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July 2011

LIMIT THE EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS AND EXPEDITE RECOVERY

By Personal Perspective

As the fun and sun of summer arrives, so does the threat of many natural disasters. Happenings like earthquakes are always a threat, but floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, and such are more apt to strike in the warmer summer months. There are three very important steps you can take to limit the effect natural disasters have on your life and property and expedite your recovery process.

  1. Planning. There are some basics that any natural disaster plan should include:
    • Always have several escape routes mapped out. Each family member should know where to meet, who to call for help, and where to call to signal their safety to other family members. Your family safety plan should be posted in a central location and the escape route and emergency contact numbers should be reviewed every six months.
    • If possible, store irreplaceable items and documents like birth, marriage, death, and divorce certificates; passports; deeds; social security cards; expensive jewelry; and heirlooms in a safety deposit box during high-risk seasons if you live in an area frequently hit by natural disasters. You may also put video or photo documentation, a listing of serial numbers, appraisals, and receipts for these items in your safety deposit box.
    • Scan your photos to your computer. You can store your photos with an online storage service or make a CD to place in your safety deposit box.
    • You should have an emergency overnight bag ready to go for every person and pet in your family and always keep a credit card, emergency cash supply, and personal identification with you during high-risk seasons.
    • As far as disaster-specific planning goes, here are some key points:
      • Flood planning. Many people live in possible flood areas and don’t realize it. For example, those living in areas that recently had a wildfire and those living downstream from a dam could have problems with flash flooding. Those living in or near a construction area could find their risk of flooding increased due to changes in water flow patterns. You can assess your risk of flooding by contacting your local building authority and your insurance agent. Since basements aren’t usually covered by typical flood insurance policies, those with a basement need a plan on moving their valuables to upper-levels. Do make sure that you have an escape plan, as discussed above, in place for your family.
      • Hurricane planning. Most people in areas prone to hurricanes are already on high alert during hurricane season, but do keep in mind that hurricanes and the stormy remnants are often unpredictable. The flood planning from above is applicable to hurricane planning. Additionally, you’ll want to have a supply of nails and plywood ready to go so that you can board-up your home before evacuation. Remember, if your local authorities issue an evacuation, then you need to heed it.
      • Wildfire planning. Wildfires can begin unnoticed and spread rapidly with little forewarning. An effective evacuation plan is vital in many cases. If you do have forewarning, then stay tuned to the emergency broadcasts and follow the evacuation directions from local authorities. Remember to take your emergency evacuation bag with you. If you’re under a warning, but haven’t been advised to evacuate yet, then you might have time to turn off your gas lines and propane tanks, soak your roof and shrubs with water, move flammable furniture to the center of rooms, and move large valuables to the safest location possible.
      • Tornado planning. Unlike many other disastrous events, leaving your home during a tornado warning is seldom a wise move. Everyone in your family should know where they should go during a tornado warning. While a basement is ideal, not everyone has one. You can use a central room; preferably one that doesn’t have windows or overhead objects. Be sure your emergency kit and phone numbers are in your designated room.
      • Earthquake planning. Follow the directions from tornado planning. You might also want to place an emergency kit in your vehicle and at your place of employment. Check to make sure your child’s school is also well-prepared.
  2. Prevention Aside from living in an area not prone to natural disasters, there isn’t much you can do to avoid them. However, unlike most other natural disasters, wildfires can sometimes be prevented. You can personally prevent fires by being careful when using open flames, maintaining your chimney flue, and not throwing cigarettes outdoors. Of course, wildfires can happen regardless of your personal care with fire. You can help to prevent flames from impacting your home by creating a defensible space. In fact, some insurers are now inspecting properties for defensible space before issuing or renewing policies. Your insurance agent, local agricultural organizations, and federal agencies like the American Red Cross and FEMA are valuable information sources on creating defensible spaces. The damage of flooding can also be limited by planning water diversions and landscaping as protective devices.
  3. Insurance Last, but certainly not least, you should make sure your existing insurance is providing adequate protection. For example, your regular Homeowners policy most likely won’t provide coverage if a boulder falls or rolls into your home since such would be considered an earth movement and need to be covered by Earthquake insurance. Another example would be your regular Homeowners policy not covering damage from a water or sewage system outside your home breaking, or damages from a flash flood, as these would fall under Flood insurance. If you obtain Flood insurance, keep in mind that the coverage won’t become effective for 30 days and your basement usually still won’t be covered.

