WRITTEN BY AUSTIN YURT
TRENDING SAFETY TOPICS PLANNING FOR THE WORST IS GOOD BUSINESS
S
afety training often leads to interesting debates in the craft distiller setting on what is needed and why. Truth be told, almost every safety topic is worth discussing, but we will focus on a few key issues that could benefit distillers everywhere. Specifically, we will be looking at: Fall Protection, Confined Space, Lockout Tagout, First Aid, CPR, and AED Training.
Falls are currently one of the leading
FALL PROTECTION
CONFINED SPACES
Falls are currently one of the leading causes of death in workplace accidents. We have seen some incidents at distilleries recently where workers have fallen due to poor PM (preventive maintenance) on equipment. We have also seen mezzanines collapse and improper work procedures leading to serious injury. A good practice to make employees safer from potential falls is to implement the “ABCDs of Fall Protection”:
Currently there are around 5,000,000 million workers entering confined spaces annually in the United States. Common confined space entries for distilleries are cookers, blending tanks, fermenters, and process tanks. Confined spaces come with a variety of hazards to consider, including atmospheric conditions, configuration of the space, engulfment hazards, and any other serious recognized safety or health hazard in the space. A thorough confined space program can also help define roles and responsibilities at your facility.
causes of
A is anchor point,
death in
B is body harness,
workplace
C is connector, and
accidents.
80
D Is deceleration device. This will clearly lay out a basic approach to what is needed to ensure that the employees have the right equipment for the job while working from heights. Fall protection training is needed when employees work at heights of four feet or higher or there is potential of workers falling into dangerous machinery/equipment.
Confined spaces must be completely deenergized and isolated while workers are working inside of the space.
LOCKOUT/TAGOUT Lockout/tagout is the process of removing energy from a system that uses it and then securing the device isolating the energy source with something such as a padlock, then using a tag to warn people of its dangers. Confined spaces must be completely deenergized and isolated while workers are working inside of the space. Common forms of energy in distilleries are electrical, pneumatic, chemical, and thermal (steam) and that can injure or cause death to an employee. Lockout/ tagout still continues to be in the top 10 most cited issues by OSHA. Lockout/tagout training is needed for any employee who performs servicing and maintenance on any piece of equipment. W W W . ARTISANSPIRITMAG . C O M