Contact with Hazards

As a manager you have an understanding of how your overall business operates. You provide the vision. However, employees who work in the organization have a more detailed knowledge of each operation and task than anyone else because they do these tasks day in and day out. No matter how educated you think you are, unless you have recently performed a particular task over and over, your employees will know the job task much better than you do. 

Employees who understand the hazards that are associated with the workplace will realize that they have the most to gain from preventing or controlling exposure to identified hazards. Employees who are knowledgeable and aware tend to be safe employees and also good sources of ideas for better control [7]. 

In a management system, supervision managers must understand that personal protective equipment is only one aspect of the safety system. They must know how to recognize other elements of a management system such as machine guarding and housekeeping, among other elements of the process. PPE is only one part of the process. 

If you were to review any Japanese company, you would find that that there is an approach to employee participation. They have used their employees to help solve various types of quality-related issues. Some American companies are finally starting to realize the value of employee participation. Employee input in the United States is most common in the area of quality control. We now must take a broader approach on safety issues [5]. 

It is a well-known fact that no one wants ideas forced down their throats. We as humans naturally resist change—but we have a tendency to support ideas that we help to develop and implement. Employees who are allowed to participate in the development and implementation of safety rules and procedures have more of a personal stake in making sure that these rules are followed [7]. 

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In a world increasingly conscious of the dangers of contact with chemicals, a process that is conducted within the walls of a vacuum chamber, such as the VDP process for parylene coatings, offers great advantages. Provided the vacuum pump exhaust is appropriately vented and suitable caution is observed in cleaning out the cold trap (trace products of the pyrolysis, which may possibly be dangerous, would collect here), the VDP parylene process has an inherently low potential for operator contact with hazardous chemicals. 

Change in work task that increases the potential for contact with hazardous materials... 

The plan should also address standard operating procedures (SOPs) for site operations to help minimize contact with hazardous materials. 

Work practices that minimize contact with hazardous substances. 

SOPs that address methods for minimizing employee contact with hazardous substances or contaminated equipment [OSHA Reference, 120(k)(2)(ii)]... 

A guarded machine is an open machine in which all openings giving direct access to live metal or rotating parts (except smooth rotating surfaces) are limited in size by the structural parts or by screens, baffles, grilles, expanded metal, or other means to prevent accidental contact with hazardous parts. 

Benefits of on-line SPE include elimination of eluate collection, evaporation, and processing in a completely closed system with protection from contact with hazardous solvents, light and oxygen. On-line SPE offers ruggedness, excellent precision and high sample throughput, and is ideally suited to perform a fast matrix-analyte separation prior to e.g. LC-MS or direct MS analysis. 

An important aspect was also the proximity to consumers. In some of the case studies examined (Table 1, with grey background) consumers come into direct contact with hazardous ingredients when using chemicals or articles containing chemicals. ... 

Contact with hazardous materials is inevitable in modern life. All peroxides are hazardous and some of them are regarded as extremely hazardous substances (EHS). The... 

Used when the atmosphere contains no known hazard work functions preclude splashes, immersion, potential for inhalation, or direct contact with hazard chemicals... 

In practical applications, fluoroelastomer parts often involve contact with hazardous fluids at elevated temperatures. Failure of parts such as seals may result in personal injury in some cases. Care should be taken by users of parts to assure that proper fluoroelastomer grade and composition are used. Detailed information from the custom compounder or the supplier of the fluoroelastomer should be obtained to minimize such hazards. 

Wear gloves to avoid contact with hazardous materials. 

Use goggles, rubber gloves, and protective clothing to prevent direct contact with hazardous substances. 

All persons who have contact with hazardous materials, including individuals responsible for their preparation and transport, as well as emergency responders and the general public. 

In order to protect the personnel from contact with hazardous materials these should be handled as seldom as possible, i.e. ... 

Samples should be taken in such a way that the personnel does not enter into contact with hazardous materials. Should this not be possible, personal protective equipment has to be used. 

Conducting an assessment of workplace areas and potential harmful exposures and becoming familiar with the ANSI standard go hand-in-hand toward mitigating damage to skin or eye tissue that has come into contact with hazardous contaminants. 

An emergency system designed to provide immediate water application to an individual s face or body who has been in contact with hazardous chemicals, chemical compounds, or fire. They can be used in four basic ways ... 

It is believed that one out of every four workers in the United States comes into contact with hazardous chemicals on the job. 

There are a number of well established techniques for looking after the health of employees. These include taking action to prevent ill-health, providing means to prevent employees coming into contact with hazardous substances and ensuring that if they are hurt in any way their injuries are properly treated. 

OSHA requires that construction workers who come into contact with hazardous chemicals be provided with thorough and accurate information on each hazardous chemical present at their worksite. The material safety data sheet, or MSDS, is the means used to provide the required information on worksite chemicals and hazards. 

It s believed that one out of every four workers in the United States comes into contact with hazardous chemicals on the job. These chemicals pose a wide range of health hazards such as irritation, sensitization, and carcinogenicity as well as physical hazards like flammability and corrosion. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says that exposure to hazardous chemicals is one of the most serious threats facing American workers today. 

OSHA requires that employees who come into contact with hazardous chemicals be provided with thorough and accurate information on each hazardous chemical present in the workplace. 

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