What
happened?
On Thursday February 13,
2014 a technician’s left upper arm (bicep area) was punctured by a packing pick
type tool resulting in sutures to close the wound.
What
went wrong?
The
injured technician was reaching for an 18 lb. sledge hammer located in the
toolbox (toolbox was a cross-bed type) of a ¾ ton pickup truck*.
The
technician failed to notice a packing (ice pick type approximately ¼” diameter)
tool was lying with the sharp point of the tool toward the hammer he was
reaching for.
As the technician slid the
hammer toward him to be able to lift the hammer easier, the sharp point of the
packing tool punctured the bicep area of his left arm.
The incident was not
reported to Furmanite Safety as soon as possible.
*Note: Pickup was recently in a vehicle accident and
the tools and toolbox had been removed.
When the truck was repaired and returned, tools were not properly
organized when placed back into toolbox.
How
do we Prevent from Happening Again?
Regardless
of the task you are performing (even routine tasks like retrieving tools from a
tool box) you must recognize and be aware of the hazards that are present.
If
something changes with your tools (i.e. if your tools are removed from your
toolbox), take the time to organize them and remove or mitigate potential
hazards before starting work.
If
you have any means to communicate, you must notify Furmanite Safety.
|
Location
of sledge hammer technician was retrieving
|
|
Approximate
location of packing tool as technician was retrieving hammer.
|
A
“Safety Standdown” shall be conducted to communicate this Safety Alert with all
Furmanite field and shop employees worldwide.
No comments:
Post a Comment