Tool box safety talk

johntims said:

I have worked with some guys that doing that job could very well result in an injury... I guess we would look pretty foolish if a guy did get hurt and the only reason was we thought the job was to minor to do a hazard assessment. Trust me I agree some jobs maybe shouldn't require one, but if you don't do one for all jobs how do you determine what jobs require one and what jobs don't. I find that the most dangerous people to work with are the ones that have that "it will never happen" attitude

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Guess things are very different where I work. 99% of the time I'm working by myself in the shop at the quarry doing maintenance and or repairs on everything from walk behind lawn mower to 773G Cat haul trucks. Say one of those haul trucks came in for routine service, oil and filter change. While doing that I check tire pressures and find one of the rear inner duels to have a leaking valve core. At your location would I then need to call John and have you come out and discuss the hazards involved in removing and replacing the core? Yes I do understand that there are several hazards, remove old core and it might fly out under pressure and hit me in the eye, airing up the tire after valve core is replaced could result in failure of lock ring and so on. Just seems like this would be covered by say monthly training in proper work practices for a mechanic.

The biggest problem is that the people that need the safety task analysis for a simple job would not understand it in the first place. Most days I think the only ones paying attention are the one that do work safe.

kshansen said:

Guess things are very different where I work. 99% of the time I'm working by myself in the shop at the quarry doing maintenance and or repairs on everything from walk behind lawn mower to 773G Cat haul trucks. Say one of those haul trucks came in for routine service, oil and filter change. While doing that I check tire pressures and find one of the rear inner duels to have a leaking valve core. At your location would I then need to call John and have you come out and discuss the hazards involved in removing and replacing the core? Yes I do understand that there are several hazards, remove old core and it might fly out under pressure and hit me in the eye, airing up the tire after valve core is replaced could result in failure of lock ring and so on. Just seems like this would be covered by say monthly training in proper work practices for a mechanic.

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No they are not required to call me down to discuss just required to look at the job and document any hazards they can think of. It would be very difficult to cover all possible hazards in a meeting monthly. I see your point unfortunately the way the world is going this is becoming the norm, at least around here it is, once again we started this program due to a demand from customers. In one instance we were told we would not be asked back if we did not start filling out these forms. Its becoming more about liability these days.

Sounds about like the "Hot work Permit" system we have to use. Any time you need to use a torch or use a welder we are to fill out a paper saying we have checked things and also have to allow a 45 minute cool down period after work is done to watch for fires. Can be a real pain when you just want to heat up one 3/8 nut to break the rust loose. But then at another shop in the company we had a guy wash out a rear axle housing with the flammable type brake clean and then grab a torch to heat up the clevis pin on one of the slack adjusters. No major injuries or damage to the shop but it was close. Hope he does better at his next job!

kshansen said:

Guess what I have a hard time understanding is how minor a "job" requires a "hazard assessment". Just to be ridiculous, does a mechanic need to fill out a form or have a meeting to discuss the hazards involved in changing the wiper blades on a pick-up truck?

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Once, back when I was a mechanic with about 10 years of being fairly safe on the job, I cut myself badly putting wipers on my wife's car!

old-iron-habit said:

The biggest problem is that the people that need the safety task analysis for a simple job would not understand it in the first place. Most days I think the only ones paying attention are the one that do work safe.

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Good point, but I still believe the core of the matter isn't about real safety as much as it is about avoiding liability, and making work for safety people.

Mitch504, You are right about the liability. If the company has no paperwork to prove they did train people to be aware of the dangers and were taking steps to insure things were planned and executed correctly they would be wiped out in court. We do live in a lawyer run society.

Tool box safety

When I was a kid ( ?? 14 years old ) I learned that if I brought the tools that 1. I have to use
IT is very hard to beat experience! 2. may use.
3. could use. That I will be able to do the job and not need waste the short time after school going back for something. Hell during the day I would be putting up barb wire ( dad never go gloves for me!) so you learn how to handle barb wire! I might spend 4 hours that night playing the piano, there is a contradiction on hand finger usage . I have been told years ago that we had to use big thick leather gloves to strip cable ( I can't feel the knife ) let alone the wires that I am not trying to damage, this was the level of thought at that time 10 years ago!!!!!

