This week we are looking at both the hazards and how you can ensure the safe handling of hand tools in your workplace.
Simple hand tools can cause injury through error, misuse or mechanical failure.
Hand tools such as a hammer, chisel or screwdriver, present relatively simple hazards such as:
- The tool may shatter during use, throwing off sharp metal fragments
- The handle may come loose during use
- The tool may be blunt, leading to use of excessive force which causes loss of control
- Simple human error
- The tool may be used either in an inappropriate way or for an inappropriate task
So what can you do to prevent these hazards from occurring in the working place?
Some relatively simple precautions can be applied to ensure the safe use of hand tools, such as:
- Tools must be suitable for the task that they are going to perform & for the environment in which they are to be used
- Users should be given appropriate information, instruction and training
- Tools should be visually inspected routinely before use to ensure they are in an acceptable condition
- Substandard tools should be maintained or discarded
- Tools should be maintained in a safe condition
- Supervision is important to ensure that safe working practices are adhered to and misuse does not become commonplace
The above lists are not exhaustive and we would always recommend carrying out a full risk assessment of your workplace and hand tools to evaluate all the potential hazards that could occur. We hope as always though, that you have found this article about the safe handling of hand tools informative and that it provides you with a good starting point in which to begin improving the health and safety within your organisation.