No drips, slips or falls

How a good sorbent program can keep your plant and workstations injury-free

by Mark C. Johnson

Just last month, I was in an industrial facility that reworks auto transmissions. The process was pretty simple: Transmissions came in, were taken apart, cleaned and reworked, repaired, and shipped back out. Great operation, but it had to be one of the messiest plants I’ve been through in a long time. Walking across the floors, which were flooded with oil and degreasers, I felt like I needed a hockey stick just to stay on my feet.

Dirty? Yes, but unavoidable considering what they do for a living.

Slippery? Sure was, even though I know I was wearing the wrong shoes.

Dangerous? It felt that way to me, but I don’t work there every day.

Is that a problem? It certainly is if your employees or visitors are in danger of falling and hurting themselves. It is if you run the risk of lost employee productivity as the result of lost-time accidents. It is if your operators are spending a large portion of their work time cleaning and mopping up instead of making product. And it certainly is if you are concerned about being sued or being fined by OSHA for providing an unsafe condition.

You might think this is an extreme example, but look at your own work environment. What level of risk are you at? What liquids do you use every day that can contribute to unsafe, slippery conditions? Oils? Lubricants? Hydraulic fluids? Coolants? Cutting fluids? Solvents? Inks? How many of these find their way onto your floors, walkways and aisles, and into your workstations?

If you still think that you are not at risk, consider this:
• 30 percent of all occupational injuries result from slips, trips and falls; and,
• 70 percent of all falls occur on flat surfaces such as plant floors.

There’s a good reason OSHA 29 CFR 1910.22 requires a clean, dry floor in the workplace. The statistics bear it out.

Taking the proper steps
OK, you recognize there’s an issue here. The next question is, what can you do about it? One clear, proactive response is to put together a strong sorbent program designed to keep the floors dry and slip-free.

In a typical workstation, think of this as a three-step process:

1. Use sorbent socks around the machines, wrap them around columns and place them in front of equipment that tends to leak fluids. Don’t just pour kitty litter around the machine base. That’s almost as bad as doing nothing at all. Using socks help keep the fluids from migrating onto the workstation floor or walkway.

2. Use sorbent pads or rolls under machines and equipment where you can, and stuff them into and around areas with leaking lines, couplings and seals. You also can use the same pads to wipe down machines and equipment that gets soiled with the leaking fluids.

3. Use a sorbent roll or rug, one designed to withstand traffic, to stand on in the actual workstation. These will readily absorb any light mist that collects on the floor as well as give the worker a clean, dry surface to stand and work on.

Branching out
Beyond the workstation, there are liquids with the potential to cause problems in virtually any area in the plant environment. And, there are generally sorbents designed to minimize your risk for each of them.

For example, put:
• pillows or drip pans under leaking valves;
• drum covers on messy drums;
• barrier mats in filling stations;
• barrier mats under parked powered industrial trucks.

Making the right choice
The key to a good sorbent program is making sure you use the right product for the right application. That means knowing what fluids you use and how you intend to use the sorbent — for instance, how durable the sorbent must be and how much liquid it needs to pick up.

Too many users tend to gravitate toward basic product, “cheap white pads,” without recognizing that these only absorb petroleum-based fluids. These pads often are of such poor quality that they won’t stand up to regular usage in a plant environment.  

A better choice, indoors, is a universal sorbent that will work on virtually any fluid. This is key because many of the fluids you use — solvents, coolants, cutting fluids etc. — are now more environmentally friendly water-based fluids. You want one that’s strong enough to last, tough enough to walk on or able to be used as a wipe-down product, depending on your application.

As a final piece of advice, ask your sorbent supplier to do an on-site environmental survey. This will help you determine the most cost-effective solution, keep workers and visitors safer, and keep your plant in compliance.

Mark C. Johnson is the vice president of sales and marketing for Sorbent Products Company Inc., a manufacturer of absorbent products. To learn more, call or visit www.sorbentproducts.com.

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