Read further for a fair idea of what can be done and how!

The rate of accidents, injuries and deaths associated with the construction industry is much higher than most other areas of work. The most common reasons that make construction work perilous is possibility of deadly accidents with vehicles and falls from extreme height.

On an average, every third fatal accident at a construction site has one or more vehicles involved. Frequently occurring transport accidents at work include:

  1. Victims being stuck by moving vehicles, especially while reversing
  2. People falling from vehicles or hit by things falling from vehicles
  3. Overturning vehicles leading to serious injuries

What Can Be Done to Prevent Vehicle Accidents in Construction?

The first step towards reducing high death rate in construction industry is to reduce the risk of fatal accidents at construction sites that involve vehicles. Employers need to fulfill their legal duties and play a pivotal role in that case, especially by assessing risks and taking practical measures to ensure the safety of everyone around.

This may include maintaining accident records, training and consulting employees, and co-coordinating and cooperating contractors. The focus needs to be on planning and implementing collective safety measures, instead of giving individual measures extra importance. The basic idea should be to replace the hazardous with the harmless.

Taking Preemptive Measures for Vehicle Accidents in the Construction Industry

Practically, accident prevention should not start after the work has already begun on the construction site. Instead, designers, architects and planners can considerably diminish the risk of vehicle accidents by designing and planning well in the pre-build phase.

Risk assessment is the most important aspect that every employer ought to take care of, followed precisely by the conveyance of complete information to the contractors, verifying that the construction site is fully safe for the workers.

A thoroughly carried out risk assessment process involves:

Looking for Potential Hazards:

After you have evaluated the work the finished tasks, identify potential dangers that may be associated with the presence of heavy vehicles at the site. Operations such as reversing, loading and unloading always have a higher probability of damage being done at the workplace.

Factors that increase the likelihood of occurrence of such accidents more include rough terrain, continuous exposure to bad weather conditions, labor working under multiple contractors, and time pressure. You can involve both the workers and their contractors in the risk assessment process, explaining to them what has been planned to reduce the level of risk.

Try preventing the following things in particular:

  • Running over pedestrians
  • Overturning vehicles
  • Vehicle accidents caused by falls while climbing or working too close to power lines
  • Vehicle malfunctioning

Identifying Who May Be Harmed

Figuring out every possible factor that can harm individuals on the work site is the first step towards implementation of safety measures. This will include everyone from contractors, workers, self-employed individuals and even the general public. Pay special attention to the areas where vehicle movement is mandatory and you can’t exclude the public.

It is also possible to take note of the likely hazards during the designing stage while the construction cost estimation is being done. Take note of the design for safety and also ensure to calculate cost of making safety provisions.

Prepare an Action Plan after Evaluating the Risks

Evaluating the risks associated with each hazard on the site will help you calculate the possibility of harm and the level of severity. Check whether you have taken enough protective measures to ensure the safety of people on-site. Thoroughly revise all important aspects such as workplace design and signs and signals.  Ensure that all workers have the proper personal protective gear that is needed to complete the job safely.

Taking Action

Once the risk assessment process is completed, list all preventive measures based on priority. When it is time to take action, take all the workers and contractors along. Though your focus should be on implementing measures to prevent any accident from taking place in the first place, it will be equally important to have be prepared for the worst and have all emergency provisions in place too.

Author Bio: Laura Laurel is a Stanford graduate in civil engineer with specialization in Civil Designs, Cost Estimation and 3D Modeling. She began her career as a construction trainee at Viatechnik LLC, rose to be involved with road and bridge construction. She loves to write about Real Estate and Construction Related Subjects.

Eye Protection, First Aid Safety, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Hearing Protection

SAFETY TIPS FOR A DIY HANDYMAN (GUEST POST)

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Almost all handyman jobs involve risks and this is why it is important to ensure safety on the service site. Read on for some useful safety tips that’ll help you prevent injuries while working.

Since most handyman services involve lots of hazards, working without the right safety equipment and moving around carelessly can lead to serious injuries. When grinding or welding without goggles, for instance, you’ll obviously end up getting metal particles in your eyes. So, why close the eyes to handy, hi-tech safety measures and equipment when they are easily available and invite plenty of risks!

