Safety Zone

new installment

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has released a new installment of its “Five to Stay Alive” series that features safety tips for composting operations employees.

Like many aspects of solid waste management, SWANA says composting operations involve physical labor, the use of heavy machinery and a dynamic work environment. These factors offer the potential for serious injury or fatality if proper safety precautions are not followed. The five tips are:

1. Wear appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment) and respiratory protection.
2. Maintain situational awareness.
3. Stay out of the danger zones in front of and behind windrow turners.
4. Good housekeeping prevents accidents and nuisance conditions.
5. Follow lock out/tag out always.

Eye contact

Lewell Troast Jr. of Empire Safety Training & Consulting Inc., Chittenango, New York, gave a landfill safety presentation during a New York State Association of Solid Waste Management Landfill Operator Training Course. Troast cautioned those working around heavy equipment, “If you cannot see the operator’s eyes of the heavy equipment/vehicle, he/she cannot see you. If you cannot see into their eyes, and they cannot see into your eyes, move away to a safe area.” The full presentation is available at https://nysaswm.org/news/proceedings.

Setting a standard

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), headquartered in Washington, approved the revision of the mobile equipment standard Z245.1-2017 earlier this year. This revision replaces the Provisional Amendment from 2014 and the standard from 2012.

This standard identifies requirements for refuse collecting and compacting equipment mounted on refuse truck chassis: rear-loading, front-loading and side-loading compacting equipment; roll-off and hoist-type equipment; grapple vehicles; satellite vehicles; waste transfer trailers; recycling collection vehicles; and mobile equipment with container and cart lifting equipment.

The revised standard Z245.1-2017 includes:

• removal of specific fall protection sections while acknowledging the need for each firm to conduct a hazard assessment for its specific equipment;
• clarification of collection operation, transit and use of the restraining device; and
• implementation of new signage.

Did you Know?

About 3 billion batteries are purchased per year in the U.S. alone, and about 10 billion are purchased worldwide. When put in the trash and landfilled instead of recycled, they can release toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment. (Source: Earth911.com)