A complete guide to industrial safety management

Industrial safety management is how you create and maintain a work environment that is both safe and efficient. You use it to minimize risk, keeping both the assets and people in the facility from harm. Without good, consistent safety management, you quickly find yourself struggling with accidents that shut down production and expose your organization to costly reputational damage, regulatory penalties, and both civil litigation and criminal prosecution.  

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit our website.

What is industrial safety management? 

 

Industrial safety management helps you maintain the safety of everyone and everything at your facility. Safety management helps you avoid unscheduled downtime and legal liabilities, both of which cost you time and money.  

The Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) is the main regulatory body that maintains and enforces the standard procedures and requirements for ensuring industrial safety in the United States. Generally, if there is a question about safety, OSHA is part of the answer. 

What are the benefits of industrial safety management? 

 

No matter your industry, the objective of all industrial safety management is to keep your work environment accident free.  

And being safe pays in more ways than one. 

First, you avoid the costs connected to onsite accidents, including insurance, litigation, prosecution, and damage to the organization&#;s reputation.  

Second, safety helps you avoid unscheduled downtime. Remember, as soon as there&#;s an accident, everything stops. In a production setting, it can be your entire line. In a warehouse, it can be the whole loading dock. An accident with one asset can mean all similar assets now need to come offline to be checked or upgraded. 

Third, the right safety program can promote better overall performance. When people in your facility can see that the organization running it cares about them, it boosts morale. People want to feel their company cares about them, and everything from having properly displayed signage to a fully stocked supply closet of personal protective equipment (PPE) shows that the company cares. 

What are the costs of industrial accidents?

 

According to the National Safety Council, the total cost of work injuries in was $167.0 billion. 

Inside that massive total are: 

• &#; Wage and productivity losses: $47.4 billion

   

• &#; Medical expenses: $36.6 billion

   

• &#; Damage to motor vehicles in work-related injuries: $5.4 billion

   

• &#; Losses related to fires: $6.3 billion

   

• &#; Administrative expenses: $57.5 billion

   

The administrative costs of accidents include the value of time lost by workers who were not injured but were directly or indirectly involved in the accident, and the cost of time to investigate accidents and write the related reports. 

What are some examples of industrial safety equipment? 

 

Type of industrial safety equipment varies by industry. But there is often a lot of overlap. For example, most industries use PPE.  

Safety glasses: Protect the eyes when welding or using specific tools. Because dust and debris can cause injuries, make sure they fit and protect the eyes from the sides.  

Hearing protection: Using muffs or earplugs prevents hearing damage or loss when exposed to loud noises. 

Safety gloves: Critical when working with chemicals, sharp objects, or extremely hot or cold temperatures.   

Face shields: Help employees avoid flying debris while using equipment.   

Safety shoes: Especially close-toed, non-slip shoes made from a thick material, help prevent slips, trips, falls, burns, and lacerations. 

In many industries, including for example oil and gas, many injuries are from falling objects. Safety helmets protect workers from falling tools and equipment. Because head injuries are so often life changing or even fatal, people onsite need to wear head protection even when just quickly passing through certain high-risk areas.  

These are just some common examples, and each industry likely has a subset of industry-specific gear and associated best practices. For example, the PPE at a nuclear reactor is different from the PPE at a car manufacturing plant.  

What are types of industrial safety management? 

 

What industrial safety management looks like varies by industry, but all of it is there to help you keep assets and resources as safe as possible. Common types of industrial safety management include:  

• Occupational and workplace 

   

• Fire suppression 

   

• Material 

   

• Electrical  

   

• Environment  

   

• Construction

   

Although there are different categories, most facilities require programs that include a combination of approaches. 

Occupational and workplace safety 

 

Here, you should identify existing risks and outline ways to implement changes, processes, and policies to mitigate them as much as possible.  

No matter the industry, workplace safety should always include PPE specific to the task. On top of wearing the right gear, people need to use equipment, tools, materials, and machines in the right ways to avoid both injury and damage to the asset. When equipment is not working properly, it is much more likely to cause an injury. Think of the brakes on your car. If they&#;re not in good working order, your car is not going to stop right when you need it.  

A lot of this sort of safety management, though, are just large collections of small things.  

