by jason_cramp | March 2, 2016 4:30 pm
By Steve Goodale
Building, renovating, and servicing pools and spas/hot tubs is a dangerous occupation and one that puts workers in close contact with potentially hazardous situations daily. Machinery, tools, water, electricity, chemicals, and confined spaces are all common in the workplace for those in the aquatics industry. No matter the company’s size—whether a large firm with hundreds of employees or an entrepreneur operating out of their truck—the importance of safety at work is equal.
There is nothing more important to any company than avoiding a serious or fatal injury on the job, and smaller injuries at work are detrimental to the efficiency of the company as well as being detrimental to the health of the injured worker. It is in the best interest of all parties to reduce the likelihood of
a workplace accident. An accident can happen to anyone, at any time. The statistical likelihood of experiencing one can be reduced with proper education, training, and the right frame of mind. To create a safe working environment, this article will discuss a few things that need to come together.
Proper education to identify and reduce the potential for dangers at work is paramount in establishing a solid, long-term approach to avoiding accidents. Understanding the nature of how quickly accidents can happen and the severity of not following established safety protocols is something all new employees must be taught.
In the pool and spa/hot tub industry, many new, untrained workers can be added to the roster in a short period of time due to the seasonal fluctuations of the job. This can create a logistical problem with respect to bringing everybody up to speed when each worker is starting from a different level of base knowledge.
In some cases, many seasonal workers are experiencing employment for the first time and need special attention with respect to the basics of workplace safety. What might appear to be common sense to one person may not be the same for another. Among the many job-specific dangers new employees must be educated about, there are some fundamental safety rules employees should follow.
For instance, if something looks dangerous, or it is not understood how to proceed safely on the job, then work should be stopped immediately to seek the advice of a supervisor.
Do not shortcut established safety protocol to save time either. The cost of doing business is such that a job takes as long as it does to do it safely.
If someone else is working in an unsafe manner, regardless of who they are in relation to their position within the company, ask them to stop or report the situation to a manager or supervisor.
To say an employee should report unsafe work to a manager may likely ruffle a few feathers with more experienced workers who have developed their own internal tolerance for what is and is not considered safe on a jobsite. After many years in the same position, complacency of experienced staff is one of the biggest dangers on a jobsite, and something that must be sought out aggressively by management.
In most cases, when a serious injury occurs at work, there is an established safety standard that was not being followed at the time of the accident. Education for employee safety is more than teaching individual rules; it is an opportunity for managers to affirm the importance of safety within the company with the employees. This will assist greatly once the employee is in the field, far from view of the management team, where the opportunity for uncertainty or pressure from other workers to do something unsafe exists.
Training in the field is one of the only ways to ensure safe working practices are established and followed. This includes safety training courses such as Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), which teaches proper handling of hazardous chemicals. Further, understanding and providing material safety data sheets (MSDS) for any products a worker can come into contact with is also required.
Field training is generally where employee habits, good or bad, will be developed. Implementing a standard and creating a culture of health and safety within a company are essential in actually enforcing this behaviour in the field. A zero-tolerance attitude towards willfully ignoring safety measures should be required and communicated strongly to all employees. In addition to field training, manuals that reiterate field training processes should be made available to all employees.
A great deal of company resources can be spent establishing and implementing safety standards. If the field team does not adhere to these standards, then the resources are wasted, and the company is still exposed to an increased potential for an accident in the workplace.
A successful risk mitigation plan is one that starts from the top down. It is critical for company owners, managers, supervisors, and crew leaders to follow the safety guidelines by the letter, which will have a net positive result on employees working under these people. Failure to engage senior-level workers to adopt a strict adherence to safety will ultimately be the failure of most well-intentioned companies in this regard.
Working safe is a mindset more than anything else. Making the conscious decision to not skip any safety protocols regardless of any project deadline pressure is the most important aspect when it comes to a safe jobsite. Adopting an attitude of safety is easier said than done and ultimately each person is responsible for their own actions. This means a responsible business needs to identify any person within the company who chronically does not follow safety protocols and resolve the situation.
It is not realistic to have a comprehensive set of safety standards in a single article that would cover the full spectrum of potential concerns working in the pool and spa/hot tub industry. Instead, consider these five basic safety steps that should be part of any safe job site:
Pool construction and service trucks are large and visibility when operating these vehicles is often poor. In some cases, many drivers may be operating these vehicles for the first time and require a training period to allow them to become familiar with the vehicle’s proportions. Additionally, pool workers can be subject to long hours and/or exposed to difficult weather conditions, which can be cause for drivers being tired and/or distracted.
Given the seasonal nature of Canada’s pool industry, the peak season load can be almost unmanageable for many companies. As a result, regular vehicle maintenance may get pushed to the backburner simply due to lack of time during the day. To avoid these problems, it is important to be proactive with respect to vehicle maintenance by scheduling service appointments into the day-to-day activities of the business. Tires, brakes, glass, mirrors, lights, and signals are all items that fail early on pool construction and service vehicles, but tend to be ignored long after the problem is noticed.
Heavy, awkward sized and shaped tools and equipment, multiple chemicals, shifting loads, and demanding hours can make for a disaster in the back of a work truck. Securing loads properly, isolating chemicals from one another, and keeping the vehicle clean and orderly will go a long way to reducing the potential for an accident.
Going home safely at the end of the day is the only thing that matters. To accomplish this, simply decide outright that working safe will be a priority for the business and its employees and conduct each job accordingly at all times. Do not fold to pressure from deadlines, co-workers, or difficult projects. Occupational health and safety is a frame of mind and a way of life. All too often workers and management, take workplace safety too lightly until an accident hits close to home. Therefore, minimize risks and take action today to ensure a safe workplace every day.
[5]Steve Goodale is a second-generation pool and spa expert from Oakville, Ont. In addition to owning Green Pools and A Better Pool Company, he is also an Internet developer and author of www.swimmingpoolsteve.com[6]. He can be reached via e-mail at swimmingpoolsteve@gmail.com[7].
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