Toolbox Talk

Identify Controls

Here are some examples of what you can do to reduce or prevent MSDs. Manual handling of tools and materials

• Plan ahead to minimize material handling.
• Use carts, dollies, hoists, or other mechanical handling devices.
• Use ladder hoists, gin poles, daisy chains, or cranes to move materials on or off roofs.
• Use chain falls, motorized buggies, carrying handles, or extension handles for carrying large or awkward materials such as drywall.
• Break loads into smaller units. For instance, put cement in bags weighing less than 50 lb.
• Exercise and stretch before starting work.
• Get another person to help you lift heavy objects or awkward loads.
• Use proper lifting techniques. Lift with your legs, do not bend over and lift with your back, and keep the load close to your body.

Work at ground or floor level

• Use tables, benches, or stands to bring work to waist height.
• Store materials at waist height.
• Change positions (e.g., sit, stoop, or kneel with kneepads).

Overhead work

• Use drywall lifts, materials lifts, duct jacks, scissors lifts, and extension poles or stands for tools when doing overhead work.
• Make use of adjustable scaffolds, aerial work platforms, or other work platforms to decrease awkward postures.

Kneeling

• Use high-quality kneepads.
• Wear pants with kneepad pockets.
• Take short rest and stretch breaks.
• Kneel on pad, such as rubber insulation.

Hand tools

• Use handles that are more comfortable and give you a better grip.
• Select hand tools that are designed for a neutral wrist posture and that reduce the amount of force required.
• Use tools that are low torque, low kickback, and lightweight.
• Maintain your power tools regularly so that they run with low vibration.
• Use vibration-absorbing padding on grips and handles.

Explain Dangers

Dust is found in many places on a jobsite and can be hazardous to your health. This hazard varies depending on the type of dust, the amount of dust inhaled, the size of particulate, and how well your lungs are able to remove the dust. Inhaling dust over many years can cause

• Fibrosis (hardening of the lungs, making it difficult to breathe)
• Cancer of the lungs, abdomen, and nose. Even inhaling dusts over a couple of days or months can cause effects on the nervous system allergic reactions such as hay fever or more serious reactions such as asthma.

Examples of jobs that create dust include

• cutting concrete, wood, or other materials
• scoring/cutting tile
• mixing mortar
• pouring dry cement
• grinding
• knocking or bumping into dusty materials
• loading, unloading, or transporting dusty materials.

Identify Controls

Prevent dusts from getting into the air by

• spraying water on the workpiece before cutting, pouring material, etc.
• spraying water on the ground before sweeping.
• If wet-sweeping is not possible, use a vacuum.
• using a dust collector for tools or equipment if available.

Consider different ways of doing the job that could reduce the amount of dust created. For instance, you could

• use low-speed rather than high-speed grinders
• order blocks in various sizes to minimize the need for cutting
• use pre-mixed cement or mortar
• shorten the distance that material is dropped or tossed when pouring or shoveling dusty materials
• stand opposite to the direction of the dust cloud.

Prevent dust accumulation by cleaning the work area frequently throughout the shift. Wash your hands before eating, drinking, or smoking and at the end of your shift.

Use personal protective equipment when it is not possible to prevent dust from getting into the air. Consult the safety data sheet (SDS) of the product.

Explain Dangers

We all know the dangers associated with distracted driving. But what about the distractions caused by mobile devices on worksites? Working on a busy jobsite or operating tools and heavy machinery requires your full concentration. Inattention or distraction can result in injury to yourself, injury to others, damage to property, or even death.

Operating a mobile device diverts your attention away from the task at hand or the hazards around you. If you’re engaged in a phone conversation, your mind is on something other than your work or your safety. You may even find yourself removing your safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection, or hard hat in order to access your mobile device.

Remember: It’s not just you. Your co-workers can also become distracted, putting you in danger.

Identify Controls

To protect against the distractions caused by the use of mobile devices on worksites, follow the guidelines below:

• Never use your mobile device on a worksite unless authorized by your supervisor. That includes talking, texting, emailing, playing games, etc.
• Never use your mobile device while operating any tools, machinery, equipment, or vehicles or while performing activities that require your full attention.
• Don’t use your mobile device while receiving work instructions or safety-related information.
• Wait until your lunch or rest break to use your mobile device for personal calls or other activities. But only use it in specially designated safe work areas, such as a site trailer or break room.
• Never operate a mobile device near flammable fumes or liquid, or when you’re in a flammable environment.
• Turn off your mobile device completely when working. If your ringer goes off, it may startle you or someone in the area.
• Let your calls go straight to voicemail when you’re working. You can retrieve them at a more convenient time.
• To reduce the temptation to use mobile devices on the worksite, ask workers to keep them in their vehicles or store them in a lockbox at the site trailer while they are working.
• If you have an urgent matter that requires keeping in contact with family members, bring it to the attention of your supervisor and work out a plan so that the communication can be done in a safe manner.
• If you need to access important work-related information on your mobile device, stop any work activities, inform your supervisor, and move to a safe work area.
• For supervisors, communication is part of the job. However, they should limit their mobile device use to the site trailer, site office, or other designated safe work areas away from general work activities. They should not make or take calls while directing activities on the site.

