The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has teamed up with employers over the last several years to change the way that people view safety in the workplace. OSHA determines which standards and requirements apply to which workplace environments, and enforces employers to adhere to them throughout their work day. If you work in a manufacturing facility that utilizes dust collectors, it’s important to properly maintain your equipment for longstanding use. In this article, we’ll take a look at the four major safety concerns of your dust collection system.

Bisco Enterprise is proud to be an industry leader in air cleaning and dust collection products. With more than 40 years of experience in clean air systems, we offer one of the largest selections of dust collectors, mist collectors, fume collectors, and more. If you’re interested in learning more about our products or you have questions regarding your current dust collector, contact us today!

Dust Collectors: Lockout -Tagout & Electrical Safety

Whether you work in a manufacturing facility or metalworking facility, your electrical safety program must follow all local safety codes as well as the OSHA Electrical Safety standards at all times. These codes and standards are put in place to ensure safe working conditions for employees who may be subjected to harmful and hazardous electrical sources. In order for your plant to abide by these safety protocols, it’s important to recognize any electrical hazards before you perform any kind of maintenance work such as control panel adjustments. It’s critical that all employees take the necessary precautions to prevent injury in the workplace.

When installing, inspecting, or performing common maintenance work on your dust collectors, all energy sources must be disconnected and Lockout - Tagout (LOTO) procedures must be performed. According to OSHA standards, LOTO addresses the practices and procedures that are needed to disable machinery or equipment, thereby preventing the release of hazardous energy while employees are performing service and maintenance activities. These policies must be followed when:

• There is a possibility of unexpected energy sources / start-ups of the dust collector, fan, rotary airlocks, or other electrical units.
• A drive guard or other safety device is removed from the system or made inoperable.
• If there is someone nearby the collection area that is considered to be hazardous.

Why Is Controlling Hazardous Energy Sources So Important?

If you fail to take the proper precautions with your dust collector, employees that are servicing or maintaining the machines may be exposed to serious physical harm or even death if the hazardous energy is not properly controlled. When employers abide by LOTO standards, it prevents an estimated 120 fatalities and 50,000 injuries each year. This safety standard establishes the employer’s responsibility to protect employees against harmful energy sources on machines and equipment.

If you are an employer working in one of these industries, it’s critical that you are trained how to follow the applicable provisions of the hazardous energy control procedures. The training you undergo must cover at least three areas, including:

• The aspects of your employer’s energy control program.
• The elements of the energy control procedure that are relevant to your duties as an employee.
• The various requirements of the OSHA standards when it comes to lockout-tagouts.

Dust Collectors: Working in Confined Spaces

If your operation utilizes dust collectors, they are probably placed in confined spaces. In fact, many manufacturing facilities may consider their dust collectors housing as a “permit required confined space.” These spaces can cause problems when employees need to access the unit to perform any kind of service or maintenance. Some main areas of concern may include the interior spaces needed for filter bag changes or other maintenance related procedures. Each facility must post proper signage at the ingress and egress of these areas, and it is very important for employees to understand all of the potential hazards involved with them. Your workplace should be following one of the three following options:

• Your employer should provide all of the necessary training in the facility’s permit required confined space program in order for each task to be completed safely.
• Your employer must ensure the workspace is “Safe to Enter” by complying with OSHA safety standards.
• Your employer must reclassify permits that are required for a confined space to non-permits during the maintenance or inspection of the area when determining if the confined space is a hazardous environment.

Dust Collectors: Protection From Falls

In most manufacturing facilities, additional floor space can be hard to come by, especially for dust collectors. The personnel who have to perform inspections and service on these machines will often have to be on an elevated surface such as a platform or ladder. Fall protection should be used when the following conditions are present in your facility:

• When your work platforms or mezzanines are at a height greater than four feet and your dust collector does not have the proper handrails or toe plates.
• When you’re trying to access the internals of the collector hoppers.

Dust Collectors: Handling & Lifting Heavy Items

Depending on the type of facility you work in, you may be required to handle and lift dirty cartridges, gallon drums, and many other items associated with dust collectors. These heavy parts can present a safety hazard to employees, so it’s critical to learn the proper way to lift items in order to avoid injuries down the line. A majority of the injuries we’ve seen from handling and lifting are often back problems. While the human spine is designed to allow your body to bend and twist, it doesn’t always let us know when it is stressed or under too much pressure. As a result, many employees experience muscle spasms, herniated discs, and other strains while on the job. When it comes to handling and lifting heavy objects at the workplace, remember the lifting techniques below.

• If an item is too heavy for you to carry or it has an awkward shape, try to share the load with one of your coworkers.
• When possible, push heavy loads instead of pulling them. This can work for large items such as boxes, drums, and containers.

Browse Dust Collection Products

As you can see, there are many things to keep in mind when you work with dust collectors. Thanks to the help of OSHA, there are safety standards set in place that each facility must abide by to avoid hazards and injuries. Bisco Enterprise is proud to be an industry leader in clean air systems and dust collectors and we’re happy to answer any questions you may have. Interested in learning more about our clean air solutions? Browse our website today to check out our high quality  wet vacuums, mist collectors, fume collectors and more!