Rolling the Dice With Safety

Don’t gamble that your company can get by without a solid accident-prevention program.

Portable Sanitation is a pretty safe job, isn’t it? After all, what’s the worst that could happen? Actually, that’s the most important question any employer can ask.

If you’ve never had a serious accident at your business, you already have a good safety program in place or you’ve been lucky and haven’t had to give safety much thought. However, luck can run out, and it’s too late to start thinking about safety after an accident occurs.

Common hazards

Since many of you serve the construction industry, it’s important to note that construction sites are among the most dangerous workplaces, with more than 1,100 accidental deaths reported in 2007. Many of the dangers on a construction site may also endanger a sanitation driver, depending on where and when a portable restroom is serviced.

On highway construction, there is always the danger of cars or trucks leaving the roadway at high speeds. On high-rise construction sites there is the constant danger of falling debris, and on new home sites, there are high-voltage lines, gas lines, open manholes and other exposed dangers.

What’s more, since drivers spend a good part of their time on the roads driving vehicles that are top-heavy and difficult to maneuver, a traffic fatality is always a possibility.

Be careful out there

So, what’s the worst that could happen? The death of an employee. Beyond the worst-case scenario, there are plenty of smaller risks employees in our industry take every day. Working on wet, slippery surfaces can make the chance of falling a serious potential health hazard.

Transporting tanks, restroom units and sinks can cause back injuries if proper precautions aren’t taken. Because units are bulky, workers carrying them may have trouble seeing where they are going — a danger that could lead to stepping into a construction hole or in front of an oncoming vehicle.

Concentrated cleaning fluids or deodorizers can endanger eyes if splashed or spilled. Winterizing tanks with methanol can become a fire or explosion hazard. And of course, if workers make any physical contact with untreated waste, hepatitis, E. coli infection or other illnesses are possible.

All these potential dangers are important reasons to take safety precautions seriously and to institute a safety program for all of your employees.

Protect workers and the company

Employees today have a greater awareness of what is healthy and safe and what the various regulations require. Workers who believe their surroundings are unsafe won’t be as productive as they could be, and job-related illnesses or accidents have a direct effect on a company’s bottom line.

Management decisions should always be made with safety in mind. For example, never give employees incentives for working too quickly. A smart lawyer could convince a jury that basing a service driver’s pay on how many units were serviced in a day is tantamount to encouraging reckless speeding.

A well-devised schedule that takes into account average traffic, distances, speed limits and service time is vital to managing your service drivers’ workloads.

A consistently enforced, well-implemented safety program may also protect your business from legal trouble if an employee has an accident. Spot checks by managers should ensure reasonable safety regulations are followed. Be sure that:

• Wet spills in the yard or service buildings are cleaned immediately.

• Seat belts are checked in service vehicles and are worn by all drivers and passengers.

• Drivers and salespeople have hardhats and wear them whenever entering a construction zone.

• Rubber boots, rubber gloves and safety glasses are worn when cleaning and servicing restrooms.

Seek help

If you don’t know where to start, you can turn to the Portable Sanitation Association International, which offers safety training. The trade association training can lead to your employees becoming health- and safety-certified portable sanitation workers. You can get more information by calling 800/822-3020 or by visiting the trade group’s Web site, www.psai.org.



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