Safety Tidbit 4.33 - Hair in Machinery

Safety Tidbit 4.33 – Hair in Machinery

References:

OSHA 3170 - Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting Workers from Amputations

Michaud, J. (2011). The History of the American Beard. The New Yorker, July 28, 2011

I’m sure many of you have observed workers with long beards working around moving equipment. A client recently asked me if there was an OSHA regulation about the length of beards while working around machinery. Beards have been in and out of fashion for as long as men have been able to trim their whiskers. Not one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence wore a beard (Michaud, 2011).  In the 1960s and 1970s beards grew in popularity which persists to today.

As I reviewed OSHA’s regulations and interpretations, I could not find any reference to protective measures for hair being caught in a machine. OSHA’s Machine Guarding standard, 1910.212, states: “One or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips, and sparks.”

Depending on the hazard in your workplace, the employer needs to evaluate each instance. The most drastic control would be to require the man to shave as a condition of employment. For example, if sparks are a concern, then shaving off the beard may seem to be the best alternative. However, control of the sparks might better serve everyone as the fire hazard no longer exists and therefore, cannot burn down the facility.

Unfortunately, OSHA does not have a ready answer and relies on the employer to evaluate their work environment and protect each of their workers using best practices.  Ultimately, every person with long hair, working around machinery, knows they need to keep their hair tied up while working, but how does a man with a long beard “tie up” his beard is another question. It will depend on the beard and the operation.

Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have a new safety or health question, please let me know.

Safety Tidbit 4.32 - Railway Safety

Safety Tidbit 4.32 – Railway Safety

This week’s Safety Tidbit was written by one of my students, Devin Jeffries – a junior in the Safety Sciences Program at Indiana University of PA.

In August of 2018 at Station Square in downtown Pittsburgh, a Norfolk Southern train derailed leaving seven rail cars destroyed and various freight products lost. The scary accident reminded people of the danger of rail travel and raised safety concerns. These concerns could heighten even more as rail companies are considering stacking crates and transporting more hazardous materials by train in the future.

These concerns will be counteracted by the rail companies, as statistics show a steady decline in railway derailments. Regulators tend to give flexibility to the major rail companies to operate their lines, as they currently perform their track inspections and schedule the dispatching of their trains. Companies would say that it is impossible for regulators to check all the logs, and regulations to standardize the industry would result in higher cost on wholesale prices. A safety professional would argue that these concerns counteracted by the rail companies are not enough to change public interests of putting lives on the line and damage to property if a derailment were to occur.

Derailments often occur due to track defects and human error, and because there is so much traffic on the rails, it is hard to find down time to identify flaws and repair tracks. In Allegheny County, 18 trains have derailed since 2015, causing $1 million in damage. As companies are starting to ship more oil and petroleum, accidents could be far more dangerous.

Currently, advanced technologies such as ultrasound and software platforms search irregularities in the miles of train lines. Also, rail companies use efficiency software (using factors such as trip length, population surrounding track quality, and other hazards) to map the best path for a train based on their cargo. Lastly, rail companies use newer models of tank cars because of the rise in hauling oil and other hazardous materials.

Track defects are the most significant factor to cause derailments in the industry. The use of the advanced track testing technology will help to identify these irregularities. However, employers need to extensively train employees to recognize defects and have the ability to report and fix them. Companies should also consider slowing the trains down to lower the risks of error and put more peace into the minds of people. Companies could consider investing more in inspecting the trains themselves for any deficiencies. Correcting these errors could lower the risk for a train to derail because it is in better condition. Taking time to do this before every train leaves the station is vital to ensuring it has the safest travel. 

Trains are vital to transporting large amounts of materials, but they are very dangerous and have the potential to hurt whole neighborhoods and damage vast amounts of property. Putting safety first will ensure the railway company’s cargo gets to where it needs to go.

Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan

P.S. If you have a new safety or health question, please let me know.