In 2020, the Bureau for Labor Statistics (BLS) estimated that of the 4,764 fatalities that occurred on the job, 340 of them were in the manufacturing industry. In 2019, 395,300 of the 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries that occurred were in the manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing workers are regularly exposed to potentially dangerous equipment and conditions which makes proper training and regular safety meetings an essential part of a safe work environment. There are several common safety meeting topics for manufacturing that should be a regular part of training to help avoid fines, injuries, and fatalities.
Safety meetings are OSHA-mandated, designated sessions companies use to talk to their employees about safety procedures, the risks present in their work environment, and any new pertinent information such as how to wear a new piece of PPE. Simply put, safety meetings are opportunities to cover preventative practices to keep everyone in the workplace safe.
Safety meetings can benefit manufacturers in several ways if the moderator conducts them correctly and covers topics that are relevant to the employees’ everyday jobs. Relevancy not only helps prevent common accidents but also helps keep employees engaged. If the information has no practical application, employees will tune out.
So, what topics should SMMs cover during safety meetings? While the exact material covered will vary depending on a manufacturer’s specific industry, processes, and machinery, here are nine critical safety topics based on OSHA’s most common violations.
Note: We also include specific OSHA codes for your reference; however, we don’t recommend including them in the meeting materials. The more practical (and less theoretical), the better for employee engagement in your safety meetings.
The manufacturing sector depends on many different machines, most of which can be dangerous to operate. Saws, presses, cutters, dies, drums, gears, and drills are just a few machining components that can injure workers if handled incorrectly.
Many protocols exist to ensure proper machine guarding. The OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.212 gives extensive requirements for how workers can best protect themselves when dealing with dangerous equipment. While we won’t cover the entire list, some of the most important precautions include:
Employers should consult Appendix G for a self-inspection checklist to ensure they have all the proper machine guards installed and should include safe equipment handling in future safety meetings.
The machines used in the manufacturing sector store and discharge many different kinds of energy — and these can prove fatal if discharged improperly. Manufacturing workers must also regularly enter confined spaces where potentially dangerous machinery operates and must know how to shut down the equipment and safely enter/exit the space. Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) deals with both of these.
There are a number of energy types employed in manufacturing machinery that can harm employees in different ways — even if they are inactive. Some examples include:
To avoid such unexpected injuries or fatalities, employees should understand the proper steps to take to safely discharge all stored energy and return equipment to a safe resting state.
Some machinery not only carries the risk of energy discharge but is large enough for employees to perform their work inside of it. These are known as permit-required confined spaces (PRCS), and OSHA characterizes them by the following:
The Cal/OSHA department further characterizes PRCS by:
The OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.147 provides a comprehensive definition of proper lockout/tagout protocols regarding both safe energy discharge and PRCS navigation. While employers should refer to the regulation to ensure their compliance, some common steps usually include:
LOTO is especially important for safety meetings because it emphasizes the responsibility of all workers to keep each other safe. For example, if an employee's tag is on a machine, it's the responsibility of each team member to acknowledge it and help keep their colleague safe until it's removed.
Electrical shock is a significant risk on manufacturing floors, which makes the handling of electrical wiring especially important. Wires are both a powerful source of electricity and are found in many different locations, meaning workers should exercise careful attention in knowing where potential electrical dangers exist. Some of the most common wiring-related dangers are:
OSHA standards give multiple descriptions of how to properly handle electrical wiring based on wiring type and application, and while 29 CFR 1910.305 is for general use, 1910.305(a) states that this does not apply to factory settings.
Employers should therefore consult the OSHA standard specific to their industry when planning their electrical safety compliance and sharing best practices in their safety meetings.
Falls are one of the most common causes of workplace injuries. In 2019, 880 workers died in falls across all industries, 55 of which came from the manufacturing sector. Perhaps most tragically, fall-related injuries and fatalities are entirely preventable. To avert any potential falls, SMMs can train their employees on the helpful precautions.OSHA standard 29 CFR 1926.503 details the requirements for a fall prevention training program, some components of which include:
Standard 29 CFR 1926.501 describes fall prevention protocol for the construction industry. Due to its similarities to manufacturing, this can serve as a useful template for creating a safe fall prevention program on a factory floor and can be used to guide your safety meetings.
Falling objects can prove as dangerous in the workplace as worker falls themselves. The BLS estimated that 217 workplace fatalities were caused by a falling object. Some precautions employees should practice to avoid falling object injuries and fatalities include:
OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.28 describes the regulations SMMs should include in their safety meetings to protect workers from falling objects.
Scaffolding introduces a host of hazards to a manufacturing workplace, including falls, falling objects, and unstable structures. In 1996, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 25% of workers injured in scaffold-related accidents hadn’t had any scaffold training, OSHA revised the scaffolding standard 29 CFR 1926.451 to strengthen the training requirements.
Some subject matter commonly taught in scaffolding training includes:
While manufacturers must have employees trained in scaffolding safety by a subject matter expert, they should also cover key points in safety meetings to keep the concepts fresh in employees’ minds.
Sometimes workers in manufacturing settings are exposed to hazardous chemicals, and when they are, it's essential they know how to respond.
OSHA describes their hazard communication standard (HCS) 29 CFR 1910.1200 as being rooted in the reality that:
"Employees have both a need and a right to know the hazards and identities of the chemicals they are exposed to when working. They also need to know what protective measures are available to prevent adverse effects from occurring."
For employers, that means clear communication about the nature of the chemicals employees may be exposed to, the effects of exposure or ingestion, and how to treat themselves should they be affected by exposure. Some examples include:
Refer to the standard for a comprehensive set of HCS guidelines; and be proactive in making sure that your employees are well-educated on any chemicals in your workplace.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) guards manufacturing workers against projectiles, equipment, and harmful debris, but its role has become much more significant amidst the pandemic. While workplace injuries dropped from 2.7 million to 2.1 million from 2019 to 2020, workplace-related illnesses rose from 127,200 to 544,600 at the same time.
While the pandemic has elevated proper PPE use across all industries, other types of protection are especially important on the factory floor. Some of these are:
Eye and face protection is carefully detailed in OSHA standard 29 CFR 1926.102, and respiratory protection is outlined in 29 CFR 1910.134. Consult both of these to create an effective PPE program, and explain it in your regularly scheduled safety meetings.
The manufacturing industry relies on many powered industrial trucks (PITs) to move both employees and equipment — and these can be dangerous if operated improperly. PITs include forklifts, hand-operated vehicles, and other heavy-duty vehicles, all of which have certain features that make them riskier to drive. Some risks are:
Many PIT operators must be certified to drive industrial vehicles like these, so you should ensure all drivers have current licensure to operate their machines. You can refer to 29 CFR 1910.178 for a complete guide on OSHA's regulations regarding powered industrial trucks, and use the information there to guide your safety meeting discussions.
The manufacturing industry can present safety challenges that few other sectors face. Dangerous machinery, precarious vehicles, electrical dangers, and noxious chemicals are just a few of the hazards employees may face; and providing a safe working environment may prove a daunting task to many small and medium-sized manufacturers.
At CMTC, we have extensive expertise in creating a safe manufacturing environment for all. We pride ourselves on providing SMMs with enterprise-level resources so they can thrive in a competitive manufacturing world. Whether you'd like an analysis of your potential safety risks or help with maintaining regulatory compliance, our health and safety experts are here to help.
Contact us today to see what we can do for you.