Safety First
Being safe while on the job is always important. Here we learn about some of the more important methods of staying safe in potentially dangerous work situations.
For many of us, heavy work is not exactly a pleasure, but if you must do a job that requires heavy labor, here are a few tips to keep yourself safe from harm. You have probably read them all before but there may be some who haven’t and this may keep those people injury free while on the job. Remember, you are the only one who can inforce these rules for yourself, and keep in mind that it only takes one second to seriously injure yourself.
First of all, know your job. Learn what tools you will need for the job at hand and gather them all before-hand so you aren’t making a lot of unnecessary trips that will wear you out faster. Also, make sure you have all the safety equipment you’ll need. If you are clearing brush and burning it, you should have safety glasses, because it only takes one well-aimed poke from a branch to put your eye out. These can also prevent painful scratches on your eye’s lens.
If you already wear glasses make sure they are the kind that you can put side shields on, if not, you may want to wear safety glasses on top of your prescription lenses, or buy specially made prescription safety glasses in the first place. Yeah, safety glasses are a real hassle, but so is a glass eye. Working with brush will probably cut up your hands fairly bad, especially if the trees have thorns as many of them do. Heavy-duty work gloves are a great idea to keep your hands from getting all scratched up and also to prevent splinters and blisters. Gloves are a good idea while burning as well, protecting the hands from severe heat. For further protection, you could either wear a long-sleeved shirt, or a separate set of sleeves (a heavy fabric sleeve with elastic at the wrist and elbow) can be worn to protect your arms from the fire’s heat.
When working with hot solder I would recommend the gloves and sleeves both, since hot solder is a liquid and can splash quite easily. I once knew a fellow who would twiddle his bare fingers in my solder pot when I was soldering leads on stators for rebuilt alternators. Somehow he managed to avoid injury and I don’t know how he accomplished that, but I don’t recommend anyone try that. I have been burned with liquid solder and it is impossible to stop a serious burn from occuring because the solder is so hot that it burns through several layers of skin before it finally cools off enough to be removed. It doesn’t matter how quick you are, you will get at least a second degree burn.
Safety glasses, as we all know, are definitely needed while working with solder and a full-face mask would be a plus. That way, any splashed solder will be kept off both your eyes and your face. When running anything that makes a lot of noise, it is wise to use some sort of hearing protection. If you listen to the same droning noise long enough, your ears will become used to it, and you won’t notice how loud it really is. After the noise is turned off however, then you notice it, because there will be a hollow sound in your head. Damage to the hearing is not difficult, so protection is a smart move.
The best type of hearing protection is the small, molded rubber plugs, that you squeeze into a tight, circular shape and insert into the ear canal. This offers the highest amount of protection possible. The lowest amount comes from the over-the-ear variety, the kind that look like a huge set of head phones. I would suggest hearing protection even for mowing the lawn because you have to listen to that droning engine usually for several hours. Chainsaws, electric saws, lawn mowers, snow blowers, electric drills, all of these things make loud noise that can eventually cause hearing damage.
Always remember to lift things with your legs rather than your back, because it is very easy to put your back out by lifting heavy things incorrectly, and if your job does involve lifting heavy objects, a pair of steel toed shoes is a necessity because the last thing you want is a crushed foot. There you have it, the list of most important safety aids: Safety glasses or guards, gloves, sleeves, lifting techniques and steel toed shoes, all those things will keep you safer while on the job. Of course, not all workers will use each and every one of the above listed items, I know I don’t always use safety glasses when I probably should, but a little knowledge goes a long way.
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