Dropped objects are an important point of concern in Hazard Hunting. This is because in our industry, ‘drops’ regularly lead to incidents, both onshore and offshore. However, dropped objects can also create hazardous situations at the office and in the home. After all, even a small falling object, such as a screwdriver, can cause a serious or even fatal injury. So it is not without good reason that drops form an important area of focus in every living and working environment.
This is clear from the following practical examples:
- A support brace was sawn through during demolition work, causing it to fall three metres. The brace weighed around eight kilos, and came to rest on the scaffolding. But things could have ended very differently. The brace could have fallen further, covering a distance of around six metres, before landing on the main deck. An area that had not been secured.
- During paint work, a 700-gram metal saw fell 25 metres from a crane ledge, landing on the main deck. After using the saw, the painter had put it on his work bin (which also contained cleaning cloths, among other things). One of the cloths was subsequently blown by the wind, causing it to knock the saw off the work bin and over the raised edge of the platform. At the time, the main deck was not secured. The saw could easily have killed someone.
Inspections and suggestions
To ensure that safety in organisations is raised to and kept at a high level, it is important that everyone in the organisation provides input. For example, individuals or teams can inspect a site and report on all the potential hazards or irregularities that are related to dropped objects. But it is even more important to make suggestions and to jointly think about how to prevent the hazards and irregularities mentioned in the reports. That way, you ensure that together, procedures and working methods in your company will improve. Making suggestions can make a huge difference!