DON’T LET VENDOR LIABILITIES BECOME A LIABILITY FOR YOU

By Business Protection Bulletin

Most companies will need to undergo some remodeling, repairs, or possibly even an expansion at some point or another. Such work is most often outsourced to a vendor.

Before you hire a vendor to do work at your facility, you want to protect the financial security of your business and make sure that their liabilities don’t suddenly become a liability for you. For example, you’d likely feel bad for all involved if a contract worker suffered an injury working on your project. However, you might not realize that you too could be involved. If that injured contractor wasn’t insured, then it could involve an expensive lawsuit against your business. Such scenarios often prompt business owners to question how they can best protect themselves when hiring a vendor.

You might get lower bids by vendors not licensed and insured, but an unexpected injury later could result in insurmountable legal costs that would far surpass any savings. It can’t be emphasized enough just how important it is to hire only reputable, licensed, and insured companies.

How Do I Know If My Vendor Is Licensed?
Finding out if a contractor is licensed isn’t very difficult, as any licensed contractor must display their state licensing number on all marketing and advertising materials, such as phone book, billboard, and newspaper ads; the company logo on their building sign or company vehicles; and even the materials they pass out to the public.

How Do I Know If My Vendor Is Insured?
Finding out if a contractor is insured isn’t quite as simple as looking at their ads, but it’s a vetting step that you certainly don’t want to skip. Never work with a vendor that doesn’t have Commercial General Liability insurance and Workers Compensation. At a minimum, the Commercial General Liability insurance policy will cover advertising injuries, personal injuries, bodily injuries, and property damages.

If your contractor doesn’t voluntarily offer to show you a certificate of insurance as proof that they’re covered by a Commercial General Liability policy, then you should ask for it. Don’t accept that they’ll bring it by after they’re hired and don’t forget to check that the expiration and effective dates will be congruent with the dates of the project.

What Else Can I Do to Protect My Business?
Additionally, you might consider taking the following steps:

  • Make a list of approved vendors that are both licensed and have shown proof of insurance.
  • Ask the contractor’s insurance agent to mail you their certificate of insurance.
  • Ask that your company be added to the contractor’s General Liability policy as an additional insured until the project is completed.
  • Consider only hiring a contractor that has insurance limits equal to your own.
  • Ask the contractor to sign a written legal contract indemnifying your company from a liability claim.
  • Never work with a contractor that will need to use your tools or equipment to complete the job. Don’t even lend such items to the contractor. If your equipment or tools are defective and cause a contractor to be injured, it could result in a lawsuit.

SLASH WORKERS COMP LOSSES WITH PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING

By Business Protection Bulletin

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, around a third of all workers’ compensation claims are filed by employees only on the job for a year or less, with 13% being filed by an employee in their first three months of employment.

You can evaluate the statistics as they relate to your own company’s claims by sorting your employees into two categories – those employed longer than one year and those employed less than a year. Once all your employees have been sorted into the two groups, you can determine the frequency of claims per 100 employees from each group. If a large section of your workforce is aging and working physically demanding jobs, then you might find that your long-term employee group may have more claims. However, most employees will find that it’s their shorter-term employees that have the higher claim frequency.

It’s the lack of experience and training that’s one of the main culprits behind shorter-term employees having a higher claim frequency. The good news is that as they get more work hours under their belt and receive additional classroom and/or on-the-job training, they will gain experience and knowledge about safety hazards and become more safety conscious as they perform their job tasks.

Another factor causing new hires to be more prone to accidents is their personality traits and habits. Some workers might have a personality that leaves them with a tendency to ignore the rules. Other workers might simply believe that they should be left to their own devices if they get their work done on time. There are also certain employees that are prone to using short cuts. Maybe it’s in their nature, or maybe from habit, but either way they do it without regard to the risks involved.

