January 2025

2025-01-06 TBT Head Protection

 

Personal Protective Equipment – Head Protection Personal Protective Equipment – Head Protection [Reference 1910.135 / 1926.100]

 If you think the OSHA regulations only require affected employees to wear hardhats on large scale construction sites, think again. The standards require affected employees to wear an approved hardhat ANYWHERE they are exposed to falling objects, as well as when a worker is exposed to contact with an electrical current. Here is an overview of some of the different types of jobs and hazards that could require the use of hardhats: · Working in areas where materials are handled or transported overhead that may fall, such as: working beneath a co-worker who is handling tools or materials on a ladder; o working beneath or near a scaffold or overhead platform where materials or tools are being used; o working in areas where others are performing tasks on a roof, elevated floor, or other overhead area; o working beneath conveyors; o working near tractors or similar equipment that transport soil, rocks or gravel; o working in a trench or other excavation; o working inside a confined space (such as a tank or utility vault) with overhead access. · Working near areas where you may make inadvertent contact with electrical current, such as: o performing electrical work on or near energized parts; o working near overhead electrical lines; o working inside electrical utility vaults. Our company only issues or allows use of hardhats that are approved for use by ANSI, because not all hardhats are made to offer the impact protection or electrical protection you need. So please do not bring a hardhat to use at work without having it checked by your supervisor or safety manager to make certain it meets the minimum protective standards required by OSHA.

By Clicking "Mark as Read" - you are acknowledging you have read this entire (opened appropriate attachments) Toolbox Talk and understand this is company policy and will abide by regulations outlined in this safety policy. Please complete your acknowledgement within 24 hours of release. If you receive this notice, you are REQUIRED to read this content.

2025-01-13 TBT Extension Cord Safety

 

Extension Cords Safety-Take No Chances!

extension cords

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 cords are to be used with power tools unless the tool is double insulated.

Care and inspection of extension cords

Extension cords must be treated with care and checked regularly for damage or deterioration. The cord itself should never be pulled to disconnect it from an electrical source; remove it by the plug. Damaged cords present a potential fire or shock hazard and should be destroyed and replaced immediately.

Extension cords are convenient devices which we often take for granted in our everyday activities, but which need proper care and attention. Use good housekeeping practices to keep extension cords from being a tripping hazards or becoming damaged. Inspect them regularly for wear and replace defective units. 

By Clicking "Mark as Read" - you are acknowledging you have read this entire (opened appropriate attachments) Toolbox Talk and understand this is company policy and will abide by regulations outlined in this safety policy. Please complete your acknowledgement within 24 hours of release. If you receive this notice, you are REQUIRED to read this content.

2025-01-20 - TBT - Open Excavations

OSHA Rules About Walking or Driving Across Open Excavations [Reference 1926 Subpart P]

You can probably imagine the various types of accidents that could potentially occur if someone were to cross over the top of an open trench while walking or operating equipment. The possibilities range from stepping into the trench and injuring an ankle, knee, or leg, to being crushed by a piece of equipment that tipped over or fell into the excavation. To minimize the occurrence of such accidents, Federal OSHA addresses the hazard of crossing over excavations in their standards. Federal OSHA standard 1926.651(l) states that “Walkways shall be provided where employees or equipment are required or permitted to cross over excavations. Guardrails which comply with 1926.502(b) shall be provided where walkways are six (6) feet or more above lower levels.” Unfortunately, this specific OSHA regulation does not give us much guidance on what constitutes a proper walkway. But there is further guidance available in the OSHA Technical Manual, Section V: Chapter 2, where OSHA provides the following information: Surface crossing of trenches should be discouraged; however, if trenches must be crossed, such crossings are permitted only under the following conditions: · Vehicle / equipment crossings must be designed by and installed under the supervision of a registered professional engineer. · Walkways or bridges must be provided for foot traffic. These structures shall: have a safety factor of 4; have a minimum clear width of 20 inches;  be fitted with standard rails if located six (6) feet or more above the bottom of the trench; and extend a minimum of 24 inches past the surface edge of the trench on each end. Standard guardrails are constructed of wood or metal and are 42 inches tall, plus or minus three inches, when measured from the walking surface to the top of the rail. They must also have at least one horizontal mid-rail located approximately halfway between the top rail and the walking surface, or vertical balusters spaced not more than 19 inches apart. Guardrails must also be designed and built to withstand at least 200 pounds of force applies to the top rail when applied in any direction. Last but not least, a four (4) inch tall toe-board must be installed along any open sides where a person can pass below, to help prevent them being struck by falling objects. So as you can see, the decision of whether we will install a structure to facilitate crossing over an excavation should only be made by our Competent Person; do not cross over an excavation without their expressed consent, and only then if the construction and installation of the walkway and guardrails is overseen by the Competent Person or, in the case of vehicle or equipment bridges, overseen by a registered professional engineer.

By Clicking "Mark as Read" - you are acknowledging you have read this entire (opened appropriate attachments) Toolbox Talk and understand this is company policy and will abide by regulations outlined in this safety policy. Please complete your acknowledgement within 24 hours of release. If you receive this notice, you are REQUIRED to read this content.

 

2025-01-27 - TBT- Revised Hazard Communication Standards

 

OSHA Training Toolbox Talk: OSHA’s Revised Hazard Communication Standard – What is GHS? [Reference 1910.1200 / 1926.59] For many years now, employees could gather limited information about the hazardous chemicals they work with by looking at container labels and reading Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS’s). However, there was no set format to govern how the companies that produced or distributed those chemicals categorized the hazards of their products, nor how the labels and MSDS’s had to appear. The end result was a confusing mishmash of information that often failed to help workers quickly discern the hazards of the products they were using. To address this problem, OSHA recently revised their Hazard Communication Standard to align with the international “Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals”, commonly referred to as “GHS”. As a result, manufacturers and distributors of hazards chemicals and products must begin to standardize how they categorize the hazards of their products, as well as the information and format of their container labels and Safety Data Sheets. Here is an overview of some of the changes you will start seeing very soon, if not already: · “Material Safety Data Sheets” (MSDS’s) will be replaced by “Safety Data Sheets” (SDS’s); · The new SDS’s will be divided into 16 sections, with information about the product’s chemical hazards appearing in a set order that is always the same for every sheet; · Container labels will all display mandatory information, including a product identifier that is exactly the same as that appearing on the corresponding Safety Data Sheet (SDS); · Container labels will also have standardized “signal words”, “hazard statements”, and “precautionary statements” to help insure you are alerted to applicable dangers and necessary safeguards you should follow when working with that product; · All container labels will also display one or more of eight specific “pictograms”, which are basically icons that appears in small red boxes that will help you to quickly identify the specific hazard or hazards associated with the product you are using.

 

 

By Clicking "Mark as Read" - you are acknowledging you have read this entire (opened appropriate attachments) Toolbox Talk and understand this is company policy and will abide by regulations outlined in this safety policy. Please complete your acknowledgement within 24 hours of release. If you receive this notice, you are REQUIRED to read this content.