Keep work areas clean, and use non-slip surfaces to avoid slips, trips, and falls. Ensure everyone knows the small but critical ways they can work safely, including lifting with their legs, not their backs, and taking scheduled breaks to avoid making mistakes while tired.   

Fire suppression

 

You must have a fire plan in place for the entire facility, outlining a method for monitoring and reviewing all required standards. Your fire safety plans should include key personnel, assignments, and evacuation routes.  

And it&#;s not enough to have it. You also need to maintain it by ensuring everyone knows how to recognize the hazards and what to do if there&#;s a fire. Conduct fire drills regularly and always keep all your documentation both accessible and up to date. 

For industrial facilities as well as office spaces, a visitor management system (VMS) can help conduct and analyze evacuation drills. It is also invaluable in real emergencies. Inside the software is an accurate real-time register of everyone onsite, which managers, workers, and first responders can use to track who is already safely out and who remains inside the facility. Because the data lives in the cloud, it&#;s automatically updated across devices, ensuring seamless sharing of headcounts at every muster point. 

Material handling

 

With a material safety management plan, you&#;re implementing protocols that dictate how employees store, work with, and dispose of hazardous materials, including:  

• Asbestos 

   

• Silica dust 

   

• Arsenic 

   

• Lead

   

The U.S. Department of Labor requires that employees have the information and training needed to do their jobs safely. They also need the right tools, including respiratory protective equipment, safety gloves, and safety glasses.  

But like with all equipment, just having it is never enough. You must ensure everything fits properly and people know how to use it. If a hard hat is the wrong size, it offers a lot less protection. And if it&#;s sitting on a workbench instead of on top of someone&#;s head, it offers no protection at all. 

Electrical 

 

Although not as common as other types, electrical injuries are often the deadliest, which is why OSHA recognizes them as &#;a long-time serious workplace hazard.&#;  

To protect employees from electric shock, electrocution, fires, and explosions, you need rules about using the right tools, keeping equipment away from energy sources, and only working on electrical equipment when it is de-energized.  

Failure to wear the right protective gear can cause severe injury and even death. But the harm is not limited to just people. Production interruptions, lengthy investigations, and civil and criminal litigation can end careers.   

Environmental 

 

Examples of environmental hazards include sewage, blood, bodily fluids, and toxic chemicals like airborne viruses and bacteria. It can also include natural hazards, like noise and radiation.  

Here, you need to identify the dangers in the workplace and implement protocols to minimize risk. Employees need to be aware of all protocols and wear proper PPE.   

Managers should continually assess risks by collecting and analyzing sample materials. Using this data, managers can create guidelines, procedures, and policies to increase workplace safety.   

Construction 

 

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Wei Guang.

Construction can be a high-hazard industry, so a construction safety management plan must include all safety regulations and procedures for all activity at the worksite, with a separate plan for each project. 

On the average construction site, there can be health and safety risks at every turn, including dangerous equipment, dangerous heights, water and electricity, and hazardous silica dust. When working with older structures, there is often the added risk of asbestos. 

You can minimize these dangers by providing the correct PPE like masks, gloves, and hard hats. Additionally, supply non-slip surfaces inside and outside to reduce slips and install guard rails to prevent falls. Schedule and enforce regular inspections of all safety equipment. 

How can you implement industrial safety management? 

 

The first thing you need to do to have good safety management is to ensure everyone is on the same page and has a thorough understanding of the safety regulations. Adding bilingual instructions and training when appropriate can also help ensure you&#;re communicating everything effectively. 

Specifically for the maintenance team, they need to know how to identify which equipment is required for each work order and know how to use it correctly.  

How does asset management software make industrial safety management easier? 

 

Modern computerized maintenance management software helps you capture data, keep it safe, and make it accessible across the organization in real time. Because everything is inside one central database that lives in the cloud, you can easily review, add, update, and share data with the team. 

And being able to share and access data helps you make your facility safer.  

Prioritize immediate concerns 

 

Once you have data you can trust, you can more easily decide which types of training you need to prioritize by pulling and analyzing safety-related work orders straight from the cloud instead of digging around to find a specific paper document or spreadsheet file. For example, if you can see that the maintenance team has been dealing with failures related to objects falling into assets and equipment, you can investigate setting up better guardrails.  

Share critical processes  

 

For the more common inspections and tasks, you can use the facility management software to create and store templates packed with lists of required PPE, explanations of safety hazards, checklists, and detailed step-by-step instructions. Techs get everything they need to work both efficiently and safely.  

