2018
A. E. C. S.
The
Safety Zone
THE SAFETY ZONE | UP PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS®
SEPT
HEA
LTH
TALK
STRETCH IT OUT AT YOUR DESK If you work in an office, chances are good that you sit for a large part of the day. This puts you at risk for ergonomics-related problems. “No matter how well a workstation is designed … working at a computer often involves very few changes in body position,” states the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety. “This lack of movement can lead to muscle pain and strain.” You can help prevent the adverse health effects of sitting by starting a stretching routine. CCOHS describes a number of stretches you can do at your workstation:
HANDS AND ARMS Start with your hand open, and then make a fist – keeping your thumb straight. Then, slide your fingertips up your palm so that the tips of your fingers are near the base of your fingers. You should feel a stretch. Place your hands down and open. Gently bend your wrist from side to side as far as you can. Hold this stretch for about five seconds. Repeat it three times. Stretch out your arm and hand, and slowly rotate your wrist until you feel a stretching sensation. Hold for three to five seconds. Then, rotate your palm up until you feel a stretch. Repeat this sequence three times. Place your elbows on your desk with your palms together and slowly lower your wrists for about seven seconds before relaxing. Repeat this stretch three times. NECK AND SHOULDERS
Bring the top of your shoulders toward your ears until you feel some tension. Hold this pose for three to five seconds before relaxing into your normal sitting position. Repeat this stretch two or three times. While sitting or standing – without lifting your chin – glide your head straight back. (If you feel like you’re giving yourself a
“double chin,” you’re doing this stretch correctly.) Hold for 20 counts and repeat five to 10 times. Slowly drop your head to the left, trying to touch your left ear to your shoulder. Hold and then repeat on the right side. Placing your hands behind your head, squeeze your shoulder blades together. BACK AND LEGS
Lace your fingers together and lift your arms over your head, making sure to keep your elbows straight. Then, press your arms as far back as you can and slowly lean to the left and then to the right.
Hold your right arm with your left hand just above your elbow, and then gently push your elbow toward your left shoulder. Hold this for five seconds and repeat with your left arm.
Hold one foot off the floor with your leg straight. Point your toes up and then down. Repeat with your other leg. Sit forward in your chair and place your feet flat on the floor. With a straight leg, lift one foot a few inches off the floor. Hold
for a moment and return your foot to the floor.
If at any point during these stretches you feel pain or discomfort, stop.
For more stretches, as well as graphics illustrating how to do them, visit ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/office/stretching.html.
Safety
Talk
THE SAFETY ZONE | UP PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS®
WORKWEAR IS KEY TO FIGHTING HEAT STRESS ` In a perfect world, we would all work in weather-controlled environments where heat wouldn’t
be a factor and comfort could be maximized. Many workplaces, however, deal with very high temperatures, and heat stress is a constant risk that requires serious consideration. Heat stress is the single largest issue facing safety managers when combating worker compliance. If the garments are too heavy, uncomfortable, too hot or don’t cool well enough, workers are far less likely to wear them compliantly. This increases the risk of danger and can be an unpredictable factor in the work environment. In those situations, it is critical for safety professionals to maximize opportunity for their workers remain protected from the factors that lead to heat stress. This can be accomplished through a number of tactics and through thoughtful, intentional application of preventative measures. Unacceptable levels of heat stress are likely to occur in many scenarios. As a general rule, there are four primary approaches to the solution: modify the work, the work environment, the worker, or the clothing or equipment. These limited options become even more constraining when considering how regulations often curb the ability to modify these
factors. The work has to get done no matter the environment, but safety must also be maintained.
AVOIDING HEAT STRESS The most effective and practical approaches to prevent heat stress are to acclimatize workers or to modify their workwear. But there are also day-to-day measures that can be taken to prevent significant heat stress incidents. First and foremost, encouraging your team to keeping a close eye on one another is critical to a safe work environment. The effects of heat stress can lead to miscalculated judgment, meaning a good “buddy system” will keep workers on the lookout for the signs of heat stress in each other. Staying hydrated is another critical step. Workers should drink at least 8 ounces of water every 20 minutes to keep the body’s natural cooling processes running smoothly. Additionally, scheduling set times for breaks (preferably in a cool, shaded area) will also make sure your team has a set time to find relief from the heat. Avoiding heat stress even goes beyond the job site: Encouraging your team to get a good night’s sleep before every shift can play
a significant part in the body’s ability to fight off heat-related fatigue and discomfort.
