Introduction to Printing
Welcome to this area dedicated to issues that apply to Printing which alerts you to the risks and hazards associated with the industry. Links are provided at the top of the page to help you with specific risks and hazards. You will also find general health and safety guidance in the 'A-Z'.
Printing employs around 120,000 workers in mainly small and medium-sized companies. The most common types of accidents are manual handling (27%), slips and trips (22%) and machinery (22%). To avoid these types of incidents and other risk assessments should be carried out and the findings implemented to reduce or eliminate the risks.
Printing businesses are widely used by other organisations and the work is usually carried out within tight deadlines which can lead to risks and hazards that can affect health and safety of employees. Most of these problems are avoidable and do not carry high risks, and can be almost eliminated by risk assessment. Whilst some are preventable others are not, those that are not need greater attention to reduce the risks to the minimum.
The list below shows some of the issues that printers need to manage:
The use of printing machines in work schedules can result in common accidents, caused by:
- Manual handling
- Slips and trips
- Contact with machinery
Care should always be taken when using the machines with awareness of health and safety risks.
Many of the tasks carried out by printers require specific training especially when the use of machinery is required. Proper records of operator training must be kept as part of the health and safety management regime.
When using machinery ensure that loose clothing and long hair etc. cannot be caught up in the moving parts of the machine.
Other areas of caution include the handling and storage of chemicals, for example the mishandling of chemicals can cause skin problems such as dermatitis. After using chemicals make sure to clear up any spills immediately using the correct materials.
All employees should be made aware of the business' health and safety policies and procedures.
Below are portable documents formats (PDF) which we think will provide you with more information about the printing career.
The Printers Guide to Health and Safety
Safe Use of Power-operated Paper-cutting Guillotines
Safe Systems of Work for Cleaning Sheet-fed Offset Lithographic Printing Process
Should you have any specific queries you can always 'Ask The Expert'.
|
