Toolbox Talk: OSHA Focus Four Campaign
OSHA’s Focus Four Campaign is a long-running emphasis program on the activities that are statistically the most likely to cause an injury or fatality.
These are:
• Falls
• Caught-in-Between
• Struck By
• Electrocution
Points to Remember:
• Falls include falls from ladders, falls from roofs, trips and falls, and falling over a leading edge. Elimination of working at height is the preferred control method but handrails, guardrails, warning lines, barricades, and fall protection systems are also acceptable control methods.
• Caught-in-between hazards include, but are not limited to, crushing injuries, or having any part of your person trapped between two objects such as a dock and a vehicle. Again, elimination of the hazard is always preferred by not being near an area that one could be caught in between. Back-up alarms on vehicles, posting warnings in areas of danger, and proper guarding of exposed machine parts are also important controls.
• Struck-by hazards are usually falling or flying objects that an individual could be impacted by. This might be material dropped from above or something that got away from a process that sent that object flying across a job site. Some controls might include toe boards, proper stacking of material, restraint of that material, and guards on grinders and saws to direct the particulate generated from the work process. Avoiding being in the line of fire and situational awareness also are acceptable control methods.
• Electrocution is death by electrical current. Only qualified persons are allowed to perform energized work within the boundaries of the NFPA 70E standards. Approach boundaries, arc flash training, proper arc flash PPE, and energized work permits all help the qualified worker perform this work safely. But in the end, the only completely safe way to work on electrical equipment is in a de-energized state.
