Hand Protection - Is this on the top of Agenda in Safety Meetings ?

Hand Protection - Is this on the top of Safety Agenda in Safety Meetings ?

We will keep it simple. Whether you are the HSE Manager or the one that works with equipment assembly, movement, warehousing, or doing any work in the shopfloor - one of the most common injuries you will come across is a hand injury. Pinch injuries, crush injuries, caught between situations, cuts, abrasions, impacts, burns, and what not. Therefore, it's time this has caught your attention.?

One of the most effective ways to minimise these is the?mindset. Not taking things for granted. Ensuring that the tasks are carried out safely. Making sure that hands are always safe. Accidents can happen anytime, but if the work or the tasks being carried out exposes the hand to potential injuries all the time in performing the tasks, it's an occupational hazard. And this needs your attention. That you do whatever it takes to keep your hands safe. The benefits of keeping hands safe, you already know, what all you can do with a pair of hands. Having a safety centric mindset and what if something could happen keeps you alert to these situations.

The second most important thing is your pair of?gloves. There are hundreds of varieties?out there and therefore it's important you choose one that's most appropriate for the task. Whether you need impact injury protection, or pinched fingers protection, or protection against cuts or chemicals or heat, whatever be the risks you want to protect your hands against, ensure the glove you choose is most suited for the task. Just putting on a glove might offer some protection but will not be sufficient to prevent an injury. The right glove for the right task with the right levels of protection is important. There are companies like Project Sales Corp in India that specialise in hand protection. Talk to a specialist there. Explain the conditions you work in, the hazards you face and they can suggest you the most appropriate?glove. If you have time, explore the options available in website like?https://www.superiorglove.com/catalogs/?

The third important thing is using the right kind of?tools?if you work on the shopfloor. Please use the right tool for the right task. Using a pipe wrench as an adjustable spanner is not ok. Slogging spanners and hammers are the most common reason for many serious hand injuries. Please make a rule, always use a?safety tool?when working with any kind of slogging tools. Chisels and Punches are also a culprit when it comes to hand injuries. It's easy to hit the knuckles and hurt the fingers when working with these tools. Please try to see if these tasks can be eliminated and if not always use a?safety tool?while working with these. If you happen to work power tools and especially vibrating tools like needle scalers, chisel scalers, riveting machines, impact wrenches, ensure you wear all PPE needed and ask your employer to offer you an anti-vibration?glove?to avoid suffering from HAVS (Hand-Arm-Vibration-Syndrome).?

Every state has its own regulation when it comes to how much weight is one allowed to?lift?by hand. Ensure that you and your employees always follow this rule. It's important as this can not only potentially cause a hand injury, it can cause many other issues like back problems, exposing your legs and feet to potential injuries, etc. Always see if the equipment can be lifted using mechanical means. Recently a worker cut his fingers while moving an oil drum when it got caught between another drum. There are now several safety tools available for any task that you carry out that can be carried out in a safer manner. If you lift pipes, you can get your hands under the pipe load or cut your fingers if the pipe is sharp. Please have your department safety manager explore the many?options?now available to carry out the task safely.

One of the major reasons for hand injuries is connected to maneuvering and guiding suspended slung loads. Every industry be it mining, metals, oil and gas, engineering or warehousing is witnessing hand injuries happening during performing day to day tasks of materials movement. It's a typical mindset. We use our hands for leverage. That's what we have always done. And so we start putting our hands on any and every kind of load that's suspended and expose ourselves to potentially serious injuries. Why? Again, the main reason is the mindset, this won't happen to me. I have always done it this way and it has worked fine. And then one day, what you did not anticipate can happen. Please do not do this. Start using the appropriate?hands-off tools?so that you can continue to do the task but very safely. And keep yourself out of any potential pinch, crush, impact, lacerations or cut related injuries.?

Risk is there in so many things in everyday life. But we are alert. When crossing a road, when boarding a bus, a train, when we drive a two-wheeler or four wheeler. It's just now inbuilt into our system. The fight or flight response. To move away from anything that can potentially injure us. Therefore, often the result of an accident may not be one's fault, it could be due to another person's mistake. At the workplace it is important that you follow safe practices and ensure others are also following these. You keep yourself safe when others are also working safely. You follow the HSE guidelines laid down. You ensure you wear the right PPE needed for the job. You make sure you question the process if it is not safe and see if the same can be eliminated, substituted or there are guidelines of do's and don'ts that are followed to keep everyone safe.?

The idea of this article was to ensure the topic of hand protection gets the attention it deserves. That you take the lead in working safely and also help your fellow workers work safely too. To know more about the tools available to adopt?for safe work practices, please click on some of the underlined links in this article.?If you have come this far, read this article, you are aware of the potential risks and we are sure awareness is the first step towards progress to a safer workplace.?