Pennsylvania Code › Title 34 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Part I - Department of Labor and Industry › Chapter 39 - SAFETY STANDARDS-GENERAL › Subchapter A - SAFE PRACTICES › RECOMMENDATIONS › Section 39.23 - Handtools

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a)
General.
Handtools should only be used if in a safe condition.
					 If unsafe conditions are discovered, they should be immediately reported to the
					 foreman, who shall have them corrected.
(b)
Handles.
Wooden handles
					 of handtools should be of the best straight-grained material. Handles which
					 become excessively burned or worn, or which are cracked or badly splintered
					 should be removed from service. Reference should also be made to subsection
					 (e).
(c)
Heads.
When repaired in the shop where used, the heads of all handtools requiring
					 handles, except blacksmith tools, should be substantially fastened to the
					 handles by experienced persons in order to eliminate the hazard of improperly
					 fastened heads flying off. No tools or stencils with mushroomed heads should be
					 permitted in service. This applies to tools owned by the workmen themselves as
					 well as company tools.
(d)
Storage.
No handtools should be permitted to lie on the floor,
					 ground, or working platform when not in use for any length of time, but should
					 be kept in the proper receptacles or storage places. Axes, hatchets, adzes or
					 knives should be placed in receptacles provided for the purpose. For temporary
					 purposes only, the cutting edge of the tool should be driven into a flat in
					 places where persons will not trip over them or lodged vertically in corners or
					 racks where they timber far enough to hold the tool in an upright
					 position.
(e)
Specific
					 tools.
Specific tools should also conform to the following:
(1)
Striking handtools.
Handtools should always be struck with wooden, soft metal, rawhide or rubber
					 hammers or mallets if the part receiving the blow is case hardened or tempered.
					 Such hammers or mallets should also be used where inflammable or explosive
					 gases or vapors are present. Sheets of brass or other soft metal may be used to
					 receive blows, but should not be battered to an extent which would create a
					 hazard of flying particles. Hand striking tools which show any signs of
					 cracking should be removed immediately from service. Hammers and hatchets with
					 corrugated driving faces for driving flat-headed nails should not be used for
					 driving brads or nails with rounded heads because of the increased hazard of
					 flying nails. A machinist's hammer should not be used for driving nails, and a
					 carpenter's hammer should not be used for machine work.
(2)
Wrenches.
Wrenches
					 should conform to the following:
(i) All
					 wrenches should properly fit the nuts, bolts, or other objects they are used to
					 turn. Unless closed wrenches are used, the practice of using thin pieces of
					 material as shims to make an oversize wrench fit should not be permitted. A
					 wrench should be put on so that the jaws do not spread and cause
					 slippage.
(ii) Wrenches should not
					 be used as hammers.
(iii) The use
					 of wrenches which have excessively worn threads, nuts, or pawls, or battered or
					 defective jaws or handles should be prohibited.
(iv) The practice of tightening bolts, nuts,
					 clamps or other fixtures on moving machine parts with wrenches while the
					 machine is in motion should be prohibited.
(v) Monkey wrenches should always be placed
					 on the objects to be turned so that the wrench faces forward in the same
					 direction that the handle is to turn.
(vi) Safety release or ratchet-type wrenches
					 should be used only in opening drop bottom cars or wagons.
(3)
Keen edged or pointed tools.
Care should be exercised in the use of adzes or draw knives to insure
					 that no part of the body is close enough to the point being worked on to be
					 endangered by a slip of the tool. When cutting with a hand knife, the direction
					 of the cut should always be away from the body. Keen edged or pointed tools,
					 such as axes, hatchets, adzes, saws, knives, chisels, bits, lineman climbers,
					 or similar tools should not be carried in a manner which endangers the bearer
					 or persons passing him, nor should a long screw driver or other pointed tool
					 project from a pocket when carried.
(4)
Files.
All hand files
					 should be provided with handles. The tine of a file should not be used as a
					 center punch.
(5)
Wood
					 chisels.
Wood chisels should be provided with substantial handles. If
					 struck with mallets, a metal or leather band should be placed at the end of the
					 handle to prevent spreading.
(6)
Screwdrivers.
Screwdrivers of proper sizes should be used at
					 all times by workmen requiring them. Screwdrivers should not be used for
					 purposes for which they were not intended. Those which are bent, or which have
					 rounded corners or splintered handles should be removed from service. A
					 screwdriver should never be held in one hand and the material being worked on
					 in the other, as it may slip and injure hands.
(7)
Picks, shovels, forks, bars,
					 rakes, and hoes.
Picks and shovels should always be stacked or struck
					 into the ground so that the handles stand upright; horizontal storing should be
					 permitted only where it creates no tripping hazard. The handle of a shovel
					 should never be pushed on with one's body, as this may cause one to rupture
					 himself. Forks should be stacked or stuck into the ground so that the handles
					 stand upright. They may also be hung, handles down, in pegs on walls. Rakes and
					 hoes should always be stood or hung with the head off the ground and the handle
					 pointing downward. Crowbars should always be laid flat in places where persons
					 will not trip over them or else lodged vertically in corners or racks where
					 they cannot fall over. Ordinary crowbars should not be used to move cars;
					 specially adapted bars should be provided for this purpose. All dull or broken
					 ended crowbars should be removed from service. When using a crow or pinchbar to
					 move weights, the hands should be so placed that they cannot strike other
					 objects as the bar moves under pressure.
(8)
Compressed air tools.
In
					 the use of compressed air tools, care should be used to prevent the tool from
					 being shot from the gun. When momentarily out of use, the gun should be laid in
					 such position that the tool cannot fly out if the pressure is accidentally
					 released. When not in use, all tools should be removed from the gun. In
					 disconnecting a compressed air tool from the air line, care should be exercised
					 first to shut off the pressure and then to operate the tool to exhaust the
					 pressure remaining in the hose. Compressed air hose or guns should not be
					 pointed at or brought into contact with any person.