Housekeeping entails general care, cleanliness, orderliness, and maintenance. It is a crucial aspect of workplace safety as good housecleaning helps prevent accidents and also reduces the severity/consequences of accidents.
Talking about the effects of poor housekeeping entails uncleanliness, un-orderliness, and poor maintenance.
OSHA regulations require that each working surface be cleared of debris, including solid and liquid waste, at the end of each work shift or job, whichever occurs first, to fully realize the benefit of a clean workplace. It is recommended that good housekeeping be maintained throughout the job and workday.
What Housekeeping Covers:
It covers;
- Keeping the work environment clean
- Arranging tools and equipment
- Clearing job waste, cleaning up messes and spills
- Arranging job materials to prevent scattering them.
- Stacking materials, boxes, and packages properly.
- Condoning off any portion of the workplace that is not compliant with the good housekeeping regulation to prevent unauthorized entry.
Effects of Poor Housecleaning
Here are some effects;
- Fire is a result of oily rags left in an area where hot work is performed, or due to the accumulation of combustible dust.
- Un-cleared waste could become fuel for the spread of fire.
- Littered job equipment, tools, and materials could pose the risk of trip and d fall.
- Poor housekeeping could conceal hazards that would normally be visible to be cleared.
- It can limit work space forcing workers to adopt poor working posture.
- Poor housekeeping can maximize the severity/consequence of accidents.
- It could result in a blockade of emergency exits and emergency equipment.
- An allergic reaction to a spilled chemical
- An eye injury from falling grit left in the overhead of a work site.
- Illness due to the unsanitary conditions of restrooms.
- Electrical shock is a result of poorly maintained equipment or energy sources, such as broken, cracked, or damaged insulation and connections of wiring.
- Lacerations and amputations when poor maintenance results in inadequate lighting.
- Exposure to hazardous substances from poor storage and ineffective labeling of hazardous chemicals.
Housekeeping Regulation
OSHA outlines minimum housekeeping requirements to protect workers in 29 CFR 1915.81 regulation.
Also, “The Canadian Center of Occupational Health and Safety” has answered pertinent questions about the subject matter “What is housekeeping” – see major questions and answers from CCOHS here.
Read Also: BOSIET TRAINING: Cost|Training providers|Duration
Conclusion
In conclusion, maintaining good housekeeping is very important in our workplaces for accident prevention and minimizing the severity and consequences of accidents.
To achieve good housecleaning, employers must organize housekeeping training for their workers.
The training will do the following:
- Train them on why and how to stack materials, boxes, and packages properly.
- Why they must clean up messes?
- Why it is necessary to remove, repair, and/or report housekeeping hazards.
- Why they should never jeopardize someone else’s health and safety by obstructing the access to exits, electrical panels, or fire extinguishers.
- Why they should avoid stringing cords, hoses, or lines across walkways.
- Why they should use “S” and “J” hooks and cable trees to keep lines out of walkways; if lines must cross walkways, cover the lines.
Read Also: 5 Major ways of hazardous waste disposal
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