Hand Injury

We use our hands constantly, a disabling hand injury can have a dramatic effect on your quality of life, a hand injury can impact job and daily routines as well a hand injury can occur during a second, but the social financial and emotional effects can last a lifetime. The physical body is an engineering marvel, our hands contains 27 bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, skin, and nails. Working in unison they supply strength and dexterity which enables us to perform routine tasks and attain precision movements.

However, due to their tremendous versatility, hands are exposed insusceptible to several sorts of injuries these include strains and sprains from excessive force or excessive repetitive motion, skin irritation from contact and exposure to hazardous or irritating substances, burns from electricity, chemicals and hot substances, punctures from sharp objects, lacerations, cuts, starting from minor to major fractures broken bones from crushed or falling and amputations resulting in the loss of part or all of the hand.

Here are some of the examples of hand injuries the most common causes of hand injuries are carelessness, lack of awareness, boredom, disregard for safety procedures, and distractions. You cannot reduce the risk of a hand injury, if you don't know the potential dangers you face every day the first step is to review your company’s hand-related accidents and injuries record to detect trends and patterns, find out the types of hand injuries that happen most frequently and in which areas injuries most often occur. When reviewing your company’s hand-related accident records or performing a hazard analysis.



Follow these simple steps :

1. complete a physical hazard assessment of the entire work operation.

2. review work practices to prevent hand injuries for each hazard you pinpoint.

3. review personal protective equipment and tools assigned to each risk type.

4. use the right tool for the job which includes the right type of glove.

5. review and inspect your machinery to ensure all guards are in place.



Ten rules to preserve your ten fingers beware of pinch points train yourself to recognize pinch points and avoid placing your hands and fingers in such hazardous spots expect the unexpected when using tools with which you expect resistance anticipates that the tool might slip or the thing to which pressure is being applied may suddenly subside failure to anticipate such a move could end in painful and high injuries to hands and fingers inspect tools check to ascertain if they're in fitness and safe to use a worn screwdriver or a hammer with a cracked handle are samples of defective tools which are frequently the explanation for injuries to hands and fingers don't work on moving equipment unnecessarily if the equipment are often stopped doing so performing on moving equipment presents a true threat to your hands replaces machine guards following repairs that need the removal of guards the presence of machine guards is a crucial think about keeping hands and fingers out of dangerous areas take care of kit that starts automatically never work on such equipment without eliminating the likelihood of automatic startup unplug portable tools or fixed equipment or working take care when closing doors and other hinge devices keep hands and fingers clear attention to hand placement can prevent this type of injury avoid touching lines equipment or surfaces that may be hot every hotline or piece of equipment that is accessible and uncovered should be restricted labeled or otherwise isolated to minimize the possibility of inadvertent contact use gloves to protect your hands during all work activities which involve the handling of materials or tools they're your last line of defense from sharp edges, splinters burn chemical contacts and a number of other injuries sources use a tool for the job instead of your hand whenever possible a tool should be used to complete the task rather then your hand next basic first-aid lacerations and cuts apply pressure to the wound to stop bleeding wash dirt or debris from the wound cover the wound to prevent further contamination or injury do not remove large foreign bodies such as nails or hooks seek medical attention fractures and broken bones immobilize or splint the hand if possible cover with a clean towel or cloth if the bone is exposed ice may help decrease the pain but never apply directly to skin seek medical attention burns for thermal burns cool with water and applies cover for chemical burns irrigate with lots of water and apply cover seek medical attention soft-tissue injuries and amputations apply pressure to stop bleeding cover with damp bandage elevate the hand above the heart retrieve amputated pasts cover and keep near ice to cool do not place parts in direct contact with ice in order to prevent freezing seek medical attention refer to your company's emergency response plan for detailed instructions for chemicals please refer to your safety data sheet we have come to the end of this presentation thank you all for your kind attention keep.

Hands safe for safety isn't a gadget but a state of mind