The National Safety Council has coined June as National Safety Month. During this time each year, the NSC brings additional spotlight to vital safety issues and their implications within workplaces and on roadways.

FlexTrades fully supports this effort and works to promote, teach, and maintain safety, year-round.

Safety-First Training at FlexTrades

To ensure each technician is always putting safety first, everyone goes through pre-deployment safety training, field safety alerts, and ongoing safety training programs on every project.

On top of training, we are constantly innovating how to call out important safety updates internally to keep safety at the forefront of everything we do. This is why we are such big supporters of the National Safety Council dedicating an entire month to focusing on safety.

One such way we do this is by continually creating relevant content for our technicians and others to see via internal communications and across all our online and social media platforms. We also work to promote additional resources and calendar dates surrounding safety through newsletters and internal groups.

Client Benefits

There are many reasons why deploying FlexTrades traveling skilled trades professionals is beneficial to safety and general business practice for any manufacturer:

  • Risk Reduction: In 2023, FlexTrades was recognized with a ‘Risk Control Award of Merit’. The grading/determining factors were critical statistics on loss frequency and severity, and an evaluation of the proactive measures taken to reduce risks.
  • Safety Culture: Technicians, always well-vetted for commitment to safety, from FlexTrades work to create an environment of those who live and breathe safety. Adding our technicians to your team can visually and physically shift the culture around safety in any manufacturing facility.
  • Reduced Operating Costs: The training we implement before a technician deploys, as well as during their project, is the best way to prevent costly safety issues. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
  • Increased Productivity: Employees become more productive when they feel as though their daily operations do not put them at risk. Also, rates of absenteeism decrease rapidly when technicians know that their activities follow best safety practices and guidelines.

Stay Safe

We at FlexTrades understand the importance of vigorous safety training. The National Safety Council does too. That’s why we’re such huge fans of the extra light they shine on safety every June! Visit the resources page of their website if you’d like to learn more about how to improve the focus on safety in your facility or home. And remember, you should put safety first every day not just in the month of June.  

In the early hours of March 28, 1979 the largest nuclear accident the United States has ever seen is about to unfold. At 4:00am, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station suffers a pump failure and cooling malfunction which leads to a partial nuclear melt down. Fortunately, this partial meltdown did not lead to any loss of life, and the lessons learned have helped to make America’s power plants safer than ever.

Most manufacturing facilities don’t have the potential to devastate an entire region like a full nuclear meltdown could. But the health and safety of employees is at serious risk if safety procedures aren’t followed, or if they aren’t in place to begin with.

A recent article we presented outlines the CDC’s Hierarchy of Controls. At Three Mile Island, the nuclear reaction (the most dangerous part) cannot be eliminated or replaced. Therefore, excellent engineering and administrative controls were in place to isolate the most dangerous effects of the meltdown away from the operators and inspectors monitoring the situation.

Below is a timeline of key events on this day 45 years ago and some of the aftermath.

March 27, 1979 – Setting the Stage

Maintenance efforts to clear resin filters have created a dangerous situation for the plant operators. Water enters air lines through a stuck valve creating a ticking time-bomb that unfolds the next morning.

4:00am March 28, 1979 – The Accident Begins

A pump failure leads to a reactor shutdown. The stuck valve from the previous day does not allow cooling systems to work in the reactor, causing it to quickly overheat. The meltdown has begun as operators are notified with alarms.

7:45am March 28

A small release of radioactive gas is recorded off-site and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is notified.

8:00am March 28

Additional support is needed quickly. Response teams from the NRC, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are mobilized.

9:15am – 11:00am March 28

In Washington DC, President Jimmy Carter is briefed on the accident. Back in Pennsylvania, non-essential personnel are ordered to leave the premises to limit unnecessary exposure.

Afternoon into Evening March 28

In the afternoon, the first air samples are taken by helicopters to monitor radioactivity in the atmosphere. As the day comes to a close, the situation is stabilizing, and the core continues to cool to safer levels.

March 30, 1979

Radiation from an auxiliary building is released which causes a new wave of concerns. Pennsylvania governor Dick Thornburgh is worried for citizens in the area and begins discussing an evacuation plan. Vulnerable citizens within a five-mile radius are advised to leave the area.

March 31 to April 1, 1979

A large hydrogen bubble has been identified inside the pressure vessel that contains the reactor core. If this hydrogen bubble were to breach the pressure vessel, large amounts of radiation could escape. Fortunately, the hydrogen bubble reduced in size, and since there was no oxygen present, there was no risk of explosion.

