Ensuring workplace safety and avoiding workplace injury are important elements of workplace efficiency. Here are some common hazards and standards for hazard communication (HAZCOM).
Budd Group teammates, we’ve made it to July. Halfway through the year. So for this month we’re going to do something that’s a little bit different for our safety video. Using the feedback that you guys have given us, we’re going to go through the five things that it takes for the Budd Group to honor our mission statement, which is to be a God-honoring company of excellence that safely delivers facility support solutions to meet all of our customer needs. So here we go.
Oh man. Slipping and falling is one of the biggest problems that we have here at the Budd Group so there’s a few things you can do to keep yourself safe as a new employee. If you’re one of our landscaping folks, this means making sure you’re wearing boots that are laced up nice and tight to avoid slipping and also being really careful when you’re on nice grassy slopes because that’s where we see a lot of slips and falls for those folks. For our janitorial employees, this means making sure that you are wearing slip-resistant shoes anytime that you are doing wet work or in a wet area. If you don’t have slip-resistant shoes, make sure you tell your manager so that they can equip you with the slip-resistant shoe covers that the Budd Group offers. And finally, to keep us, our employees and our clients safe, anytime we are doing wet work, make sure you use as many wet floor signs as you can to keep people away from that area.
Oh man. Well, that leads me to point number two of the first key of staying safe at the Budd Group, always watch your step to make sure you can avoid tripping. Also, anytime you’re coming down a staircase such as this, make sure that you use the hand rail even if this means going back and making another trip so that your hands aren’t full. And anytime you’re walking in an area that has sidewalks, please stay on the sidewalks because you never know what kind of holes or gaps might be off the sidewalks. And finally, the most important piece to making sure that you can avoid tripping is wearing proper footwear.
The final piece to the first key of Budd Group safety is avoiding falls, specifically falls from an elevated surface. Sometimes your new role here at the Budd Group may require that you do work from a ladder. If that’s the case, make sure you examine the ladder to make sure it’s in good shape and use it exactly as the manufacturer’s warning label asks you to and always maintain three points of contact. This may mean one hand and two feet, or if you’re climbing the ladder, it might mean two hands and one foot. Finally, if you have to work from any other elevated surfaces, make sure your manager has explained exactly how to operate from those services safely.
What in the world is in this thing? Uh-oh. Key number two to staying safe here at the Budd Group is to avoid sprains and strains. The most common way that we see this happen here at the Budd Group is trying to lift, pull, or push things that are too heavy for you to do by yourself. So if you find yourself in this situation, make sure that you ask a teammate for help or find an appropriate piece of equipment to help you move whatever object it is that you’re trying to move.
Another common injury that we see here at the Budd Group are cuts and lacerations, especially to the hands and fingers. And that leads us to key number three for you being safe here at the Budd Group, avoiding these types of injuries and accidents. One of the ways that we see this accident happen often is when our employees take their hands and put it in a moving area or an area with moving parts. For instance, on a mower like this, we always need to avoid putting our hands anywhere near the motor, especially while it’s running. And this includes putting our hands underneath the deck of the motor as well while it is running. Anything that could be running might be really dangerous to our hands and fingers.
For our janitorial folks, the same rule applies if we’re operating a piece of machinery that has moving parts, we need to keep our hands away from that area. If you notice that a guard is missing or something that should be keeping your hands protected, please notify your manager immediately so that they can get that replaced.
And finally, if you’re using a knife, make sure you always cut away from yourself and never cut towards yourself or towards another person. And one other key thing to keeping your hands and fingers safe is if you’re doing a job that requires personal protective equipment such as gloves, make sure that you have that equipment on.
The fourth key to safety here at the Budd Group is understanding the chemicals that you’re going to be required to use to perform your job. For the landscaping folks, this might be some type of weed deterrent or weed killer. And for the janitorial folks, this may be as simple as a cleaning chemical. But either way, it’s really important to know what chemicals you’re going to be using and how to use them safely. One of the things that each closet and each shop should be equipped with is a poster that looks like this, and all this does is tell you if you want to learn more about the chemical you’re using, you can go to buddgroupsds.com or call 1 – 866-BUDD-911. Additionally, it’s important to know what PPE, or personal protective equipment, you need to wear to handle those chemicals safely. And one place we can go to do that is our safety data sheet binder, which looks like this. Inside this binder you’re going to find everything you need to know about all the chemicals that you’re using.
