Jobsite Safety

[Andrew1972]

As a engineer fresh out of college I used to be construction field engineer with municipal water and sewer projects.

One night a crew was working late day and it got dark. The operator of a machine with not great lights was flying and nearly hit me reaching into car. Himself was injured jamming breaks and dropping backhoe bucket. At first yelled at me then latter apologized. The crew was upset at him.

That all being said I had no reflective vest on we did not do this in 1995. At ire of my own company without approval I called the local survey supply house to directly deliver a reflective vest($50 deliver fee) no one wore at time.

 

[Claud]

Safety rules are like all rules; to be obeyed by the uninformed, and understood by the informed.

In other words if you know why the rules are in place you will get it, if you don't they are to protect you from your lack of knowledge.

Claud.

 

[Claud]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Does anyone know what a RAIN TURTLE is?

I don't. What is it?.

Claud.

 

[69GTX]

I've supervised safety at a couple of power plants I worked at....both of them OSHA Star facilities. That's when you invite OSHA in to fully evaluate your safety program after months/years of work ups. I think it can be both good and bad. The good is where the employee's safety culture drives everything, not management driving it. And that's impressive to watch. Seen it first hand. The other side is forcing OSHA Star down a plant's throat so the company's executives look better. I've seen that not work first hand too and actually lead to more problems and accidents. Eventually, safety programs have to be carried by all the hourly employees, or it's not going to work. I will concur that it can get a bit extreme in the amount of paperwork that has to be created for all this.

 

[WiskyBadger]

I’ve done osha 30 and been doing our safety meetings yearly for 12 years. I have no problem with safety regs, but the new silica regs are uncalled for. They’re basically for brickies and cement heads but the rest of us have to follow so many regs. Vacuums on everything making everything a pain and much harder to climb ladders with and putting extra strain on guys that have such small amounts of concrete dust that they have proven to do zilch to you in testing. Rant over, safety’s good. I will say osha can pretty much go on any job site and write insane amounts of fines based on other people’s interpretations, that’s one thing I really dislike.
I’m a sprinkler fitter, we could get killed on every job for putting pipe on lifts, but there’s literally 0 other ways of getting pipe up 20’+.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Most dangerous tool on the jobsite is a new pair of boots.


Ehh...

That kind of attitude is part of the problem

It's good to see that people are taking OSHA requirements seriously

Company policy can play a part

If I'm caught not working safely, I can and will be suspended for it



? New boots make you fall down stairs and get stuck on step ladders, I was being literal.

This thread has gone from a virtue signalling fest to trade union worship, lock it down.


This is true … went to a safety seminar a few days back … had brand new work boots on. Out of the hundred or so there … no one noticed … but just doing an indoor boot break in like I have for decades …

 

[SeaJay]

I won't go into details, but I see detailed workers' compensation claim data of many, many corporations each and every year. Starting about ten years ago, the number and cost of these claims has shown a decline for most every one of these corporations.

Because of the high cost of these claims, safety initiatives instituted are one of the main drivers of these reductions. Another driver is medical technology. When injuries occur, the technology is much better able to get these injured workers back to health and work, rather than becoming permanently disabled collecting loss of wage benefits for decades to come. Also contributing is some fine tuning of workers' compensation law statutes in a number of states that keep fraudulent claims with the help of less than honest doctors and chiropracters getting rich from those schemes that worked in the past.

 

[Stelth]

ChevyBadger, funny you should mention silica. We recently received a new cordless rotohammer with a vacuum attached. Worked fine at first, then the vacuum got clogged and stopped working. However, during all of this time, the plasterers on the same job were dumping 1-yard bags of stucco mix into their mixers, creating huge clouds of drifting dust.

Some safety officers are truly motivated by a desire to do good, many are just rule-enforcers. Not that rules don't need to be enforced (such as staying away from unprotected edges, fire protection, etc.), but I'd like to see more solutions-oriented safety programs. Okay, I can't do this, and I can't do that, but what can[\i] I do?

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: Claud
Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Does anyone know what a RAIN TURTLE is?

I don't. What is it?.

Claud.

The size varies from supervisor to supervisor.
If you're on a job working outdoors and it starts to rain, the foreman/supervisor will make a circle in the dirt. He chooses the amount of rain drops to fall into the rain turtle (the circle) within a minute to determine if we work or go home for the day. Yeah, it's crude, but believe it or not, I have been on jobs where this is done.

 

[cb450sc]

The son of a friend of mine was killed last week on the job. He was 24 years old. Union shop, equipment failure. Nicest guy, he will be missed.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: ChevyBadger
I have no problem with safety regs, but the new silica regs are uncalled for. They’re basically for brickies and cement heads but the rest of us have to follow so many regs.


Again, have to look at what's driving the bureaucrats to throw that blanket over industry.