Here are practical safety tips that are basically lessons learned by our handymen from their mistakes in the past:

1.Pressure Washers Can Peel Your Skin

Pressure washers are the most common handyman tools used to clean up areas like the patio and roof of a building. Since handymen get their attention diverted by a variety of stimuli in the open, they often make the mistake of holding the pressure washer and operating the trigger with only one hand. This can cause the spray wand to move across your hand, peeling the skin off.

It is important that as a professional, you understand and respect the power of water, especially when it is pressurized for cleaning the concrete etc. 

2. Bump-Nailing Can Nail Your Feet

The use of a framing nailer for fastening plywood to joints is a common practice for handymen. But when the nailer is set in bump mode, you need to be fully attentive, for forgetting to pushing the nose of the gun properly against the wood can lead to serious injuries. The worst, you may bump the nose of the gun at the wrong spot such as one of your own feet! Make sure you’ve properly bumped the gun-point on the target area before you pull the trigger. 

3. Safety against Electric Shocks is Important

One of the most important safety steps at a repair site is to check electricity wires using a non-contact tester before laying a hand on them. Commonly, handymen take off the fuse in a hurry and start disconnecting the wires from outlets. There maybe two circuits linked to the outlet, of which you have turned off only one. So, when you touch the wires barehanded, you’ll get knocked back by a powerful shove of electricity shooting up your entire body!

When performing such a job, don’t forget to test and double-check the wires with a tester. 

4. Sheet Metal Can Slice Your Body Parts 

Drilling holes in pieces of metals is another common handyman duty involving a great deal of risk. Handymen are often in a rush and don’t take time to compress the metal to a table etc. This can cause the drill to be caught by the sheet and thrown onto you, creating a deep rip on one of your body parts.

Before you start to drill a hole on a metal sheet, clamp it to a table and adjust your hand and the drill well.

 

Author Bio:

Dan Kogan is the owner of Handyman at your service which is a US based company providing Handyman Services to business owners at an affordable price. Handyman at your service specializing in TV installation NYC, Electrical work, Plumbing NYC, IKEA Assembly NYC and many more.

 

Eye Protection, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Protective Clothing

MAY IS NATIONAL ELECTRICAL SAFETY MONTH

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Every year in the United States, workplace electrical incidents result in more than 300 deaths and 3,500 injuries.  While electrical hazards are not the leading cause of on-the-job injuries and fatalities, they are disproportionately fatal and costly.  For every 13 electrical injuries, a worker dies.   Knowing best practices of electrical safety are critical to reducing these staggering statistics because most of these injuries could be prevented. 

Electricity and electrical products play a fundamental role in how we conduct business every day. However, if not used or maintained appropriately, they can pose serious risks. Over the last ten years, more than 30,000 workers have been injured in workplace electrical accidents. These injuries not only disrupt the lives of the workers and their families, but also impact the productivity of employers. 

An arc flash is a sudden release of electrical energy through the air when a high-voltage gap exists and there is a breakdown between conductors. An arc flash gives off thermal radiation (heat) and bright, intense light that can cause burns and other injuries. Exposure to extreme temperatures burns the skin directly and ignites the clothing that the worker is wearing. 

An arc flash can be spontaneous, or can result from inadvertently bridging electrical contacts with a conducting object. Other causes may include dropped tools, the buildup of conductive dust, or corrosion. While great advances are being made to improve equipment design and thereby reduce the number of arc flash incidences, there is still much to be done. Each year, 2,000 workers are admitted to burn centers for treatment of severe arc flash burns. 

High-voltage arcs can also produce considerable pressure waves by rapidly heating the air and creating a blast. This pressure burst, or arc blast, can hit a worker with grenade-like force and send metal droplets from melted copper and aluminum electrical components shooting out at speeds up to 700 miles per hour – fast enough for the tiny shrapnel to penetrate ones body.  

Here are some important ways to prevent injuries and fatalities when working with electricity:

Every year, workers are injured or killed by circuits they thought were safely turned off. Simply shutting off the power is not enough. Hazardous conditions can still exist. You may not get a second chance to learn this important lesson, so always test before you touch! 

Most electrically-related fatalities and injuries could easily be avoided. Responsibility for your safety begins with you. Take steps to protect yourself everyday and make safety an integral part of how you do business. 

