Precast Plant Safety
Beautiful precast structures wow and amaze us. The versatility and unique adaptability of precast concrete allows for high impact designs, as well as straightforward brute strength building components. Regardless of the design or product being produced, all precast building materials get their start in a manufacturing facility at the hands of highly skilled producers. The “day-in-day-out” production process is shrouded in a blanket of safety protocols intended to minimize or eliminate worker injury.
SAFETY IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY
*Management’s Role: Supervisors and managers bear the enormous responsibility of ensuring that crews are safe at all times. Oftentimes, a company Safety Manager will head the training, both initial and on-going” for safety issues in precast plants. They will oversee that all mandates are being followed and provide company-specific training. Many companies kick-off their day with a “toolbox talk” which serves as a brief meeting to highlight areas of concerns and provide daily reminders about safety rules.
*Employee’s Role: Employees often “police” themselves and remind fellow workers when they observe safety protocols not being followed. Some companies provide different colored hardhats to new employees so they are easy to spot and special attention can be paid to them as they become acclimated to the plant environment. It is the employees responsibility to familiarize themselves with the employee handbook and the safety plans for the plant.
AREAS OF CONCERN IN A PRECAST PLANT
The Plant
Is PPE being worn? Gloves, steel toed boots, ear protection, specially fitted sandblasting suits etc. are all items designed to protect workers from chemical exposure and silica exposure as they perform their duties.
Is the machinery being properly maintained? Machine maintenance not only ensures a breakdown doesn’t inhibit the production process but it also ensures that workers are not injured while machines are in use. Items such as back-up alarms as well as using “lock-out-tag-out” systems are in place to provide an additional layer of safety at the plant.
Is the plant neat and orderly? Slips and falls are easily avoided when the plant is free from spilled liquids and items left laying around.
The Yard
Do yard employees have situational awareness? As cranes and trucks move about the storage yard, workers are at increased risk of injury if they are not keenly aware of their surroundings.
Are lifts being used at proper capacity? Exceeding capacity of machines, whether in the plant or in the yard, can result in dangerous situations. It is the responsibility of both management and workers to ensure that unsafe practices are not happening with the goal of saving time.
The Erection Crew
Is the crew on the jobsite practicing safety? Because precast producers are often subcontractors for a general contractor, many times a safety plan will be requested by the general contractor addressing how the precast products will be handled and erected safelyon the jobsite.
The Trucking
Is the movement of the product from plant to jobsite safe? From loading of the trucks to tie down of products, safety begins before the precast components leave the yard. Once loaded, products must be trucked on public roadways and unloaded safely on the site. Sometimes special permits are required for the trucking of extra large components.
Safety is everyone’s concern. It is imperative that time and energy are devoted to processes and protocols that keep workers safe and injury free. The Optimum Safety Group offers beneficial safety guidelines to PCI members and can be found at www.pci.org. OSHA also has a wealth of information regarding silica and other pertinent topics.