(Newswire.net — October 21, 2021) — While industrial technology continues to transform the manufacturing landscape by the day, safety on factory floors is just as much of a concern as it was a few decades ago. Lack of acquaintance with safety procedures and strategies coupled with ignorance often results in trip-and-fall accidents, injuries, lawsuits, business disruptions, losses, and reputation damage. As a factory manager, you want to keep this to a minimum and ensure operations run seamlessly. Here are a few practical measures to take:
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Invest in protective gear
Ensuring your employees wear protective gear while in the factory is a requirement that occasionally gets overlooked. Depending on the equipment they handle and the amount of risk they face, workers in various work environments require different levels of protection. An expert can help you determine the kind of PPE needed for employees handling various materials. For your PPE needs, consider working with a company such as the Safety Source LLC that provides all kinds of protective gear — from hi-vis vests and hard hats to hearing protection, cut-resistant gloves, and safety glasses — to save you the hassle of acquiring gear from different providers.
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Create a safety program
Most factory managers are not new to OSHA regulations on basic factory safety standards. If you are charged with employee safety, you are required to develop a practical and effective safety program addressing all hazards in your facility. You can start by creating a list of fire, electrical, and ergonomics hazards. OSHA provides safety checklists for equipment and processes such as abrasive wheel grinders, engineering controls, aerial lifts, and machine guarding.
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Eliminate the fatigue factor
While mostly indirect, fatigue is one of the most common causes of injuries in factories. This can be caused by monotony or long working hours. To prevent monotony-induced fatigue, consider incorporating several short breaks into the shifts of workers performing repetitive tasks such as packaging. You might also want to introduce task rotation in the workplace, particularly for non-technical assignments, to ensure no employee performs the same task all day.
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Train your employees
There is no point in adopting a safety program if employees don’t know what hazards they face in the workplace or how to maneuver the factory floor without exposing themselves and others to risks. Every new employee should be made aware of what they can expect. Existing ones should also be taken through occasional refresher courses in case some guidelines are forgotten. Whenever new machinery is brought into the workplace, make sure everyone who will use it understands the safety requirements of handling it before laying their hands on it.
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Keep updating
No matter the comprehensiveness of your safety program, it can never really cover everything. Some hazards may remain unknown until an accident occurs. You need to keep track of all accidents and injuries in your facility to ensure employees don’t sustain known and preventable injuries. This might mean creating detailed reports for all new accidents that happen and, in some cases, involving safety professionals in developing solutions.
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Embrace technology
IoT and smart manufacturing technologies enhance safety on factory floors by facilitating the simulation of manufacturing processes ahead of assigning them to employees. These simulations will provide you with data, which can be analyzed and used to make safety-conscious adjustments. Technology might also come in handy in performing real tasks that are deemed too risky for humans. These include handling hazardous materials such as chemicals, hot liquids, and sharp objects.
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Reward your employees
If you want your safety program to work, your employees need to be on the same wavelength as you. A straightforward way to achieve that is by rewarding safety consciousness and celebrating milestones such as “one month without accidents.” While you are at it, set goals for your employees and indicate the rewards for reaching them. You should also consider holding regular ad hoc meetings, where you can discuss safety and issue your workforce with updated safety guidelines.
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Encourage early reporting
Employees are more likely to spot new hazards on the factory floor than a manager who’s probably in an office somewhere. They should be encouraged to raise a warning as early as possible whenever they see something that could go wrong. As a supervisor or manager, you should ensure that all reported cases are addressed as early as possible to promote reporting culture. Whether it is a loose screw, an open window, a leaking pipe, or a wet floor, repairs should be done straight away if you want employees to adopt a safety culture.
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Keep emergency exits clear
A cluttered floor is not only a safety hazard in itself but also a potential barrier to safely exit in the event of an emergency. Even if no significant accident has occurred in your facility in a long time or even ever, the importance of a fire exit should never be disregarded. Keep it clear of clutter and slip-and-fall hazards at all times. It should also be well labeled, and guidelines for how to use it should be issued to all workers.
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Install smoke sensors
A fire is one of the most damaging and hardest-to-contain accidents that can happen in any factory. Protection against fire outbreaks is an essential pillar of workplace safety. By installing smoke detectors and fire alarms throughout your facility, you increase the chances of detecting fire and putting it out before it spreads and wreaks even more havoc. They also alert employees on the potentially risky situation, allowing them to evacuate the premises early. Note that there are three types of smoke detectors, and there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for installation. For maximum protection, involve a fire expert in the planning and implementation phases of your approach.
Endnote
Safety on the factory floor should always be given first priority. It is the best way to show your workers that they are valued and protected. Use the above tips to create a practical safety program and keep the risk of accidents and injuries to a minimum.