Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Safe Work Procedures

Safe Work Procedures

Safe work procedures are the written procedures used to define and describe activities and tasks. A safe work procedure provides the tools needed to get the job done safety, as well as the foundation on which job safety training can be built.

Government standards and regulations require employers to have written procedures for some workplace jobs, activities or conditions. 

However, your written safe work procedures should not be limited to just those that are required. Any job task that has any level of risk associated with it, should have its a safe work procedure for completing that task.

The number of safe work procedures that are written, and the degree of detail in each, will depend on the type of work activities. In creating safe work procedures it is important that the people doing the jobs be involved, as well as management and supervisors. 

Having information from those who are actually doing the job will result in procedures that are realistic, and that address both safety and productivity.

Having safe work procedures provide other advantages. For example, they ensure that equipment is operated according to the manufacturer's recommendations and that preventive maintenance is performed. 

This results in more efficient operation, less equipment wear and longer life, lower maintenance costs and fewer outages.

Establishing safe work procedures provides the information needed to create a checklist of the skills needed to operate and maintain equipment. This provides the basis for hiring and training employees.

  • Facility Safety Inspection Workbook
  • Insight into Facility Safety
  • How are safe work procedures developed?
  • Identify hazards and how they can be eliminated or controlled

Continually review your work environment and the work procedures used control or prevent workplace hazards. The best safety measure is to eliminate hazards through changes in design and switching from using a hazardous material to using a non-hazardous one. 

This means having a procedure in place for identifying hazards and determining if the hazard can be eliminated. If the hazard cannot be eliminated, the following are a few ways to reduce risk and protect people from hazards:

Regularly and thoroughly maintain equipmentEnsure that everyone knows how to use and maintain personal protective equipment. Make sure that everyone understands and follows the safe work procedures.

Ensure that, when needed, there is a medical program tailored to your facility, to help prevent workplace hazards and exposures

Ways to eliminate or control hazards

When a hazard is identified, action must be taken to eliminate, prevent, correct or control the hazard. Some of the ways to prevent and control hazards include:

  • Engineering Controls
  • Safe Work Practices
  • Administrative Controls
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

In addition, there should be systems in place, as a part of your safe work procedures, that:

  1. Track Hazard Correction
  2. Ensure Preventive Maintenance
  3. Provide Emergency Preparation
  4. Establish Appropriate Medical Programs

Let's take a look at each of these eight items.

Engineering Controls

The first and best approach is to eliminate the hazard. Engineering controls are used to do this. Other hazard controls focus on protecting the employee from exposure to the hazard. 

The idea behind engineering controls is that, to as great an extent as possible, the workplace and job tasks should be designed to eliminate hazards.

Engineering controls may involve redesigning existing equipment, but in many cases they can be very simple and inexpensive. Here are some principles:

To as great an extent as possible, design the facility, equipment, or process to eliminate the hazard or use an alternative that is not hazardous.If the hazard cannot be eliminated, enclose the hazard to prevent access under normal conditions.

If enclosure is not feasible, establish guarding, barriers or ventilation to reduce the possibility of exposure under normal operations.

Safe Work Practices

Safe work practices are the general workplace rules, as well as job and task specific rules. For example, safe work practices establish who may enter an area where there is electrical equipment that presents an arc flash hazard.

OSHA has specific requirements for safe work practices for some industries, types of hazards and job tasks. 

Some of these include:

Respiratory Protection [1910.134]Lockout/Tagout [1910.147]Confined Space Entry [1910.146]Hazard Communication [1910.1200 and 1926.59]Blood borne Pathogens [1910.1030]Hearing Conservation [1910.95]Laboratory Chemical Hygiene [1910.1450]

This list is not all-inclusive. Please check the specific OSHA standard for more information and guidance on the requirements included in the standard.

Administrative Controls

Safe work practices could be considered a form of administrative control, but OSHA uses the term "administrative controls" to mean something different. For OSHA purposes administrative controls are measures used to reduce employee exposure to hazards. 

These can include using additional relief workers, having exercise breaks, and rotating workers. Administrative controls are typically used in conjunction with engineering controls and safe work practices.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

When the above cannot fully protect people from hazards, then the use of protective clothing or equipment is required. This is called personal protective equipment, or PPE. 

