When you work in a manufacturing plant, personal protective equipment
such as gloves can be a major safety factor. Gloves protect your hands
from heat and other temperature concerns, chemicals, and cuts and
bruises.
However, many employees wear gloves when working with major machinery
that rotates or has other heavy moving parts. This is one situation in
which PPE can actually lead to injuries instead of protecting the
worker. Wearing gloves or loose clothing around heavy machinery is
severely dangerous and should be avoided due to the risk of
entanglement.
It is imperative to know that our hands and fingers are precious and to know how to keep them safe.
All workers shall be warned of the potential hazard of wearing closed rings and wedding bands, which are major causes of irreversible hand trauma if entangles during handling tools, dealing with some machines, climbing or descend scaffolding, contact with electricity, etc… even if gloves are on
Rings will turn into sharp switchblade tearing of the soft tissues and cause the partial or total loss of a finger in 50% of the cases occurred
Loose-fitting clothes, dangling objects and jewelry even watches can get caught or hung up on a certain appliance or object at workplace and cause injury. Such adornments are best left at home when it's time to go to work on certain jobs.
The risk can be controlled by:
- substituting the machine with one which has a lower level of risk
- ensuring guards are fitted to prevent access to any moving parts and nip points that can have contact with the body
- fitting guards that cannot be removed, where reasonably practicable
- installing interlocked guards which require a special tool to remove them
- providing emergency stop systems to shut down operation of the machine
- shutting down the machine and removing keys or using a lock out/tag out system prior to removing guarding to undertake maintenance and/or cleaning. Allow for stored energy and run down time before commencing such work
- inspecting guards for damage and repairing and replacing all guards before re-energising and starting up the plant
- providing operators with adequate training and appropriate supervision prior to and when using the machine
- ensuring operators do not have loose items of clothing, hair, jewellery etc that may get caught
- providing and maintaining adequate warning signs as a constant reminder to operators and others of the potential hazards associated with the machine.
Safeguards that can prevent these kinds of deadly accidents include:
- Guarding. Moving parts on machinery should be guarded to prevent any part of the worker’s body from contacting the machine’s moving parts.
- Dress codes. Workers should not wear loose-fitting clothing, chains, or other loose jewelry around equipment that poses an entanglement hazard. Long hair should be tied back to keep it safely out of danger.
- Safe work practices. Workers should not work alone with potentially entangling machinery. Before performing adjustments or maintenance operations, qualified workers should shut down and lockout equipment.
- Emergency shutoffs. Workers who work with or around machinery should know where to find and how to operate emergency shutoffs. When a worker becomes entangled, a quick response may save a life.
Safeguards that can prevent these kinds of deadly accidents include:
- Guarding. Moving parts on machinery should be guarded to prevent any part of the worker’s body from contacting the machine’s moving parts.
- Dress codes. Workers should not wear loose-fitting clothing, chains, or other loose jewelry around equipment that poses an entanglement hazard. Long hair should be tied back to keep it safely out of danger.
- Safe work practices. Workers should not work alone with potentially entangling machinery. Before performing adjustments or maintenance operations, qualified workers should shut down and lockout equipment.
- Emergency shutoffs. Workers who work with or around machinery should know where to find and how to operate emergency shutoffs. When a worker becomes entangled, a quick response may save a life.
Safeguards that can prevent these kinds of deadly accidents include:
- Guarding. Moving parts on machinery should be guarded to prevent any part of the worker’s body from contacting the machine’s moving parts.
- Dress codes. Workers should not wear loose-fitting clothing, chains, or other loose jewelry around equipment that poses an entanglement hazard. Long hair should be tied back to keep it safely out of danger.
- Safe work practices. Workers should not work alone with potentially entangling machinery. Before performing adjustments or maintenance operations, qualified workers should shut down and lockout equipment.
- Emergency shutoffs. Workers who work with or around machinery should know where to find and how to operate emergency shutoffs. When a worker becomes entangled, a quick response may save a life.
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