Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
abrasion should immediately be reported to the supervisor. Some would
say that it is burdensome for the supervisor and the safety person to
process paperwork that details minor on-the-job injuries. This might be
the case in other industries, but in wastewater treatment plants where
exposure to sanitary wastewater and industrial waste is a daily occur-
rence, it is important to require employees to report all injuries, no mat-
ter how minor.
1.11 safeTy audiTs
Safety audits or inspections can be a valuable tool for detecting
worksite hazards that may lead to worker injury. The obvious purpose of
safety audits is to identify and correct workplace hazards. Not surpris-
ingly a newly assigned safety person is sometimes apprehensive about
conducting safety audits of the organization's facilities, not wanting to
antagonize the site supervisor. Moreover, without previous safety inspec-
tion experience, the rookie safety person may feel that he or she lacks
the knowledge and expertise required to conduct safety inspections.
One question that the new safety person might ask is “What do
I inspect for?” Although it is true that each worksite is different from
others, it is also true that types of safety hazards generally fall into the
same categories, no matter the size of a facility. There are exceptions to
this rule, however. For example, the hazards inherent in a nuclear facil-
ity are not the same as the hazards present in a wastewater treatment
plant.
Those concerned about conducting safety audits in wastewater
treatment plants should refer to several excellent publications that dis-
cuss the topic in detail. Several of these publications are listed in the
reference section of this text. Additionally, the potential auditor should
do a number of things prior to conducting the audit. The first thing to do
is to become familiar with the facility and operation to be audited, par-
ticularly with respect to the types of hazards that are normally present
at the facility. The auditor should determine whether the facility handles
and uses hazardous materials, for example.
Wastewater treatment plants possess most of the industrial haz-
ards that are present in other industrial settings. A short list of some
of the typical hazards that are present at wastewater treatment plants
includes:
1. Machinery
2. Flammable/combustible materials
3. Walking and work surfaces
4. Welding, cutting, and brazing operations
5. Electrical equipment and appliances
6. Ladders and scaffolds
7. Compressed gases