As far as personality factors go, one of the best solutions will be to pre-screen applicants so that you can help avoid hiring someone that doesn’t demonstrate habits and personality traits conducive to your ideal working environment. The two types of pre-screening tests are: Behavioral assessments and personality measures.

Behavioral assessments will ask an applicant extremely direct questions, such as about personal drug use and theft. It’s easy to assume mistakenly that the applicant would just lie and answer the question as it should be answered. However, behavioral assessment questions are so blunt that the applicant is often caught not paying attention and will answer the questions honestly without even thinking about it or realizing they’re admitting to a bad behavior. The behavioral assessment will allow you to know the exact nature of the risk the applicant poses.

Personality tests will examine an applicant’s personal characteristics, attitude, and opinions. The questions are much more indirect than a behavioral assessment. The responses can help you evaluate and rank various job applicants based on the possible risks they pose.

In closing, using both tests together can be a very potent risk control tool. Employers that utilize such pre-screening tests also find that they can save significantly from better avoiding hiring an applicant that’s not very likely to stick with the job, and from potentially reducing their number of Workers Compensation claims.

SUPREME COURT: EMPLOYEE’S COMPLAINT ABOUT EMPLOYER DOESN’T HAVE TO BE WRITTEN

By Business Protection Bulletin

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act forbids an employer from firing a worker because he filed a complaint accusing the employer of violating the law. It doesn’t say whether the employee’s complaint must be in writing. What if the worker complains verbally but never makes a written complaint? Does the FSLA’s prohibition against firing him still apply? That was the question the U.S. Supreme Court faced in a case it decided in March 2011.

Kevin Kasten, following the instructions in the employee handbook, told his supervisor that the location of the company’s time clocks might be illegal because it prevented workers from getting credit for the time they spent putting on and removing their protective work gear. (The FSLA requires employers to pay workers for this time.) Getting no response from his supervisor, he also complained to human resources staff and told them that he was contemplating a lawsuit. Eventually, the employer fired him. He claimed that he was fired for complaining about the location of the time clock; the company said it was because he repeatedly failed to punch in and out on the clock despite several warnings.

Kasten sued the company for illegal retaliation. The trial and appellate courts, while accepting his version of what happened, ruled in favor of the employer. The FSLA, they said, requires employees to make written complaints to their employers about possible violations, but Kasten made all his complaints verbally. Kasten appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor.

Writing for the six-justice majority, Justice Stephen Breyer said, ” … (A)n interpretation that limited the provision’s coverage to written complaints would undermine the (FLSA’s) basic objectives … Why would Congress want to limit the enforcement scheme’s effectiveness by inhibiting use of the Act’s complaint procedure by those who would find it difficult to reduce their complaints to writing, particularly illiterate, less educated or overworked workers?” He also noted that the federal Department of Labor has for decades held that the law’s requirements include oral complaints, even going so far as to set up hotlines for employees to make complaints.

Moreover, Breyer pointed out that other laws, regulations and court decisions have used the word “filed” in connection with oral complaints. He particularly noted that court decisions at the time Congress enacted the FLSA used “filed” with oral complaints. “Filings may more often be made in writing … But we are interested in the filing of ‘any complaint.’ So even if the word ‘filed,’ considered alone, might suggest a narrow interpretation limited to writings, the phrase ‘any complaint’ suggests a broad interpretation that would include an oral complaint.”

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas disagreed (Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from the case). In a dissenting opinion, Scalia argued that the FSLA forbids discrimination against a worker if that worker has filed a complaint with a government agency. He pointed out that every other use of the word “complaint” in the FSLA refers to an official filing with a government entity. Further, he said that the phrase “filing any complaint” appears alongside other activities that involve interaction with a government entity. Because Kasten complained only to his employer and not to a government agency, Scalia said, he was not protected by the law’s anti-retaliation provisions.

