Safety Engineering Unit 5
As the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) professional for a manufacturing company, you have been asked to conduct a risk assessment of potential issues within your facility. Specifically, you have been asked to identify whether these issues present a hazard by conducting a risk assessment using the quantitative risk assessment form, which you can access by clicking here. Once the risk assessments have been identified, your assignment is to provide control measures based on the hierarchy of controls identified in the Unit IV and Unit V Lessons. Each of the scenarios below have been identified as potential issues.
Review each of the potential hazards identified in the scenarios, and provide a technical report of your findings and recommendations. The project should be a technical report with a minimum of three pages detailing your findings and recommendations. The project should be written in full APA format and include the elements listed below.
Perform a quantitative risk assessment before and after the recommended controls. (You may include these as appendices in the technical report, but the findings should be discussed in the body of the report.)
Include a priority ranking of controls based on the risk assessment findings.
Explain the control measures for each of the identified hazards, and explain why you chose those specific control measures.
Scenario 1: Proposed Catwalk (Fall Hazards)
There is an elevated area within the plant that requires two maintenance personnel to access it at least once every 2 weeks to perform preventive maintenance by lubricating gears and pulleys. They are currently using a 20-foot extension ladder to reach the locations that require maintenance. This requires that the ladder be moved six times per event, along with the employee climbing up and down the ladder. The maintenance supervisor for the plant has provided a drawing of a catwalk that he would like to install and has asked you to review them for compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards and to identify any potential problems with the design.
Scenario 2: Hunter Molding Machine (Machine Guarding)
While operating a Hunter molding machine, it is necessary for a single operator to reach inside the machine to adjust the pattern or blow it off to ensure that it is free of particles or other debris that will create deformed parts. This function is conducted once every 75 minutes, 8.5 hours per day. The molding pattern is placed on the holder by the machine, which then automatically rotates the pattern 180 degrees before the molding sand is compressed on the pattern, and then this process is repeated to ensure a two-sided mold is created. When the molds are compressed and then separated, the operator must reach inside the machine to clean the pattern by blowing compressed air onto the mold. The foundry supervisor is concerned that there is a potential for the operator to be caught in the rotating pattern holder, causing an amputation. He has asked for your help to provide a control measure to prevent any possible injuries to the operators. Note: A physical barrier between the operator and the pattern holder is not possible or feasible due to production activities. Please see the photographs below as a reference.
Scenario 3: Quality Control Testing Facility (Airborne Chemicals)
The quality control manager has implemented a new testing procedure to ensure high quality products are being produced by the company. As a part of the testing operation, the quality control technician applies a chemical mixture with a paintbrush onto specific points of the parts, which have previously been identified as weak points by customer complaints. This operation takes place over an open sink, similar to a parts washing tank. The quality control manager has requested your assessment based on the following data, along with any recommendations for any controls that need to be implemented. This operation takes place throughout the day and involves three employees (quality technicians) per 8-hour shift. An outside consultant has sampled the employee exposure over an 8-hour period with the results shown below.
Scenario 4: Mobile Crane Operations (Materials Handling)
While observing a lift of materials onto a flatbed trailer through the use of a mobile hydraulic crane, which had the tires fully inflated and on level and firm ground, the materials manager stopped the operation because it did not look correct to her. She has now requested your assessment and your recommendations on controls to reduce any potential incidents or injuries. Based on your observations, you find the information shown below.
Safety Engineering Unit 5
Scenario 1: Proposed Catwalk (Fall Hazards)
Risk assessment: The inadequacies identified in the proposed catwalk design include lack of open gates at the fixed ladder opening. The other inadequacy identified is the guardrail’s height on the catwalk, which is 39 inches, and the catwalk does not have a toe board under the guardrail. If the proposed catwalk is designed as provided in Appendix One, low risk will be associated with the deficiencies identified. However, the maintenance supervisor should not ignore the risks due to the gate and the rail on the catwalk, which creates the Degree of Possible Harm to be a fatality. Considering that the catwalk will be designed nine feet above the ground, an individual around 20 pounds will involve an impact force of about 3,000 pounds, which is twice what Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards allow.
