Hard Hat with Viper Cap Attached Earmuffs

There are a lot of questions around the worksite regarding what is and what is not appropriate to be worn on or under the hard hat. Below are some general tips and reasons to help you make your own risk assessment.

As well as their compliance with Australian standards, hard hats and other PPE rely upon an
adequate user fit to protect the wearer.

Any additional Hard Hat accessories or clothing which affect fit could reduce the hard hat’s ability to keep you safe.

But while it is important to wear complimentary and essential PPE (eg. like Cap Attached Ear Muffs or Visors), how do you decide if it’s safe to wear granny’s knitted beanie under your hard hat?

First and foremost, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. If the manufacturer says don’t do it... don’t do it! But where they haven’t specified if something is allowable, you will have to conduct your own risk assessment.

1. No Pom Poms, the addition of a Pom Pom on top of a beanie does not allow the Hard Hat harness to sit as designed by the manufacturer flat on the head. Tight knit beanies work better than loose beanies which could see the beanie and hard hat slip around or off your head. The ProChoice Hard Hat winter liner is superior to a Beanie due to the lack of movement in the Liner and hard hat. The Winter liner has velcro straps which enables the Hard hat to be secured to the Winter Liner.
2. No Caps OR Metal, Baseball caps are a No No, as they often have a metal part in the top middle of the hat. If a very heavy item fell with great force the Harness of the hard hat would impact on this metal top and force undue impact and trauma to the top of your skull. In addition Baseball caps often have a curved brim which prevents the Hard Hat sitting where it should for a sound fit.
3. Sun and sweat protection is OK. Cotton/polyester or plastic visors, brims and flaps which attach to the helmet are a great solution for staying sun safe throughout summer.
   Make sure you read the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure that you’re using them correctly and with the right type of hard hat. In addition most Hard Hats are able to easily fit a sweatband for the forehead.

So this was just a quick guide to help you out on the worksite. However, always remember to conduct a fit test before starting the job.

Keep safe.

ProChoice V6 Hard Hat with Safety Glasses

The Justrite Flammable Goods Cabinets exceed the Australian Standard AS1940 and are also fire tested to comply with the FM Rating, something no other cabinet in Australia can claim.

Justrite Flammable FM Approved label

All Big Safety Justrite Flammable Goods Storage Cabinets are FM approved. The Justrite Flammable Liquid Storage Cabinets are FM Global Fire Tested and Certified and labelled with the above certification sticker.

FM Global set performance and construction requirements for cabinets designed to provide a safe, secure storage area for flammables and combustibles while minimizing the risk of fire.

During the 10 Minute Exposure Fire Test, Cabinets must Maintain:

• Structural Integrity of the Cabinet 1.2 mm Steel

• Internal Temperature below 163°C (protected by the 40mm Thermal barrier)

Justrite Flammable Cabinet Weather proof option 160L

Our range of Justrite Dangerous Goods cabinets are designed for indoor use, however we are able to customfit a solution that meets Australian Standards and enables you to use these Flammable goods cabinets outside.

The Features include:

• Compliance with AS1940 The storage and handling flammable and combustible Liquids:
• Stainless Steel Hinges
• Weatherproof Guttering
• Forklift Channels which help keep the cabinet dry while on the ground & secured to the ground

This weatherproofing of the cabinets is available on the 160, 250 and 350 L Justrite flammable cabinets.

Justrite Flammable Cabinet Weather proof option 160L Forklift Tynes

Justrite Flammable Cabinet Weather proof option 160L Front View

"Not all Safety Showers are born equal" Anonymous

When considering the right Emergency Safety Shower or Eyewash for your workplace it is critical that you get a unit that is going to work first time, everytime.

The Speakman range of Safety Showers and Emergency Eye Face Wash units have a few critical features that ensures better performance than its competitors:-

• The non clogging, self cleaning head ensures that the full shower head will work each and every time maximising the spray area for quicker decontamination when seconds count.
• The swirling impeller action of these heads, distributes floods of water without voids in the shower pattern to ensure complete body coverage.

Below is a quick 8 second video showing how the Impeller Action works and its benefits.

Speakman Portable Safety Eye & Body Wash

There is some confusion in the marketplace regarding whether the Speakman SE509 Portable Personal Wash meets the Australian Standards AS4775. The answer is both Yes and No.

The SE509 personal body wash doesn’t meet the requirements of the section: 7 (eye wash) of AS4775, the flow rate is approx. 1.5 litres per minute but it flows for only 2-3 minutes.

An eyewash is required to flow for 15 minutes.

The SE509 is referred to as a personal wash and is referenced in the following section of AS4775.

AS4775 Emergency eyewash and shower equipment

Section: 11

11.1 General

The supplemental equipment listed below shall provide immediate flushing to support plumbed and self-contained equipment but shall not replace them.

11.2        Personal wash units

11.2.1    Performance of personal wash units

Personal wash units shall have the capacity to deliver immediate flushing fluid without being injurious to the user. See Paragraph F6.