The safety data sheets, also known as the SDS, were created to inform us about the required precautions and safety measures that are required for specific chemicals and hazards. Thanks to the Globally Harmonized System, or GHS, this has been reduced to a simple and consistent 16 sections. Let’s review each section so that you know how to read this information and can stay safe.
Section one is identification. This section identifies the chemical on the SDS, as well as the recommended uses. It also provides the essential contact information of the supplier. Section two is hazard or hazards identification. This section identifies the hazards of the chemical presented on the SDS and the appropriate warning information associated with those hazards. The third section is called composition/information on ingredients. This section identifies the ingredients contained in the product indicated on the SDS, including impurities and stabilizing additives. This section includes information on substances, mixtures, and all chemicals where a trade secret is claimed.
The fourth section is first aid measures. This section describes the initial care that should be given by untrained responders to an individual who has been exposed to the chemical. Section five is fire-fighting measures. This section provides recommendations for fighting a fire caused by this chemical. The sixth section is called accidental release measures. This section provides recommendations on the appropriate response to spills, leaks, or releases, including containment and cleanup practices to prevent or minimize exposure to people, properties or the environment. It may also include recommendations, distinguishing between responses for large and small spills where the spill volume has a significant impact on the hazard. Section seven, handling and storage. This section provides guidance on the safe handling practices and conditions for safe storage of chemicals. Section eight, exposure controls and personal protection. This section indicates the exposure limits, engineering controls, and personal protective measures that can be used to minimize worker exposure.
Section nine, physical and chemical properties. This section identifies physical and chemical properties associated with the substance or mixture. Section 10, stability and reactivity. This section describes the reactivity hazards of the chemical and the chemical stability information. This section is broken into three parts, reactivity, chemical stability, and other. Section 11 is called toxicological information. This section identifies toxicological and health effects information or it indicates that such data is not available. The 12th section is called ecological information. This section provides information to evaluate the environmental impact of the chemicals if it were released into the environment. Section 13 is called disposal considerations. This section provides guidance on proper disposal practices, recycling, or reclamation of the chemicals or its container and safe handling practices. To minimize exposure, this section should also refer the reader to section eight exposure controls and personal protection of the SDS.
Section 14 is called transport information. This section provides guidance on classification information for shipping and transporting of hazardous chemicals by road, air, rail, or sea. The 15th section is regulatory information. This section identifies the safety, health, and environmental regulations specific for the product that is not indicated anywhere else on the SDS. And finally the 16th section, other information. This section indicates when the SDS was prepared or when the last known revision was made. The SDS may also state where the changes have been made to the previous version. You may wish to contact the supplier for an explanation of the changes.
What in the world? Is that blood? Hey, Denis, can I get your help in here for a second?
I don’t know man. I came here to wash my hands and it looks like someone might have cut themselves or shoot, maybe someone just spilled something. I’m not sure. But I wanted to get your opinion and see what we needed to do with it.
Well, if it is not blood, we still need to treat it as blood.
Okay. So should I just wipe it up then or no?
No, don’t wipe it up because it could possibly be a bloodborne pathogen.
What’s a bloodborne pathogen?
Well, a bloodborne pathogen is a microorganism that can cause disease from an affected individual to another individual out of the blood or other infectious materials.
What kind of diseases are you talking about?
Oh, we’re talking about hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV.
Wow, this is a big deal then. So how does it go from being on the counter to cause me a disease though?
Well, you can have as simple as a cut, or abrasion, or you can ingest it by accident and then there you go.
Okay. So you mentioned it can be on other stuff, I think you said other potentially infectious material, what kind of stuff are you talking about?