Once you&#;ve built the template, you can add it to new on-demand and preventive work orders in just a few clicks. Later, if you need to update a standard operating procedure (SOP), you only have to make changes in one spot. Once you&#;ve redone the template, every new work order you generate has the new instructions, steps, or checklist.  

Prevent potential accidents

 

A big part of improving safety is finding and removing risks before accidents happen. It could be as simple as making sure the guardrails are secure to as involved as bringing in a third-party vendor to test your fire suppression systems. In all cases, it helps to have a robust schedule of inspections and tasks. But with traditional maintenance management tracking, where you&#;re using paper or spreadsheets, it&#;s easy for things to fall through the cracks.  

Facility management software scheduling helps you set up safety-related PMs that autogenerate, so you never forget. And once it&#;s on the schedule, you can manually or automatically assign it to the right technician. 

By Jonathan Davis

Jonathan writes about asset management, maintenance software, and SaaS solutions in his role as a digital content creator at Eptura. He covers trends across industries, including fleet, manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality, with a focus on delivering thought leadership with actionable insights. Earlier in his career, he wrote textbooks, edited NPC dialogue for video games, and taught English as a foreign language. He holds a master's degree in journalism.

Previous

Simple guide to reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)

Next

Power of One: Get a sneak peek at our announcements

What is PPE Safety?

PPE safety is the practice of ensuring a safe, working environment for employees and visitors through the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Safety is paramount to all businesses across industries. Using PPEs, paired with inspections such as workplace and restaurant inspections, assessments like health and safety risk assessments, and analysis such as gap analysis&#;is essential to protect employees from risks and hazards.

Why is it Important?

According to the hierarchy of controls by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), PPE (sometimes also referred to as PPE equipment)&#;is recommended to be the last level of defense to prevent occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, but some businesses combined it with other control measures to ensure a safe and healthy environment for their workers. Here are some benefits of using PPEs:

• prevent unnecessary injury in the workplace;
• protect employees from excessive chemical exposure;
• prevent the spread of germs and infectious diseases including COVID-19;
• help businesses comply with regulatory requirements(e.g., The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations that&#;s recently been extended to limb workers); and
• improve employee productivity and efficiency.

The 4 Basic Types of PPE and Their Examples

However, even the strictest controls will not necessarily eliminate all the risks associated with most job tasks and this is where the need for PPE must be evaluated. A hazard assessment can help identify which specialized PPE will be required. There are numerous types of workplace safety equipment available depending on the hazard exposure and work conditions. The following are basic PPE that can help protect employees:

PPE includes safety goggles and face shields and should be used for tasks that can cause eye damage or loss of vision, sprays of toxic liquids, splashes, and burns.

Safety Tips:

• Check if safety glasses comply with the ANSI Z87.1 eye protection standard.
• Ensure that there are no cracks or deformities on the lenses.
• Ensure the strap is in good working condition and is firmly sealed to the cheek and forehead.
• Clean and disinfect after use.

Respiratory Protection

PPE includes full-face respirators, self-contained breathing apparatus, gas masks, N95 respirators, and surgical masks are used for a task that can cause inhalation of harmful materials to enter the body. This includes harmful gas, chemicals, large-particle droplets, sprays, splashes, or splatter that may contain viruses and bacteria such as COVID-19, viral infections, and more.

Safety Tips:

• Ensure that the equipment is fit-tested and the employee has undergone proper training before wearing one.
• Carefully read the instructions to determine if it is designed to help protect against the hazards you may face.
• Change filters on half-mask or full-mask respirators frequently.
• Replace disposable respirators with every use.
• Surgical masks are not to be shared with anyone.
• Avoid touching the surgical mask after wearing it.
• Change surgical mask timely and should be disposed of after use.
• Replace the mask immediately if it is damaged or soiled.

Skin and Body Protection

PPE includes the following categories to protect employees from physical hazards:

PPE includes hard hats and headgears and should be required for tasks that can cause any force or object falling to the head.

Safety Tips:

• Ensure that there are no dents or deformities on the shell and connections are tightened inside.
• Do not store in direct sunlight as extreme heat can cause damage.
• Choose appropriate cleaning agents as it can weaken the shells of hard hats and may eliminate electrical resistance.
• Always replace a hard hat if it was used for any kind of impact, even if the damage is unnoticeable.

