“At what points during the laundering process are workers most vulnerable to injury or even death, and what precautions should be taken to minimize the risk? I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to protect my staff.”Consulting Services: Charles Berge, American Laundry Systems, Haverhill, Mass.
Workplace safety issues are something that, as an industry, we need to re-evaluate completely. Safety is not something that can be switched on at a moment’s notice or at the convenience of the laundry management!
How many laundry managers have seen any of the following?
- Soiled linens received into the laundry with sharps in them?
- An overhead sling system with 100-200 pounds of linen that falls to the floor from 15-20 feet?
- Manually loading chemicals into washers?
- Straddling a washer opening to activate the switch to dump the sling?
- Reaching inside a washer cylinder to unload it?
- Using the notorious "$1 million pole" on the soiled-rail system to activate the dump switch?
- Standing on a moving conveyor to load or move product?
- Feeding an ironer or small-piece folder while the operator’s hair or loose-fitting shirt/jacket dangles in front?
- Reaching into a feeder or folder to pull out a piece of linen that’s jammed?
- Continuously rotating the washer or dryer cylinder while sling- or hand-loading the equipment?
Now, how many have seen any of the following?
- An employee getting a needle stick? (Infection)
- A chemical spill that gets into an employee’s eyes? (Serious injury and/or blindness)
- An employee hit by a soil sling? (Serious injury or death)
- An employee decapitated or crushed by a cylinder or press? (Death)
- An employee falling into a dryer while standing on a conveyor? (Serious injury or death)
- An employee’s arm caught under a roll of an ironer? (Serious injury or amputation)
- An employee pulled into the wash or dryer cylinder while sling-loading? (Serious injury or death)
Have I witnessed all of these? No. Am I making these up? No. These accidents have happened in the industry and sadly could have and should have been prevented.
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It’s our responsibility to provide a safe workplace environment at all times, and to educate workers on safe work practices for each piece of equipment they operate.
Is there one point in the process where workers are most vulnerable? I say no — all locations within the plant are potential points of injury and/or death!
Precautions that need to be taken involve education and the implementation of policies and programs. Schedule and document safety training regularly. It’s a manager’s responsibility to also discipline any employee who has neglected safe work practices.
Deciding where to start can be difficult. Look within your facility, company or organization — the resources might be right there.
But the laundry industry is much different than most operations within a hotel or hospital, so you may need to look elsewhere.
The TRSA (Textile Rental Services Association) offers a website, www.safetrsa.org, solely dedicated to laundry safety.
There, you can calculate your plant’s DART (Days Away, job Restrictions, and/or job Transfers) rate. This is one of the gold standards of measurement for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The TRSA site also features some published resources on safety that are worth reviewing.
The recently published TRSA 2009 Industry Safety Report compares the laundry industry to private industry and manufacturing.
Sadly, our DART rate over the last three years has been almost double those of private industry and manufacturing. We’ve made great strides in the area of safety over the last few years but we are playing catch up.Textile/Uniform Rental: Kurt Rutkowski, Universal Linen Service, Louisville, Ky.
Workers are vulnerable to injury in all areas of the laundering process in an automated plant, so steps must be taken to minimize those risks.
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Our plant is a continuous-batch washing system. When an error occurs at any point in the wash process, we take extra steps to ensure no one is hurt once it’s been cleared. There are sensors built into our equipment, so if an employee is in the wrong area once the equipment is powered up, it won’t operate.
I suggest forming a safety committee with management from all areas to create and demonstrate best practices.
This team should be proactive in working to minimize risk.
Taking steps to prevent injuries really works, especially if you look at basic practices:
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What is the ergonomically correct way to perform a process?
- Are our workers pushing carts vs. pulling them, to minimize the strain on their legs and backs?
- Are our workers lifting correctly with their legs instead of bending at the waist?
- Are we positioning the products in front of our workers instead of behind them to minimize twists and turns?
We’ve taken additional steps to ensure worker safety and improve the overall appearance.
All employees wear a company-issued uniform.
Employees are not allowed to have dangling jewelry, headwear, scarves, etc. These items can get caught in automated equipment and pull a worker in, causing serious injury.
Lastly, ask your employees for input. We want our laundries to run fast and efficiently, but we want this done in a safe, efficient manner. Ask the key employees doing the job for input and you’ll see greater success in your safety program.
Including all areas of management and key employees in the process of keeping the workplace safe leads to fewer injuries and better productivity.Hotel/Motel/Resort Laundry: Charles Loelius, The Pierre New York, New York, N.Y.
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That being said, inadequately trained workers and poorly maintained equipment can make any point during the laundering process unsafe.
To assure a safe, productive environment for your laundry staff, follow the 3 P's:
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Proper training
- Proper protective equipment
- Proper preventative maintenance
We would never let our 16-year-olds drive without the benefit of taking driver education, but we let our employees operate sophisticated and dangerous equipment without any meaningful training.
Safety begins with a good training program that has a written policy providing information specific to your particular operation.
Repetitive tasks can become monotonous, which can lead to complacency, which can lead to inattention. Inattentive workers operating laundry machinery are a breeding ground for accidents.
An ongoing cross-training program, in addition to helping battle worker complacency, will make your employees more versatile, and more productive.
Always present main training points more than once, and post signs throughout the plant to reinforce them. Ongoing training, from the employee’s first day of work, is the best defense against accidents.
Proper protective equipment, such as gloves and back braces, when worn, will greatly reduce the occurrences of chemical burns, needle sticks and back injuries — the most common laundry injuries.
Perform scheduled preventative maintenance on equipment as recommended by the manufacturer. Any maintenance program should include training for the laundry mechanics to assure proper inspection, evaluation, maintenance and repair.
Implement and post preventative-maintenance checklists, as well as safety procedures. Implement and post start-up and shut-down procedures.
Proper equipment, such as 36-inch-high folding tables, will reduce back strain and fatigue and increase productivity.
All equipment controls should be easy to read. Emergency-stop buttons should be clearly marked and easily accessible.
The laundry should be designed to allow for cart and operator movement free from obstructions.
When you can no longer find essential parts for a machine, replace the machine. Many serious injuries and fatalities have been ascribed to missing parts such as shock absorbers, as well as broken welds and metal fatigue.Click here for Part 2 of this story.Click here for Part 3 of this story.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].