FabLab Safety
Safety Certification is a requirement for all students as Singapore Polytechnic has a legal responsibility under the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act 2006 to ensure a safe working environment. Students who pass the assessment will be certified and are allowed to attend skill training, as well as working in the workshop and FabLab. Failures must sit for re-test, to ensure that all students are given appropriate safety and health training.
General Safety Rules & Regulations in SP :
Objectives:
- To understand WSH regulations in SP and the safe practices in FabLab/workshops.
- Be familiarised with the safety infrastructure in FabLab/workshops, and to know about machines’ hazards.
SP Workplace Safety & Health (WSH) Committee :
SP's SAFE Framework:
Support - Engages student's safety and health issues in campus through management teams and committee.
Act - 4 main areas of focus are: Risk Management Capability, Incident-Accident Reporting, Training & Education on WSH and Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.
Facilitate - Emergency drills and Workshop trainings.
Educate - Every student and staff who works in the workshop/FabLab are required to go through the online WSH modules, and undergo the Safety Assessment with a passing percentage of 100%. Or else, they WILL NOT be allowed to enter the workshop.
Emergency Procedures:
For Ambulance call 995
For SCDF call 995
For Police call 999
SP Emergency Hotline call 6772-1234
Incident & Accident Reporting:
- Report all work related injuries to the technical staff support or supervising staff.
- Contact SP's General Office 6772-1206 or call SP Emergency Hotline when treatment to an injury is required.
- Do not leave any injuries unattended or without treatment.
Workshop Safety Infrastructure & Safety Communication :
Proper Attire:
1. Long hair must be tied up.
2. Keep adornment properly.
3. No loose items (jewellery) allowed.
4. No loose attire, No long sleeves (whenever possible).
5. Hands must be free of adornment.
6. Long pants.
7. Covered shoes (if possible, use anti-slip sole).
Important Things to Take Note:
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Safety Warning Placards
Hazards Associated with Machinery & Workplace :
Mechanical Hazards:
1. Entanglement Hazards - Entanglement arise when loose clothing, hair, or loose item gets caught with the moving parts of a machine.
2. Cutting Hazards - Cutting hazards are present in machines used to cut wood, metal or other materials at the point of operation. Machines with moving cutting elements are dangerous. They can cause severe injury (eg. deep cuts, amputations) due to its own momentum when they come into contact with a worker’s body.
3. Impact Hazards - Impact hazards relate to objects that strike the human body, but do not penetrate it. The severity of an impact hazard depends on the speed, force and inertia of the moving machine part during operation or upon ejection from the machine.
4. Shearing Hazards - Parts of the machine that moves past each other or stationary objects, can cause a shear point. Resulting in a crushing or cutting action. In general, shearing hazards are present between two machine parts, such as power press punch, shearing machine, etc.
5. Crushing Hazards - It is caused when part of the body is caught between either two moving parts of machinery or a moving part and a stationary object.
6. Draw-in Hazards - Injuries can occur when a body part is drawn-in by in running nip points formed by two counter-rotating parts or between rotating and tangentially moving surfaces.
7. Friction and Abrasion Hazards - Friction burns and abrasions occurs when encountering rough surfaces moving at high speed e.g. sanding machine, grinding wheel etc. can cause abrasion injuries.
Non-Mechanical Hazards:
1. Fall from Heights Hazards - When working with heights, falling can lead to sprains/broken bones. In more serious cases, head injuries or even death.
2. Noise Hazards - Noise is often generated during machine operations and work activities. Prolonged exposure to excessive noise can cause NID( Noise-Induced Deafness ). To prevent hearing loss, one should not be exposed to noise levels exceeding 85 dB (A) for 8 hours a day.
3. Electrical Hazards - Workers may be exposed to electrical hazards. E.g., during electrical installations or when power tools are in use. Accidents involving contact with electricity can happen when an electrical machine fails, electric circuits overloaded or shortcircuited, or when in contact with a live wire.
4. Heat-related Hazards - Contact with hot surfaces of machines can cause severe skin burns. Operations involving high temperatures, high humidity or strenuous physical activities, can cause heat-related illness E.g. heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
5. Chemical Hazards - Exposure to chemicals in workplaces can cause acute or long-term detrimental health effects.
6. Fatigue - Fatigue is tiredness leading to reduced mental and physical performance that can endanger safety and health. It can also lead to near-miss incidents, serious injuries and even fatal accidents due to reduced concentration and alertness. Long working hours without rest, intense and sustained physical exertion or mental effort, lack of adequate rest and sleep could be the causes of fatigue.
7. Ergonomic Risk Factors - Workplace situations that causes wear and tear on the body can potentially result in injury. These includes repetition, awkward posture, forceful motion, stationary position, direct pressure, vibration, extreme temperature, noise, and work stress.
Machine Guarding & Safety Devices :
Types of Guards:
1. Fixed Guards - Stationary, immovable barriers that are firmly fastened in place, making it difficult to remove them.
2. Adjustable Guards - Movable, allowing them to be used in many situations; particularly around point of operation.
3. Self-Adjusting Guards - Automatically moves as materials enter or move through the machine. Do not require constant re-positioning.
Safety Devices:
1. Pressure-Sensitive Trips - Wires/cables attached to switches. If a worker touches the cable, the switch "trips" and stops the machine.
2. Pressure Sensitive Mats - Machine shuts down when a worker steps on them.
3. Pressure Tripping Pedal on a Lathe - Located at the bottom of the machine. A worker needs to manually step on the pedal.
4. Emergency Switch - A red button located at the top of the machine. A worker needs to manually push the button.
Safe use of Hand & Power Tools :
It is important to handle tools with cautious, to eliminate potential injuries to our hands. Good housekeeping is required to eliminate hazards as well as providing a safe working environment for us and others to easily access various tools or places.