HOUSEKEEPING
“A place for
everything and everything in its place”.
Good housekeeping is
one of the important factors in maintaining a safe job. Thousands of workers in
the construction industry each year because they trip, stumble, or step on
objects that are in their way. Such accidents are too often blamed on the
worker’s carelessness in not looking where he is going, or being some place
where he has no business to be. Actually, such accidents are the direct result
of POOR HOUSEKEEPING.
Good housekeeping is
also very important in fire prevention. Rubbish, oily rags and other scrap
material are often responsible and often with tragic loss of life.
Good housekeeping,
besides preventing accidents and fires, conserves space, time and material.
Material scattered
around on floors or work areas take considerably more space than if arranged in
piles or stored in bins or shelves. It takes longer to sort and select needed
items, and material is often damaged due to being stepped on or knocked over.
Good housekeeping is
not maintained by cleaning up once a week or even once a day, but by keeping
clean up all the time. It involves many things. Material storage and scrap
disposal are perhaps the most important and most often neglected. We have ample
space to store our materials without having them scattered about for us to trip
over. Scrap material should never be mixed with usable materials. It will lie
there for days, presenting an untidy appearance, and will inevitably get kicked
around for people to trip over. Keep all scrap separated from usable material,
and stored in piles where it can be picked up for disposal.
Workbenches and
toolboxes should be kept orderly. Tools in boxes should be kept properly
arranged for easy and safe selection. Rags, scrap paper, old rope. Etc., are
not only unsightly but present a fire hazard.
Workbenches should be
in line with building walls and free of scrap. Tools properly arranged on the
bench make a better appearance and make-work easier.
Perhaps one of the
greatest advantages of good housekeeping is its benefit to “job moral”. A man
will certainly feel more doing a day’s work if he steps into an orderly work
place in the morning. Than if the place is all cluttered up. Not only that, but
he can feel proud of his area. A visitor to our job is very apt to judge the
quality of our work by its cleanliness and order. An orderly job is a job, and
a safe job is a no. 1 job.
HOUSEKEEPING TIPS
“A place for
everything and everything in its place”.
When is clean up time?
It is all the time during construction.
- Good housekeeping improves operating efficiency and aids in the prevention of accidental injuries.
- Each worker is responsible for house keeping in his working area. This means you!
A. Storage – always store materials
properly and safely.
-
Neat and orderly piles protect against material damage.
- All material should be stacked, blocked, interlocked and limited in height so the pile will be stable and safe against collapse or sliding
- Material should be separated, sorted and piled so that similar size and type of material will be in the same pile. This makes it easy to keep track of and to select material when you need it.
- Scrap material for disposal should also be in orderly piles, which do not interfere with the construction work.
B. Tools – take personal care of them.
-
Do not use defective tools or use them for anything except the purpose for which they were designed.
- When finished with them, return tools to their proper storage place.
- Don’t leave them lying around where they can cause you and others accidents. This is especially important when men are working below you.
- Remember tools are costly so don’t lose them.
C. Movement – keep traffic lanes and work
areas open for safe movement.
- Keep ramps, ladders, runways, stairways, scaffolds and all designated paths of travel and work clear at all times
- Avoid running hoses, power cords, welding leads, rope and other tripping hazards across these areas of movement.
D. Salvage – continuously clean up the
scrap, remove or bend over nails, and store greasy or oily rags in metal
containers.
- Clean up must be done as work progresses; this reduces fire and accident exposure.
- Nail punctures are unnecessary and can be prevented by immediately removing nails from reusable material and bending them over on scrap.
- Keep greasy and oil rags and other flammable waste material in metal containers provided for their disposal. Empty these containers frequently as they present an extreme fire hazard.
Remember a clean job
is a safe job and an efficient job, so do your part to keep this job clean,
safe and efficient
