Handle with care – Dangerous Substances -campaign is here
Exposure to dangerous substances is much more common in workplaces than most people imagine. At Lindström, we handle around 1 800 tons of chemicals in our laundries around the world every year. So it is important to notice how we handle these dangerous substances – we always need to handle them with care.
European Agency for Safety and Health at work celebrates its annual European Health and Safety Week during this week. I am happy that this year’s campaign “Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances” makes us focus on this important safety issue. I hope that my blog post will give you thoughts and even awaken you to take a closer look how safety is handled in your company. Remember, that you can be the one who spreads the word of safety in your workplace and starts to build even a better place to work.
Store with care
A dangerous substance is any solid, liquid or gas that has the potential to cause a wide range of health problems and diseases, as well as posing safety risks.
Taking care and washing our customers’ textiles, like workwear and mats, in our laundries involves a lot of chemicals including washing detergents. Every day our employees are changing barrels and storing them in chemical rooms. It is of high importance that the persons who are working with detergents and other chemicals must know the material and how to handle and store it with care.
In case of chemical leakage, the chemicals may react with each other and it can cause a serious accident. It is very important to handle and storage all chemicals with care. With the help of reaction tables provided by detergent suppliers we are able to store chemicals in safe way and maintain the chemical room lay-out in order.
Show that you care
We at Lindström are taking part to The European Safety and Health Week by raising the awareness of the risks posed by dangerous substances in workplace and promoting the culture of risk prevention. Caring for our employees is in our hearts and that is why we have published already for an decade an internal letter “Safety Bulletin” to share safety news for personnel. And in case any accident happens, an existing safety data sheet helps us to give the needed first aid to the person who is in the need of to be taken care.
An important part of chemical safety is to wear proper protective equipment. Spillage in eyes, on skin or on clothes can cause a serious risk. To secure personnel from any chemical splashes, personal protective equipment is a must. We always encourage our employees to show that they care about their colleagues. If someone notices that a co-worker is not using protective equipment, it is everybody’s responsibility to remind about safe working.
In our internal reporting tool, there is so far 1253 reported safety observations this year. Approximately 11 % of them are related to chemical or biological risks. One example of the observations in Lindström Group is that stain remover has been used without gloves or respiratory protection. The stain remover is a strong chemical and personal protective equipment must be used. To guarantee that every safety observation is reported and to promote safe working environment, all employees have access to the reporting tool.
Remember that you can be the one who starts the change towards safe workplace in your company!
You will find more information of the Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances – campaign from here.