Black lung was thought to have been long gone history in both our countries, and is back. Someone dropped the ball, and now the new regs come in....

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/22/climate/black-lung-resurgence.html

 

[michaelluscher]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Most dangerous tool on the jobsite is a new pair of boots.


Ehh...

That kind of attitude is part of the problem

It's good to see that people are taking OSHA requirements seriously

Company policy can play a part

If I'm caught not working safely, I can and will be suspended for it



? New boots make you fall down stairs and get stuck on step ladders, I was being literal.

This thread has gone from a virtue signalling fest to trade union worship, lock it down.


This is true … went to a safety seminar a few days back … had brand new work boots on. Out of the hundred or so there … no one noticed … but just doing an indoor boot break in like I have for decades …


I don't understand this "break in period"?

By the time my boots stop giving me tendonitis, they're worn out and need replacing

I'm up to 7 months in my current role, I just bought my fifth pair

Indoors... Where's that?

 

[Shannow]

I get the boots thing. Never really analysed it but now it's been verbalised, I understand completely.

I loathe the way that they get catchy on "safety" strips as you go down steps

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter

The size varies from supervisor to supervisor.
If you're on a job working outdoors and it starts to rain, the foreman/supervisor will make a circle in the dirt. He chooses the amount of rain drops to fall into the rain turtle (the circle) within a minute to determine if we work or go home for the day. Yeah, it's crude, but believe it or not, I have been on jobs where this is done.


When my brother was working in fire protection, the "standard" was a folded out double sheet newspaper, and however many drops.

Thought that rainturtle was drawing a turtle and spitting in it to make it rain.

 

[4WD]

I thought it was a Turtle Sauce Piquant recipe

 

[sleddriver]

I've regularly been safety conscience. To me, it just makes sense. It's paid off too as I've owned a table saw now for nearly 30 yrs and I can still count to ten. The old guy I learned from thought I was using the blade guard too much. I told him I had a right to be scared of the blade and would use it until I gained more experience. I also bought a Biesemeyer fence to replace the #$%^&-lousy cheap fence the thing came with. That and properly setting up and regularly checking for square has meant no kick-back incidents and no burned edges either.

The other dangerous thing I deal with is ladders. Mine is a USA made Little Giant I bought early on when I needed a great ladder that would still fold up and fit in the SAAB 900T 4-door. I bought it back in the mid-90's. Both ends flare out making it more stable. It's rigid and wider than the standard extension ladders. I follow THE RULE about setting it up and also level the feet to ensure it's stead before climbing on it. I've never fallen from it. When working up in a tree with it extended, I always tie off the top rung to prevent it from sliding while working. I also never climb carrying a chain saw or any other tool. Instead I rope it, loop the rope through a carabiner on my belt, climb the ladder, then pull the tool to me. After use, I lower it to the ground before descending.

I believe personal responsibility is the best. I've seen guys carry large sheets of ply up a ladder. That's nuts. Much safer to rope the ply, climb the ladder then pull the ply up. If wind catches it, you can deal with it better on the roof then on a ladder.

I guess watching an uncle do something stupid (and paying for it with a broken wrist) made an impression on me about climbing ladders with a chainsaw that was running........

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: 4WD
I thought it was a Turtle Sauce Piquant recipe

I don't like turtle meat. But Alligator or Red Fish Sauce Piquant, C'est Si Bon!

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: 4WD
I thought it was a Turtle Sauce Piquant recipe

I don't like turtle meat. But Alligator or Red Fish Sauce Piquant, C'est Si Bon!

Those Reds already swim around in two grilling pans.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I don't understand this "break in period"?

By the time my boots stop giving me tendonitis, they're worn out and need replacing

I'm up to 7 months in my current role, I just bought my fifth pair

Indoors... Where's that?

Speaking of boots, I used to wear the BEST, IMHO, made work boots in the world, RED WING. The last pair I bought was in 2010. They cost $179+tax. I was only able to wear them for a year due to my early retirement in 2011. I still have them.
I usually get email coupons from RW. I just recently priced the same boots I bought in 2010. OMG & HOLY "BLEEP!" $289!

 

[Claud]

Originally Posted By: BlueOvalFitter
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
I don't understand this "break in period"?

By the time my boots stop giving me tendonitis, they're worn out and need replacing

I'm up to 7 months in my current role, I just bought my fifth pair

Indoors... Where's that?

Speaking of boots, I used to wear the BEST, IMHO, made work boots in the world, RED WING. The last pair I bought was in 2010. They cost $179+tax. I was only able to wear them for a year due to my early retirement in 2011. I still have them.
I usually get email coupons from RW. I just recently priced the same boots I bought in 2010. OMG & HOLY "BLEEP!" $289!

Dr Martens for me. Comfortable from the first time I pull them on, and long lasting. Expensive to buy, but cheap in the long term.

Claud.