Whether we like them or not (but most of us like them anyway), electric tools are a big thing in home maintenance. What is not to like about them, after all? They are convenient, small (they usually are, in comparison to their older counterparts), efficient, require little effort and, most importantly, they get the job done quickly. But electric tools, when used improperly, can pose a danger to you, your home and your family, too. This article will cover some tips and information that you can use to ensure the safety of your home and anyone who uses electric tools in your house.
Check the Numbers
Many people do not really bother with the fine print on the packaging or instruction manuals that come with all of today's tools because they just want to get it out of the box and start using it. Failing to read the instructions that came with your new electric tool could turn out to be a very costly mistake.
Aside, of course, from telling you things like how to properly use the electric tool and how to clean it, the instructions will also tell you the minimum amperage that the electric tool needs to operate and the maximum amperage that it can take. Give it too much, and you run the risk of frying your electric tool's circuitry. Give it too little, and it will probably overheat, if it even works at all. Basically, two factors will dictate how many amps your electric tool will get - the size of the conductor (the gage of the wire) and the length of your cord or cable. A longer cable decreases the amperage that your electric tool is getting because the energy has to travel a larger distance. Meanwhile, a smaller number on the gage of your cable or cord will increase the amperage that the electric tool will get. Find out where your workspace will be in relation to the nearest power socket and then ask for assistance at your nearest hardware store to find the right combination for you.
Keeping It Grounded
Grounding is a critical safety feature when it comes to dealing with electric tools. Grounding prevents overloaded circuits, consequently providing you with protection against sudden electricity surges and similar events.
Many older electric tools, if you will notice, come with a plug that has three prongs. Aside from the two flat prongs that we are all so used to, there's an additional round one between and slightly above them. That connects the plug to the ground that's supposed to be installed in your house's structure (thus, the third hole in every power socket that's supposed to accommodate the ground prong). However, should the three-prong plug prove to be too large or otherwise too unwieldy, many people either opt to remove the ground prong entirely or to use a three-prong to two-prong adapter. Naturally, doing so would circumvent the ground prong and consequently the safety that it ensures. Without it, your electric tool and whoever is using it (presumably you) is vulnerable to a sudden surge of electricity. Never remove the ground prong. If you find that it's impossible or difficult to work with the ground prong, grounded versions of the three-prong to two-prong adapter are available at all hardware stores.
Safety should always be a priority, especially when you're working with something like electric tools. Don't take any shortcuts because you just might end up putting your own safety at risk.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/staying-safe-with-electric-tools-281917.html
Showing posts with label Safety Tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Safety Tools. Show all posts
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Benefits of Safety Tools in the Workplace
CLUE: It's a small piece of equipment-but it can save your business a lot of money.
Give up? It's not your lawyer, and it's not a calculator. It's a safety knife. Though nearly any business has to open a large volume of mail and packages during daily operations, too many businesses allow employees to use bare razors, or food knives, to open boxes. This is a small mistake that leads to big losses-both in accidental destruction of stock and in injury claims. In any given year, according to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), nearly five million workers will experience injury or illness on the job, and more than half these injuries will be severe enough to send the worker home. Of these injuries, a third of them will be in the form of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Such disorders are painful for workers and costly for employers, both in lost productivity and in workers' compensation claims. For workers who handle heavy packages on a regular basis, these injuries are both especially inconvenient and especially hard to avoid.
According to the June 2005 issue of industry journal Occupational Health, the Food Marketing Institute has estimated that the grocery industry alone sustains nearly $20 billion per year in damaged merchandise-thirty percent of which was caused by careless box cutting. Estimates of injuries due to inappropriate knife use aren't available-many workers don't report minor injuries, industry experts say-but businesses that have instituted safety-knife programs have reported huge yearly savings. According to the same Occupational Health article, a 300-store retail chain can save $5-10 million per year with such programs. The savings come both from reduced injury claims and from fewer incidences of damage to stock.
Without proper tools such as a safety knife, package-handlers-whether shipping and receiving or mail room workers or just ordinary folks-not only risk knife accidents (which can be deadly), but also Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), a kind of musculoskeletal disorder that results from overtaxing certain muscle groups by tensing them for excessive time periods, due to overuse or poor posture. The use of the wrong tools leads directly to such muscle strain and overuse. Box cutters are designed to minimize the use of arm and shoulder muscles. They thus increase efficiency and save time, as well as protecting workers from injury.
