Industrial Housekeeping Practices
Cogbill Safety Tuesday December 8th, 2020
Good housekeeping is a necessary requirement for maintaining safety at the office, the fabrication shop, and at work sites. Clean and tidy work sites hold fewer hazards for all employees. Accidents and injuries are avoided and productivity improved where good housekeeping is a daily occurrence. Abide by the following housekeeping practices to keep your workplace clean and free of potential hazards:
The floor of every workroom should be maintained in a clean and, so far as possible, a dry condition. Where wet processes are used, drainage should be maintained, and false floors, platforms, mats, or other dry standing places should be provided when practical.
To facilitate cleaning, every floor, working place, and passageway should be kept free from protruding nails, splinters, holes, or loose boards. Wires from tools must also not be kept in the way of the walkway.
Where mechanical handling equipment is used, sufficient safe clearances should be allowed for aisles, at loading docks, through doorways and wherever turns or passage must be made. Aisles and passage ways should be kept clear and in good repairs, with no obstruction across or in aisles that could create a hazard.
Permanent aisles and passageways should be appropriately marked.
Covers and/or guardrails shoukd be provided to protect personnel from the hazards of open pits, tanks, vats, ditches, etc.
Keep all tools clean and organized to prevent damage or loss.
Label any toxic materials or sbstancess and keep in appropriate, closed containers.
Everything should have a place, and everything should be stored in its place. This both minimizes clutter, thus reducing hazards, and improves efficiency, by reducing the time needed to find a needed tool.
