Classwork Series {Basic Technology}: Workshop Safety Rules and Regulations

 Basic Technology, JSS 1 Week 2

Topic: Workshop Safety Rules and Resolution

Safety

In this chapter we shall discuss the meaning and causes of workshop accidents/hazards accident prevention techniques, safety devices e.g. fire extinguisher, sand buckets, blankets, gloves, other related items and types of fire, which are divided into two namely:

1. Electrical fire: Electrical spark and electric current fluctuation can cause fire outbreak in a workshop. When this happens, electric cables are melted and many items are destroyed.
2. Chemical fire: It can be ignited when inflammable chemicals (i.e. chemicals that can easily catch fire) are stuck. Chemicals like sulphur, petrol, kerosene easily catch fire when naked light is brought near them.

Meaning and Causes of Workshop Accidents/Hazards 

Any harm or injury that is done to a student in the workshop while he/she is working on the machine is called an accident. Accidents or hazards could be man-made of natural. It could also be accidental or deliberate.

An accident is a negative experience that happens to somebody when he does not expect it. Accidents therefore don not just happen. They are caused by people or equipment.

A man falling from the staircase

Accidents in the work shop are caused when:

1. Students do not follow the manufacturer’s or teacher’s instruction on how to use the machine in the workshop;
2. Students are not careful enough in the workshop while handling the machines;
3. Students play rough in the workshop;
4. The machines being used are not in good form because they are not serviced regularly;
5. The worn-out parts of machine are not replaced on time.

Summary:

Workshop accidents are unexpected injuries that happen to students in the work shop.

Workshop accidents can be caused by students’ carelessness or mechanical faults from machines.

Accidents Prevention Techniques

These are steps to be taken in order to prevent workshop accident from happening.

Some of the steps are discussed below.

1. Routine checking – This involves checking all machines to ensure they are inn good conditions before setting them up for use.
2. Routine Servicing – It involves servicing all machines and changing the worn-out parts regularly so that they can work effectively.
3. Students’ comportment – Students’ should avoid noise making and talkativeness in the workshop because this can make them loose concentration in the work they are doing.
4. Preventive Measures – Electronic equipment should be used with voltage stabilizers in order to prevent electrical fire as a result of fire surge.
5. Teachers’ supervision – To prevent workshop accidents, every workshop lessons or practical sessions should be supervised by the teacher. Students should not be left alone in the workshop.

The techniques of preventing workshop accidents involve both the teachers and the students. With the suggested steps to be taken by both of them, safety can be achieved in the workshop.

Experience and research have proved that it is wiser to prevent an accident than trying to solve the problem caused after accident has happened.

 Summary:

-Accidents can be prevented if necessary precautions are taken.

-Both the teachers and the students have roles to play in preventing workshop accidents.

-It is wiser to prevent an accident from happening that to cure the harm done after the accident.

-Prevention is when you do not allow something to happen, precautions are steps taken in order to disallow something bad from happening.

Safety Devices

In order to maintain in the workshop during workshop practical sessions, certain devices have been for students to use. These are called devices which help in different ways. Some of the devices are used to protect the delicate parts of the student’s body such as the eyes, nose, chesty, head, legs and the hands. The protective safety devices include the gloves to protect the palms and the fingers, the shield to protect the eyes, boots to protect the legs, feet and toes,  the helmet to protect the head and the overall to protect the chest.

You can visit the workshop of a radio technician. Find out how he fixes his radio, television, with a stabilizer and other electronic items. Write down what he tells you.

The images below are protective devices for people working in the workshop.

 

Gloves

Helmet

There are other safety devices that are used to reduce or totally prevent injury when an accident happens. Examples of such safety devices are fire extinguishers and sand buckets. These devices are used to stop fire from destroying lives and property in the workshop.

Fire Extinguisher

NOTE: In the event of fire outbreak in the workshop, students should crawl out rather than walk straight.

Helmet is a strong hat-like structure that is worn to cover the delicate parts of the head in the workshop

Fire extinguisher is a machine that contains either a liquid or powder chemical that put off flames of fire.