The dissents notwithstanding, employers should be aware that this decision protects workers from retaliation for making oral complaints to their employers. Businesses should create and implement policies stating that employees who make such complaints will not suffer retaliation. Since Employment Practices Liability insurance policies cover employers for retaliation claims, insurance companies will expect employers to take steps to make these claims less likely.

WHY YOU SHOULD BE FOLLOWING WORKPLACE INJURIES

By Construction Insurance Bulletin

No matter what type of business you operate, all employers should be ready, willing, and able to conduct their own injury investigation immediately following an incident. Early intervention on your part will be essential in cases where there’s been a serious injury or an injury of questionable nature. Such a proactive approach will allow you to keep the incident from spiraling out of control and reduce your liability exposure. After all, the last thing any employer wants to do is engage in costly court actions, some of which could spell the demise of the business. The following are the three main reasons you must immediately investigate an incident:

  1. This time will be your only opportunity to look into the legitimacy and cause of the injury while it’s fresh, not possibly tainted by elapsed time.
  2. It will be the best opportunity to make an informed managerial decision based on the most thorough understanding of the underlying cause of the incident.
  3. It will be the best chance to obtain witness accounts of the incident. Time elapsing could allow witnesses to forget vital details, collude with others, or be intimidated into a false statement.

Now that it’s clear why you need to investigate, you’ll want to understand how to do so. An investigation is basically an objective, logical process that’s conducted step-by-step. It’s vital that assumptions aren’t made and that conclusions aren’t jumped to without completing the process.

It’s best to designate specific individuals to carry out investigations. Of course, this designated investigator should understand both federal and state laws thoroughly. They should also understand the importance of keeping the results and details of the investigation confidential. It will also be of vital importance to the investigation process that your immediate supervisors have been trained to provide as much detail as they can about incidents.

The investigator will determine if a worker’s alleged workplace injury had any casual connection with their employment. For example, it needs to be determined whether or not the worker was exposed to a particular risk or danger at the time of the incident. Keep these three essential steps in mind as you begin any investigative process:

  1. Protect the incident site. Make every effort to preserve the incident site until either it’s no longer viable, legislative requirements have been met, or the investigation has been completed. If this isn’t possible, then at least do what you can to make a thoroughly detailed representation of the site. You might use plastic containers or bags to help preserve the integrity of the evidence collected and prevent it from becoming contaminated. You might find it necessary to gather, remove, and store physical evidence in an alternative, secure area.
  2. Document the incident site. If possible, don’t remove any physical evidence from the incident site until you’ve documented it with video, pictures, and drawings. The distance and physical location of evidence can be shown with a diagram. If any equipment was involved in the incident, then you should document the machine’s serial number, manufacturing information, and maintenance and service records.
  3. Take witness statements. Of course, you should in no way jeopardize or interfere with an injured worker receiving medical treatment. However, if the severity of the injury allows, you should obtain an immediate statement from the injured worker. Then, you should make a list of all potential witnesses and interview them as soon as possible. If feasible, you can sequester the witnesses and interview them separately to help avoid any possible collaboration, collusion, or intimidation from taking place. Make it perfectly clear to all the witnesses that they aren’t to have discussions about the incident with other co-witnesses or co-workers. Make sure that the written statements from the witnesses are in their own words, even if grammatically incorrect, and doesn’t contain any blank spaces. Ask the witnesses to sign and date their final statement.

It will be significantly easier for you to determine the validity of disability and compensation claims when you’ve used the above investigative process to determine the cause of the injury. You’ll have the detailed documentation to address any questionable issues and possibly even thwart unfounded litigation claims.

DON’T RETAIN YOUR SUBCONTRACTOR’S RISKS BY NOT REQUIRING ADEQUATE GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

By Construction Insurance Bulletin

Risk management is one of the most important tools available to keep your business’s financial bottom line looking good. But, for risk management to be successful, you must be able to identify all cases of risk retention whereby you’d be responsible for any portion of a loss.

