Pipeworx Office Safety

You may think that since you work in an office you don’t have to worry about being injured. However, offices can become dangerous because people don’t anticipate the potential hazards.

Studies show that over one-fourth of office injuries are caused by falls. One-third of the falls incurred by women are due to wearing heels, which make falls more likely. Consider wearing lower, wider heels.

Other things that can cause falls are spills on floors, torn carpets or exposed carpet seams, electrical cords running across the floor, open desk or file drawers, boxes or supplies stored in aisles, or waste baskets placed where you could trip over them. Look around to see if you can spot any of these potential problems. If you find any, take the time to get them fixed.

• Use caution when handling staplers, pins, scissors and guillotines – they can all puncture or cut
• Scissors and other pointed objects should face away from you. Take care when carrying sharp objects or when passing them to someone else

If your office has stairs or steps, watch out! Falls on stairs cause more than 33,000 disabling work injuries each year. About 2/3 of the workers falling on stairs were not using handrails when they fell. Many were carrying objects, or slipped on something left on the steps. Accidents on stairs are usually serious – 80% of these falls result in lost work days. Use handrails, pick up anything you see on the stairs, don’t use stairs for storage, and don’t try to carry things when using stairs if you can avoid it.

Use common sense with chairs, and don’t use them for anything except sitting. Straight-back chairs aren’t recliners – so don’t lean way back, the chair could flip over. Chairs should never be used as replacements for stools or ladders.