Pub 129 Safety Talks - APWU

Safetv Talks 7-4We Are All “Maintenance” EmployeesIt is easy to convince ourselves that unsafe things are not unsafe.Consequently, we set for ourselves an innocent looking trap in which weeventually become the victims of our own wishful thinking.This same attitude can carry over into our work areas. Housekeeping, forexample, is not a responsibility for custodial personnel only. We are allmaintenance employees in that we have a responsibility for maintainingour own work area to keep it free of debris, misplaced sacks andcontainers, defective equipment, missing guards, etc.--anything that maybe unsafe. Some things require that we report them to someone else forcorrection, but many of the more common causes of accidents can beeliminated by simply maintaining a “clean house’’--an orderly work place.Since we are, in that sense, maintenance employees, the following quizmay help us become aware of more ways to improve conditions at ourindividual work sites. As you answer these questions, think of your ownworksites. How do you compare?1. True or False? The employee’s immediate supervisor has thetotal responsibility to provide a safe and healthful work area foremployees under his/her jurisdiction.2. Name as many things as you can that each of us can do tomaintain safety and cleanliness in our work areas.3. What are some work area hazards maintenance personnel wouldexperience which others may not?4. Yes or no? Mary has a pet habit that other postal employeesoften kid her about--she consistently picks up every paper clip shefinds on the floor. Is this habit worth the effort?5. Why would an automotive mechanic quickly clean up oil spillsand dispose of oily rags in the work area?6. Safe or unsafe? The office staff assists in keeping the officeorderly by placing empty returnable soft drink bottles on top of thestorage cabinet until there are enough to justify a return trip to thevending machine bottle rack.7. A carrier’s vehicle may not be considered a work site in the samesense as in a workroom environment, but what might the carrier doto maintain it?8. Safe or unsafe? Dock employees have found that leavingcrowbars and other manual handling tools on the dock constitutes atripping hazard. Accordingly, they have found fire extinguisherequipment a handy place to hang or place unused tools.Pub. 129, October 1990