A near miss occurred when a 3’ piece of plywood and 3-3’ pieces of foam boards were picked up by a gust of severe wind at a site while maintenance work was being done.
The material landed as far as 15’ from the original location. The boards were sitting on a pallet to be discarded when a fierce wind caused the boards to relocate. Fortunately, no one was injured and there was no damage done to any property.
Another near miss occurred when several tripping hazards, including tool belts, cut pieces of conduit, and a pipe bender, were left scattered on the floor as the workers went to lunch. Despite the fact that the workers would return and resume work, an injury could still have taken place if a third party entered the site.
What can we learn from this event?
- Proper POST procedures must be followed
- Weigh down debris, material, and/or all equipment that may be subject to movement regardless of the weather conditions. Use wheel locking feature on all equipment with wheels.
- Discard all excess material and garbage in a dumpster immediately after the work is done
- If equipment or material cannot be moved, block off the area with pylons and flags to avoid tripping hazards and keep people aware of work being done in the area
- Always clean your work area prior to leaving it unattended. Anyone at anytime could pass by and potentially get injured.
- Lack of house cleaning at work is not permitted.