Date of Incident: May 11th, 2022

Employees were working to get material to the 6th floor/Penthouse area utilizing the man-made cantilever wheel pulley. The pulley had to be used due to the elevators being down. Gribbins employees have utilized this pulley throughout the outage 100+ times lowering/raising insulation to ground level. Employee on the ground was pulling the rope with new insulation in a trash bag (< 40lbs.), which is tied on with a slip knot. The employee on the 6th level was pushing the rope toward the east away from utilities. A pipe/pipe-rack is secured to the 5.5 level platform. This is the only location where the pulley is not clear when being raised/lowered. The reason the employee was pushing the rope out, was that the man-made cantilever would not swivel, allowing the pulley to extend further to the east allowing complete clearance when being raised or lowered. When the bag was being raised, at the same time the rope was being pushed out, it caused the bag to swing getting hung under the pipes. At the same time this happened, ground man pulled the rope, contacting the pipe/pipe-rack, causing the bag to come loose falling approximately 100-120’ to ground level. Gribbins employees had a 20’x20’ red barricaded area, which is where the bag landed. No injuries or property damage.

Contributing Factors:

• The elevator on Unit #2 was out of service.
• Cantilever would not rotate (seized up)
• Employees did not “STOP WORK” and report the issue of the cantilever not rotating.

Corrective Action:

• Stand-down with crew on site to emphasis the importance of stopping work and reporting issues.
• Cantilever was lubricated and rotated, which allowed the wheel pulley to extend far enough out, away from utilities.
• Installing barricade on the 2nd level platform, to prevent individuals from walking under a suspended load.

Severe Weather

The good news is that you can survive severe storms or even a tornado. Being prepared is critical. By following these simple guidelines, you can protect yourself and your family from nature’s violent storms. The most important things to remember are:

GET IN – If you are outside, get inside. If you’re already inside, get as far into the middle of the building as possible.

GET DOWN – Get underground if possible. If you cannot, go to the lowest floor possible.

COVER UP – Flying and falling debris are a storm’s number one killer. Use pillows, blankets, coats, helmets, etc. to cover up and protect your head and body from flying debris.

Always know the location of your severe weather shelter. How are you alerted of inclement weather when at home? Weather radios are a good idea, and apps can keep you out of harm’s way, Weather Bug and MyRadar will send alerts to a phone or computer for inclement weather such as lightning strikes, wind, and rain.

Lightning

• Lightning is a serious hazard both on and off the job. There is an average of 25 million lightning strikes that occur in the United States each year alone. Have a plan of when you will cease work and where you will go if lightning occurs during that day. The best practice to avoid getting struck by lightning is to take shelter indoors before a storm is in your immediate area. Know the lightning policy of your worksite, a good rule to follow is the 30-30 rule. After you see lightning, start counting to 30. If you hear thunder before you reach 30, go indoors. Suspend activities for at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder.

If you feel a tingling sensation or your hair stands on end, lightning may be about to strike. Crouch down and cover your ears.

Lightning Fatality Statistics

• From 2006 to 2019, there were 418 people struck and killed by lightning in the United States. (weather.gov)
• Males accounted for 79% of these fatalities.
• Most deaths occurred in the months of June, July, and August
• Many victims were headed to safety at the time of the fatal strike.

Lightning Myths

• If there are no clouds or rain there will not be lightning. TRUTH: Lightning can strike 3 miles from the actual storm center. There are some bolts that have struck 10 miles or more from the storm.
• If you are in a house, you are 100% safe from lightning. TRUTH: A house is a safe place to be during a thunderstorm as long as you avoid anything that conducts electricity. This means staying off corded phones, electrical appliances, wires, TV cables, computers, plumbing, metal doors and windows.

Summary

It is important to not be complacent when it comes to severe weather and lightning. Take shelter before the storm is directly on you, at work or at home.

Explain Dangers

Serious and fatal accidents have occurred when people assumed that electricity or machinery was turned off but it wasn’t. Electric shock, sudden movement of sharp machine parts, release of pressure, falling counterweights— these are just some hazards that can result when energy is unexpectedly released.

Identify Controls

Lockout and tagout ensures that hazardous energy sources are under the control of the workers needing protection.

Lockout often involves workers using a padlock to keep a switch in the “off ” position, or to isolate the energy of moving parts.

Tagging is how you tell others that the device is locked out, who locked it out, and why.

There are four basic actions in any lockout.

1. Identify all energy sources connected with the work.
2. De-energize, disable, redirect, or stop all energy from doing what it normally does.
3. Apply restraint devices (e.g., lock, scissors, chain, or block) to keep the system from starting up while you work on it.
4. Confirm that you’ve reached a zero energy state.

Forms of energy that you must lock out include electrical, mechanical, potential (stored energy, such as in suspended loads), hydraulic, pneumatic, thermal, and chemical.

It’s not always easy to identify every source of energy. Machines or systems usually contain several forms of energy. A press may be hydraulically powered, for instance, but electrically controlled. Locking out the hydraulic power is not enough. Locking out the electricity is not enough. Gravity can still cause a raised ram to drop. There may also be potential energy stored in pistons or springs.

To identify energy sources, you may need to trace wiring, lines, and piping in and out of the equipment. Specifications, drawings, operating manuals, and similar information will also help.

A lock is your personal lock that can only be opened with your key.

Once you apply the lock or other restraint device, you have to tag it. The tag must indicate 1) who you are, 2) who you work for, 3) why the machine or system is locked out, and 4) the date when the lockout was applied.

Once each energy source has been locked out and tagged, you must test the equipment to verify a zero energy state.

Many plants or industrial establishments will have specific procedures for lockout and tagging.

Know the Law

OSHA 1910.147: The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout)