Still Not Safe Enough.* Plastics processing Plastics processing Those methods used to convert plastics materials in the form of pellets, granules, powders, sheets, fluids, or preforms into formed shapes or parts. is getting safer but still has a long way to go. The latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) A research agency of the U.S. Department of Labor; it compiles statistics on hours of work, average hourly earnings, employment and unemployment, consumer prices and many other variables. show that the incidence of lost workday injuries and illnesses declined in 1998 for the sixth year in a row--but only by a quarter of the percentage improvement for all manufacturing industries manufacturing industries npl → industrias fpl manufactureras manufacturing industries npl → industries fpl de transformation . The occupational injury and illness rate for plastics processing remained 17% higher than the manufacturing average. That is actually worse than in 1997, when plastics had a 14% higher-than-average injury and illness rate. But it is an improvement over 1996, when the plastics rate was 27% higher than the average, and 1992, when plastics workers were hurt or sick 33% more often. In '99, Plastics Plumbing plumbing, piping systems inside buildings for water supply and sewage. The Romans had a highly developed plumbing system; water was brought to Rome by aqueducts and distributed to homes in lead pipes—hence the name plumbing from the Latin word plumbum Fixtures was number eight on the list of 70 most injury-prone industry segments. Sixteen plastics-processing workers were killed on the job in 1998 and 15 in 1999. Although plastics employs fewer than 5% of all manufacturing workers, it accounted for around 20% of the total manufacturing workplace fatalities in those years. Not an enviable en·vi·a·ble adj. So desirable as to arouse envy: "the enviable English quality of being able to be mute without unrest" Henry James. record. Safety is ultimately a management responsibility For years I have heard that too many plastics managers have resisted adopting machinery safety standards Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities or processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory. that the industry worked hard to develop. Next month, we will report on the newest of those consensus standards, the first ever to cover take-offs in film, sheet, and extrusion coating. Now that those rules are published, you can't legally ignore them. You owe it to your workers to take them seriously. MATT NAITOVE, EDITOR
INCIDENCE OF NONFATAL OCCUPATIONAL
INJURIES & ILLNESSES INVOLVING DAYS
AWAY FROM WORK
(Per 10,000 Full-Time Workers) [a]
SIC Code 1992 1996 1997 1998
All Manufacturing -- 100 71.3 67.7 64.8
Misc. Plastics Products 308 132.6 90.5 76.9 76.0
Unsupported Film & Sheet 3081 111.7 70.4 74.0 49.2
Unsupported Profile Shapes 3082 -- 67.6 -- 112.3
Laminated Plate & Sheet 3083 119.3 95.5 72.6 96.8
Plastics Pipe 3084 163.9 120.3 98.4 105.3
Plastics Bottles 3085 91.7 72.7 77.1 55.6
Plastics Foam Products 3086 123.1 104.1 49.0 75.3
Custom Compounding 3087 124.9 67.0 57.2 78.2
Plastics Plumbing Fixtures 3088 172.0 116.2 122.6 51.1
Other Plastics Products 3089 139.8 93.2 79.8 77.8
(a.)Indexed relative al All Manufacturing in 1992.
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