Mobile Devices— and Working—Don’t Mix

It’s well-documented and understood that texting while driving is extremely unsafe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that drivers who use hand-held devices while driving are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure—and even kill—themselves and others.

What about the risks caused by cell phones and smart devices used at work— while operating machinery, on a construction site, or in a laboratory? These risks in the workplace are less documented, but can have the same injurious or fatal consequences. For instance, a worker at a utility severed several fingers on one of his hands while operating a chop saw; he was holding his phone between his neck and ear when the accident occurred.

Some of the main issues of cell phone and smart device use while at work are discussed here.

Distractions

Use of cell phones or smart devices requires cognitive, visual, and manual attention. This means that any time a worker is using one of these devices, his or her mind is not fully engaged on the job at hand. Using cell phones can also decrease productivity.

In a workplace environment that requires a high level of self-awareness, being distracted can result in high-consequence accidents, including loss of life.

Employers who require employees to use cars, vans, or trucks must understand that their policies and training regarding the safe operation of those vehicles, and the inclusion of a clear prohibition against texting on a hand-held mobile phone while driving, are of considerable interest to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), law enforcement, insurers, and potential civil litigants. Failure to address this hazard can result in significant employer liability.

Entanglements

Similar to restrictions on long hair and wearing jewelry, which is often not allowed in high-risk work environments, cell phones or smart devices can get entangled in machinery and interfere with the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE). It’s important that work personnel refrain from use of these communication devices.

If a cell phone is dropped, the employee’s impulse may be to reach into moving machinery to retrieve it, risking injury or loss of life. A worker could also place himself in danger by removing some PPE, such as a hard hat, in order to fully put his cellphone on his ear, or his safety gloves, to send a text. This could also cause an injury.

Distractions and entanglements are issues that workers do not want to have while completing jobs that often require both hands—and always require their full attention.

Heavy Machinery

Many heavy-machinery jobs common at companies and on construction sites require everyone onsite to have their full attention on the task at hand. Tens of thousands of injuries related to forklifts and other equipment occur every year. Many injuries happen when lift trucks are driven by distracted drivers who inadvertently drive off loading docks, drive into fellow coworkers or other items, or the forklift tips over. Some accidents happen when a distracted worker falls off an elevated area or pallet.

Mobile phone distractions can exacerbate existing hazards at a construction site. Employees may already be prone to tripping on uneven terrain and may be exposed to trap hazards working in a confined space.

Other employees who are working near

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Mobile Devices in the Laboratory

Laboratory operations demand an employee’s undivided attention to concentrate fully when doing calculations, making dilutions, setting up instrumental operating conditions, or handling hazardous materials. The slightest distraction can lead to communication of wrong results or accidental mishaps and may lead to disastrous consequences. Contamination from laboratory materials is a significant contributor to errors in results— in addition to the potential health risks. Imagine a situation where an employee, wearing safety gloves, receives a call and picks up the cell phone without taking off the gloves, which could be contaminated. The contaminated mobile phone is a risk to all those who may handle it once it’s taken out of the laboratory. The mobile phone can also be a potential carrier of harmful bacteria and can result in contamination in sterile zones in microbiological laboratories.

Modern laboratory instruments are often operated by electronic signal commands. In cases where the frequencies of signals correspond to the mobile phase electromagnetic signal, there can be interference with instrument signals that can lead to distortions, so mobiles should not be used in the vicinity of such instruments. There are, to date, no recorded cases of laboratory fires resulting from electrical sparks from mobile devices. The mobile battery has a low voltage and is not capable of igniting combustible vapors; however, keep in mind that the laboratory can use highly flammable solvents with low flashpoints, so mobile phones should not be in the vicinity of such vapors. There have been cases of mobile phones getting ignited and damaged due to spontaneous explosion of batteries. Such accidents can prove disastrous in laboratories due to the presence of hazardous and flammable materials.

Workplace Culture and Policies

How do you start to change the culture regarding the use of cell phones and smart devices? Create a policy that includes the following:

S A purpose statement that explains why it’s dangerous to use such devices in a high-risk working environment.

S A limit on a broad range of devices that should not be used while working a physical job.

S Who the policy applies to—explicitly state that it’s not only for staff workers, but also contractors, consultants, temporary workers, and all personnel affiliated with the parties that are on the jobsite.

S A complete list of where and when workers can and cannot use their mobile and smart devices while on the jobsite or using vehicles.

The Right Attitude

Even if employees recognize the dangers of using mobile devices on the job, they must commit to following the policy. They must:

S Recognize situations where the use of cell phones can interfere with their ability to perform tasks without injury or completing their jobs in a timely manner. Be willing to speak up when they see coworkers putting themselves and others in harm’s way by texting or talking on the phone while performing their job duties. If they are on the receiving end of a call or text from a coworker who is performing a physical job, they should not respond to it.

Have meetings frequently with staff members to make sure that they understand the company’s policies concerning the use of mobile devices.

When used appropriately, these devices can make working lives easier and more enjoyable, but when used at the wrong time and in the wrong manner, they can cause serious injury—or worse.