Fall is just around the corner, bringing back hazards of rain and reduced visibility

As fall is just around the corner, with some temperatures dropping and weather conditions changing, surface conditions on site are also changing. For some parts of the country, the rain is ﬁnally starting to return, and it will bring back some of the hazards that we almost forgot about. Visibility on site is also changing as the amount of daylight is reduced, probably at a speed that we would prefer to slow down. Those two weather conditions increase the risk for slippery ground conditions, ground stability, and the ability to see and be seen. Any hazards, from small to large, can quickly lead to serious injuries if not identiﬁed early. For the winter and summer seasons, it seems more obvious to make changes in our behaviors on site, based on the more signiﬁcant differences in the temperature, the amount of rain or snow, wind and more. However, in the fall, this is not always as obvious. Adjusting to the time of the year is always key to keeping the workplace safe. Due to the wet conditions, a common hazard of slips, trips and falls makes a return. As much as the new wet ground, mud, frost and falling leaves can be welcome in our backyard, these conditions also create a new level of unstable ground on site in places where they accumulate as debris such as around buildings, shops and warehouses. The roads to work and the ones on site are also subject to those wet conditions. Keep walking surfaces clear Increased awareness to keep all the walking surfaces clear, clean and with adequate de-icing material, antislip material and winter road material such as as sand and salt is important, as is traction personal protective equipment (PPE) for boots. Differences from the decreased daylight are subtle at ﬁrst, but as the days pass, they become more evident. Work that used to be done in close to “full” daylight, are suddenly done in conditions more like dawn or dusk, or even in the dark. Everyone and every piece of equipment should be equipped with all the correct high-visibility PPE. Lights should be up and working. Individuals should increase their level of awareness when walking and driving. Re-emphasis of the rules and controls that support safe pedestrian-vehicle interactions and vehicle-vehicle interactions is an ongoing refresher that can be used in toolbox and safety meetings. Seasons come and go, and normalization of the risks does happen. Hazard recognition, near-miss identiﬁcations, pretask inspection, job safety analysis and job hazard analysis (JSA-JHA), and critical control veriﬁcation are all tools or programs that help to keep the focus on tasks during seasonal changes.

Fall is just around the corner, bringing back hazards of rain and reduced visibility

Authored by: Sigrid Audrey-Richard

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Mining Engineering’s Weekly Rundown: Episode 74

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Mining Engineering’s Weekly Rundown: Episode 74

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To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

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