The number one way to prevent electrical injuries and fatalities is to turn off the equipment being worked on. It may take a little more time and planning, but your life and your health are worth it. Be proactive about de-energizing equipment and taking steps to ensure that your work environment remains safe. Working on energized equipment increases your risk of injury or death.

 

 Each day, nearly 3 million professionals participate in work activities where lockout/tagout procedures should be used. Unfortunately, too many workers still put themselves at risk by working energized or neglecting to follow their company’s lockout/tagout procedures. Year after year, failure to comply with the lockout/tagout standard is listed as one of the top OSHA violations. If the standards are followed, an estimated 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries could be prevented annually. Get in the habit of doing this important step every time! 
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be the major factor in differentiating between an electrical event you walk away from and one that requires months of painful healing. PPE comes in many different forms, including: hard hats, gloves, goggles, safety shoes, flame-resistant clothing, dielectric safety glasses, face shields, fall protection equipment, etc.Be sure to choose the PPE that is right for you and your circumstances. PPE should be:

  • Worn CORRECTLY; zipped, buttoned, etc
  • Appropriate for the hazard
  • Worn as the outermost layer
  • Maintained properly and removed from service when needed

This month serves as a reminder that we must always be extremely careful when working around electricity. 
  Source: ESFi (Electrical Safety Foundation international)
Eye Protection, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Hearing Protection, Respiratory Safety

SKIP AND CONTAINER SAFETY WHEN MANAGING WASTE (GUEST POST)

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Waste management is an essential part of completing a job for a professional tradesperson or DIY enthusiast. The safe use of skips and containers can be a tricky path to tread for those unfamiliar with health and safety regulations and guidelines. Unbeknown to many, skip and container related accidents are a common occurrence, in fact, these are the leading cause of serious to fatal incidents in waste management and recycling plants.  Here we take a closer look at utilizing skips and containers safely to help you reduce the risk of serious injury.

Skip (dumpster) compatibility

Whether you are looking to buy or hire a skip for your upcoming project, ensuring that your skip is compatible with the skip loader is a vital step to safe usage. Mini skips, with a capacity of 1.5m3 to 2m3, are the most popular choice, especially for household or small commercial / industrial upgrades. However, many of these mini skips are not manufactured to suit the design of a standard skip loader. Larger skips however are designed to be compatible with standard skip loaders, and their 3m3 to 20m3 capacity ensures a sizable solution to waste management on larger projects. Recommended safety checks There are a series of safety checks that must be carried out to ensure the safe use of skips and containers.

Training is recommended for workers who use and unload skips and containers on a regular basis, these training programs ensure workers can identify faults or damage to the skip that would otherwise make it unsafe to use. Regular checks must also be carried out to check the condition of important skip and container components, such as the lifting and locking points, tipping bars, doors, restraints, covers and wider condition. Workers must also be aware of the importance of using the right type of skip for the task at hand, and the skip or container’s strength, stability and distribution of load weight must all be taken into account.

Identifying hazardous skip use

There are a number of scenarios that would make the skip or container hazardous to move or unload, including:

  • Overloading
  • Insufficient headroom when retrieving
  • Insufficient space around the skip or container
  • Placement on sloping ground
  • Placement on soft ground

If any of these relate to your skip or container then it is recommended that you seek specialist advice to improve safety and reduce risk before removal or unloading. Overly damaged skips and containers should also be removed from service completely.

This post was written by Brittany Thorley. She works for Cheshire Demolition (http://www.cheshiredemolition.co.uk/) and regularly advises on maintaining best practice for safety on both small and large scale improvement projects.

Note: Of course, workers in this field should take all precautions and wear the correct personal protective gear, such as gloves, safety glasses, hardhats, and possibly respirators  pb

 

P.S. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!  PB

Eye Protection, Fall Safety, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Hearing Protection

WORK RELATED SAFETY – A KEY CONCERN FOR COMPANIES (GUEST POST)

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You’re running a company, earning heavy profits. Apart from aiming on the profits, how much concerned your company is for those who are the unsung heroes of your company’s success. It’s the time you, as a company, did something for their safety as their lives have no substitute. 

Read on to know the safety guidelines your company can adhere to raise the productivity of both, the employees and the company as whole.

1). Working Environment

It’s extremely vital for a company to get its employees an environment they feel good working in. These seemingly trivial, but important things are:

  • Floors need to be spick and span
  • Machineries should be rust and dust free.
  • A hygienic canteen is crucial since unhealthy food makes employees prone to the various diseases.
  • Friendly relations among the employees, HR manager and the boss. 