The challenges of modern retail, shipping and receiving, mail room, food service, and manufacturing work mount every year. With retailers (for example) typically setting aside $10-30,000 for each lost time injury, those little injuries can very quickly add up. New employees who do-or don't-follow knife safety rules can quickly wield as much impact on a company's bottom line as a CEO. Given these realities, no manager or small business can afford to ignore the savings that a business-wide safety knife plan makes possible.
Along with requiring workers to use safety knives, and providing each worker with a safety knife and holster, managers should require their employees to attend knife safety classes. There's no substitute for well-trained workers. It's also a good idea to keep a set of box-opening safety instructions posted near all workspaces, such as the following:
To avoid injuring yourself when opening packages, follow these simple instructions: - Place the box on the floor, setting it at such an angle that you will not be pulling the box cutter toward you. In other words, make sure that the line of tape is horizontal, not vertical, in relation to you. - Place your hand on the opposite side of the box. - Rather than cutting straight across all at once, make a series of small, smooth cuts.
To work well, a safety knife needs to be mistake-proof. In other words, its safety features must be so deeply built-in that a new, untrained employee can't accidentally override them.
SafeCutters distributes the Klever Kutter and Klever Koncept, two of the safest utility knives available. Klever Kutter virtually eliminates the risk of workplace injuries, while the permanently shielded blade protects packaged products. It has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security for safe air transport.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Knapp
Give up? It's not your lawyer, and it's not a calculator. It's a safety knife. Though nearly any business has to open a large volume of mail and packages during daily operations, too many businesses allow employees to use bare razors, or food knives, to open boxes. This is a small mistake that leads to big losses-both in accidental destruction of stock and in injury claims. In any given year, according to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), nearly five million workers will experience injury or illness on the job, and more than half these injuries will be severe enough to send the worker home. Of these injuries, a third of them will be in the form of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Such disorders are painful for workers and costly for employers, both in lost productivity and in workers' compensation claims. For workers who handle heavy packages on a regular basis, these injuries are both especially inconvenient and especially hard to avoid.
According to the June 2005 issue of industry journal Occupational Health, the Food Marketing Institute has estimated that the grocery industry alone sustains nearly $20 billion per year in damaged merchandise-thirty percent of which was caused by careless box cutting. Estimates of injuries due to inappropriate knife use aren't available-many workers don't report minor injuries, industry experts say-but businesses that have instituted safety-knife programs have reported huge yearly savings. According to the same Occupational Health article, a 300-store retail chain can save $5-10 million per year with such programs. The savings come both from reduced injury claims and from fewer incidences of damage to stock.
Without proper tools such as a safety knife, package-handlers-whether shipping and receiving or mail room workers or just ordinary folks-not only risk knife accidents (which can be deadly), but also Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), a kind of musculoskeletal disorder that results from overtaxing certain muscle groups by tensing them for excessive time periods, due to overuse or poor posture. The use of the wrong tools leads directly to such muscle strain and overuse. Box cutters are designed to minimize the use of arm and shoulder muscles. They thus increase efficiency and save time, as well as protecting workers from injury.
The challenges of modern retail, shipping and receiving, mail room, food service, and manufacturing work mount every year. With retailers (for example) typically setting aside $10-30,000 for each lost time injury, those little injuries can very quickly add up. New employees who do-or don't-follow knife safety rules can quickly wield as much impact on a company's bottom line as a CEO. Given these realities, no manager or small business can afford to ignore the savings that a business-wide safety knife plan makes possible.
Along with requiring workers to use safety knives, and providing each worker with a safety knife and holster, managers should require their employees to attend knife safety classes. There's no substitute for well-trained workers. It's also a good idea to keep a set of box-opening safety instructions posted near all workspaces, such as the following:
To avoid injuring yourself when opening packages, follow these simple instructions: - Place the box on the floor, setting it at such an angle that you will not be pulling the box cutter toward you. In other words, make sure that the line of tape is horizontal, not vertical, in relation to you. - Place your hand on the opposite side of the box. - Rather than cutting straight across all at once, make a series of small, smooth cuts.
To work well, a safety knife needs to be mistake-proof. In other words, its safety features must be so deeply built-in that a new, untrained employee can't accidentally override them.
SafeCutters distributes the Klever Kutter and Klever Koncept, two of the safest utility knives available. Klever Kutter virtually eliminates the risk of workplace injuries, while the permanently shielded blade protects packaged products. It has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security for safe air transport.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Knapp
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