Body Protection

PPE includes safety vests and suits that can be used for tasks that can cause body injuries from extreme temperatures, flames and sparks, toxic chemicals, insect bites and radiation.

Safety Tips:

• Ensure that they are clean and free from cuts and burns.
• Always get a good fit to ensure full body protection.
• Ensure bodysuit is heat-resistant clothing when working with high-temperature hazards.

Hands Protection

PPE includes safety gloves and should be used for tasks that can cause hand and skin burns, absorption of harmful substances, cuts, fractures or amputations.

Safety Tips:

• Ensure hand protection fits perfectly with no spaces and is free from cuts, burns, and chemical residue.
• Always replace them if any sign of contamination was observed.
• Use rubber gloves when working with heat and electricity to reduce the risk of burn or electrical shock.

Foot Protection

PPE includes knee pads and safety boots and should be used for tasks that can cause serious foot and leg injuries from falling or rolling objects, hot substances, electrical hazards, and slippery surfaces.

Safety Tips:

• Ensure boots have slip-resistant soles that can protect against compression and impact.
• Ensure the sole plate is in good condition to prevent punctures.

Fall Protection

PPE includes safety harnesses and lanyards and should be strictly used for tasks that can cause falling from heights and serious injury or death.

Safety Tips:

• Ensure that the straps are free from tears, deformities, and burn marks.
• Check the buckles if connected securely and tightly.
• Dispose of the equipment if used after a falling incident.

Hearing Protection

PPE includes ear muffs and plugs and should be used for tasks that can cause hearing problems and loss of hearing.

Safety Tips:

• Ensure the equipment fit the ear canal perfectly.
• It is recommended to use formable earplugs to fit different sizes of ear canals.
• Use protectors that reduce noise exposure to an acceptable level to have room for communication.
• Ensure earplugs are clean and in good condition.

Learn more about hearing protection.

Other examples of PPE include:

• safety glasses or goggles
• safety shoes
• high-visibility clothing or vests
• heat-resistant gloves
• anti-vibration gloves

• welding PPE

  such as helmets and and flame-resistant clothing

• chemical-resistant suits or aprons
• safety harnesses and lanyards

Improve your EHS Management

Cultivate a safe working environment and streamline compliance with our EHS solutions.

Explore now

Toolbox Talk for PPE

Workplace safety should begin with a hazard assessment. Once the hazards and risks have been identified, a plan can be put forward to prioritize and reduce the risk of injury. Useful systems and tools to perform hazard assessments include performing a risk assessment and a Job Safety Analysis (JSA).

The hierarchy of controls is a proven safety approach that helps protect employees. If elimination, substitution, engineering, and administrative controls are not enough to eliminate the risk, it is vital to choose the appropriate PPE carefully. Ensure employees are properly trained to use the safety equipment and be able to detect and report any damages before commencing work.

A toolbox talk about PPE is recommended to discuss the different kinds of PPE that can be used to minimize the likelihood and mitigate the effects of hazards. A toolbox talk template can help in assessing the sufficiency and availability of safety equipment for all employees.

PPE Safety Requirements

Safety Officers can promote safety in the workplace by following PPE safety requirements:

• Check work sites regularly for the need for PPE.
• If PPE is needed, provide employees with properly-fitted PPE.
• Train employees on OSHA PPE standards.
• Provide protective goggles or face shields when there is a danger of flying particles or corrosive materials.
• Require that safety glasses are worn at all times in worksites that pose a risk of eye punctures, abrasions, contusions, or burns.
• Provide and require protective gloves in situations where employees could be cut or possibly exposed to corrosive liquids, chemicals, blood, and other potentially infectious materials.
• Require the use of foot protection when there is a risk of foot injury from hot, corrosive, or poisonous substances, and falling objects.
• Inspect hard hats periodically for damage to the shell and suspension system.
• Maintain PPE in sanitary and ready-to-use conditions.
• Ensure that eyewash facilities and quick drench showers are easily accessible for employees when they are accidentally exposed to corrosive materials.
• Establish safe work procedures for disposing of or decontaminating PPE after hazardous exposures.

PPE Safety Examples

These examples of PPE safety are based on a free PPE checklist provided by SafetyCulture for anyone to download and use for free.

