Workplace Hand Safety
Workplace hand safety practices help prevent hand injuries on the job. When people fail to follow safety requirements, injuries can happen that -- at minimum -- result in a minor injury and at maximum, end in the use or loss of a hand altogether. In 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics listed 253,450 upper extremity injuries comprised of 47,140 injuries to the wrist, 48,280 hand injuries and 87,990 injuries to one or more fingers. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, sets the standards and policies to help protect workers on the job.
OSHA provides standards for personal protection equipment, including hand protection. Employers are responsible for ensuring that employees use the right protective equipment based upon an assessment of the dangers in the workplace. This involves protecting the hands against cuts, abrasions, punctures or lacerations, broken fingers, chemical burns, exposure to harmful substances through skin exposure, and burns that could occur when hands are unprotected against high temperatures. OSHA requires employers to evaluate the potential dangers and provide protective hand gear rated for the tasks performed and associated hazards.
Hand and power tools are common in the workplace. Portable or power-drive circular saws, for example, which have blades greater than 2 inches in diameter require hand guards below and above the saw's shoe or base plate. Both upper and lower guards must cover the saw to the depth of the blade's teeth, except for where the minimum arc permits tilting the base for bevel cuts and retraction and contact with the work on the lower guard. The lower guard must automatically return to cover the blade after extracting the tool from the work.
Warnings and Signs
OSHA requires safety warnings, signs, lockout tags and other tags placed in the work environment or on equipment to alert employees of dangers or threats. Manufacturing environments, for instance, that contain continuously operated equipment requires signs to post warnings of possible hand injuries due to pinching or crushing. Service lockout tags are used to identify equipment being serviced to help prevent injuries.
Another aspect of workplace hand safety includes training and safety classes for newly hired employees. OSHA requires employers to train workers in the use of personal protection equipment. Training must cover circumstances where hand protection equipment is required, the type of safety equipment necessary, how to properly wear the safety equipment, its limitations, use, maintenance and proper disposal of the equipment. Most organizations schedule daily or weekly safety meetings that include updates on new equipment, safety practices and training as needed to protect employees while on the job.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away from Work, 2010
- U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Occupational Safety and Health Standards – Personal Protective Equipment
- U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Occupational Safety and Health Standards – Hand and Portable Powered Tools and Other Hand-Held Equipment
- U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Occupational Safety and Health Standards – Signs, Signals and Barricades
- U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Personal Protective Equipment -- Training Employees in the Proper Use of PPE
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