850 likes | 1.7k Views
Training Stairs, Hand Railings and Steel Floor Grating. Corporate Health and Safety ArcelorMittal. February, 2011. Summary. Training Stairs and Hand Railings Some accidents at AM Why is stair design and construction so important Slips and falls Safety construction
E N D
Training Stairs, Hand Railings and Steel Floor Grating Corporate Health and Safety ArcelorMittal February, 2011
Summary • Training Stairs and Hand Railings • Some accidents at AM • Why is stair design and construction so important • Slips and falls • Safety construction • Terms and definitions stairs • Safety requirements concerning materials and dimensions • Safety requirements stairs • Terms and definitions guard-rails • Safety requirements guard-rails • Self closing gate/ swing gate • Safety requirements step ladders • Safety requirements guard-rails of stairs and step ladders • Safety requirements handrail • General risks • Slip • Slip resistant’s • Steps and height • Lighting and visibility • Housekeeping • Doors on a stairway • Main risks • Training Steel Floor Grating • Terms and defintions • General construction requirements • Hazards and risks • Safety work instructions • Floor grating removal procedure (example) • Main risks • Behavior and checks • Walk and work safely • Safety checks • Checklist Slips, Trips, and Falls • references
I. Training Stairs and Hand Railings Corporate Health and Safety ArcelorMittal February, 2011
Some accidents at AM • Fall On Stairs / stair / 07/10/2010 The employee and his co-worker went, as per the request of the operations center, to repair defective lights of the belt conveyor routes. When arriving to the workplace the employee found out that the bulb and the holder were defective. In order to switch off the electrical current he went to the electrical substation. When walking down the staircase, while holding the hand rail at the same time, his put his left leg on a pieces of coke and sprained his ankle. • Fall On Stairs / Fall of person / 02/02/2010 After his work on line no.4 of CCM, employee fell down the stairs towards the controlling console injuring his right knee. • Fall On Stairs / stair / 21/09/2010 The employee was checking the technology on the 4th floor of the sinter plant /JRH/. When returning back to the 3rd floor his leg slipped on the edge of the last footstep and he wrongly stepped on the concrete floor of the 3rd floor. Upon this movement he felt pain in his right ankle.
Why is stair design and construction so important? Canada ( Michael Perdomo) • Over 60% of death related accidents, for elderly, are from falling down stairs. • Around 10 children die each year as a result of some type of fall, mainly from stairs. • In Canada, falls on stairs account for about 10 percent of all fatal falls. • 40% of all admissions to nursing homes are related to falling from stairs. • Falls account for an average of 5.1 million injuries and 6,000 deaths a year. Europe Belgium • Walking up and down stairs is responsible for 7% of all accidents in private homes UK • In the UK, there are over 500 deaths each year from stair related accidents in the home. It is estimated that a further 250 000 non-fatal accidents take place on stairs in the home each year. These accidents are serious enough to cause the victim to visit their General Practitioner (GP) or Hospital Accident and Emergency department. This is equivalent to a domestic accident on stairs occurring every 2.5 minutes. In addition, there are approximately 100 000 accidents on stairs in leisure environments and a further 1 000 plus in the workplace. This is equivalent to a fall on stairs in the UK occurring every 90 seconds.
Why is stair design and construction so important? • Velz and Hemphill (1953) found a 15% no uniformity on all stairs, and 75% on stairs where accidents had occurred. • Svanstrom (1973) found that 39% of the accident stairs had a variation in riser height. Tread depth irregularities occurred in 47,6% of the accidents. • One of the biggest problems with stairs is that the top or bottom riser is sometimes substantially different. These dimensional variations are considerable and yet apparently not sufficient to be visually obvious. So good adapted lightning at those spots are also very important.
Slips and falls! The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that over 20% of all compensable industrial injuries result from slips and falls. !!!!!!This is why poorly constructed and maintained stairs are dangerous!!!!
Safety in Construction EN ISO 14122 OHSA AM ST 201 H&S Design Specifications Local specifications for the safe design and construction of fixed general industrial stairs Other requirements and other directives may be applicable to the product(s) falling within the scope of this document.
Terms and Definitions Stairs(EN ISO 14122-3:2001) Stairs and step ladders Succession of horizontal levels (steps or landings) allowing passage on foot from one level to another composed of the following elements, shown in Figure and explained in detail in next slides. Scope This includes interior and exterior stairs around machinery, tanks, and other equipment, and stairs leading to or from floors, platforms or pits. This does not apply to stairs used for fire exit purposes, to construction operations, to private residences, or to articulated stairs, such as may be installed on floating roof tanks, the angle of which changes with the rise and fall of the base support.
