41. line of fire

TOOLBOX TALK | LINE OF FIRE

1. Professionalism ▪ Integrity ▪ Trust ▪ Team Spirit





Line of Fire

A large number of injuries can be prevented if before each task we stop, think and consider what could
go wrong with the task! Think about the line of travel of a tool for instance!
Here are a few examples from past incidents at Fabricom, where routine simple tasks have resulted in
an injury to the person by placing themselves in the line of fire.

Incident 1; this task involved cleaning pipe ready for welding using a 5” grinder
with a flapping disc. Upon finishing the task the employee took his finger of
the trigger, took his left hand off the handle with the intention of placing the
grinder down on the scaffold platform. The grinder then came into contact with
the pipe whilst the disc was still rotating from its operation; this deflected the
tool (up-over) into the path of the IP’s left hand resulting in a cut of around
20mm.

Incident 2; landing pipes into the open end of a pipe rack, as the load was set
down on the rack allowing the lifting strops to become loose and the pipes to
slightly separate. The IP has attempted to manually handle the bundle into its
final position within the pipe rack, nipping his thumb between the loose pipes
whilst undertaking the operation resulting in bruising to the thumb.

Incident 3; carrying out line and levelling of a pipe support, the IP was using
a 30mm ring type spanner. As he pulled on the spanner to tighten the nut
he felt resistance, as he pulled harder the nut freed suddenly. This caused
him to strike the steelwork and the spanner to trap his r/h thumb in-between
the spanner and the pipe support resulting in ligament damage to the
thumb.

Incident 4; Involved torqueing up a bolt on a pipe flange at head height level, when
the wrench slipped off the bolt and hit the IP on the forehead leaving a small bump
and graze.

All of these injuries could easily have been prevented, simply by thinking “what if”
before starting the task;
Leaving hold of the grinder handle while still rotating means……. “I lose control of the machine” ?
Landing bundle of pipes, where are they going when the sling loosens…….”Pinch points” ?
If this tool slips, where is it going to travel…….”is part of my body in the line of fire” ?
Remember stop, think and consider before carrying out any task – Always think what if?
Toolbox Talk