Before Artery Management begin to work on a
job, the site has to be careful examined to ensure the safety of staff,
customers and the general public. We not only look at how we are going to get
the jobs done, but the challenges of keeping people safe while we are working.
For example if we are working in an area that is too high for a ladder, we have
to hire a scissors lift instead.
We always make sure that we have cones, extensions and caution tape so that we
can create the barriers to stop people from getting hurt.
Last year Artery
Management worked in a College in Santa Fe and was responsible for opening
up manholes around the campus. Our workers had to be aware that not only the
students and faculty were safe but the general public as well.
The college was situated in a residential area and the people who live in that
area also had access to the property we were working on. People came for walks,to
exercise or to use the library, so we had to be very aware of everybody around
us.
Precautions
taken when working on Manholes
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) standards for manholes cover every aspect of our work.
There are hundreds of regulations that the OSHA sets for our industry. For
example they have a description of what a confined space means:-
3. If it has the potential of filling with water that too can be referred to as a confined space
So when we enter a manhole we have to make
sure we have all the safety gear that is required to ensure the safety of our
staff. The first thing we do is use an air meter that detects gas; air quality
is crucial for the safety of our workers. The person going into the manhole
must have a tripod with a wench that attaches them to a harness so that if
something happens or if someone loses consciousness we can wench them out of
the manhole to safety.
Another example is that we worked on a job
were we had fibre optic cables in the manhole so we couldn’t put the manhole
covers on while we were working so we hired someone to stand outside the
manhole and keep watch; making sure that the passing public did not fall in and
get hurt.
Safety
issues when working with electricity
Artery
Management is a full electrical contractor and deal with low, medium and
high voltage; that is from 40 – 480 watts. We therefore excise extreme caution
when dealing with electricity in specific.
Measures taken when dealing with
electricity include being aware of your surroundings. Our staff also need to
ensure that lockout and tag out procedures are followed; this ensures that the
circuit they are working on is turned off. This is done by putting a padlock
that nobody else has a key to and nobody can turn on while they are working.
Weather
conditions and Safety issues
Artery Management adhere to the OSHA’s
guidelines with regards to extreme weather conditions.
Things to be aware of when working in
extreme heat
- Workers have to have access to lots of water and keep hydrated
- Be aware that some buildings have no air-conditioning and can get very hot
- Workers need to be aware of the signs of dehydration and heatstroke
In places like Arizona workers start work
at 3am and finish at 11am in the morning because of the extreme head in the
afternoons.
In situations of extreme cold it is
recommended that electrical cable installation be avoided because the jackets
of the cables can crack. Even in situations like working in 45° temperatures;
although human beings can comfortably work in these temperatures by wearing the
right clothing; materials they are working with cannot withstand the low temperatures.
We find that when working in cold conditions the heat gets trapped in the
ceiling areas where the cables are being installed but the cables in the boxes
on the ground are at a much lower temperature and therefore will crack.