If you can’t transfer a risk to another party, then you retain the risk by default. There are both known and unidentified risk retentions. An example of a known risk retention would be your insurance policy deductible. This type is considered known since you already know the predetermined deductible amount that you’d be responsible to pay before the policy provides its preset amount of coverage. On the other hand, any amount of loss over what your insurance policy’s limits are would also be considered a retained risk, but categorized as unidentified since you wouldn’t know the amount of loss beforehand.

General contractors need to be able to identify all their known and unidentified risk retentions in order to protect their business adequately. If you’re like most, then the most likely area for problems will be identifying unidentified retentions. Subcontractor negligence is of particular concern. Of course, you can always buy additional insurance coverage to cover subcontractors. However, it’s usually more financially feasible to require that your subcontractors carry their own Liability insurance with a coverage amount that could potentially replace the entire project if a problem were to occur.

Make sure that you’ve taken the following five key actions to proactively handle potential subcontractor negligence:

  • Engage one of our professionals review your contracts to ensure that your insurance policy continues to meet your needs adequately.
  • Either purchase additional insurance coverage yourself, or require all subcontractors to purchase a sufficient amount of insurance on their own. Gauge the minimum acceptable policy limit for a subcontractor according to the scope and size of the project. Do be sure to specify the minimum acceptable policy limit in the subcontractor’s contract.
  • You should also take precautions to ensure continued compliance with minimum acceptable policy limits by periodically asking your subcontractors for their certificates of insurance and checking that the coverage hasn’t elapsed.
  • Your subcontractor contracts should specify that the primary coverage for the project will be the subcontractor’s General Liability coverage, not yours. Stated as such, your insurance coverage will be excess coverage and only be relevant if the subcontractor’s insurance coverage isn’t enough to cover the damages.
  • Check whether or not a subcontractor indemnity agreement is allowable by law in your area. This agreement would make a negligent subcontractor reimburse you any money that you were made to pay the owner of the project due to the negligence of the subcontractor.

HOW TO PROACTIVELY MANAGE EMPLOYEE TERMINATIONS

By Construction Insurance Bulletin

Employee terminations and layoffs are stressful, sometimes complicated, and certainly an action that no employer looks forward to taking. The repercussions and disruptions from an employee being fired, laid off, or opting to leave of their own free will can be far reaching. It not only impacts the employee leaving, but also their co-workers and you, the employer.

You can decrease the impact employee terminations have on your business and remaining employees, as well as the potential resulting legal issues, by taking the time to manage the situation carefully. Having an employee termination strategy is a good starting point. As you develop your strategy, you should remember that most terminations will fall under one of these three categories:

  1. Employment that’s terminated by the employer due to the employee’s behavior or performance issues.
  2. Employment that’s terminated by the employer solely due to economic reasons.
  3. Employment that’s voluntarily ended by the employee.

You will find that there are some one-size-fits all guidelines on how to respond to terminations in general. However, each termination category may also call for a response that’s more tailored to the circumstances of the termination. Here are some general tips for all of the above:

Any Type of Termination

  • Set up a process to follow. Following the same set procedure, including a checklist for each termination step, will help ensure that you treat all your employees equally.
  • Consult an attorney to ensure you understand how the employer-employee relationship is regulated legally and all the applicable guidelines.
  • Communicate effectively with your employees so that they understand exactly what’s expected of them and all possible disciplinary actions. This will help you avoid misunderstandings.

Employer Terminates Due to an Employee’s Behavior/Performance

  • It’s vital that all employees understand what you expect and require of them. It’s equally vital to document warnings and counseling thoroughly. This will not only help you protect your business should you ultimately need to terminate an employee, but it will also give you the opportunity to allow some deserving poor performers a second chance to do better.
  • In certain circumstances, an immediate termination will be the most prudent course of action to protect yourself and your other employees. For example, the immediate termination of an employee that steals or poses a danger could be warranted. However, it’s still critical that you understand your legal responsibilities.

