Shortly after writing "Not Just Another Boring Shop Safety Article" featured in the August issue of the Slippery Rock Gazette, it became crystal clear that more specific and comprehensive safety articles were needed to address the aaccidents that are plaguing our industry.
It is this writer's intention to bring accident awareness from my experiences to all the people who work in the stone fabrication industry and use the same tools and equipment that I do every day to earn a living. It is not my intention to endorse or promote any manufacturer, product or appliance. It is only to inform you, the users, from an unbiased perspective of my experiences from the last quarter century.
Accident: Webster's Dictionary defines it as "an undesirable or unfortunate happening that occurs unintentionally and usually results in injury, damage or loss." My thesaurus refers to accident as a "mistake" and as I've witnessed all too many times, mistakes can have dire consequences.
I personally define mistakes as "just another way of learning," albeit the hard way. I say to myself, we all make mistakes, it is just human nature. And then I think, why are the same accidents happening time after time in different shops at different locations year after year? Why should people have to learn the hard way (from their mistakes) when they could learn the easy way from someone else's?
Even the safest of workplaces can become a danger even though the equipment or appliances that are available are well-maintained and are the best of the best. Well-maintained, quality equipment is key to a safe shop but is only part of the big picture.
Appliances for lifting and handling slabs come in many sizes and shapes and can be categorized into three distinct varieties: the sling, the clamp, and the vacuum type. It is the latter two that are the most popular, but all have their place within the fab-shop environment.
The sling type is generally used when a slab to be moved is deemed unsafe to move with a clamp. A sling is a very effective device for getting a cracked or damaged slab from point A to point B safely. It is not a device used on a daily basis and is usually put into service only when needed.
The clamp type, such as the "Little Giant" lifter and its big brother the "New Generation" lifter from ABACO, are the most widely used type of clamp in our shop and shops that I have visited. Because of its design, this type of clamp offers many benefits: it is compact and does not require much space between slabs to be used, its design is not prone to damage from rough handling, and (my personal favorite) its design, from an engineering standpoint, is intelligent. It does, however, require the following attention to keep it in safe working order:
When purchased, immediately take a few minutes and pull out all the bolts and put them back in with Locktite. Also, any associated hardware between it and the boom such as the swivel, pins and u-bolts, etc., should be cotter pinned through the unused exposed shank past the nut (not through the nut).
If the swivel comes with a non-cotter pin capnut, replace it with a high-quality, properly rated nut or lock nut and cotter pin; cap-nuts can slowly come loose and you won't know it until one day it suddenly lets go. I also urge you to not only inspect the unit regularly, as well as all associated hardware, but also change the swivel or swivel bolt once a year with a properly rated replacement.
There is a second variety of commonly used clamp-the scissor clamp-in service in some shops out there. The one we have is quite old and is almost never used because its exposed design makes it very prone to being damaged. Also, it has fourteen friction points to worry about, is cumbersome to use, and uses a friction lock mechanism instead of a mechanical lock.
So the Scissor clamp is not very fabricatorfriendly and spends most of its time buried in the corner with other devices that no one uses anymore. I'm sure that newer and safer versions of the scissor variety are available today, but in our shop this type of lifter is just not needed.
Vacuum lifters are the last type of lifter I'll discuss; in my opinion they are some of the coolest and slickest stone-lifting gadgets ever invented. They can turn a two-man job into a very safe one-man maneuver and keep production moving flawlessly. They come in many different sizes and shapes and all have one common purpose: loading slabs safely and quickly from a staging area onto a machine, and placing cut or machined pieces onto a storage device. These appliances are fairly resilient to damage and wear but do require the following care:
Vacuum hoses need to be inspected for wear and tear as does the junction where the hoses and fittings connect. Things like suction cups, suction cup backing plates, bolts and frame welds also need regular inspection for any wear or damage.
In the event of unexplained lost vacuum, shut the unit down immediately and do a diagnostic. I am also a believer in either checking the calibration or replacing of the vacuum gauge on a yearly basis. Take care of your vac-lifter and it will take care of you!
Slab storage basically falls into two types: vertical metal poles anchored into cement or secured to a heavy gauge metal base, and the A-frame type. Either variety can be made at your local welding shop or purchased from a fabricator supply company. Both have their pros and cons and both have their uses within the shop environment.
The vertical types have two significant advantages: they are extremely efficient in their use of available space and are extremely safe. I have never witnessed one unsafe event because of the design or use of this type of storage system; they do, however, have their drawbacks.
The first and foremost is that it is difficult for customers to view slabs that are racked tight to each other and slabs must be pulled out and placed somewhere else temporarily. The second disadvantage is that when slabs are pulled out, extra care must be taken to avoid scratching the material.
The A-frame type is useful because it can immediately make any unused area into a temporary storage or viewing area for customers while also giving your shop a down-right classy look if they are arranged correctly. They are not without fault, though. If slabs are not secured properly, they are very prone to being blown over by strong wind. Also, if a salesperson or yardman wishes to show the next one or two slabs in back by pulling apart and balancing the first or second one, he could become unbalanced, resulting in a catastrophe. I have personally seen this happen once and I had a hard time sleeping that night. I feel strongly that this type of maneuver should never be used.
So, no matter what type of handling and storage equipment you use, here are a few dos and don'ts to "live" by.
Do check every slab for cracks especially around the top area where you are going to set your clamp. The last person to move it may have handled it roughly and cracked it.
Don't ever turn your back on a slab that is close to you and is being lifted or moved.
Don't ever open up a slab on an A-frame while standing on the end by yourself and then trying to walk to the middle while holding it out. If you open it up, always use a block or a wedge to keep it separated and then walk to the center to guide the clamp.
Don't ever have your feet underneath a slab while guiding it during transportation. You never know for sure if it is going to stay together, even if it has fiberglass on the back. Especially if it has fiberglass on the back! There is usually a good reason it has been glassed. If by chance the factory did a bad job or if the slab has been in the weather for a long time, the fiberglass may not hold.
In closing, I would like to bring up just one more point. We are a society with numerous gadgets and much on our minds, sometimes too much. The repetition of picking up a slab and bringing it from point A to point B, day after day, sometimes lulls us into a false sense of wellbeing. Here's the scenario:
You're having a great day at work and life is beautiful. Your mind is on that video game you were playing last night and you've forgotten to check the slab that you've just picked up for cracks. Your company has gone months without a mishapand then it happens.
To put it into perspective, think about this: How safe and productive would Michelangelo Buonarroti have been while painting or sculpting if his mind was on his favorite TV show, or he was talking on his cell phone to his girlfriend about the e-mail or facebook account on his PC? All these modern conveniences are great, but the consequences of lost concentration on the job can be devastating.
I do not believe a shop can ever be free of accidents, but I do believe we can all do better at avoiding them. The best equipment and the best safety policies are only as good as the user.
Keep your blades sharp and your minds sharper. Thanks for reading.
Peter Marcucci is a 25-year senior fabricator at European Marble Co., Inc. Sarasota, FL. Send any comments to pjmgsxr@aol.com .
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