20 Important Hand Safety Tips to Prevent Hand Injury
Hand safety is a very important aspect of safety. To ascertain the important of the hand, can you think about something you can do without your hand?
You will agree with me that almost everything you do requires your hand either directly or indirectly, this is why you have to keep your hand safe.
Due to the important of the hand, programs has been initiated to enhance hand safety; these includes:
- Hand safety presentations
- Toolbox talk on hand safety
- Hand safety tips
- Training on hand safety.
All these have a singular aim of protecting the hand; hand injury can affect your job and quality of life seriously.
Why is Hand Safety Important
How did you feel the last time you had a cut in your hand, your hand got crushed, or your got hit by an external object. If you remember vividly, you will agree with me that you felt so uncomfortable.
Here are some reasons why hand safety is important:
- Since our hands are needed for performing everyday tasks and activities, injuries to the hands will greatly hinder our ability to work, and take care of ourselves.
- Also since our hands are very and vulnerable to a wide range of hazards, such as cuts, burns, fractures, and crush injuries, it is needful to Protect our hands through the use of PPE, proper handling techniques, to help prevent these injuries and ensure the well-being of our hands.
List of Hazards that Could Result to Hand Injury
There are lots of hazards on our work sites that could result to hand injury. These hazards include:
- Exposure to sharp, spiked or jagged edges on equipment, tools or materials.
- Falling objects, and using rings, gloves or loose clothing which may get caught by equipment.
- Using the wrong hand tool for the job.
- Direct contact with a hot surface or a chemical.
All the above mentioned hazards could result to different forms of cut (Incision or laceration), crushing of the hand, puncture, fracture, amputation, strain, sprain, burns, etc.
Hand injury could be mild, moderate or severe. Since we cannot predict the possible consequence of hand hazards, ensuring hand safety becomes our best option.
Hand Safety Tips
- Get adequate hand safety training: Every employee must be trained on Hand Safety, this is because there is no one that is not working with his hands. They training will cover – What is Hand Safety, Hazards that could affect the hand, and how to prevent hand injury.
- Perform hazard analysis for hand safety: Hazard analysis of the type of hazard the employees could be exposed to should be carried out. Because an hazard not identified cannot be controlled.
- Use the right hand tool for a job: Workers should be advised on the need to use the right tool for the job; using a wrong tool increases the likelihood of hand injury by over 50%.
- Put faulty equipment out from use: Never use faulty or damaged working equipment as it predisposes you hand injury.
- Avoid using loose clothing, rings and bangles while working with rotating wheels: Loose clothing, bangles and other body accessories could get entangled resulting to hand injury when using rotating wheels; so you need to put them out.
- Avoid getting direct contact with hazardous chemicals: Always get protected when working with hazardous chemical, the best way to protect your hand from hazardous chemicals is by using your hand gloves.
- Do not keep long nails: Long nails increases the chance of hand injury, so always cut your nails.
- Do not extend your hand into an invisible area since you may get hurt in the process: You could loose your hand by doing this; I have witness this first hand, so stay safe.
- Use hand protection always: This cannot be overemphasized, to protect your hand you need hand protection devices.
- Inspect equipment before use: Inspect equipment before use to identify faulty ones and put them out of use.
- Never work with an unguarded equipment: Guards are made to protect you, when they are not in place that means you are at risk.
- Beware of pinch points: Never get caught up, always pay attention to pinch points.
- Do not test for energized wires with your hand: Your hand is not a tester, so protect your hand.
- Be mindful of equipment that starts automatically: Make sure the equipment is completely isolated before you work on them
- Discard damage gloves; it may give you a false sense of safety: False safety is very dangerous. There is no partial protection, its either you are protected or not. What you can partial protection will still result to injury.
- Beware of hot surfaces: Never touch hot surface with your hand, you can get burnt.
- Do not put your hands or fingers near the moving parts of a power tool or equipment.
- Do not just use the hand gloves, use the right hand gloves for the right job.
- Work smart rather than working fast.
- Do not clean or repair equipment until it is completely turn off.
Your hand is your earning power, keep it safe.
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