Safety Hazards (Internal Link)

AFSCME members also face a wide variety of safety hazards on the job. Examples of safety hazards are:

Working in traffic zones

Many AFSCME members have been killed or seriously hurt after being hit by a vehicle while repairing roads or doing other work in a traffic zone. This danger exists when traffic is not properly routed and/or adequate barriers are not placed between the workers and the traffic.

Confined spaces

A confined space is an area with small openings for a worker to enter and exit and is not designed for regular work. Examples of confined spaces include manholes, sewer digestors and silos, tunnels, pumping stations, and utility vaults.

There are many hazards in confined spaces. Workers can become unconscious and die from a lack of oxygen. At other times, there may be too much oxygen, or other chemicals that can catch fire or explode. Poisonous gases and vapors, such as hydrogen sulfide or carbon monoxide, may also build up in a confined space. Confined spaces can also pose physical hazards. They can be very hot or cold. Such an area can be very loud. Workers can slip on wet surfaces. Grain, sand or gravel can bury a worker.

Trenching and excavations

Working in an area that has been dug up can be very dangerous. A trench is a space that is deeper than it is wide. An excavation is any depression formed by earth removal. The main danger in trenching and excavation work is cave-ins. If a trench caves in, workers can be buried, crushed, drowned or suffocated.

Violence

Violence on the job has been a growing problem. In fact, homicides are the second leading cause of workplace fatalities. Workplace violence includes physical assault as well as near misses, verbal abuse and sexual harassment.

AFSCME members in law enforcement, corrections, social services, health care, mental health and schools are very much at risk. Homeless shelters, unemployment and public assistance offices, emergency rooms, and mental health clinics are more crowded than before. Staffing levels are not keeping up with increasing caseloads. Members of the public take out their frustration on AFSCME members when they face reduced benefits and longer waiting periods.

Machines

Machinery can cause injuries in different ways. Workers can get parts of their body caught in or struck by exposed moving parts if machines are not properly guarded, or if they are not locked out when being repaired. Workers can be struck by flying objects from grinders and other machines that do not have protective guards.

Fire and explosions

Improper labeling, handling or storage of certain materials can pose a risk of fire or explosion. Every workplace should have an evacuation plan for getting people out of a building in case of fire. Every workplace should have an alarm or alert system to quickly inform employees of an emergency. Every worker should be trained on what to do in case of an emergency.

Slips/falls

Bad housekeeping and poor drainage can make floors and other walking surfaces wet and slippery. Electrical wires along the floor pose a tripping hazard. Workers can fall if they are not provided safe ladders and footstools.

See the following publications and websites for more information

AFSCME fact sheet: Latex Allergy

International Labour Office, Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety, 4th Edition

National Institute for occuaptional safety and Health (NIOSH) A Guide to the Work-Relatedness of Disease, (PDF file requiring Acrobat Reader)

Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA Technical Links

Edited by Weeks, J., Barry, L., Wagener, G., Preventing Occupational Disease and Injury, American Public Health Association, 1991