WINTER WORKING Workforce Briefing Let’s all get home safely, every day
The Facts We are now entering the time of year where statistics prove that most work related accidents occur. There is a direct link due to the changes in daylight hours, including darker evenings and mornings and weather conditions that occur at this time of year. We can all significantly reduce the potential for accidents by becoming more attentive to risks on site during this time and ensuring adequate measures are in place to cope with extended winter periods experienced last year.
How Does the Cold Weather Affect Us? The body physically slows down reducing efficiency and increasing clumsiness, hand grip strength and dexterity is reduced which can lead to a fall in work performance. With the increasing cold, mental faculties such as judgement can become impaired causing us to become more accident prone. To help reduce your chances of having an accident: – Shorten the periods of exposure to the cold – Take your breaks in a warm place – Wear insulating clothing, gloves and warm waterproof footwear – Keep extremities (fingers, feet and head) warm. – Leave earlier to ensure their safe passage. Communication - Kept operatives and staff involved and updated daily using dabs. Working on scaffolds and roofs - suspend all works on roofs and scaffolds until clear of snow and gritted. Forward Planning - Review site access and logistics to prioritise access routes that can be practically maintained to work areas that can be progressed.
What are some of the Dangers? Access / Task Lighting – Ensure that the current level of access lighting will be suitable for the forthcoming months and upgrade as necessary. By undertaking a survey/ simply walking around the site, Project teams will be able to identify any areas which may need additional lighting. – Special attention must be paid to congested areas / stair ways, covered walkways and main access routes. – Consider what impact the erecting of internal walls will have on the lighting conditions. – Never move existing lighting purely to suit your own requirements make arrangements for additional lighting before you start. – Special consideration must be made to any isolated lighting towers, how do you see to fix them if they fail.
What are some of the Dangers? Icy Conditions – Ensure that there is a sufficient supply of de-icing materials (i.e. rock salt) on site to ensure that walkways and roads are maintained in a safe condition. Also ensure that someone is delegated responsibility for carrying out this task. – The ground may look consistent after a snow fall, so extra care must be taken, as materials or drops may be hidden under frozen puddles or snow drifts. – All excavations must be fenced off. – Ensure that overnight security staff are considered in and arrangements.
What are some of the Dangers? Loose Materials/High Winds – Ensure that no loose materials are left lying around on upper floors where they can be blown off. – Take care when stacking materials – full sheets of plywood have been known to blow of stacks in the past for instance, so they should have a rope tied round them or other precautions taken. – Do not stack materials in an upright position e.g. against walls or columns – they will be easily blown over. – Take care if fitting protection screens to scaffolds – they must be designed to take the resultant wind loading. – Site Hoardings should also be more frequently checked to ensure that they are suitable for the wind loadings that they will experience. – Take care during high winds where activities produce dust that others are not adversely affected
What are some of the Dangers? Clothing – Ensure that the correct type of clothing is worn, to keep warm if you are in exposed conditions. A number of different layers will keep in more body heat and that principle will extend to socks and gloves to keep the extremities warm. – Wellingtons keep the feet and lower legs dry, but all rubber and plastic boots should be warmly lined for winter wear, or be worn with thick insoles or thick socks. – Remember that some clothing and gloves could get wet very quickly when handling items in the rain leading to high levels of wind chill. Fully waterproof clothing comprising hat, jacket and trousers is essential for work in rain. – Ensure you have dry clothing available to travel in after work.
What are some of the Dangers? Plant – All operators of tracked machines must ensue that tracks are dug out and rollers are free of material prior to starting the next shift. If possible, fuel up the night before to prevent condensation forming in the tank. – On entering machine first thing in the morning beware of iced steps, frozen door handles, and walk ways. Check engine oil levels before starting machine, and ensure that you can see through windscreens and windows before starting work. – Keep away from the down side of a machine, especially when working sideways to the slope. – Operators must take care on haul roads, plant crossings and at junctions, reducing speed to suit the weather conditions.
What are some of the Dangers? Accommodation – Water to Accommodation – Ensure that all water services are suitably lagged to prevent them from freezing / bursting. Last year this lead to welfare facilities having to be closed for a period while repairs are carried out. – Heating to Accommodation – Ensure that there is adequate heating within accommodation – this will help to prevent water pipes from freezing. – Dehumidifiers should be used within drying rooms in conjunction with heaters as this is a more effective way of drying wet clothes.
What are some of the Dangers? Driving – Always increase the gap between you and the vehicle in front and reduce your speed in poor conditions, especially on slippery surfaces and reduced visibility. _ Avoid harsh braking and acceleration. – Check tyres regularly for wear and make sure they are inflated to the correct pressure. The minimum legal tread depth is 1.6mm but grip is severely reduced below 3mm. – Always keep the windscreen, side and rear windows clean and the washer bottle filled with screen wash. – Always allow extra time for your journey, everyone else leaves early when the weathers bad.
What are some of the Dangers? Driving con’td – Check that ALL your lights are clean and working daily. – Keep a set of emergency supplies in your vehicle at all times, such as; additional clothing, drinking water, food and a spade/ shovel etc.) – Before making any journey, listen to the news and weather broadcasts. If you do decide to travel in very bad weather, always let someone know where you are going and what time you 'hope' to arrive, so that the alarm can be raised if you get into difficulties. “REMEMBER - KEEP YOUR SPEED DOWN”
Summary Hazards Preventions • Be aware of shadowy areas which may hide difficult Early morning and evening the natural light underfoot conditions or low level hazards is poor, where temporary lighting is • Stop your task and report any issues you have with the Lighting provided there may still be areas that are in standard of lighting in your working area shadow or where the level of light varies. • DO NOT move temporary lighting around to meet your own requirements The ground as well as any working platform • Do not rush around site, take time and be careful surface e.g. Scaffolding, Mobile Towers and • Wear appropriate footwear for the conditions and ensure Icy Conditions MEWP’s can become slippery with ice, rain that the soles are in good condition or mud. • Keep to designated walkways, do not take short cuts • Never be tempted to carry out lifting operations in high or gusting winds • Be aware that buildings can mask wind conditions; High winds can contribute to hazards on above the building the wind may be stronger which could Loose Material/ site, blowing materials around the site and affect a lifting task off high level working platforms and High Winds • Always fix or tie down items such as plywood or roofing particularly during lifting operations. materials • Dispose of wrappings and other debris properly to prevent them being blown around on or off site
Summary Hazards Preventions • Wear a number of different layers to keep in more body Some clothing and gloves could get wet very heat quickly when handling items in the rain • All rubber and plastic boots should be warmly lined or be Clothing leading to high levels of wind chill. worn with thick insoles or thick socks Insufficient layering of clothing can also lead • Fully waterproof clothing comprising hat, jacket and to health related problems. trousers is essential for work in rain • Ensure windscreens and windows are fully cleared Iced steps and frozen door handles are before starting work commonly found on machinery during • Where possible, keep away from the down side of a Plant Winter, leading to an increased chance of machine, especially when working sideways to a slope. slips and trips. Vision may also be impacted • Plant Operators must take care, reducing speed to suit by frosted windscreens. the weather conditions • Ensure that all water services are suitably lagged to prevent them from freezing / bursting Freezing temperatures often cause water • Ensure that there is adequate heating within Accommodation pipes to freeze. accommodation • Dehumidifiers should be used within drying rooms in conjunction with heaters
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