Hello All,
I work in the maintenance department of a fairly large manufacturing facility. I was recently asked to join a safety team to evaluate safety throughout our maintenance spaces. One of our ideas is to implement a safety board to the departments. This idea comes from my military days where there was a safety board available in each workspace that contained safety tools and PPE, i.e. shorting probe, face shield, fire blanket etc...

I was hoping to gather some ideas to help assemble this board.

What do you think? What would you like to see on a safety board? Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much

While you may have direct experience with such an arrangement that made sense, and worked ... on balance, the idea strikes me as little more than a wasteful way to spend the company's money.

I can see the placement of equipment-specific tools, etc., near the point of use. For example, having the appropriate fuse puller right there. Yet, one really must try to keep this to a minimum.

Why? First, because the place quickly becomes cluttered with all manner of stuff - fire extinguishers, stretchers, etc., - that never gets used. The stuff that is actually usefull somehow either disappears - or gets broken.

There is also the way a handy kit encourages the wrong folks to play with the equipment.

While the idea is not without some merit - especially for either unique equipment, or gear that is in largely inaccessible areas - I think it's mostly a dead end.

I understand where you are coming from....but

The idea is not to hang a toolboard, It is intended for an access point for the accident we hope never happens. Having a cotton rope or a shockstop could save a life. Discharging stored electricity in a cap bank or HVPS shouldnt be done with a screwdriver. We definately cant afford to supply every technician with these items and expect them to carry these items around. We can Have these items available in a central point and also use the board as an awareness tool.

So back to the request.....
Keep the Feedback Rolling.
Thanks

Reno had the same thought I did, that you were just hanging tools there. If you are talking about rescue equipment I agree but beyond basic stuff, I think this has to be customized for each location.
Knowing how people are, I would also have some basic PPE around too. If it is sitting there, you REALLY have no excuse for not using it.
In our little computer shop I kept safety glasses over the work bench and insisted people use them.
I know that is small scale compared to the PPE you need in front of a 1600a switchboard but the principle is the same.

Baxpat,
I can see what you are getting at.
There is no substitute for forward planning as far as safety equipment goes, if you haven't got it when you need it, what is the point of having it at all.

Sure, there will be idiots around that like to "play" with fire extinguishers and the like, make it a dismissable offence to do so, after making an example of them.

How would you feel that some other person was badly burned because YOU were "having a bit of fun" the day before with the only means of extinguishing the fire that took hold in a part of the factory?
Doesn't even have to be a fire extinguisher, could be a tool that is used to isolate something in a hurry.

I think a board like this has it's merits, it is gear right where it is needed.

70-E REQUIRES a lot of what your asking about. Get a copy & look it up.
Yoopersup

Funny you should bring this up... We recently had to remove this from our IG inspection checklist because nobody could find a requirement in any DoD document for a safety board! They're still located at pretty much every site, and I've had several made up recently, but the requirement seems to have quietly disappeared. Probably when they switched to UFC and commercial specs about 5 years ago.

I didn't see anything about safety boards in 70E, but if someone knows the specific code or DoD document regarding them, I'd much appreciate a reference. NFPA 70E 250.1 says you've got to have all that stuff, but doesn't require it to be mounted on a board.

I thought you meant (SAFETY BOARD) People . Sorry.
2004 110.7 Electrical Safety Program is in 70-E.
As far as the Safety Equipment a board would be fine for instruction but for Field use the equipment should be located where most likely to be used.
Yoopersup

Yoopersub, that's what the board was for. The PFE isn't stored on the board (well, it can be as it eliminates "don't have it" or "couldn't find it" as an excuse), but the board is there moreso for response to an event, and one would be located in every room where it was likely that personnel would be working in or around energized equipment.

A standardized and properly equipped large green safety board is great in an emergency, because there is no fumbling for equipment- the cane, rope and blanket are right there, in the electrical room, and available for immediate response.

I really hate to ask this question, but why would you work hot without a stanby person who has a cane, rope and/or blanket with them?

It generally comes down to:
- Someone you're afraid of (the boss) told you to
- Everybody else does...and you don't want to look 'chicken'
- You need to do something quickly and want to be the hero
- You think you're invulnerable
- You think it makes you look 'mucho macho'

I agree...there's rarely a good reason to do this work alone. Forget the electrical hazard for a second and ask what happens if you fall off the ladder or trip into a hole full of sharp and scary things. I'd much rather have a helper, even if their only job is calling the ambulance after I get hurt.

I'd add AED to this list, too. Government regulations (for government work) require a CPR-certified safety observer wherever hot work is being done. A lot of the point of a safety board is just to make sure this equipment is readily accessible so people use it instead of just saying "%$&# it!" after a brief failed search and doing it anyhow.