If you work in a job involving manual labour, you particularly rely on them for your livelihood. And for a business, losing days of work to a serious injury can hold up projects and cut into profits, too.
However, so many hand injuries are preventable, and if we take the correct measures – assessing the risks properly and making safety a priority in the workplace – there’s no reason to get into strife.
A few things which can threaten your hand-happiness at work:
- Cuts and lacerations
- Long nails, loose sleeves or jewellery catching on equipment
- Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and sprains
A few easy actions to keep your hands safe:
👀 Look first! Whether it’s a machine or a desk drawer, if you can’t see what is inside, don’t put your hand in there.
✋ Don’t remove guards from machines. Machine guards and other safety features are there to protect you.
💍 Don’t wear loose sleeves or jewellery around machinery.
📴 Switch it off! Don’t put your hands in machinery to perform maintenance, repair, or cleaning until it is switched off. Also, don’t use your hands to push material into a machine or sweep up dirt.
🚦 Don’t rush your work. Take your time.
⚠️ Don’t risk an action that you know to be dangerous, thinking you will get away with it.
💡 Don’t use tools for anything other than what they were designed to do.
🧤 Wear gloves as part of your personal protective equipment, selecting the right gloves for the job they need to do.
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If you want to make sure you are covering all the important bases in your safety planning, get in touch with us – we’re happy to help.
abarrett@whatnosafety.co.uk | 01722 326 390
