Dropped Objects: Forewarned is forearmed
This article is Part 2 of our Dropped Object Prevention series. Start with Part 1: What are Dropped Objects and How Do They Affect Worksite Safety?
An introduction
Dropped object incidents can occur at any time, for any number of different reasons. On worksites – especially those in the energy industry – the likelihood of a dropped object risk occurring is significantly higher. Any location with a large number of potential hazards means there will inevitably be a greater number of risks that could be realised.
Human factors and unintentional human error play a huge part, as do other factors, such as vibration, corrosion, and exposure to harsh environmental conditions. Environmental extremes, from the icy winds of the North Sea to the heat of an Australian summer, the tropical storms of South-East Asia, or hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, can all negatively affect fixtures secured at height.
As dropped objects can be all manner of items, from heavy light fixtures to nuts and bolts, the impact they can have can be equally huge. Knowing why they happen and the main causes is a key element, as only by having this knowledge can avoidance and mitigation strategies be decided upon and put into place. Of all the reasons that can cause dropped object incidents to come about, the top ten can be identified as the primary causes.
#1 Improper Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is a crucial element important to all sectors within the energy industry. Risk assessment tools are used to help prevent major hazards, such as dropped objects, from injuring workers. The structured process associated with risk assessment helps identify the major hazards and evaluate engineering, management, and work processes that can help mitigate or minimise their potential risks.
Principle Risk Management Framework
Risk is defined as the combination of the probability of an event occurring and the potential severity of the resulting injury. Because daily operations and maintenance activities inherently involve hazards, inadequate acknowledgement and assessment of these risks, such as objects falling from height, create an unsafe worksite. Hazards can only be effectively controlled and mitigated if a thorough risk assessment is conducted first.
Risk assessment and analysis should be a compulsory element across all sectors within the energy industry. Risk assessment enables the establishment of priorities so that the most dangerous situations can be addressed first. Inadequate risk assessment makes for unsafe workplaces, which could easily cost an organisation its reputation and, if unaddressed, the health, wellbeing, and potentially the lives of staff.
A Five Step Guide to Risk Assessment
- 1) Identify the hazards: It is important to know the difference between a hazard and a risk. A hazard is something with ‘the potential for causing harm’; a risk is ‘the likelihood of potential harm being realised’. Hazards can be easily identified, for the most part, by conducting site inspections and speaking with employees.
- 2) Who might be harmed and how: Once hazards have been identified, evaluate who could be harmed and how that harm might occur.
- 3) Evaluate risks and decide control measures: After completing steps 1 and 2, the next course of action is to protect those identified in step two from harm. The hazard(s) can either be completely eliminated or the risks controlled, making injury unlikely.
- 4) Record findings: Recording findings is not only a legal requirement in many places but also shows that hazards have been identified, along with a plan to eliminate the risks.
- 5) Review and update as required: Review your risk assessment frequently and check it regularly. Update it as and when necessary.
#2 Human Factors
Where there are humans, there will be human error.
One of the main things to remember is that everyone in any workplace is ‘only human’, and as humans are all fallible, accidents can and do happen.
These errors include:
Many of these factors can be prevented or, when not preventable, rectified before personnel safety becomes an issue. Basic safety training upon the hiring of new employees is a start, yet the evaluation of human factors needs to be an ongoing effort involving all employees. Human factors must be understood in order for occupational safety professionals to find ways to mitigate risks with ‘stopgap’ measures, preventing accidents before they occur. Many other solutions exist to close the gap in human error, most of which are long-term fixes rather than temporary stopgaps. These include barrier systems, guardrailing, and toe boards to prevent dropped objects from falling from platforms or walking and working surfaces. Other solutions as simple as self-locking carabiners significantly reduce the likelihood of human error by preventing the mistake or accident from occurring in the first place.
Many of these factors that result in dropped objects can be prevented or, when not preventable, be rectified before personnel safety becomes an issue. Basic safety training upon the hiring of new employees is a start, yet the evaluation of human factors needs to be an ongoing effort involving all employees. Human factors need to be understood in order for an occupational safety professional to find ways to mitigate risks with ‘stopgap’ measures, preventing accidents – like dropped object incidents – before they occur.
#3 Inadequate Procedures
Similar to improper risk assessments, inadequate procedures often result from poor planning and a lack of change management. Robust change management processes must be in place to identify and control risks that arise from changes within the workplace, namely those that may create new or previously unidentified areas of risk.
Procedures to prevent risks from occurring should be standard across all worksites. Although sometimes overlooked, procedures such as toolbox talks can be the difference between identifying a hazard and successfully avoiding the associated risk.
Toolbox talks are informal meetings that focus on safety topics for specific jobs, such as working at height, where dropped objects can be a significant risk. These talks cover a wide range of workplace hazards and safe work practices as a way to refresh workers' knowledge and exchange information. Procedures like this can help mitigate hazards, making worksites safer overall.
#4 Poor Housekeeping
While it may seem like a simple day-to-day activity, good housekeeping can positively affect site safety in a big way. Ensuring worksites (no matter their location) and toolkits are kept organised and tidy is an instant improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment. Loose tools and equipment left around pose an unexpected risk to personnel. A great majority of all work accidents are caused during the handling of goods or materials, and by people falling, being hit by falling objects, or striking against objects in the workplace.
When good housekeeping practices break down and poor housekeeping replaces them, the likelihood of accidents and human error increases. Other risks increase exponentially too. Fire becomes a more prominent risk from oil-soaked rags or spontaneous combustion, for instance.
Perhaps the most important element of maintaining good housekeeping is the ongoing maintenance of buildings, structures, and equipment. If something, whether a fixture at height, a handrail, or anything else on a worksite, gets broken or damaged, it should be repaired safely or replaced immediately. Even if it appears to be fully functional, continuing to use broken equipment can end up being highly detrimental in the long run.