There are 3 ways of learning 1. with somebody else's mistake.
2. With me making a mistake.
3. Or those that don't learn.

You see I figure that one should have the necessary safety items that one needs to do a job. With me doing things for now up to 48 years I DO figure that I have the it understood! .

I read a article the other day that the oil patch companies was makin the service companies that do regular maintain on the equipment will soon have to have a onsite safety officer on EVERY jobsite, no matter how remote!!! I spoke with a buddy of mine last weekend that is a service tech for a company in north Dakota that confirmed this to be true starting sometime this year!! the sad thing he says they will be makin more money than he is & he is the guy out there getting sweaty, dirty, nasty!! he also said the safety officers wont be riding with the techs in the service trucks cause they cant leave their trucks run for heat/Ac (company policy for the service trucks) so they will be furnished their own trucks that don't fall under this rule!!

FSERVICE said:

I read a article the other day that the oil patch companies was makin the service companies that do regular maintain on the equipment will soon have to have a onsite safety officer on EVERY jobsite, no matter how remote!!! I spoke with a buddy of mine last weekend that is a service tech for a company in north Dakota that confirmed this to be true starting sometime this year!! the sad thing he says they will be makin more money than he is & he is the guy out there getting sweaty, dirty, nasty!! he also said the safety officers wont be riding with the techs in the service trucks cause they cant leave their trucks run for heat/Ac (company policy for the service trucks) so they will be furnished their own trucks that don't fall under this rule!!

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The company I work for does a lot of oil related work on pipelines and refineries, pumping stations, etc. In jobs we are currenty bidding the specs say we need 1 certified safety official for each 25 workers and at least one safety official on site even if there is only one worker. We are working in MN, WI, and ND currently and what you say is true in all three states. This was pointed out on another post a few weeks ago.

watglen said:

Hi guys,

I think I should be bringing safety more to the forefront with my crew. Trouble is I don't know how.

Like most of us, I grew up on a farm and safety was never preached. The general idea was don't get hurt. And for someone with some smarts, and a good sense of what can go wrong, it works. I have never had a serious accident over many many years running machinery.

However, more and more I am realizing that people who didn't grow up in the seat simply don't have those sensibilities. They don't realize what can happen, what is likely to happen, and what might happen in the rare circumstance. And why would they, they don't have the 40 years of training.

So I have to find a way to pass on my knowledge to them before they hurt themselves.

How do I do that? I was thinking the morning toolbox talk might be a good idea, but I really don't know what to say.

Any pointers from those who have done it?

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Maybe you could start by saying all those things. Then maybe follow up with some of the things mentioned in this thread. :my2c


Look blokes I'm just under 20. I work with people younger than me, the same age and everything above. It's not a case of "the <40s don't give a rat's" or the "older guys just do it the way they've always done it". In no world is it ever that simple, or black and white.
This sort of thinking annoys me greatly. Some people don't think of safety, regardless of their age. Some can learn and some can't.
I'll be the first to admit that I've made more than a few mistakes. I made a thread about some of them. You can read it here https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?47633-Small-lapses-in-concentration

All you can do is learn. You stuff up- you learn from it. Your buddy stuffs up- learn from it. If someone points something out to you- learn from it.
It's a bit silly to narrow out one group or another. Obviously we young'ns (boys in particular :tong) need to have our testosterone kept in check occasionally and be told woooo horsey hold up a tick. By the same flip of the coin sometimes the more experienced folks need to be told hey, there's a safer way to do this.

Just be safe out there folks and try to keep an open mind. Rant over.

Thanks for information guys!!!

Here is another list of safety topics which we find helpful.

http://www.mhca.mb.ca/worksafely/safety-informer/