AS4775 Emergency eyewash and shower equipment

 F1           Personal Eyewash Units

The first seconds following an eye injury are often critical to keeping eye injury to a minimum. A personal eye wash may be kept in the immediate vicinity of employees working in a potentially hazardous area. The main purpose of these units is to supply immediate flushing. With this accomplished, the injured individual should then proceed to a plumbed or self-contained eye wash and flush the eyes for the required 15 minutes.

We hope this helps clarify some of the confusion in the marketplace.

All the best and Keep Safe.

This is a great question that should be asked by all clients looking to get a Safety shower or eyewash for their site.

If you live in Australia, you have no doubt felt the heat and damage the Australian Sun can do. You can view Youtube clips on frying eggs in Melbourne  on a Summers day, using just the sun. This should make you aware of the potential danger of water that has been laying around in the sun all day.

Scalding water is a real danger in a Safety shower or eyewash where the user needs an emergency stream of water within 1 second to flush the affected area. Scald Protection Valves mitigate this risk when the water temperature rises above safe limits, and a danger of scalding exists, the thermal actuator modulates the valve open. A small sample of the water from the pipe system then flows past the sensor. If the water is above the acceptable range, the valve will continue to modulate open until the over temperature water is eliminated.

There are a number of points to consider to determine if you should get a Scald Protection Valve for your emergency safety shower or eyewash.

1. The environment where the Safety shower or eyewash will be used. What are the temperatures on the hottest days of the year? You need to prepare for worst case.
2. Where will the pipe work leading to the unit be? eg. Is the pipework laying on top of the ground, is the pipework underground, is it insulated. Keep in mind that even if the pipework is underground, the water in the shower unit can still heat up and require insulation or a scald protection valve.
3. Is the shower (and pipework) protected from the sun? eg. in a continually shady location, under cover, inside.

Please remember that this advice is general only and does not take your specific site requirements into consideration.

To find out more about the Scald Protection Valves we can supply with our range of Speakman Safety showers and eye wash range please review the following document:-

big-safety-scald-protection-valve

There is always going to be new sites were workers will require an Eyewash or Drench Hose setup, however the won't be any plumbed water supply. A good option until the water comes (which may never occur) if your worksite is continually moving is to get a portable Speakman Emergency Eye wash and Drench hose. This unit can come in a 45 or 106 L cylinder tank.

Ensure you complete your risk assessment to confirm these will be suitable for your particular site.

If you do require these units then you will also probably need some Anti Microbial Eyewash water preserver. The water preserver comes in a 4 pack. Each 225 ml bottle makes 80 L of water last 4 months without changing.

Below is a link to the Data sheet on the Speakman Portable Eyewash and Drench Hose SE590A-45 L.

Portable Safety Eye wash SE 590A - 45 IOM Data Sheet

Justrite Spill slope shelf

We have posted a number of short videos to our Youtube channel on the features and instructions for the Justrite Flammable Cabinets. These videos will help explain how the features work as well as providing helpful advice for setup. They are all very quick and short. Enjoy and I hope this helps.

Features of a Justrite Flammable Cabinet

How to Install Fusible Links on the Justrite Safety Cabinets

Builtin Flame Arrestors for the Justrite Flammable goods cabinet

Dual Locks on your Justrite Cabinet

Justrite Haz-Alert Reflective labeling on Flammable Cabinets

Justrite Adjustable Spill Slope Shelves for Flammable goods cabinets

How to level your Justrite Cabinet

How to attach an Earthing Strap to your Justrite cabinet

For those clients needing to get a Gas Storage locker, the most critical point is that the Storage Lockers are manufactured to comply with AS 4332 - 2004.

Additional points to consider are:-

• The construction material the storage locker is made from. Is it lightweight and easy to move if required?
• Is it strong enough to provide a long lasting worthwhile investment?
• Is the material going to be long lasting and able to withstand the elements, whilst still looking good on your site?
• How will it be secured, both to the ground and locked?

Here are some features of our Gas Storage Lockers

Gas Cylinder Storage Lockers Features

You can click on the image above to enlarge it.

Keep Safe.

Justrite Polyethylene Chemical Cabinet 60 L for the most corrosive chemicals

We receive a lot of questions from clients asking to clarify what is the best Corrosive Storage Cabinet for their needs.

The two main considerations are:-

1. How corrosive the chemicals are, that will be placed in the cabinet?
2. What size do you need the cabinet to be, to store your corrosive goods safely and securely near where you need them

The two main types of Justrite Chemical Cabinets for Corrosives are:-

1. The Justrite Sure-Grip Ex steel cabinets with polyethylene shelf liners offer corrosion and fire protection in a wide variety of sizes (including 30, 60, 100, 160 & 250 L models)
2. For superior corrosion protection from acid vapours (such as Phenol, Sulphuric Acid, Nitric Acid and others with highly corrosive vapours), the Justrite Polyethylene Chemical Cabinets are the answer and they are available in 30 or 60 L sizes. These cabinets are commonly used in laboratories where lab technicians can store the chemicals close at hand.

If you require a larger size Polyethylene Corrosive cabinet, then BIG Safety supplies the Polystore Polyethylene Chemical Cabinets. These are available in 50, 100 (single or double compartment), 150  and 200 L (single or double compartment) cabinets.

Polystore Corrosive Cabinet. 2 x 50 L compartments