2) Protection at work area

Operating machinery, make sure, if your employee is familiar with the basics of the machine operation. Ignoring this thing can pose a threat, both to the employee and machinery.

Maintain decorum, making it mandatory for every employee to be fully equipped while working. Be it, gloves, goggles, vest, hard hats or any other safety gears required to be put on, the workers be told to comply with that regulation.

Imposing fines on the violators will certainly keep a check on the indiscipline. Tell the employees about the consequences of drinking alcohol at work that impairs the safe operation of the machineries and makes the employees susceptible to injuries.

Safety at work also needs clarifying about the kind of tasks an employee is supposed to do. He should be detailed about the manuals of the machines and all the possible dos and don’ts. Most accidental cases have also revealed; the employees are often made to work on a machine without thorough detailing that makes a way for such accidents to happen.

Interactive sessions and meeting should be held before you call it a day. As a company’s leader, you’re expected to interact with the rest of the team, acquiring the knowledge about how the things are going on. A few minutes of get-together will undeniably help the employees raise safety issues they’ve been facing for long periods of time.

3) Safety programs:

What kind of safety program your company follows and what the guidelines are that have been included in it, are the critical issues. Arrange a meeting after a few months or so with the employees and HR manager, keeping all of them updated about the safety guidelines. Conducting a safety drill in the company will certainly clear out the things as, then, the employees will get to know what exactly they need to do in urgency. Asking the employees about the guidelines mentioned in the safety program will show how much they know what to do on the practical grounds. It includes:

In case of emergency, how to get an ambulance at the earliest and which hospital in the locale they would rush.

Specify about the load’s maximum limit the employee can carry since the most accidents occur while carrying overloads at the back.

Detailing them when to use a wheelbarrow, conveyor belt, forklifts and other machines will certainly curtail the risk getting your employees injured.

The company needs to bring some positive alterations, revising the safety programs, especially according to the suggestions made by those employees, who often come face-to-face with the hazardous situations.

In a nutshell, a company strikes pay dirt and remains in the pink of health, only if its employees feel healthy and safe. 

 

For construction related safety products, feel free to visit:

http://cleanwrap.net/

 

Eye Protection, General Safety Issues, Hand Protection, Head Protection, Hearing Protection

LIGHT STEEL FABRICATION: THE BACKBONE OF SECURITY GRILL DOORS IN MELBORNE (GUEST POST)

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Have you observed the tall buildings that are raised all over the city?   Taking a close look to these structures will show that these buildings are actually made of metal structure. Yes! Metal fabrication is the process that has made it possible. This article discusses as to how this metal structure has played the role of backbone for these skyline.

In modern times, almost each and every object that exists around us is made of metal. History says that metal has literally helped in shaping up the world that we see now. Though plants have always been necessary and favoured fabric in most of our lives, but for homes, workplace and buildings, construction is impossible without the existence of metal. At present, metal fabrication has raised its head as one of the popular choices and key components to raise strong buildings and constructional structures all around the world. 

Going back to the history of ‘fabrication’:

As we have mentioned the term, ‘fabrication’, do you know what it actually means? ‘Fabrication’ is a process under which metal structures are built in different ways. These manufacturing processes include cutting, milling, bending, and shaping of the metal using machines and computer numerical control (CNC) that is used for welding, laser cutting process, press breaks and so on. As mentioned earlier, metal fabrication stands as the backbone of architectural structure, but that’s not the only material used to exist earlier. Taking back to the primitive days, the fabrication processes begins with crude materials like mud, rock, thatch, clay that was primarily used as substantial materials for construction. Slowly and steadily with the civilisation, people started to look for strong structural material and thus, metal was discovered. With this, metal fabrication was also born. 

Use of the fabricated metal:

This fabricated metal became the de-facto material for large buildings so that the buildings got strong foundation. On the other hand, the increasing demand of strong metal also led to the necessity of advanced metal fabrication method. This advanced fabricated metal is used not only for constructional purpose. It is also used for related services like covering a building from both outside as well as inside. In order to serve this purpose, steel has turned up as the standard metal. That’s why; steel fabrication technique is simultaneously popular in the market at present.