Nature of work: Laboratory (Chemical Handling) Potential hazards at work:

1. Eye hazards &#; Handling/dispensing chemicals and ingredients; working around UV lights; chipping, sanding, grinding, welding, metal working; tasks that generate dust
   Risk/s &#; Chemical exposure, dust particulates, flying debris
   Description of hazard &#; Corrosive chemicals which are harmful when they explode
   PPE required &#; Safety glasses with side shields, chemical splash goggles
   Does equipment undergo testing and in a good condition?
   Goggles are in good working condition. Lenses are clean without any dirt or debris
   Does the equipment fit perfectly?
   They fit perfectly on cheeks and forehead.
2. Head/Neck/Face hazards &#; Handling/dispensing chemicals and ingredients, chipping, sanding or grinding metal or wood; working on energized equipment, working in confined spaces
   Risk/s &#; Chemical exposure, dust particulates, flying debris, UV/IR radiation
   Description of hazard &#; Dispensing chemicals and spills
   PPE required &#; Full face shields
   Does equipment undergo testing and in a good condition?
   Face shields have no dents and marks.
3. Respiratory hazards &#; Handling/using highly hazardous chemicals; tasks that generate dust and/or fumes; cutting, brazing on certain metals (stainless steel)
   Risk/s &#; Chemical exposure, dust particulates, flying debris
   Description of hazard &#; Exposure to dangerous vapors
   PPE required &#; Respirators
   Does the equipment fit perfectly?
   It fits perfectly. Straps are tight.

To give you a better idea, we&#;ve created a PPE checklist sample pdf report below:

Digitize the way you Work

Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.

Get Started for Free

Guarantee Proper Usage of PPE with PPE Courses

Giving personal protective equipment (PPE) for your workers alone is not enough to protect them from hazards, injuries, and accidents. This is especially true for industries such as construction, manufacturing, and healthcare. To make sure that their PPEs fully serve their functions, it&#;s crucial that your workers understand their proper use, maintenance, and disposal to protect themselves and the people around them. Thankfully, training now is made easy and convenient for you with online PPE courses that your workers can take any time and anywhere.

Here, you can use highly recommended premade courses that will cover the different types of PPE and demonstrate when and how to use them properly. Reinforcing PPE training will not only keep your workers safe from hazards but also boost productivity without any threat of unwanted incidents. Try Training, a mobile feature available on the SafetyCulture platform.

All Training courses can be customized to fit the needs of your organization and be shared with your team in minutes. Workers can access the lessons in these courses even offline.

Try out Training now!

SafetyCulture Marketplace: Your One-Stop Work Gear & Equipment Shop

Improve safety in your workplace with SafetyCulture Marketplace as your one-stop shop for all work gear and equipment needs. Get on-demand access to top quality and specialized work gear from trusted equipment brands in the industry&#;all in one centralized location. Raise the bar of safety and efficiency by empowering employees to request what they need with just a few taps, anytime and anywhere!

PPE Inspections with SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor)

Tracking the number of usable PPE is easier for safety officers as well and they are better equipped to provide what their employees need to get the job done.

SafetyCulture provides a digital space for safety officers and employees to work towards PPE safety. By utilizing this app, safety officers are able to protect employees from the hazards of the job by ensuring that their PPEs are always in good condition. Make PPE inspections easy by being able to:

• Take pictures of PPE defects and even annotate photos to show where the damage is
• Perform hazard assessments to determine if enforcing PPE use is the best control measure for the task
• Generate PPE inspection reports instantly with just one tap, anytime, and anywhere
• Store inspection data in a safe and cloud-based recordkeeping

Beyond PPE inspections, SafetyCulture can also be used to develop an organization&#;s health and safety program by enabling safety officers to do the following:

• Enforce standardized safety protocols across teams and different sites
• Mitigate risks with a wide variety of free risk assessment templates
• Plan corrective actions immediately to prevent incidents from occurring

Discover a better, faster, and easier way to empower teams in the workplace.

SafetyCulture has helped businesses around the world achieve

60%

reduction in reporting time*

49%

savings from safety & compliance improvements*

60%

increased audit & data management efficiency*

*Reported in Forrester&#;s study: The Total Economic Impact&#; of SafetyCulture&#;s Operations Platform

Want more information on Industrial Safety Gear? Feel free to contact us.