Best practices

Employers are responsible for providing a safe work
environment and educating workers on safe work procedures. This means
that workers must receive basic training for the job at hand and be
informed of all safety and health hazards involved. Equipment must be
inspected regularly to ensure that it is adequately maintained and safe
to operate. Workers must be required to wear appropriate personal
protective equipment, and the work area must be safe. Fire extinguishers
must be handy, and the area must be properly ventilated.

Wearing the right personal protective equipment is
the most important precaution for workers who are welding and cutting.
Clothing should be made of heavier cloth such as wool or heavy cotton.
Welder’s jackets provide excellent protection for the upper body.
Sleeves should be unrolled and collars should be buttoned. Shirts should
not have front pockets so that sparks cannot lodge in these areas and
cause burns. Pants should not have cuffs or be turned up for same
reason, and frayed clothes, which are susceptible to catching fire and
burning, should not be worn. Workers should wear appropriate
flame-resistant gloves, aprons, shields, or leggings, leather capes, and
sleeves, as necessary. They should also use helmets with filter lenses
to protect them from arc rays as well as sparks and spatter. Spectacles
with side shields or goggles will protect against slag chips, grinding
fragments, wire wheel bristles, and similar hazards.

Information contained in this article was provided
through the MSHA-NSSGA Alliance and was written cooperatively by members
of both the aggregates industry and the regulatory agency.

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