COMPLETE HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL & SAFETY SERVICES (C.H.E.S.S

COMPLETE HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SAFETY SERVICES (C.H.E.S.S.)

Toolin' Around (Part Two)

by Janet L. Keyes, CIH and Carol A. Keyes, CSP

Editor’s note: Last month, we went over the first two safety requirements for keeping your technicians, tools and shop safe. Here is part two.

Electrical tools must be grounded or double-insulated. Grounded tools have a three-prong plug. If the tool is double-insulated, its plug will have only two blades, but the tool will be marked as double-insulated or will have a box within a box symbol. Grounded tools help prevent their users from getting shocked – they provide a better path to ground than the human body. Double insulated tools have all electrical parts isolated from the outside non-conductive case. If the wiring shorts, the user will not be shocked.

Keep guards in place and correctly adjusted. The most common violations we see are on bench grinders. The grinding wheels are usually mounted with the required blotters (compressible washers that go between the wheel and the flanges) and with the guard that goes around 75 percent of the wheel. But work rests are often dropped down or not adjusted to within 1/8-inch of the wheel. And it seems that few people know to adjust the tongue guard at the top of the wheel. That has to be within 1/4-inch of the wheel. The work rest keeps the work piece from being sucked into the wheel. The tongue guard protects the user from sparks and from shrapnel if the wheel explodes.

The other common violation we see is lack of guarding on hydraulic shop presses. When a bearing has tons of pressure put on it, it can burst and send fragments out toward the user. People have been killed by that. But these presses usually do not come with guards. That does not let you off the hook. It isn’t difficult to fabricate a guard to protect the user against the ejection of parts.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Have you read the manual for your bench grinder? One of the instructions it will give is to ring test a new wheel before it is installed. To do that, tap the wheel about a half inch from the edge with something nonmetallic. If you hear a dull thud, the wheel is damaged and must not be used. Damaged or incorrectly mounted grinding wheels can explode, sending chunks flying out at speeds above 60 miles per hour. The guards, if correctly adjusted, will help contain the shrapnel. But preventing a wheel from exploding is safer than containing it.

Minnesota explicitly requires you to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If you want to use a screwdriver as a crowbar and want to comply with OSHA standards, you either need the manufacturer’s written approval or need the okay of someone who can evaluate that use “in accordance with accepted engineering requirements.” Think that is overreach? In 2017, an employee in St. Paul punctured a car tire with a knife. The tire exploded, sending the knife into the worker’s neck. The worker was injured badly enough to require hospitalization. The company received a $3,000 citation for that.

OSHA has very few specific rules for tools. Here are a few: • If you are going to use compressed air for cleaning, you need to have effective chip guarding so particles don’t fly at the user. The employee must wear appropriate personal protective equipment. The pressure at the tip of the air blow gun must be less than 30 psi if the gun is put against a solid surface. The purpose: to prevent back pressure buildup (causing the air hose to burst or to fly around) if the nozzle is blocked. Air guns can be designed with pressure relief ports or with solid tips (so the air comes out of multiple orifices just behind the tip). We have seen air guns marked as OSHA compliant only if the air line pressure is 30 psi or less. It’s rare for anyone to reduce the air line pressure that much. Instead, you need to require employees to use air guns that will reduce pressure if deadheaded. • Pneumatic tools need to have retainers so the tool will not come off unexpectedly. The air hose and connectors must be suitable for the pressure and conditions of use. • Jacks need to be marked with their load limit. They cannot be overloaded. They must not be raised too high. And once the load has been raised, it needs to be blocked or otherwise secured so the load is kept raised even if the jack loses pressure. Jacks need to be inspected for damage at least every six months. If they are damaged, they need to be marked or tagged as out of service and not used until repaired.

Those are straightforward precautions for jacks. Notice, though, that one of the most important parts of using a jack safely, positioning it correctly, isn’t mentioned in OSHA standards. OSHA just doesn’t cover everything.

Misuse of tools can damage the tool, damage what you are trying to repair and seriously damage the user. Require your employees to use their tools correctly and to keep them in good condition. That will make their job easier and will keep them safer.

For more information, contact Carol Keyes at carkey@ chess-safety.com or (651) 481-9787.

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