Introduction
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a set of standards that work as guidelines to promoting and maintaining the highest levels of safety in varied conditions of work. The guidelines facilitate the formulation of policies that safeguard the health and safety of the employees as well as other people who may be present at the workplace such as customers and members of the general public. In the provision of bounce house rentals alongside other party supplies such as chairs, tents, tables, and decorations, the company is faced with a number of safety and health issues such as work at heights, collapse, and manual handling of materials and equipment. In consideration of these health and safety risks, the company is obliged to make three main safety policies including, accident prevention policy, operation policy, and work assignment policy.
Accident Prevention policy
The installation of tents and decorations is likely to involve work at elevated heights that may exceed two meters and is therefore considered a substantial safety risk. The work process is also likely to involve the hoisting of materials using moving equipment and thus prompting the need to equip the employees with a number of personal protective equipment (PPE). The hazards that may be presented by this kind of work process should be communicated through a clear channel to all the employees by conducting a risk assessment with the whole team on the site before starting the actual work. The team leader should seek the participation of all the team members in the risk assessment exercise since it guarantees the best opportunity to communicate the hazards faced by the transportation, installation, and decorating teams.
The tent construction and decorating procedures will involve the use of equipment such as scaffolds and ladders which must be inspected and commissioned by a safety officer or a trained team member and labeled to indicate the good condition. The workers should be made aware of any hazards presented by such equipment, and in the case of work processes involving moving or driven equipment; the workers must always wear reflective safety jackets to increase visibility. This will effectively prevent injuries that may result from collisions. The individuals working at heights on ladders and scaffold must always wear safety harnesses to prevent falls that may result in serious injuries.
The work site must be cleared of non-essential personnel and members of the public. This includes placing physical and visible barriers around the work site with visible signs indicating the nature of work in progress. An individual entering the work site must be informed of the safety considerations that must be observed and given the necessary personal protective equipment before they are allowed in. The number of individuals allowed into the work site during construction should be monitored by the team leader and limited as much as possible.
Operation Policy
Some of the equipment provided by the company such as the bounce house requires close monitoring with a set of operation procedures under strict consideration. The safety policy regarding the operation of such equipment must also consider weather conditions. One consideration in this regard is the fact that the bounce house should not be operated in conditions such as high-speed winds, rain, and lightning. The individuals riding the bounce house at any given moment should be sorted by size and only those of the same size should be allowed in at the same time after removing shoes and any other loose, sharp objects including dangling jewelry, eyeglasses, and personal assisting equipment such as hearing aids. Removal of such equipment will result in the elimination or minimization of incidences of cuts when using the bounce house.
The equipment should also be carefully inspected regularly, after a specified number of uses, by a trained operator. The operator must maintain a vigilant watch while the bounce house is in use and continuously assist the users in entering and exiting the bounce house. The operator must always wear gloves for personal protection against blood-borne pathogens in the event one of the users has suffered some cuts. Since most of the equipment and materials used in the entire process are likely to have sharp edges, therefore a general precaution of wearing gloves when handling the equipment and materials must be observed by all the employees.
The rated capacity of the equipment such as the bounce house, chairs and tables must be carefully considered to prevent collapse or damage. The users should also be advised against performing certain stunts such as flips in order to avoid back and neck injuries. The bounce house should have warning labels against removing it from the location where it has been installed by unauthorized individuals. The safety considerations must include warning signs indicating that drinks, food, gum and pets are not allowed into the bounce house.
Work Assignment policy
The provision of a bounce house, party materials, and equipment involve a number of duties such as the transportation, installation, monitoring, and disassembly after use. Some of the work procedures are repetitive and exposure to them over long durations of time may lead to Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTD). Cumulative trauma disorders result from excessive wear and tear on the muscles, tendons or the sensitive nerve tissue due to improper position while conducting a work process, repetitive work procedures and doing job duties involving large weights. The general recommendations for reducing the probability of CTDs in the policy include varying the worker positions as well as minimizing continuous and repetitive actions.
Since the CTDs result from exposure to repetitive tasks over long durations of time, the team leader should maintain a regular shift in work assignments such that the workers are exposed to different working conditions over shorter periods of time. This requires that the workers are properly inducted on the safety and health considerations for the various duties involved in the transportation and installation of the materials and equipment. Tasks that involve lifting and movement of heavy materials should have a sufficient number of individuals assigned to it simultaneously with allocations of necessary equipment that can assist in the lifting and movement procedures.
Female workers should be assigned to duties that have a lower demand for muscle use or should be enabled to perform such tasks with the aid of necessary machinery. Special consideration should be made to expectant females such as limiting their exposure to tasks that involve heavy weights, dust or chemical fumes. This is a general precautionary measure aimed at protecting the unborn babies from the hazards presented by dangerous work assignment. Expectant females should also not have work assignments that involve working at heights.
Conclusion
The safety and health policies to be observed in the provision of party facilities and equipment must consider the working conditions involved as well as the safety needs of both the workers and the users. The accident prevention policy aims at reducing the probability of injuries during the transportation of materials, equipment, and decoration of the venues. The operation policy observes the safety considerations when the equipment such as the bounce house is in use to as to minimize the risk of injury to the users. The work assignment policy seeks to guarantee the health and safety of the company employees by minimizing incidences of cumulative trauma disorders that may result from the work environment.
References
Grainger. (2013, June 1). Cumulative trauma disorder. Retrieved December 30, 2016, from Safety+ Health: http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/cumulative-trauma-disorder
WORKSAFE. (2016). Major Hazard Facilities: Major Accident Prevention Policy and Safety Management Systems. Wellington: WorkSafe New Zealand.
