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Working with molten metal always has, and always will be, a dangerous occupation. Responsible foundry workers acknowledge the risks and the possibility of serious accidents. Responsible managers can minimize the risks by instilling among foundry workers the importance of accident prevention. While it is impossible to remove the risk from melting metal, it is possible to make the melt shop an accident-free workplace. To accomplish this goal requires a true partnership between foundry managers, the suppliers who equip the melt shop, and the foundry workers who operate their equipment. It requires management to make safety a key corporate value, then to communicate that to the foundry workers both by selecting the safest available equipment and by expending every possible effort to assure that workers are instructed in its proper use. ________________________________________________ Who Needs Foundry Safety Training? Safety training needs to extend beyond melt shop workers. Maintenance crews, laborers, crane and lift-truck operators and outside contractors whose work occasionally takes them into the melt shop all need to understand basic foundry safety measures. Obviously, the amount of foundry safety training required by any one individual depends on how closely he or she works with melting, holding and pouring equipment. Training for office workers and visitors must include making them aware of the importance of remaining behind “do not enter” areas and wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Melting system operators must know how to safely operate their equipment and must also know the warning signs of a potentially dangerous situation and how to react to prevent or control uncommon problems such as bridging or run-out situations. ________________________________________________ Safety Starts on Day One A foundry’s personnel department and staff must play an active role in supporting foundry safety efforts. Personnel typically has the first contact with a newly hired employee and they can ensure that new employees are given full information on the safety procedures appropriate to their jobs and that they further understand that wearing appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on the job is a condition of employment. Both of these requirements should be clearly stated in the employee’s job description or work rules. Personnel managers are also in a position to identify employees who serve on local volunteer fire departments and emergency medical teams. If these individuals work outside production areas, time spent familiarizing them with the melt shop layout and the nature of foundry emergencies could make a life or death difference during an emergency. Finally, the personnel manager is often best able to coordinate the scheduling of refresher and new equipment training. ________________________________________________ Melt Shop Supervisors Play Key Role Melt shop supervisors play a key role in assuring safe operation of melting, holding and pouring equipment. In most foundries, they bear frontline responsibility for implementing and monitoring established safety procedures and new worker training, as well as equipment inspection and maintenance. In the event of an emergency, workers often will look to the supervisor for instructions. The only way to assure that no one is ever injured in the melt shop is to keep all personnel away from molten metal, furnaces and holding and pouring equipment. While this may seem like a farfetched solution, leading furnace manufacturers have actually made considerable progress in designing remote furnace charging, operating and pouring systems. Until these technologies are in common use, there are several steps foundry supervisors can take to minimize worker contact with high risk areas. Perhaps the single most effective step a foundry supervisor can take is to limit routine equipment maintenance activities to periods when furnaces are not operating. Production downtime can be predicted more accurately with the help of detailed record keeping. Although production supervisors are usually responsible for keeping equipment operating logs, it is the maintenance supervisor who is likely to be most knowledgeable about the type of information that needs to be entered. In foundries where melting operations carry over from shift to shift, the use of forms and checklists will aid in assuring uniform data collection. Insisting the log book be neatly maintained not only makes data readily available, but also reinforces the importance of good equipment monitoring practices. One of the shift supervisor’s first tasks of the day must be a careful inspection of log entries made during his absence. In smaller foundries, the production supervisor may also have responsibilities for overseeing maintenance work and equipment troubleshooting. In these situations there is sometimes the temptation to perform maintenance as rapidly as possible to quickly bring the furnace back into production. Production supervisors who find themselves responsible for equipment maintenance must continually remind themselves that induction furnaces can be very unforgiving. Accidents caused by improper or rushed maintenance may be serious and sometimes catastrophic. Production supervisors must never be pressured into bringing a furnace or other foundry equipment into production until they are ensured that it is safe. They must also keep equipment out of production when relining or other scheduled maintenance work is due. ________________________________________________ Preparing For Accidents No matter how carefully equipment is manufactured, workers trained or procedures followed, the possibility of an accident is always present wherever molten metal is present. For this reason, melt shop supervisors must always be prepared to deal with the unexpected. A careful supervisor anticipates the types of emergencies that can arise at different stages in the melting process. He has, both in his mind and on paper, an action plan that gives first priority to minimizing injury to his workers and assisting those already injured. Although all accident plans must address issues such as evacuating personnel, providing emergency first aid treatment and notifying emergency squads and fire departments, each foundry’s plans must also be unique. The plan must take into account not only the type and capacity of the melting equipment, but also the experience level of equipment operators. A newly-hired furnace operator cannot be expected to react as confidently to a run-out accident as an experienced foundry hand. The potentially catastrophic nature of water/molten metal explosions makes it crucial that accident plans be written and that they be understood by everyone in the melt shop and adjacent plant areas. Local fire departments and emergency medical squads must be included in planning efforts, familiarized with molten metal hazards, the melt shop layout, and encouraged to participate in drills. Everyone who might be expected to become involved in rescue or first aid activities must know how to isolate furnace power supplies. Written accident plans must clearly establish: ________________________________________________ Specify Safer Equipment
Automated pouring systems distance the foundry worker from the molten metal. Furnace manufacturers and other foundry equipment suppliers are continually attempting to make the melt shop the safest possible work environment. That’s why virtually all induction melting systems today include safety features such as ground leak detectors and backup cooling systems. In the past, specifying new foundry equipment typically has been the responsibility of senior level management. Production and maintenance supervisors simply had to learn to work with the equipment on the floor. But as companies around the world work to make their operations more competitive, they are increasingly turning to frontline supervisors for equipment recommendations. Selecting the proper furnace, power supply or preheating and charging system is, of course, a complex technical task. Frontline supervisors who become involved in equipment selection, however, are in a good position to also evaluate a system’s safety features, safety certifications, overall quality and operational efficiencies. An induction furnace is a place where three ingredients that are not otherwise brought together – water, molten metal and electric current – are in close proximity to each other. The quality of the components that make up an induction furnace system and the care that goes into its assembly and maintenance are the foundry worker’s first line of defense against accidents. ________________________________________________ IMPORTANT: |