Well, we’re talking about bodily fluids such as sweat, vomit, through saliva.
Wait a second, so you’re saying any of those things could have a bloodborne pathogen in it?
Okay. So if I’m coming to do my normal routine though, and I’m going to clean the bathroom, does that mean I have to treat all of those things like blood?
Negative. You don’t always have to treat it all like blood only if you see blood within them.
Okay. So it could be in those things but only if they have blood in them?
Gotcha. So what do we need to do to clean this up then?
Well, let me go grab my bloodborne pathogen kit and then I’ll show you how do we do it.
Tell you what man, it sounds like there’s a lot to this bloodborne pathogen thing.
So if I’m one of your employees and I want to find out some more information about this stuff, where can I go to find that?
Well, there’s two places you can go. So it’s OSHA 1910 Book of Standards and then the second place is Budd Group’s exposure control plan.
Okay, that’s right. Yeah. So if any employee has more questions, they can contact their manager and they can either take them to the Book of Standards, which outlines what companies need to have to be in compliance, or they can take them to the exposure control plan that the Budd Group has, which is Budd Group specific. It just talks about how the Budd Group communicates around a potential exposure.
So let’s say one of your employees does get exposed, what happens? What should they do?
They need to contact the manager immediately first. And then from there, they’ll contact Medcor and go from there and go through the process of what the standard procedures would be.
Okay, so they’re following the normal accident-
… procedure. Okay. Anything else that you would recommend if they have been exposed?
Yes. So immediately after contacting your manager, you would go flood that area for 30 seconds with warm water and soap. And just make sure you vigorously, not tearing at your skin but vigorously, with a little bit of pressure on that area, cleaning that surface.
Gotcha. So we followed the accident procedure, likely they’re going to tell us we need to go to the hospital and at the hospital, a medical professional is going to walk us through getting tested and seeing if we have been exposed to something and then walk us through that process?
It sounds like you know a lot about these diseases and bloodborne pathogens. Could you tell me a little bit more about hepatitis B?
Yeah. So hepatitis B is very nasty. For one, it will inflame your liver, so it attacks your liver, creating scar tissue over and over again. Cirrhosis of the liver, which causes liver failure. The other one could be genetically passed from you to your child, your infant. And that is 90% of the case your child will contract if you have hepatitis B.
Okay so I have heard that that is what we’re most likely to be exposed to because so many people don’t even know that they have hepatitis B. So is there anything that we can do to prevent ourselves from being exposed?
Yes. So there’s hepatitis B vaccination. So that’s a series of shots over three stages that lasts about three to six months.
Okay. So it takes three to six months to get to the shots and then the actual vaccination is good for at least 10 years?
Okay. So what if I’m an employee and I want to get the hepatitis B vaccination, what do I need to do?
Well, y’all are in luck here because at Budd Group we offer it for free for our employees. So when you’re initially being hired, they give you this form to fill out whether you want to decline or accept the offer that we do give to our employees for hepatitis B vaccination.
That’s right. And even if you decided upfront that you don’t want it or maybe you had it and you don’t need it, but later down the road you think, I do want to go get it, it’s still okay. Just contact your manager and they’ll walk you through the process of getting that vaccination started.
Hopefully if you use the tips and tricks that we’ve given you here today in this video, you’ll be able to go through your time at the Budd Group without any accidents or injuries. However, sometimes accidents do happen and if they do, it’s important that you know how to report those. So the first thing that you need to do is let your supervisor know if you’ve been hurt on the job. And then you and your supervisor together will sit down and you’ll call our 24⁄7 nurse hotline, and that nurse is going to walk you through what to do and the next steps it takes and whether or not you need to seek medical attention for your injury. And that number is very important. That number is (844) 322‑4668. And that nurse hotline is available 24⁄7.
Thanks again for watching this video. We are so excited to have you on your team and we are committed to keeping you safe while you work for the Budd Group.
The Budd Group strives to be a God-honoring company of excellence safely delivering services in janitorial, maintenance, and landscaping; offering development opportunities for their employees; and contributing to their community.
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