Chemical Safety: Guidelines in Pouring and Molding Plastic

If plastic weren’t invented, we would be stuck with buying wooden furniture, stone figurines, glass mugs and all other heavier and more expensive materials on the market. While being useful and indispensable in many areas of our lives, plastic is one of the most hazardous materials in the manufacturing industry. To prevent illnesses and injuries caused by this pouring and molding plastics, workers must apply the following safety measures:

• A training program must be created and implemented and it must cover the proper procedures in handling, labeling, storage of small and large quantities of chemicals, cleanup and disposal of spills, equipment training, personal hygiene, and personal protective measures.

• All workers must be provided with an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) of every type of chemical they’re working with.

• All workers in the manufacturing area must don safety goggles or glasses.

• Wear face shields and safety glasses when opening and filling pressurized catalyst injection equipment.

• Employees in charge of purging an injection molding machine or servicing a heated runner manifold nozzle must wear a shield that is fixed, portable or worn on them.

• Employees must wear respirators if they work on or near machines or equipment where plastic resins are poured into hot molds or molds that are heated after the resin has been poured into them.

• Conspicuously post warning signs on areas where extreme heat hazards of plastic are present.

• Post “NO SMOKING” signs on areas where flammable or combustible plastics are handled. It’s best, though, to prohibit all workers to smoke in the entire plant, manufacturing and storage areas.

• Install eyewash stations within 25 feet or 15 seconds of actual travel from work areas where chemicals are being mixed, poured, and transferred. .

• Use guards like a barrier or a positioning device for machines that cut plastic materials.

• Only employees trained in the hazards, operating procedures and safeguards of a machine or equipment must be authorized to operate it.

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