Terms and Definitions Stairs(EN ISO 14122-3:2001) • Climbing height: vertical distance between the ref; level and the landing (H) • Flight: uninterrupted sequence of steps between two landings • Going: hor. Distance between the step nosing of two consecutive steps (g) • Headroom: min. vertical distance, clear of all obstacles above the pitch line (e) • Landing: horizontal resting area situated at the end of a flight • Pitch line: theoretical line indicating the average path of the users of the stairs or step ladders, drawn at the nosing of steps (p) • Overlap: diff. between the depth of the step and the going • Angle of pitch: slope of the stair or step ladder (alfa) • Step: horizontal surfaces on which one places the foot to go up or down the stair or step ladder • Rise: height between two consecutive steps (h) • Nosing: top edge at the front of the step or landing • String: flanking framework element supporting the steps • Width: clear distance over the outside faces of the step (w) • Depth of step: clear distance from the leading edge or the nosing to the rear of the step (t) • Clearance: abs. min. clear distance between any obstacle and the pitch line measured at en angle of 90° from it (c)
Safety requirements concerning materials and dimensions • General: • Able to resist corrosion • Satisfactory slip resistance for steps and landings • Opening or closing of moving parts shall not cause further hazards (gates, doors,.) • Assembly must provide sufficient rigidity and stability to ensure safety • Steps and structure must resist the intended imposed loads
Safety Requirements Stairs • (EN ISO) The angle of pitch should be between 30° and 38°.And: 600mm <= g + 2h (going + 2 x rise) <= 660mm • (OHSA) The angle of pitch in the stairway should be between 30° and 50°, this varying degree of rise requires different riser heights and different depth of steps. • Overlap >= 10mm • Rise must be constant, exceptional it may be reduced by a max. of 15% • Uppermost step shall be level with the landing Headroom e > 2300mm; clearance c > 1900mm Clear width min. 600 mm but preferably 800mm – 1000mm Exception of min 500mm justified by the risk assessment (occasionally used and short distance) Climbing height < 3000mm (if there is an other flight, install a landing)
Terms and Definitions Guard-rails(EN ISO 14122-3:2001) Guard-rail Device for protection against accidental fall or accidental access to a hazardous area, with which stairs, step ladders or landings, platforms and walkways shall be equipped. Must be installed at each unprotected side.
Safety requirements guard-rails Fall Protection (which may include engineered tie-off points) is required when installing or repairing a removable guardrail. Install a safe work instruction or permit system to work on the guard rails. When the height of the possible fall > 500mm, a guard-rail shall be installed
Safety requirements guard-rails Interrupted handrail, 75 min. – 120 max. Access, self-closing gates! No sharp edges at ends
Self closing gate / Swing gate Part of the guard-rail which is intended to be opened easily. When the gate is released, it will close automatically using e.g. the effect of gravity or a spring. Swing gate; • Self closing • Installed so that a deliberate action is required to open the swing gate, to access the hazard contained by guardrail. It shall not be possible to access the hazard by pushing or leaning on the gate. • Installed at the top of a staircase or vertical ladder when work is performed at the top and a danger of falling exists.
Safety Requirements Step ladders • Step depth t = min. 80mm • Max. rise h = 250mm • Clearance c > 850mm • Clear width between stringers or guard-rails 450mm – 800mm preferably 600mm
Safety requirements guard-rails of stairs and step ladders At least one handrail Width > 1200mm = two handrails Climbing height > 500mm = guard-rail!
Safety requirements Handrail Stair handrails - Canadian Requirements The prime function of the handrail is for holding as support while going up or down stairs. • It is therefore crucial to be able to grasp it quickly, easily and firmly if you should start losing your balance. • Firmly fastened • You should be able to run your hand smoothly along the entire length without having to adjust your grip. You should apply the so-called "tennis-racket grip" at all times when possible • Stair rail systems and handrails must be surfaced to prevent injuries such as punctures or lacerations and to keep clothing from snagging. OHSA: • Every flight of stairs having four or more risers shall be equipped with standard railings or standard handrails • Withstanding a force of 200 pounds/ 91 kg.
General risks Slip • Slippery conditions on stairways shall be eliminated before the stairways are used to reach other levels. • Avoid accumulation of water on walking surface, assure drainage! Weather conditions!
General risks Slip Resistant's • Treads must be constructed of slip resistant material while the nosing must be of nonslip material. While most accidents (falls and trips) happens on the first or last step of stairs it is a good practice to color the nosing in a highlighting color.
