During the handling and moving of cylinders of gas, the back is often used. Innaca, a company that processes cylinders of gas, undertook an evaluation of the risks and applied a solution to prevent overburdening the back.

The task

Innaca refills and seals (processes) CO2 canisters, refills and seals cylinders of oxygen (surface and immersion), refills and seals powder fire extinguishers, refills and seals CO2 extinguishers, industrial refilling and inspection of CO2, halon, foam (merchant marine and industrial ships) and inspection of autonomous breathing equipment.

The workers of the company move about a hundred of small canisters daily with a weight between 8 and 22 kg. These cylinders are moved manually a dozen meters from the paint shop to the place where they are refilled. The canisters are small and difficult to handle. This repeated moving of the canisters is done by all the workers of the company at one time or another.

To move the larger canisters, the workers use special trolleys and pallet trucks but, for these small canisters, the company did not have a suitable handling device.

To do their work, all the workers have safety shoes and gloves and receive appropriate training for this task.

The risk

The moving and manual handling of these gas cylinders require disproportionate effort on the part of the workers, cause lumbago, and involve a risk of the canisters falling on the feet.

The solution and the method

The company evaluated the risks. The method used was the Mari or binary method, as published by the Generalitat de Catalunya, which is designed specifically for the SMEs. This procedure consists of two different parts: first, the identification of the risks at the job where one or more risks have been detected and the evaluation of these risks. This evaluation is done on the basis of a binary system in function of the gravity and the probability. Then, the preventive actions and the corrective measures to be adopted are defined and planned.

The workers were informed of, and trained with regard to, the risks associated with the activity and the measures judged appropriate by the management were implemented. The workers clearly saw the need to avoid this continuous effort that strains the back and they themselves proposed a solution.

A worker conceived, drew, and fabricated a little dolly, which turned out to be the solution adopted. It was a very simple but very useful small dolly in which the canister is easily placed without any manipulation or lifting. It enables the canister to be moved and placed at its final destination without risk.

The effectiveness of the results

The use of the little dolly was introduced in April 2001. Before this time, there were 5 to 6 cases of lumbago in the company. The workers who suffered from it were absent from work for five weeks and were unable to perform this task. Since this dolly was introduced, there have not been any cases of lumbago or of disproportionate effort.

The involvment of the workers

The participation of the workers was total. Indeed, this good practice was devised by one of them. The workers immediately saw the little dolly as a tool and as protection for their health and safety.

The costs and benefits

The costs of the little dolly are minimal, as it was manufactured in house and only amounted to 25 euros a piece.

The benefits obtained by the company since the installation of this transport system for canisters are numerous: the disappearance of absences due to lumbago, a feeling of satisfaction on the part of the workers for having been able to participate directly in their safety, a cessation of complaints, and an improvement in the organization of the work.

Entrepreneur’s testimony "The policy and the objectives of the company are in agreement with Law 31/1995 on the prevention of professional risks. The management of the company is committed to eliminate or reduce the risks that can affect the health and the safety of workers and to promote accident prevention and protection against risks at all of the working posts and in the activities of the company. In accord with Article 10 of Decree 39/1997 and the initial risk evaluation, the company is committed to designating several workers to carry out this evaluation, with the exception of the accident prevention that will be done by an autonomous accident prevention agency."