Pre-existing hazards from previous tasks can cause serious harm to personnel. Because workers change and rotate, those who witness the damage firsthand may not be the ones who ultimately suffer the consequences.
A good maintenance programme will make provision for the inspection, lubrication, upkeep, and repair of tools, equipment, machines, and processes.
#5 Collisions & Snagging
Moving equipment using lifting wires can cause snagging and collisions. Extra care and caution should be employed when moving equipment and handling wires. Accidents that cause impacts can also cause objects to fall and generate debris which can itself fall, creating further risks.
Collisions and snagging risks fall firmly into the category of dynamic dropped object hazards. Dynamic dropped objects, as previously mentioned, incorporate any object that falls as a result of an applied force. When establishing a drop zone (or ‘red zone’), the distance a dropped object can travel is difficult to estimate, even when it is a stationary fixture falling. While an object might be expected to fall straight down, other obstructions, or even environmental factors, can cause the drop path to change, potentially causing ricochets. This is especially true when moving objects collide with stationary fixtures, causing them to dislodge and fall.
#6 Insufficient Inspection, Repair & Maintenance
Put simply, inadequate inspection, repair, and maintenance means ignoring unsafe conditions. Regular inspections and planned maintenance repair schedules can help identify corrosion, damages, equipment wear-and-tear, and structural weaknesses before they transition from a hazard into a dropped object risk.
Maintenance is required frequently in order to keep equipment, machines, and the work environment safe. A lack of, or inadequate, maintenance can lead to dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations. Maintenance is inherently a high-risk activity, with many of its own hazards, including working alongside a running process and in close contact with machinery. While automation tends to significantly reduce the likelihood of human error during normal operations, this protection is often absent during maintenance.
To limit the amount of reactive maintenance required, regular inspections must be properly conducted on worksites. In terms of dropped objects, most inspections will be required at height. This inherently carries its own dangers, much like maintenance work, but as long as safety precautions and protocols are followed, inspections can take place safely with limited risks. Fixtures situated at height are not the only elements requiring inspection; any item that has the potential to pose a dropped object threat must also be thoroughly checked.
These regular inspections determine whether repair or maintenance is required, and therefore whether the site is safe for work to continue. It is of extreme importance that these inspections (and any subsequent maintenance or repair) are adequate to ensure that all personnel on-site can work in a safe and secure environment. Keeping a detailed log of inspections is highly recommended; this process can be streamlined using in-built, RFID-enabled safety securing solutions.
#7 Redundant, Neglected, or Homemade Equipment
Any equipment that has become redundant, neglected to the point of falling below adequate standards, or is homemade, should be eliminated immediately. Homemade tools, tethers, dropped object prevention devices, and any other equipment used on-site serve only to increase risks within the workplace. This equipment has not been certified or tested, and in most cases, is a temporary ‘quick fix’ that has been left in place long-term.
Similarly, damaged tools that have been subjected to a previous fall pose their own dropped object dangers. The previous impact could cause them to fail or break apart unexpectedly, with the broken elements becoming a dropped object risk. When it comes to dropped object prevention solutions, it is important to follow the installation instructions for equipment that has been tested and can be trusted. Using rope instead of proper tool tethers, or cable ties in place of specific attachment components, only serves to jeopardize the safety of on-site personnel.
Redundant, neglected, and homemade equipment must not be used under any circumstances as a substitute for proper dropped object prevention solutions.
#8 Inadequately Stored Tools or Equipment
When using tools, especially if it is possible that personnel may be working or walking below, tool lanyards should always be in use. Tethering tools is crucial; when tools become dropped objects, they can be just as dangerous as larger items (and often more so, as their projected fall track is far harder to predict). Similarly, loose or handheld items of any kind should also be secured, whether to an individual or some form of tool bag, to prevent a dropped object incident from occurring.
Handheld and power tools, mobile phones, two-way radios, and even personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hard hats are all items that must be adequately secured (which is just as important as properly storing equipment).
When equipment is not in use, it is important that it is stored correctly and appropriately. Using a tool bag or kit is an effective way to store tools safely and prevent their loss. When tools are not stored correctly, they can present trip hazards, be accidentally kicked from walkways to become dropped objects, and cause further issues.
While some may perceive securing every small item as excessive, it is important to remember the significant damage even lightweight items can cause when they become dropped objects.
#9 Failed Fixtures & Fittings
The failure of fixtures and fittings is a key cause of dropped objects. Usually occurring in areas of a worksite where asset inspection is difficult or a geographic location prone to extreme weather conditions, failed fixtures can have fatal consequences.
Bolted connections are also a form of fitting that, if failure was to occur, would cause a potentially fatal dropped object incident. Bolted connections are produced to more than 85 different industrial standards, depending upon sector, operational and maintenance requirements. To achieve a stable bolted connection, the following factors must be evaluated:
#10 Environmental Factors
The range of environmental factors that can affect site safety and increase the risks posed by dropped objects is significant. Wind, sea motion, ice, snow, extreme heat, sand storms – the list goes on.
The effects of these extreme conditions impact all sorts of areas, from wide open, fairly exposed areas such as mine sites and offshore oil and gas rigs, to others that are far more centrally located. Harsh weather can compromise stability and the security of equipment. These factors can cause increased corrosion, while putting additional pressure on fixtures located at height, and other structural elements that are exposed to harsh conditions.
The best way to combat extreme weather is to ensure all equipment is secured with appropriate dropped object prevention solutions.
To summarise, by securing your facility or worksite against dropped objects using appropriate safety securing, you can guarantee that your workplace is as safe from drops as possible.
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