Recommendation: It is recommended that the maintenance supervisor add a gate to the fixed ladder despite the low risks associated with the gate’s absence. Another recommendation is to add the rail height to 42 inches (San Bernardino Community College District, 2016). It is also recommended for an additional four-inch toe board to the design. The recommended changes will reduce the risk level associated with the catwalk and ensure that the company maintains adherence to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards by eliminating the deficiencies (Benton, 2012).
Scenario 2: Hunter Molding Machine (Machine Guarding)
Risk assessment: The operation of the hunter molding machine is associated with various risks. The general risk assessment conducted indicate a high-level risk associated with the operations of the hunter molding machine. Possible risks identified include crushing injuries or amputations of the operator reaching inside the machine to adjust the pattern or cleaning the pattern by blowing compressed air into the mold. The crushing injuries or amputation are likely to occur when hands or arms are placed or caught by the rotating pattern holder. The operator may also be at risk of crushing injuries or amputation when they reach into the machine to loosen stuck parts, when the hunter molding machine is operated without guards r interlocks, and when the operator is not familiar with the machine.
Recommendation: It is proposed that installing a safety gate is conducted, which will enable to block the operator’s access to moving parts when the machine is in operation. Interlocks are recommended to help prevent the mold from closing when the gate is open (OSHA, n.d.). For the company to remain adherence to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, it is recommended for the company to conduct regular training to the machine operators regarding the safety hazards and features of the hunter molding machine.
Scenario 3: Quality Control Testing Facility (Airborne Chemicals)
Risk assessment: In the given testing operation, various factors are associated with the testing procedure’s high risk. Based on the data provided, the three employees each working or being exposed to the chemicals for an 8-hour shift, including acetone with an airborne concentration of 753 ppm and methanol with airborne concertation of 72 ppm. The employees are likely to suffer from various respirational conditions, including active lung diseases. The assessment also established a high risk of the employees coming in conduct with the chemicals as the chemicals are tested over the open sink.
Recommendation: It is recommended that the quality control manager implement various activities to ensure the employees are less likely to be exposed to chemicals and avoid physical hazards. The recommendations will also ensure that the company operations remain within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. The recommendations include preventing exposure to toxic chemicals by reducing each employee’s shift from an 8-hour shift to a four-hour shift (World Health Organization, 2011). All employees in the testing operation room to have protective equipment to protect them from inhalation exposure, ingestion, or absorption through the skin.
Scenario 4: Mobile Crane Operations (Materials Handling)
Risk assessment: Based on the materials that were being lifted with the mobile crane operations, the operations’ risks include the possibility of the crane losing balance as the tires remain fully inflated. There is a high possibility that the weight of the load, which in this case is 28,000 pounds, overweights both the boom length of 60 feet and the boom radius of 20 feet. Therefore, the risk level of the mobile crane operations can be considered as low. The assessment of the risk level as low is based on the low possibility of the crane losing balance, which is associated with a Less Degree of Harm.
Recommendation: To eliminate the risks associated with the mobile crane operations and to ensure compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards are achieved, the materials manager should ensure that the lifting capacity remains at a maximum of 2,000 pounds (Zitzman, 2020). The OSHA standards require mobile crane operations in the manufacturing to hot or lift a maximum capacity of 2,000 pounds or less with employees being certified or licensed. The other recommendation is for the materials manager to ensure that the boom length and the boom radius are increased to match the 28,000 pounds.
References
Benton, J. (2012). OSHA Training – Introduction to Fall Protection. EHS. Retrieved from https://ehssafetynewsamerica.com/2012/02/19/osha-training-introduction-to-fall-protection/
World Health Organization. (2011). Laboratory Quality Management System. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/ihr/publications/lqms_en.pdf
San Bernardino Community College District. (2016). Fall Protection Program. Retrieved from http://www.sbccd.org/~/media/Files/SBCCD/District/EHS/Safety_Programs/SBVC/SBCCD_Fall_Protection_Program__Consolidated-RevisedOct.2016.docx.pdf
OSHA. (n.d.). Machine Guarding. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/machineguarding/plastics/h_injectmold.html
Zitzman, L. (2020). 11 Crane Safety Tips to Prevent Accidents. BigRentz, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.bigrentz.com/blog/crane-safety-tips
