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Safety and Facility ID Desktop Printers
Product, Wire and Lab ID Benchtop Printers
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Common safety hazards in manufacturing
Employees who work in manufacturing must have specific skills to be successful. One of the most important skills is paying attention to detail.
Workers may encounter a variety of hazardous situations when working in a manufacturing facility. Attention to detail is a vital part of avoiding those situations. Another important part of avoiding hazardous situations is preparedness and awareness of the most common hazards.
Chemical and hazardous material spills or leaks
In manufacturing, there are many different types of chemicals and hazardous materials used that may be dangerous if they spill or leak from their containers. Many of the chemicals and other materials used in various manufacturing processes are dangerous to humans, whether inhaled, ingested or if they come into direct contact with skin.
In addition, these materials may also damage machinery and other elements of the manufacturing process, which may require costly repairs and cause shutdowns in production. The best way to prevent chemical and hazardous material spills and leaks is to ensure that these materials are properly contained, sealed and marked using the correct safety labels, including laboratory, chemical, GHS and hazardous materials, among others.
Electrical hazards
Electrical hazards can come in many forms in a manufacturing facility. An electrical hazard is any situation where personnel or equipment is in danger of being exposed to and/or harmed by exposure to an electrical current. This is hazardous because a live electrical current can damage electrical equipment or cause serious injury — even death to workers who are exposed to it. This includes the potential for arc flash where an electrical current jumps from one conductor to another after leaving its intended path.
The most important step to take to avoid these dangerous situations is ensuring that all electrical equipment is properly insulated. Insulation helps prevent direct exposure to electrical current.
Once you have insulation covered, another important step to prevent these electrical hazards is ensuring that they’re properly marked using electrical labels or markers. These include:
- Wire and cable self-laminating labels: allow you to quickly identify voice and data lines during troubleshooting or repair. They are available in a wide range of materials for use in different environments or applications.
- Heat-shrink wire-and-cable labels, sleeves and tubing: non-adhesive labels that fit snugly around wire or cables that excel in extreme environments, such as temperature fluctuations or environments with potential exposure to abrasive chemicals.
- Electrical labels: whether it is arc flash warnings, conduit and voltage markers, energy source identification, electrical panel or transformer labels, electrical labels warn workers to stay out of harm’s way.
It’s also vital to prevent electrical hazards by ensuring that you are following all arc flash labeling requirements. These requirements include:
- Training for employees
- A written safety program in place that is actionable
- Insulated tools
- Arc flash hazard degree calculations
- Applying proper arc flash labels
Fully cover your bases. You’ve done the work for arc flash, but planning for arc flash training and risk assessments can close the circle on any potential arc flash risks you may have overlooked.
Human error plays a role
Unfortunately, mistakes due to human error are some of the most difficult hazards to predict in a manufacturing setting. Whether these errors are due to lack of judgment, lack of training or simple mistakes, they all pose risks not only for the worker responsible for the error, but for those working directly around them and anyone else working in that industrial setting.
Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to reduce the chances of human error in the workplace, including:
- Providing proper training and education to staff about safety procedures
- Encouraging communication across your entire company
- Posting signage to warn of potential hazards
- Posting safety checklists
- Taking immediate action to correct potentially hazardous situations
- Abiding by all local and national regulations and standards
Although human error seems all but inevitable, proper forethought and preparation can mitigate the damage.
Industrial vehicle error
A common hazard in manufacturing settings that might increase the likelihood of accidents is the presence of industrial vehicles. Any time there is potential for human error in manufacturing, there’s an increased opportunity for accidents to happen. Industrial vehicles increase this likelihood by combining the possibility of human error with the increased power that is attached to vehicles.
This places both humans working in the same environment as these vehicles or operating them at risk. To prevent this hazard, it is crucial to train any person working in the vicinity of industrial vehicles on best practices, whether they are personally operating those vehicles or not. Additionally, ensure that areas with restricted foot and vehicle traffic are properly marked with appropriate signage.
Lockout/tagout
Lockout/tagout procedures exist to maintain control of hazardous energy within a manufacturing environment during the servicing and maintenance of equipment. During these processes, the unexpected starting of this equipment or release of energy stored in them can be hazardous to workers nearby.
There are a variety of lockout/tagout solutions available to prevent these machines and equipment from being used except by those tasked with servicing them. Typically, manufacturers will lock equipment, preventing it from being used except by those with a specific key that unlocks machines for maintenance.
Machine guarding
Any time there are moving machine parts in manufacturing, there is potential for them to cause workplace injuries. Common moving machine injuries include crushed limbs like fingers or hands, amputation, burns, or blindness. Proper safeguards must be in place to eliminate the potential for injury, if possible, and to warn workers about the potential risk.
Poor equipment maintenance
If manufacturing equipment does not receive proper maintenance, it is more likely to fail and cause injury to its operator and/or those working nearby that equipment. This is due to parts wearing out or assembly of that equipment no longer being up to standard.
To prevent this hazard, it is vital for manufacturers to properly service all equipment at appropriate intervals and replace it when necessary. It is also important to communicate that equipment has been properly maintained by using inspection and repair label printers to label when equipment last received maintenance and when it is due for its next maintenance. Additionally, manufacturers should post helpful reminders about the importance of properly servicing equipment.
Slips, trips and falls
Whether they’re on a flat surface or climbing a structure such as a ladder, one of the most common types of hazards comes in the form of slips, trips and falls. These hazards are so common because they can come from a wide variety of sources, which means that nearly anyone working in manufacturing is potentially susceptible to them.
While these incidents can take many forms, they are all preventable by ensuring that your facility has the right slips, trips and falls prevention practices in place. These practices include things such as maintaining a dry workplace, properly marking all walkways and passages, providing proper training for use of equipment such as ladders, and installing safety railings along elevated walkways.
Identifying and addressing common safety hazards in manufacturing is an excellent first step in preventing workplace injuries. Adopting the above best practices will set your workplace up for success by improving employee safety and reducing liability.