President Jimmy Carter visits the site.

Mid-April 1979 – Investigations

Two investigations are set in motion. The President appoints a 12-member commission while the NRC forms another group to investigate. The purpose is to identify what happened and determine if there are any health and safety risks for those on-site and in the area.

The President’s commission releases a report several months later. They suggest industry standards be developed to better manage nuclear power plants. It also cites the need for operators to receive better training and closer supervision.

1980’s – Cleanup and Health Studies

In July 1980, over a year after the accident, the first manned entry of the reactor building is done.

Throughout the 1980s, the “head” (roof) of the reactor vessel is removed. Reactor materials are removed and shipped off-site. By 1988, the facility’s license is changed to “possession-only” to enter a state of long-term monitoring.

Epidemiological studies are done to study the health effects of the accident. In 1981, they find that the amount of radiation released was too small to detect any negative effects to those close to the plant. In 1982 and 1988, two different studies find that infant mortality rates were not affected. In 1985 and 1989, two studies find that no significant abnormalities in cancer rates were present either.

1990’s to Today

In the 1990s, the site continues to be decontaminated of radioactive materials and waste.

Additional health studies continue to find that cancer rates did not increase in the area. However, some residents and employees felt psychological stress from the event for up to six years in some cases.

By 2009, the reactor is permanently shut down and defueled, but it will remain monitored for years to come.

Conclusion

As mentioned in the beginning, manufacturers don’t typically face the large-scale environmental and ecological risks of a nuclear reactor melting down, but the risk to life and limb is very real for millions of tradespeople. What lesson can we, as manufacturers, learn from an accident like Three Mile Island?

Engineering controls create safer work environments by separating employees from the source of hazards. Solid administrative controls and sufficient training on them will help employees understand how to work safely, and what to do if something goes wrong.

Sadly, regardless of great safety controls, accidents still happen. When they do, it’s critical that they are reported, and that an investigation is done to determine the root cause. With additional information, updated safety measures and training can be incorporated to prevent a similar accident in the future.

American manufacturers almost unanimously place safety as a top priority, as it should be. In fact, FlexTrades was recognized with a ‘Risk Control Award of Merit’ in 2023. But there are so many hazards in this industry, ranging from slips and falls to hazardous materials and fires. How do companies and employees ensure a safe working environment?

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I found this Hierarchy of Controls from the CDC to be a great insight into the key steps that are followed to create a safe working environment. This article is intended to be a high-level look at some of these safety controls and how they apply to a production environment.

Elimination

Can a toxic chemical be removed from the process? Can heavy objects be kept on the ground to eliminate a lift? Can a process with a sharp tool be done differently to save fingers?

It is always a good exercise to see if any dangers can be physically removed when a manufacturing procedure uses dangerous materials, processes, or tools. If the danger is removed, so is the safety risk. 

Substitution

If you can’t remove the danger, is there an alternative way to achieve the same result?

For instance, if a process has multiple heavy lifts to join large sub-assemblies, review the workflow to see if those lifts can be done earlier in the process when things are lighter.

When a substitution is done right, you mitigate or prevent known risks without introducing new ones.

Engineering Controls

Engineering controls are intended to separate workers from a known risk. The layout of a workspace, barriers and shields in front of chemicals or dangerous machines, ventilation systems, and safety functions built into machines are all a part of engineering controls.

This is one of the most effective methods of controlling physical hazards because Engineering Controls directly address the source of the hazard.

Administrative Controls

What training does an operator need to safely run a dangerous machine? Are employees adequately rested to properly focus on the job at hand? Is the line speed adjusted to allow proper time for safe operations?

Being exposed to hazards is unavoidable in many manufacturing processes. Controlling how and when a workforce faces that exposure should always be considered. Administrative controls impact training, scheduling, and even access to dangerous materials or machines.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Until robots come to take your job (spoiler: they aren’t), PPE is the last line of defense. Various forms of PPE are intended to protect a user from hazards including physical, chemical, heat & fire, electrical, and others.

The types of PPE used should be chosen carefully to address the hazards specific to the type of work being done. It is also important to keep PPE in good working order by inspecting and replacing worn-out or damaged equipment.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, human errors happen, machines fail in unexpected ways, and the work we do can still be dangerous. Most manufacturers have a Safety Team and many layers of controls in place to eliminate hazards and prevent accidents.

In addition to following safety guidelines, it’s important for individual employees to come to work with focus, pay attention to detail, and speak up if a safety measure doesn’t feel right.

We’re all in this together. Safety should be everyone’s #1 priority.