PPE is the final line of defense against a hazard and is only used when all other ways of eliminating, reducing or controlling the hazard have been used. In addition, PPE may also be used while engineering and work practice controls are being implemented.

The first step in any use of PPE is an in-depth evaluation of the hazard and the equipment needed to protect against that hazard. The hazard evaluation is used to establish the safe work procedure for using PPE to protect against the hazard, to train workers on the protective limitations of the PPE, and to provide training on the proper use and maintenance of the required PPE.

Using PPE requires hazard awareness and training. The PPE does not eliminate the hazard. If the PPE fails, exposure will occur. To reduce the possibility of PPE failure, the equipment must be properly fitted and maintained.

Systems to Track Hazard Correction

Feedback is important to ensure corrective actions are being taken and are effective. This involves establishing a system that tracks hazard correction. Tracking hazard correction will also help prevent new hazards arising during the correction process, as well as identify other hazards that were previously unnoticed. 

Documentation provides an important record of the steps taken to eliminate, correct, or protect against a hazard. This record can make a significant difference should there be an OSHA inspection.

A common way to document corrective measures is to use the same form that documents the original discovery of a hazard. Hazard correction information can be noted on an inspection report next to the hazard description. 

Employee reports of hazards, and reports resulting from accident investigations, should provide sufficient space for notes about hazard correction.

If a computerized database is used for hazard tracking, devoting a few additional fields for work order tracking and recording the results of corrective measures, is invaluable.

Preventive Maintenance Systems

Good preventive maintenance keeps new hazards from arising due to equipment malfunction. In addition, it also plays a significant role in ensuring that hazard controls continue to function effectively.

Reliable scheduling and documentation of preventive maintenance is necessary. The scheduling depends on knowing what equipment needs maintenance and when that maintenance is required. 

The objective of preventive maintenance is to take care of small work items so as to prevent the need for major repairs or replacement.

For certain types of equipment, such as overhead gantry cranes, OSHA standards require preventive maintenance.

Emergency Preparation

During emergencies, hazards may appear that normally don't exist in the workplace. Some could be very unusual types of hazards. They may result from natural causes such as floods or severe weather. 

They could be caused by people, such as railroad or truck accidents, or by terrorist activities. They may be caused by something happening within a facility's own systems that resulted from unforeseen circumstances or events.

Managers need to be aware of possible emergencies and plan for ways to control or prevent the hazards that may result from emergency conditions. 

Some of the steps in emergency planning include:

  • Compile a list of possible emergency conditions
  • Plan actions that will reduce the impact on the workplace
  • Provide training and information to employees 
  • Contract emergency drills as needed.

Medical Programs

A company's medical program is an important component of their safety and health system. A medical program can help identify health hazards before they cause illness or injury. It will provide early recognition of workplace illnesses and injuries. And quick medical attention will limit the severity of work-related injury and illness.

The size and complexity of a workplace medical program depends on a number of factors, including the:

  • Type of processes and materials used at the facility
  • Type of facility
  • Size of the workforce
  • Characteristics of the workforce
  • Location of each operation and its proximity to a health care facility

The term "medical program" includes everything from basic first aid and CPR, to sophisticated approaches for the diagnosis and resolution of ergonomic problems. Depending on the size of your facility the medical program may be in-house, or provided through a local medical clinic or facility.

Safe work procedures and the role of labels and signs

OSHA requires that signs and labels be used to warn about workplace hazards. But, signs and labels do a lot more than that. For example, signs and labels are an effective means of reminding employees about safe work procedures at the point where they must use those procedures. 

Labels are also used to identify components requiring preventive maintenance, as well as instructions describing what needs to be done. And, course, signs and tags are used for LOTO when maintenance work is being done.

The one printer that can provide all of these signs, labels and tags, and do it easily and without headaches, is a DuraLabel printer. 

You can tell DuraLabel printers are the most trouble free, easiest to use custom sign and label printers because they have the best warranty and they are backed by free, unlimited customer support. In addition, DuraLabel supplies are the only supplies that are tough tested to ensure quality and long life.

Post a Comment for " Safe Work Procedures"