Many times things are ‘just the way they are’ for so long we’ve forgotten to see some of these things as the safety issues that they are. While some safety issues require professional correction, other issues just need to be found and corrected with a simple solution.
Some of the most common workplace injuries are from tripping and falling over misplaced items. Other incidents may occur from improperly stacked items or top heavy drawer cabinets toppling over. Other injuries that may not be so obvious are caused from uncomfortable seating that cannot be adjusted to the current user. This safety month, take some time to find all the things you can do to make your workspace safe and prevent injuries. Fortunately, Lyon has several tips and products to help you keep your business a safe place to work.
STAY CLUTTER FREE
Slips, trips, and falls contribute to the most common type of office injury. Significantly reduce these incidents by keeping your walkways clear. Often times boxes, files, or other items tend to collect in a walkway when no one is quite sure where they should go. By adding adequate shelving you can instantly create a space to store these necessary items while removing this potential tripping hazard.
Lyon’s shelves easily adjust so you can find the best height for your items. Adding extra shelves helps keeps boxes singly stored instead of stacked on top of one another. This allows you to take just the box you need without other boxes tipping and falling on top of you. Lyon offers shelves with varying capacities up to 1,250 lbs. By selecting a shelf with a proper weight capacity you’ll increase your storage safety while not having to worry about bending or buckling shelves.
Clear walkways and aisles aren’t just for the safety of the office! Warehouses also benefit from having these areas clear for foot traffic and forklifts. Lyon’s heavy-duty bulk storage racks and industrial strength pallet racking provide safe storage for large and bulky items. These units feature adjustable levels to help create the ideal storage for your products and materials. Both styles of rack are available with wire decking which increases your visibility as well as enhances your sprinkler system effectiveness.
INCREASE RESPONSE TIME
Sometimes accidents happen, and when they do, response time is essential. Adding our safety response cabinet to your workspace significantly reduces the response time to address an urgent accident. The visually bright safety yellow paint finish helps you to easily identify and find this cabinet in an emergency. A HazMat Response cabinet helps organize and store your spill containment and response equipment near areas at greatest risk. Safety experts agree that rapid response to a HazMat emergency can greatly reduce risk exposure and collateral damage. The Safety Center cabinet includes clearview doors making it easy to assess current safety supply inventories.
Lyon’s large selection of safety storage cabinets provide safe storage for flammable liquids. The bright safety yellow paint finish identifies the cabinet as flammable storage. This prevents flammable liquids from being mistakenly stored in an incorrect place. The threaded screened flame arrester vents on both sides of the cabinet accept a standard 2 inch pipe for external exhaust. While most of our safety storage cabinets feature a manual-closing door, some do include a self-closing door. The self-closing door features a manual latch with a fusible link. The latch holds the door open when the cabinet is in use. If temperatures reach 165° F or more then the latch will automatically release to close the door. All of Lyon’s safety cabinets meet NFPA Code 30 as well as OSHA Standards.
SHUT THE DRAWER
Another common type of injury occurring in the office setting comes from workers being caught or struck by an object. Often times a drawer cabinet with too many fully extended drawers will tip over from the unbalanced load. Anyone caught underneath a toppled cabinet can face serious injuries. In the interest of safety, Lyon strongly recommends that cabinets be properly secured to the wall and/or floor to prevent tipping.
To add another level of safety, a single drawer access option is available on all of our modular drawer cabinets. A special lockbar on the single drawer access cabinets allows only one drawer to be opened at a time. This reduces the chance of tipping. Cabinets with this drawer option are available with or without a master lock to secure all the drawers closed at one time. Lyon ergonomically engineered these modular drawers to provide the best possible human reach points. The full extension drawers provide 100% visibility to the back of the drawer so workers don’t have to bend and crane their necks to see the stored items.
OFFER ERGONOMIC SEATING
One size does not often fit all for an office workstation. Offering ergonomic, adjustable seating helps you to accommodate the widest range of employees. Both the Standard Industrial Chair and the Spider Stool with Backrest feature a five leg base for safety and stability. The seats easily adjust for you to find the ideal height so your arms form a 90° angle at the elbow or slightly greater. This allows better circulation in the shoulders as well as neck and reduces fatigue in the forearms and hands. The polyurethane seats and backs easily wipe clean in harsh environments. The padded seats and backs provide both comfort and durability.
Not all work environments are suitable for a chair, but standing all day can cause unnecessary aches. Lyon’s Sit-Stand Stool is the perfect solution. This stool takes up to 70% of your weight to help reduce reduce leg and foot stress. The seat height is adjustable and has a 20 degree pivot range. Users can safely lean against this support device to relieve the pressure from being on their feet all day long. The gravity locking system and non-marring anti-slip rubber pads on the base ensure stability and safety while in use.
National Safety Month is a great excuse to take a (careful!) step back and really assess your current work environment. Learning how to ‘see’ common workplace hazards and correcting them can do does more than just improve the safety of your workplace. Items stored in proper locations also improve the speed and efficiency of the workplace. With less time needed to ‘look for this item’ or ‘move this box to get to that box’ employees can spend that valuable time getting the job done!