General risks Steps and Height • Stairs tend to experience higher hazards when that are built too high (over 7 inches) or not deep enough (under 11 inches). • Each riser height and tread depth must be kept the same, because variations lead to trips and falls. • Having too many steps (more than 10) without a landing, can lead to fatigue which increases the risk of falls.
General risks Lighting and Visibility • Use angular lighting and color contrast • Lightning must be adapted to the environment, especially on landings and end steps. • Avoid patterned floors that may visually hide differences in depth
General risks Housekeeping • Housekeeping; nothing should be sticking out the surface of stairs • All parts of stairways shall be free of hazardous projections, keep stairways clean and free of objects.
General risks Doors on a stairway • Where doors or gates open directly on a stairway, a platform shall be provided, and the swing of the door shall not reduce the effective width of the platform to less than 20 inches.
Main risks • Lack of maintenance of stairs, falling down when walking on it. • Accidents caused by slips, trips, falls, twisting, … due to uneven surfaces and badly designed stairs or improper use • Punctures or lacerations • Keep clothing from snagging due to bad design of the stair rail or handrail
II. Training Steel Floor Grating Corporate Health and Safety ArcelorMittal February, 2011
Terms and Definitions • Flooring: assembly of elements making up the floor of a walkway or a working platform and being in direct contact with footwear. • Walkway: level surface used for moving from one point to another. • Working platform: level surface used for the operation, maintenance, inspection, repair, sampling and other phases of work in connection with the machinery. • Slip resistant surface: flooring surface designed for improving the grip of footwear.
General construction requirements (EN) • Dimensioning and selection of components (including fixings, connections, supports and foundations) to ensure sufficient rigidity and stability • Resistance of all parts to environmental effects (such as climate, chemical agents, corrosive gases) e.g. by the use of a corrosion resistant material or with the aid of a suitable protective coating • Positioning of constructional elements so that water cannot be accumulated e.g. in the joints • Use of compatible materials e.g. to minimise galvanic or differential thermal expansion • Dimension of walkways and working platforms shall be according to available anthropometric data • Designed end constructed to prevent the hazards due to falling objects • The removal of any part of the machine shall, as far as practicable, be possible without removing flooring • Walkways and working platform shall be designed and built in such a way that the walking surface have durable slip resistant properties
General construction requirements (EN) • Headroom over walkways and working platforms shall be 2100mm • Exceptions 1; due to a risk assessment and restrictions due to the machinery or environment….. No less than 1900mm; only if occasionally used or only for a short distance. • Clear width min. 600mm but preferably 800mm. If usually crossing of several persons simultaneously, increased to 1000mm. • Exception 2; due to a risk assessment and restrictions due to the machinery or environment….. No less than 500mm; only if occasionally used or only for a short distance • Warning signs to indicate these exceptions should be considered!
General requirements • Gratings should provide; • a natural slip resistant walking surface • a high percent of open area allowing snow, water and oil to drain off easily • thus maintaining the slip resistant surface. • Gratings also allow excellent passage of heat and light and contribute to walkway cleanliness. • Consider the following specifications: • Maximum load capacity • Connections • Overlap
Hazards and risks • Accumulation: • The design must drained away all liquids and/or substances (e.g. snow). • Trip and slip: • To avoid trip hazards, the greatest difference between the tops of neighbouring flooring surfaces shall not exceed 4 mm in height. • Slip resistance material • Falling objects: • Openings max. 35mm diameter • Above a place where people are working, openings max. 20mm diameter • No openings due to a risk assessment (e.g. more risk for slipping) • Joints: toe plate is necessary if the distance between flooring and element exceeds 30mm.
Hazards and risks • Falling through flooring hazard: • Gratings are detachable elements i.e. removable, e.g. where required for maintenance or replacement: • Any hazardous movement of these elements shall be prevented e.g. by fasteners • It shall be possible to inspect fixings in order to detect any corrosion or any hazardous loosening or change of position of clamps
Safety Work Instructions There must be a written procedure which describes how to perform a removal of floor gratings in a safe manner e.g.: • removal permit / authorization • install barricades IMMEDIATELY after any removal of grating • fall protection • no use of cell phone (cf. AM Safety ST 301) • ribbon off hazardous area • adequate lighting to illuminate the opening • warn signs • inform other personnel in the area • PPE • no opening shall stay open beyond the end of a shift • no opening shall ever be left unguarded… post a watch if necessary, etc.
