Safety and Sustainability

Sustainability is more than energy and materials. Sustainability concerns itself with the health and welfare of the people who work in the printing plant and offices. A major component, therefore, is a well defined and functioning safety program. Without this consideration, any effort at claiming sustainability falls short of the goals of a well defined program.

Safety programs are comprised of a literal cause and effect approach to worker protection. The initial step is to identify the hazards in the building, and with the equipment and materials used in the printing and finishing processes. Next would be the elaboration of the steps taken to countermand the potential exposures to physical and chemical exposures. The third step would be training; how to avoid exposure and, if exposed or harmed, what to do to minimize the injury or damages. Fourth, but most important, is the follow-up in terms of records, audits and evaluations of performance. Taken together, the four steps constitute a positive approach to protecting workers and ensuring a more comfortable lifestyle.

Building Interior Safety

Among the most critical areas in any building are the stairways, storage areas with racks and shelving, floors and aisles, heating and air conditioning with proper clearance around furnaces and provisions for storage and spills of liquids. A survey team must look at the stairway treads for proper installation, stairway and balcony railings, cleanliness of shelving and stock areas and stability of shelves, racks and storage piles.

Each press and finishing equipment manufacturer has a recommended safety checklist for the model you have purchased.

In a printing plant, storage room areas for inks, solvents and other chemical products require adequate spill prevention containment berms or pallets. Flammability is a common hazard in such storage areas, and that calls for the necessary preventive measures such as grounding of drums and tanks, sprinklers and availability of fire extinguishers.

Fire and Electrical Safety

Fire can be the most damaging of all the exposures and hazards in a printing plant. The configuration of the basic materials on which we print—paper and plastics—are susceptible to containing flames and burning for a long period of time, despite any effort to extinguish them. A roll of tightly wound paper acts as a chimney, with air flowing up through the layers of paper while attempts to wet down and extinguish the flames only affect the outer layers. Rolls of paper have been known to burn for long periods of time. Plastics are known to burn and generate very noxious fumes.

It is important to check on the condition of the storage area and the available access in the event that a fire does occur. Are there sprinklers placed in the proper places to provide coverage of the areas? Are fire extinguishers in place and currently inspected? Are fire extinguisher locations clearly marked and visible? Are flammable liquids in safety cans or in drums that have been adequately grounded? Is everything properly labeled? Are No Smoking signs posted and enforced?

Electrical exposure requires properly installed and working outlets, switches and junction boxes. Fuses and circuit breakers need periodic inspection. The use of extension cords should be discouraged, except when used for a very temporary purpose, and not in areas where workers walk and may trip on a loose wire. Grounding, as mentioned earlier, is critical in all areas.

Tool and Equipment Safety

The presses consist of gears, rollers and other moving parts. Guards are a necessity to over these moving parts as well as belts and pulleys. Guards are not meant to be removed and the hazards exposed. There are too many pinch points in a printing press to ever relax this protective measure. Lock out rules should prevail when a machine is taken down for maintenance or the changing of parts to avoid any exposure to moving parts.