Employer Terminates Based Solely on Economic Reasons

  • Layoffs can be very difficult for you, the employees being laid off, the employees staying, and your management team. You can help control anxiety and tension by keeping the lines of communication open and ensuring that all employees are kept in the loop about what’s taking place. The layoff process can be somewhat less traumatic if you remember to let your employees know they’re still valued, appreciated, and respected. It can also help if you’re able to help them secure alternative employment and/or provide a severance package.

Employee Voluntarily Ends Their Employment

  • You’ll want to clearly understand why an employee is ending their employment. An exit interview policy is a great tool to understand why an employee is leaving, how well your company is competing in areas like wages and benefits, and if you have any operational or management problems to be rectified.
  • You might want to make a counter-offer if a valuable employee is leaving and you’d like to retain them; after all, turnover can be very expensive for employers. Discuss the reasons your employee has decided to leave. If the departure is based on wages, then you might find that it would be cheaper to agree to a raise than it would be to recruit and train a new employee.

In closing, most all employers will be faced with employee terminations at some point. If you plan ahead and have the proper procedures in place, you can both minimize the effects and protect your business against any legal ramifications.

TEN ACTIONS EMPLOYERS CAN TAKE TO PREVENT WORKPLACE EYE INJURIES

By Workplace Safety

There are currently around a million American workers that have suffered some degree of slight loss due to an eye injury. In fact, it’s estimated that there are some 700,000 workers injuring their eyes at work every year in America.

Such injuries can be financial nightmares for employers. While the above statistics may seem discouraging, 90% of eye injuries in the workplace can actually be avoided by the employee wearing the appropriate safety eyewear for the job. The following 10 actions can help you prevent workplace eye injuries:

  1. Assess the situation – study your eye-related incident and accident reports. Is there any area with a history of problems? Carefully assess day-to-day operations at your business. Do work areas, equipment, access routes, or operations pose any hazards to the eyes?
  2. Have the appropriate eyewear available – make sure that the protective eyewear you select is designed for the specific hazard/duty and is in compliance with current OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) standards.
  3. All participate, zero tolerance – initiate a mandatory eye protection program for all operation area employees. Such a broad program is easier to enforce than one requiring eye protection in certain areas, but not others. Clearly define and enforce the disciplinary actions for infractions.
  4. Eyewear doesn’t protect if it doesn’t fit – eyewear should comfortably fit a worker’s face and never be borrowed or shared between workers. Only a trained eye care expert should fit and repair eyewear. Make it clear that workers are responsible for keeping up with their eyewear.
  5. Routinely test vision – if an employee can’t see correctly, then they’re likely to eventually have an accident. Uncorrected vision problems can be avoided by making vision testing a component of employee physicals.
  6. Plan for accidents – plan ahead for potential emergencies by having eye injury first-aid procedures in place; training workers in first-aid and identifying any employees with advanced medical training; and having easily accessible eyewash stations, especially in chemical areas.
  7. Continue educating your employees – education is key to preventing accidents. Include eye safety and protective eyewear in new employee orientations. Continue the education in safety meetings, educational programs, and training programs.
  8. Positive reinforcement – make sure that management and supervisors are following the same rules.
  9. Put your safety policy in writing – make sure that you’ve distributed a copy of your safety policy to your employees and had them sign and date it. This should be routine during new employee orientation. Additionally, a copy of the policy should be displayed in a common area, such as a memo board or break room.
  10. Reassess your policies – your ideal goal is zero eye-related accidents and injuries. Periodically review your accident prevention policy to see how well it’s meeting your goal and make any necessary changes.

WORKPLACE SAFETY HABITS TO LIVE BY

By Workplace Safety

Workplace safety should be a top priority every day. Employees rely on themselves, their co-workers, and management to avoid hazards at the workplace, and it is of utmost importance to develop excellent work habits that emphasize the prevention of injury and illness. In fact, developing everyday safety habits, and living by them, can keep all workers injury free throughout the year.