Floor Grating Removal ProcedureExample! • PURPOSE This procedure is designed minimize fall and trip hazards associated with the removal of floor gratings when performing maintenance or service tasks. • PROCEDURE(Good Practice) No floor grating is to be removed from without first contacting the Safety Department and obtaining a completed Grating Removal Permit / Authorization Prior to grating removal and the start of work, the Safety Department will review the procedures and protective measures required by the permit. Sample
For grating removal, ALL the following requirements shall apply: I. Never remove or leave a piece of grating out without first installing a rigid barricade, guardrail or equivalent, which will entirely encompass the opening, or properly cover the opening. A. If covers are utilized, they must: • Be constructed as to adequately support without failure, at least twice the weight of any person(s) and /or equipment that it may use in maintenance or servicing. • Be cleated, or secured by means of wire tie downs, clips or other equivalent fastening method. • Have some means of warning by identifying the hazard on the cover, such as “Floor Opening”or “Danger: Hole” stenciled, painted or otherwise prominently inscribed. Sample
For grating removal, ALL the following requirements shall apply: I. Never remove or leave a piece of grating out without first installing a rigid barricade, guardrail or equivalent, which will entirely encompass the opening, or properly cover the opening. B. If rigid barricading or guardrail is used, it shall: • Be constructed of wood (2”x4”/38x89mm), angle iron or material of comparable strength, or a combined system of components capable of achieving the same, e.g. wire rope and stanchions • Have a complete top rail (no voids) • Have a top rail height of not less than 39” (0.9m) and not more than 42” (1.1m) above the grate floor • Have a complete mid rail installed at a point midway between the top edge of the top rail and the grate floor • Be secured, self supporting and capable of withstanding all expected loads. • Have a toeboard, with exception to the designated access point to the removed grate(s) openings Sample
For grating removal, ALL the following requirements shall apply: II. Upon removal of grating A. Ensure the remaining grates bordering the removed grate(s) opening are protected from movement or slippage. The existing grating can be secured by wiring down, installing clips or other means capable of being secured. B. Set grating in an area as to not cause a tripping hazard or interfere with other contractors or work activities C. Stack grating away from the opening or no higher than the top of the toeboard as to eliminate any chance of it being knocked into or across the opening. D. Stacks shall be organized and uniform and not present a safety hazard Sample
For grating removal, ALL the following requirements shall apply: III. Additional measures A. When working in the area of removed grating, ensure adequate lighting is provided to illuminate the opening B. Warn and inform other personnel in the area of the removed grating C. When re-installing gratings, ensure that it is correctly positioned and fastened. D. Take additional precautions as necessary to prevent injury. E. Leather work gloves are required when handling grating F. All grating must be reinstalled at the completion of the work task or at the end of the shift. No opening shall remain beyond the end of a shift, unless a new permit is obtained. G. No opening shall ever be left unguarded…post a watch if necessary. Sample NOTE: Any requirement for deviation or change to the above procedure shall be submitted in writing to the safety department for review and approval prior.
Main risks • Falling in an open hole during the removal of gratings • No correctly re-positioned and fastened gratings are traps, falling down • Lack of maintenance of grating floors, falling down when walking on it. • Accidents caused by slip, trips, falls, … due to uneven floors
III. Behavior and checks Corporate Health and Safety ArcelorMittal February, 2011
Walk and Work Safely: As slip, trip and fall hazards can present themselves anywhere and at anytime, always practice the following safe behaviours on stairs, grating, ….etc : • Slow down and take small careful steps if the surface is rough, cluttered, slippery or at an angle. • Take extra care when stepping from rough to slippery surfaces: • Coming indoors with wet shoes. • Carry objects close to your body and below chest level so you can see over or around what you are carrying. • Always hold the handrail on stairs (i.e., never carry objects requiring two hands on stairs). • Wear shoes and boots with good traction (especially on icy or wet surfaces). • When carrying things up or down the stairs make sure to have one hand on the rail. • In general use the right handrail when you descend or climb. • Don’t carrying objects with both hands when using stairs. • Do not carry bulky objects that block your vision. • Be very cautious on stairs if you are wearing bifocal glasses. • Apply the so-called “tennis – racket grip” at all times when possible • No use of cell phones when walking (AM ST 301)
Safety Checks • Periodic checks and inspections of the stairs, gratings and railing fastening methods must be done by trained employees. The findings must be kept in records and corrective actions followed. • All unsafe remarks must be solved immediately • Broken or malfunctioning lighting should be repaired or replaced • Regular maintenance has to be realized.
IV. Checklist Slips, Trips, and Falls Corporate Health and Safety ArcelorMittal February, 2011