Chemical plants are filled with potential threats to the safety of your employees and to your company’s bottom line. Not only are you tasked with maintaining throughput efficiency, but also the nature of your business puts your workers in close contact with hazardous chemicals every day.Implementing fall prevention strategies is critical to protecting your employees from the dangers of the job and mitigating the risk of injury. Learn more about safety challenges chemical plants face as well as three fall prevention strategies for your facility.
Safety Challenges Chemical Plants Face
Employees working on top of trucks and rail cars are at risk of slips, trips and falls if proper safety equipment isn’t in place. Chemical plants also face a number of safety challenges that facilities in other industries may not experience, including:
- Multiple exits and hatches on vehicles
- Electrical grounding, which could lead to sparking
- Exposure to hazardous chemicals through spills, splashes and inhalation
- Fires and explosions due to pressurized gasses and liquids, flammable chemicals or uncontrolled reactions
When working with hazardous chemicals, you must put extra safety precautions into place. Keep in mind the compatibility of materials being used for flooring and safety equipment. Non-compatible materials may lead to safety hazards such as sparking or fires.
Also, train your employees to always wear special protective clothing when working with chemicals. This helps to minimize the risk of injury and helps prevent chemical exposure.
3 Essential Fall Prevention Strategies
One fatal fall is enough to severely impact your business’s bottom line. Any time your employees are working above four feet (1.22 meters), they require strong fall prevention measures to help keep them safe. Not only is fall prevention a matter of safety compliance, but preventing falls also helps increase throughput efficiency.
Here are three practices to help improve fall prevention at your chemical plant:
1. Install Custom Safety Equipment
Installing safety equipment is an important step in reducing the risk of injury at your facility. Because safety equipment isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, it’s important to work with a vendor that can help you install custom equipment for your site’s specifications.
The right safety equipment for your chemical plant goes a long way in keeping workers safe without sacrificing throughput efficiency. When choosing equipment, focus on intuitiveness and accessibility of the solution.
Common safety solutions in chemical plants include:
- Gangways
- Safety cages
- Elevating platforms
- Complete terminals
2. Train Employees On Proper Safety Procedures
Safety equipment is a critical first step in preventing falls, but it’s equally important to train your employees on proper safety procedures – especially when hazardous chemicals are involved.
As part of your safety training, make sure your employees understand the hazards of working with chemicals and wear special protective clothing at all times. Also, teach your team how to safely use the equipment. Include information on any challenges your team may face and how to safely overcome them.
Spend time educating your employees on the connection between safety practices and efficiency. Workers are more likely to follow safety best practices when they fully understand the reasoning behind them.
3. Create Designated Loading/Unloading Spots
Falls and other injuries are more likely to occur when loading and unloading take place in an area without fall prevention equipment.
Create designated loading and unloading spots in your facility by installing custom safety solutions in those areas. Be sure to communicate this change with all employees, and conduct regular audits to ensure everyone is using safe loading/unloading procedures.
Injuries negatively impact employee morale, throughput efficiency and your bottom line. By implementing these three fall prevention strategies, you’re actively taking steps to reduce the risk of accidents and improve workplace safety.
Learn how to keep your workplace moving efficiently while meeting OSHA standards by downloading this free industry guide from Carbis Solutions.
