IEN: What are the major machine and worker safety issues facing the industry?
Dorn: An aging workforce and repetitive motion represent two of the major machine and worker safety issues facing the industry today. Many welders have been working in the industry for 20 years or more, often working with the same machines, repeating the same motions. Over time, this type of repetition has a cumulative effect on tendons, ligaments, and muscles, making it difficult to grip objects and creating potentially hazardous conditions.
IEN: How can major machine and worker safety issues be addressed?
Dorn: To alleviate the repetitive motion issues of aging employees, cumulative strength moves, material handling, and constant movements should be minimized or eliminated. These objectives are often accomplished by automating wherever possible, reducing manual lifting with carts, lift tables, and hoists, and easing the need for continuous motions with welding positioners/grippers and hydraulic and pneumatic presses. Other activities include implementing simple comfort upgrades, such as using adjustable tables and chairs and making sure employees have the proper tools.
IEN: Where are strides being made: In ease of integration?
Dorn: Integration is more easily achieved as more and more companies are taking a proactive approach to safety. Employees have become increasingly involved in safety objectives, working directly with management and coworkers to develop projects that increase safety not just for themselves but for everyone around them.
IEN: . . . Flexibility and scalability?
Dorn: Flexibility and scalability are attained by giving workers the tools to redesign their workstations around their individual needs. In other words, the workstation is designed to fit the individual; the individual isn''t required to adapt to the workstation.
IEN: . . . Safety management?
Dorn: Safety management and employees are working together on a regular basis to share information, with one another and other businesses, encouraging fresh ideas, a positive safety environment, and increased job satisfaction. Further, management is beginning to educate employees about health and wellness as important functions of job satisfaction and, ultimately, a safe work environment.
IEN: . . . Personal injury prevention?
Dorn: Again, with access to the proper tools, employees can personalize their workspaces and take more control over preventing their own injuries.
IEN: . . . Risk management?
Dorn: To manage risk and keep worker''s compensation costs low, safety management personnel have brought health and safety issues in-house. Doctors and nurses are increasingly employed to address health and safety problems before injury occurs, such as treating numb fingers before they bloom into Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
IEN: . . . Emergency response?
Dorn: Management and employees have joined forces to develop emergency action plans, where first responders are easily reached to take quick action in any emergency situation. The plan ensures that there are trained people in every area of the business.
It also involves having the right safety equipment available. For example, while addressing cardiac arrest in the workplace, Miller''s safety committee noted that survival rates drop 10% every minute the patient goes without treatment, according to medical research data. As a result, Miller purchased 11 defibrillators earlier this year. Just three months later, two Miller first responders saved a vendor''s life when he had a heart attack while visiting Miller.
IEN: What innovations are in store for users in machine safety, protective technology, ergonomic design, safety equipment and systems, training and other areas?
Dorn: From a repetitive motion standpoint, automation will increase where it makes the most sense -- for higher volume jobs. Ergonomically designed equipment and tools will also increase, as aging workers require a higher level of comfort for relative productivity. For example, Miller Electric Mfg Co. offers its Diamondback™ TIG torch series, which is shaped to increase control over torch movements while reducing hand fatigue. Further, safety equipment continues to advance, such as Miller''s Big Window Elite™ Series of auto-darkening helmets. The helmets provide superior arc sensitivity and a 30% larger lens window.
In terms of training, employees will be expected to take a greater part in accomplishing safety objectives, giving them more responsibility for, but also more control over, their own and others'' safety. Lastly, as part of safety education, health and wellness will be hot topics. Miller has already put into practice a stretching program, where employees take 10 minutes to loosen up before the workday begins. Further, "To Your Health" sessions focus on a variety of health and wellness issues, such as stress, cancer, weight management, and diabetes. While management can''t control health and wellness outside the workplace, they can encourage a healthy, and thus safe, workplace environment.
IEN: Will the web and/or wireless play greater roles in safety? If so, how?
Dorn: As employees become more involved in safety objectives, they will also be held accountable for understanding safety issues, standards, and procedures. Miller Electric, AWS, and OSHA, among others, provide websites that offer excellent resources for employees to stay informed about safety.