Don’t Try This At Work
Worn, altered safety equipment belongs on the Wall of Shame
Give them your tired, your poorly working rigging equipment yearning to break free of a heavy load and they’ll let it immigrate to the “Wall of Shame.”
The UAW-GM Center for Human Resources has dedicated a wall in its safety training area to potentially hazardous equipment that safety auditors have liberated from plants. Homemade hooks, degraded chains, dirty slings and more create something of a mural of industrial art.
“Worn or altered equipment has no business being in use,” said UAW Vice President Richard Shoemaker, who directs the GM Department. “It is important for every UAW member to check their equipment to make sure it is in proper working order.”
Shoemaker said worn, mangled or dirty rigging equipment can cause serious injuries or death. Some pieces on the wall have been modified and haven’t been approved by a qualified engineer.
UAW safety instructors Telma Garza-Ruppert, Terry Davis and Jerry Meisner use the wall as a teaching tool in their rigging classes for skilled-trades workers.
Most of the workers they train have some of the damaged or improperly modified equipment in their plants, some of it in the same condition as on the wall. Dangerous equipment stays in use for a number of reasons. Some workers are not properly trained in its use and care, or how to check it. Each time a qualified worker uses a chain, each link should be checked for kinks, gouges and cracks before the job.
One chain on the wall had a rated weight capacity of 12,600 pounds when new. But it had been so degraded by fumes from an acid dip tank that it appeared unsuitable to use even as a dog chain.
Safety latches on hooks — which prevent the hook from disengaging from the load — should be in working order. Never remove the latch to save time on the job.
The load limits on chains and slings must be checked every time and followed. Equipment that is dirty should be cleaned. If the load limit cannot be read, it should be discarded.
Workers should use “softeners” on critical areas of nylon rigging to protect from small cuts that will eventually degrade the sling.
Shackles need to be the right capacity for the job. There usually is a 45-degree arc in the shackle, much like the shape of a horseshoe. Overloaded shackles will distort the arc.
Some of the most interesting equipment on the wall is homemade, but that kind of creativity can get workers killed. The instructors showed off a variety of devices fashioned over the years, including an eyebolt that had both sides ground down so it would fit into whatever was being moved. Another hook had a handle welded on its side, distorting the load capacity.
Workers have a duty to report mishaps, even the “near misses.” For every fatality or serious injury, there are about 300 near misses, Shoemaker added.
“We went to great lengths [in 1999] to negotiate that there would be no retribution for people reporting near misses,” he said.
