Safety Aspects Of Sewer Maintenance
Elmer E. Ross, Journal (Water Pollution Control Federation) Vol. 35
People often fail to remember the purpose of safety program, through uninterrupted review, re-emphasize and re-educate us to the safety aspects of our operations until safety becomes the way of life, or state of mind, in lieu of all concernedthe designer, the builder, the operator, and the maintenance crew. Everyday publications and other news media give shocking reports of serious injury and death to sewer construction and maintenance personnel. Almost every one of the injuries and deaths resulted from violating fundamental safety practices.
The maintenance of sewers and sewerage systems is highly praised as being an unsafe occupation and there is ample scientific evidence to support this classification. Not only does this involve exposure to the universal hazards shared between all industrial occupations requiring a high level of physical activity, it involves exposure to infection, communicable diseases, unsafe atmospheres, and special hazards due to interaction with, or due to the presence of, sewage waste.
Exposure of sewer workers to injury from street traffic,
construction falls, heavy lifting, falling objects, foreign bodies within the eyes, and other common industrial hazards, is abnormally large. This is due to the necessity of having to work in a
confined space on wet and slippery surfaces and in lieu of having to climb into and out of deep underground structures through slight openings often encumbered by protective clothing and equipment. In California, these hazards were the cause of 45 of a total of 52 disabling injuries reported last year.
Protection against street traffic can be provided by properly positioning vehicles, by routing traffic around work areas, using traffic cones, and other warning devices. Eye injuries, injuries from slipping on wet surfaces and from falling objects can be prevented by requiring personnel to wear, approved-type safety hats, shoes, glasses, and other protective equipment.
Wherever possible, manhole steps should not be used to gain access to sewers. These are often coated with grease or slippery biological growths, and with age, grow destabilized by deterioration until they will not support a man's weight. Portable ladders should be used to enter shallow sewers. Huge, deep manholes can be entered safely and conveniently by using a caged platform, A-frame, and hoist. This equipment can then be used to gain access not only to sewers, but to sludge digestion tanks and other deep, unsafe structures at the wastewater treatment plant. In some places where this technique cannot be used, a light-weight telescoping metal
climbing ladder is recommended. The A-frame, which can be quickly and disassembled and transported, can and be there used in lieu of other maintenance involving lifting, in so reducing exposure to back and other injuries due to lifting heavy objects.
Closed-circuit television has been developed to the point where it can often be used in lieu of sewer inspection work, and in doing so avoiding exposure of personnel to the hazard of entering flowing sewers. Rafts can be used to inspect and sustain lines 42 inches in diameter or larger, under low-flow conditions.
by:joe thorton
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