There’s potential exposure to a range of hazards in the aerospace industry, both in internal and external environments. It’s important to manage such hazards and devise solutions to mitigate associated exposure with the help of an expert.
To ensure workplace health and safety in Ontario, many aviation and aerospace companies have begun to invest in health and safety solutions. To address hazards in high-risk environments, like airports and runways, here are a few solutions.
Common Risks Associated with the Aerospace Industry
Baggage Handling
Studies have found that under 40% of injuries in the aviation sector happen because of handling and lifting luggage in the following circumstances:
- At unsuitable heights while loading
- Over the average 20 kg tolerance
- In awkward positions and angles
- Machine guarding issues associated with the baggage handling equipment
Working at Height
According to several reported injuries, preparing aircraft is a labour-intensive activity that may result in fatigue and exhaustion. There are many risks involved when your staff enters or exits an aircraft, so you need an effective solution. A workforce that doesn’t integrate PPE or high-visibility clothing in such conditions is at risk for injuries.
Moving Vehicles
Runway vehicles, alongside baggage trucks and fuel tankers, create a lot of traffic. Even the aircraft noises make it hard for employees to hear. This poses a threat to workers in and around these moving vehicles. Without designated walkways and proper lighting, your workforce is at risk for a workplace accident.
Poor Lighting
Another cause for risk is improper lighting across different parts of the runway. Low lighting is essential to avoid confusion when there’s an approaching aircraft. But low lighting poses a bigger risk to your ground staff and machine operators, as there’s a huge lack of visibility. An effective way to reduce risks is by ensuring your workforce wears safety gear, like high-visibility jackets made from reflective material.
Ensuring Workplace Health and Safety in Ontario
OSHA guidelines in the airline industry provide employers and industry workers with adequate information, expert assistance, and a handful of resources to ensure healthy and safe working conditions, regardless of the environment.
Conducting High-Risk Assessments
Any workplace health and safety Ontario checklist should include risk assessment to help you identify gaps and prioritize your resources. The insights you get help determine safety measures to control unpredictable risks.
Risk assessment also includes creating reports to document events like accidents, dangerous occurrences, and more. Such reports allow regulatory authorities enough evidence to analyze and resolve serious incidents in the workplace.
Designing a Health and Safety Program
Building an effective safety and health program is an internal process that should include employees in the decision-making process. You must conduct a worksite analysis that helps identify potential hazards based on a range of factors.
Part of a health and safety program addresses hazards, regardless of whether they’re regulated by government protocols. Besides setting up control measures, your workforce must also receive thorough training in safety and health procedures.
Documenting Your Safety Performance
To ensure a safe working environment, you must document the necessary information to emphasize its importance in the workplace. Only by educating your workforce on hazard identification can you create awareness across all divisions to improve your organization’s health and safety performance.
Ensure a Safe Workplace with an Expert
At S.A.F.E Engineering, we are industry leaders in Ontario workplace health and safety compliance. Our health and safety training sessions assist workers in adopting industry best practices by monitoring safety performance.
Talk to an expert from our team today.