HOW DOES PPE FIT IN? The difficulties of avoiding heat stress are compounded when it becomes necessary to wear additional protection such as arc-rated flame-resistant garments. Added protections to the fabric decrease the rate of heat exchange significantly, so it is critical to optimize your workers’ PPE.
Ideally, FR fabric should weigh as little as possible while still providing the necessary protection level. Specified garments also need a high permeability ratio to allow for improved moisture evaporation and heat dissipation. This is due to the fact that at certain levels, sweating transitions from being a useful cooling mechanism to simply wasted hydration. To continually cool the body, sweat needs to be carried away from the skin.
Source: Occupational Health and Safety
WORKING AROUND CRANES
Safety Talk
A crane is one of the most versatile and important pieces of equipment usually found on a construction job. It can be used to
accomplish a lot of otherwise heavy lifting tasks. However, it can also be one the most dangerous since it can lift heavy loads
over large areas of a project.
Always be aware of the swing radius of the crane
Never walk within the swing radius of the crane
Never work under suspended loads. Besides the crane boom could fail.
Never ride the hook. There are too many things that can go wrong you can’t control
Always wear a hard hat when there is a possibility of a load being overhead
Stay off of and away from the crane unless you are assigned to be on the
crane
Never walk under a boom, especially if it has a load on it.
Never attempt to adjust or turn a load while it’s suspended.
Never enter a roped-off or barricaded area near a crane.
Anticipate a crane’s swing radius when a lifting operation is taking place.
THE SAFETY ZONE | UP PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS®
When working around a crane, the crane operator is going to be
watching his load or the signal person and not for stray workers. Never
enter the swing radius of a crane unless it is absolutely necessary. Never
work within the swing radius. Hard hats are required.
Remember:
Specifying the right workwear to combat heat stress can be challenging. Different environments and facilities require varying standards to be met for protecting workers from the specific hazards to which they may be exposed, and a compounding issue when considering worker protection is compliance.
It is essential to ensure specified workwear offers the right balance of protection and breathability so compliance can be achieved. There may be a number of choices on the market to consider, and one way to guarantee the right garments are specified is through a wear trial.
PPE that is too heavy, lacks breathability or traps moisture against the skin can increase the risk of heat stress.
In addition to health risks, maximum work output will likely be affected, particularly if the workwear interferes
with heat elimination.
Therefore, it is essential to specify lightweight, breathable garments that achieve the required level of safety
for worker protection. With the right workwear specified, you can ensure your workers will wear it compliantly
and remain safe and cool even in the most extreme heat conditions.
Fighting Heat Stress (cont)
Monthly Individual
Gift Card Winners
Team BASF Geismar
Toccarra Redditt
Team Chevron Oronite No Safety Hazard Card Submitted
Team ExxonMobil Baton
Rouge No Safety Hazard Card Submitted
Team ExxonMobil Baytown
Clarence Albus
Team ExxonMobil Beaumont Joe Mitchell
Team ExxonMobil Billings No Safety Hazard Card Submitted
Team ExxonMobil Joliet No Safety Hazard Card Submitted
Team ExxonMobil Chemical Spring
No Safety Hazard Card Submitted
Team Marathon Garyville
No Safety Hazard Card Submitted
Team Motiva Port Arthur
Michael Elg
Team PBF Chalmette
James Henry
Team PBF Torrance
John Sergeant
Team Shell Convent
No Safety Hazard Card Submitted
Team Shell Geismar
Darren Bergeron
Team Shell Norco
Zack Woody
Team Shintech
Rosemary Brocksmith
Team UP Main Office
Megan Falgout
Team Valero Meraux
Douglas Lambert
Team Valero St. Charles
Trew Thonn
Team Louisiana
Tim Creswell
Team Texas Jesse Franklin
Team National
David Beight
Total hazard recognition submissions by location
AA .. CC .. EE .. SS ..
Data is Quarter to Date
PBF Chalmette
107 Submissions
Motiva Port Arthur
78 Submissions
PBF Torrance
40 Submissions
Valero St. Charles
40 Submissions
Team Texas A.C.E.S.
35 Submissions
Shell Geismar
30 Submissions
Top ACES Teams of Q3Top ACES Teams of Q3Top ACES Teams of Q3 Physical Hazard: Barricades
A crane was set up and
operating without barricade
tags around the crane, also the
fly zone path was not
barricaded.
Excellent Observation
of the Month
Corrective Action Taken:
Employee spoke with the
operator and asked him to put
barricade tape and hazard tags
around the work area.
Q3