Below are some guidelines to help promote safety and well-being on the job:

  • Stick to Your Own High Standards. Don’t be influenced by others around you who are negative. If you make the decision to forgo safety glasses because co-workers don’t wear them, remember the blindness you may suffer will be yours alone to live with.
  • Only Operate Equipment If Qualified. Your supervisor may not be aware that you have never done the job before. It is your responsibility to help your supervisor understand your skill level, so the necessary training can be provided.
  • Maintain a Healthy Respect for Machinery. If you put something in a machine’s way, it will crush it, pinch it or cut it. Make sure all guards are in place. Never hurry beyond your ability to think and act safely. Remember to de-energize the power first before placing your hands in a point of operation.
  • Use Your Own Judgment to Initiate Safety Procedures. You are in the best position to see problems before they arise. Don’t be afraid to ask for the personal protective equipment or additional guidance you need.
  • If Unsure, Ask Questions. If you are uncertain about something, ask. Do not accept answers that contain, “I think, I assume, I guess.” Be certain.
  • Exercise Care and Caution When Lifting. Most muscular and spinal injuries are caused by overstrain. Know your limits, and do not attempt to exceed them. The few minutes it takes to get help will prevent weeks of being out of work and in pain.
  • Keep a Tidy Workplace, and Practice Good Housekeeping. Disorganized work areas are the breeding grounds for accidents. You may not be the only victim. Don’t be a cause.
  • Dress Sensibly and Responsibly for the Job at Hand. Wear sturdy and appropriate footwear. These should enclose the foot fully. Avoid loose clothing, dangling jewelry, and be sure that long hair is tied back and cannot become entangled in the machinery.
  • Practice Good Hygiene and Cleanliness. Avoid touching eyes, face, and mouth with gloves or hands that are dirty. Wash well and use barrier creams when necessary. Most industrial rashes are the result of poor hygiene practices.
  • Play an Active Role in Being a Positive Safety Team Member. Willingly accept and follow safety rules. Encourage others to do so. Your attitude can play a major role in the prevention of accidents and injuries.

THE BASICS OF HAND TOOL SAFETY

By Workplace Safety

To most workers, a simple hand tool wouldn’t be considered a huge safety risk. However, hand tools that are used, transported, or kept in poor working order can be a danger to workers and bystanders.

One of the most often seen dangers is when a tool is being used at an overhead level and becomes a falling object. In fact, on construction sites, the third most common cause of injury is falling objects. Furthermore, 10% of all disabling work-related injuries are the result of falling objects.

When working from ladders, balconies, platforms, tanks, roofs, equipment, or other area above a normal working level, workers should ensure that all tools, materials, and equipment are positioned in a manner that will prevent them from rolling, slipping, or dropping to the ground. This is especially true when the tools must be placed on a surface that’s curved or slopping. Do keep in mind that tools can vibrate during certain working conditions and shift from their position. Workers carrying tools to overhead work levels should use a bucket or other sturdy container for transport. A hand line may be used to hoist the bucket or tool up. Remember to ensure that no one is standing underneath the tools as they are being hoisted up.

Here are a few additional safety guidelines that workers should adhere to when using hand tools:

  • Keep all tools in good working order – clean, functional, oiled, and sharpened.
  • Never use any tool for anything other than what the tool was intended.
  • Capacity means capacity; never use cheaters or otherwise force a tool to function beyond its specified capacity.
  • Keep chisels, punches, star drills, and any other tools subject to impact properly sharpened to prevent a fragment breaking off and becoming a dangerous flying object.
  • Keep cutting tools sharpened and use proper handles.
  • Avoid using dull, rounded, chipped, or tapered drill bits.
  • When using a screwdriver, don’t use your hand to hold undersized work. Use a vise for security whenever it’s possible.
  • Never transport any pointed tool, such as a screw driver, chisel, or drill bit, in clothing pockets. A tool belt should be used to carry such tools.
  • Only use the size and weight hammer required for the job. Always ensure that the hammer’s head is ground, handle isn’t loose, and claws aren’t broken before it’s used.
  • Only use the size and type of screwdriver the job requires. Never use a screwdriver with a badly worn head or damaged handle.
  • Only use the size wrench that the job requires. Wrenches with worn jaws or teeth shouldn’t be used. Adjustable wrenches should be tested to ensure they adjust and work freely.