By Janet L. Keyes, CIH
How did you interpret that sentence? Was it a question about whether your residence is clean? Or was it a question about whether you’ve gone through and gotten rid of all the miscellaneous no-longer-needed stuff that accumulates? We don’t really care about the answer to the first question. If the answer to the second is never, or not recently, it’s time to talk about housekeeping.
You’ve seen pictures of garbage houses or hoarder houses. Your shop isn’t anything like those. But unless you’re particularly diligent, stuff piles up. You try out a new product and no one likes it, so the barely-used container stays on a back shelf. You purchase a specialty piece of equipment but use it only once. It takes up residence in a back corner. If you have unlimited space, you may never need that back corner. But most shops do not have unlimited space. And too often, that stuff isn’t in the back corner but is left where it was last used, in the middle of the shop.
Who cares if you’re tidy and uncluttered? Your local Fire Inspector cares. The Fire Code says that “storage of materials in buildings shall be orderly.” OSHA cares. “All places of employment shall be kept clean to the extent that the nature of the work allows.” And “all places of employment…are [to be] kept in a clean, orderly, and sanitary condition. Why do they care? Because messy shops increase the fire hazard. Messy shops increase the hazards from slips and falls. Messy shops are more dangerous.
Can employees get out quickly in an emergency? Can they get to fire extinguishers or eyewashes? People tend to forget about things they don’t use often – such as emergency equipment. One cramped shop had a large tool chest, a stepstool, a box, a creeper, and a pail all stored in front of an emergency exit at the back of the shop. If a fire broke out in the front, employees would have no way of escaping quickly. Ever hear of disastrous fires where many people died because they couldn’t reach an exit in time? In Boston in 1942, nearly 500 people died in the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub fire – many couldn’t get out because some exit doors were locked.
Good housekeeping is more than just keeping emergency equipment clear. The risk of a fire increases with clutter. You already have a lot of flammable and combustible material in your shop. You get parts and supplies in cardboard boxes. Your employees use rags to wipe up oil spills or wipe down cars. Does anyone grind or weld? Those sparks can travel thirty feet. A spark landing in a pile of rags could smolder for hours. So tidy up, to reduce the fire risk.
As you walk through your shop, what do you have to step over? See that cord across the aisle? What about the air hose? Those are tripping hazards. And if you stumble over the extension cord, you might pull it out of the wall, damaging the plug or pulling off its grounding pin. We doubt that you can eliminate those cords and hoses entirely. But is there a better way to handle them? Cord reels and drop outlets might keep them out of the way. Requiring employees to put them away, unplugging extension cords at the end of each day, will also help keep them tidy.
Don’t tolerate liquid spills. Cars have lots of liquids in them – gasoline, oil, coolant, washer fluid. Two of those are very flammable. The other two can burn. All are environmental pollutants. If you have employees who can’t pour into drums, get bigger funnels. Never let drums be filled to the very top, so they don’t overflow. And you need to leave room for expansion (that’s why your 55-gallon drum of thinner only holds 53 gallons).
Designate a spot for things to live. Mark where your welders will be kept. Store ladders in the same spot each day. If you’re tight on space, having designated locations for everything (even for trash containers!) makes it easier to find everything. Figure out what is used often; if equipment is rarely used, store it out of the way. If you have a designated location for it, it can be found when it is needed.
Put things away. When you’re done with the spot welder, put it back in its place. Use a broom? Hang it back up. This is easier once things have a place to go.
Don’t hoard. Go through the shop at least once a year. Ask if anyone’s used this equipment or that product. If the answer is no, get rid of it (following environmental regulations, of course). We all have those round-to-it projects – that cord you plan to fix, the equipment you want to weld back together. But if you haven’t been able to get to it in the past year, what makes you think you’ll get to it in the coming year?
If you’ve taken any management courses or read management books, you probably have heard of the 5S Methodology: Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. It really is just good housekeeping. Get rid of what you don’t need. Have a place for things. Keep your shop tidy. Repeat. It’s an ongoing effort. Management gurus tout it because it improves productivity. It makes it easier for your employees to do their jobs. But it also makes your workplace safer.
This article originally appeared in AASP-MN News (April 2023). It is intended to provide general information (no advice) about current safety topics. To discuss your specific concerns and how CHESS may help, please contact CHESS at 651-481-9787 or chess@chess-safety.com.