Now, when you look at highrise buildings in the city, a close view into it will show the existence of steel structure in these buildings. Similarly in the architectural field, need for steel—especially light fabricated steel—becomes prominent. 

Getting fabricated steel from the proper location:

As the demand for lightweight fabricated steel increases, similarly the customers also begin to look for the place where they can get this metal of best quality. When the question arises about best quality, you can vouch on laser cut stainless steel panels. These panels are around 63 cm in width and 143 cm in length. Now, if you are the customer and are looking for such précised laser cut stainless steel, you will obviously look for those places where you can get such high quality metal. Above that, if your project demands a strict deadline, it will become necessary to receive these parts within the next few days. In such instance, it becomes pertinent that you choose a dealer who should not only be capable of giving high standard metal but that too within the promised date as well. 

Author Mark Aurthur says, “Where should you go then?   Reputed metal working companies offering light steel fabrication for Security Grill Doors in Melbourne that can meet all your metal structure based needs in a short span of time. One such company is Dandenong Wrought Iron.  If you want, you can definitely approach Dandenong Wrought firm to get assured services. Beside this, the internet is also there to help you out with appropriate information to meet your requirements. 

 Note: Because welding is a common fabrication process, workers in this environment must be provided with personal protective equipment such as safety glasses, hearing protection, protective footwear and head protection.  Local exhaust ventilation should be used to remove harmful welding fumes from metals and/or gases.  In the U.S., OSHA requires compliance with their safety regulations regarding the fabrication process.  We know our friends in Australia also comply with the safety regulations established byWHS (Work and Health Safety).

Source: OSHA; docstoc.com

Back Safety, Ergonomics, Hand Protection

PREVENTING BACK INJURIES IN THE WORKPLACE (GUEST POST)

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A back injury is nothing to make light of. This type of injury can derail someone’s life, especially when it happens in the workplace. That’s why it’s important to take steps to avoid back injuries in the workplace. 

Here are some tips that will help to avoid back injuries: 

  • Always use correct techniques for bending, lifting, and moving loads
  • Exercising can help strengthen back and abdominal muscles, which will help support the back
  • Always wear comfortable, supportive, and nonslip shoes
  • Proper posture helps ease strain on the back
  • Losing weight helps put less strain on the back, so if you’re over weight, try losing some pounds to give your back a break

All employers in the United States adhere to Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines for proper techniques to be used for specific jobs. Following these techniques helps reduce back injuries. 

If lifting is a part of the job, here is important information to keep your back healthy even while lifting heavy objects.

  • Make sure there is enough room to lift the item. That means test its weight and make sure you’re able to do the lifting safely.
  • Get help for something that is too heavy or awkwardly shaped. Use a dolly to move heavy objects or split the load into multiple smaller loads if possible.
  • Keep loads close to the body when lifting to reduce strain.
  • Your feet should be shoulder-width apart to form a solid base of support
  • Grip what you’re lifting tightly
  • Always bend at the knees, not the waist
  • Do not rely on a back belt to provide necessary support for proper lifting; back belts do offer support, but shouldn’t be used as the only method of support
  • Take breaks when lifting multiple items
  • Avoiding twisting as you lift.
  • Use gloves when necessary for lifting to help with traction and protection

The Frequency of Back Injuries

According to the Centers for Disease Control, back injuries account for 20% of all injuries and illnesses in the workplace. These injuries cost 20 to 50 billion dollars each year. The most effective way to prevent back injuries is to implement an ergonomics program that helps redesign the work environment and work tasks to reduce any hazards associated with lifting, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 

There are many products that can help prevent back injuries in all types of industries. Whether an employee is working on a loading dock or in an office, ergonomic products help maintain proper positioning at all times so that the body stays in alignment. 

What Injuries Mean for Businesses

It’s important for businesses to keep abreast of the injuries that can and do occur in the workplace. Keeping accurate data of these cases is necessary so that all information is compiled and company heads are able to stay focused on the big data bottom line. 

This information can include everything from the number of injuries and incidents to customer satisfaction. Most of all, it helps everyone from employers to employees to stay safe and keep the flow of work steady. 



photo credit: Nicholas_T via photopin cc

Dana Rasmussen writes about workplace safety tips and how to prevent injuries. She’s a big fan of ergonomically correct computer accessories.