Basic 9 · Career Technology · Personal and Workshop Safety
Safe Working Environments and Sanitation
In this topic you will discuss how to maintain a safe working environment and examine the causes and prevention of poor sanitation in the home, school, community and workplace.
By the end of these notes you should be able to:
- Explain how to maintain a safe working environment
- Identify safety signs and good housekeeping practices
- Discuss the causes and prevention of poor sanitation
What you already know
- Personal protective equipment
Copy everything that has a blue line on its left into your notebook. The other parts are for reading.
Lesson 1
- Strand
- Health & Safety
- Sub-strand
- Personal and Workshop Safety
- Indicator
- B9.1.2.1.3 – Maintain safe working environments
Introduction
Most workshop accidents are not bad luck. They come from an untidy floor, a faulty tool or a rule that someone ignored.
1. Good Housekeeping
Housekeeping: Keeping a workplace clean, tidy and organised.
Good housekeeping prevents many accidents. Sweep up sawdust and metal shavings, and wipe up oil at once. Keep walkways and fire exits clear. Store materials neatly, with heavy items low down. Put tools away after use. When a workplace is tidy, you can find things quickly, and you are less likely to trip, slip or be cut.
2. Safety Signs
| Colour | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| red | stop or prohibited | no smoking |
| blue | must do | wear goggles |
| yellow | warning | danger, high voltage |
| green | safe condition | emergency exit |
Safety signs give information quickly, even to people who cannot read the language. Learn their colours and shapes, and obey them. Keep signs clean and visible, and replace them when they are damaged.
3. Fire Safety
Fire needs three things: fuel, heat and oxygen. This is known as the fire triangle. Take away one, and the fire goes out. Keep rags and solvents away from heat, and do not overload electrical sockets. Know where the fire extinguishers are and how to use them. Remember PASS: pull the pin, aim at the base, squeeze the handle and sweep from side to side. Water must not be used on oil or electrical fires. Practise fire drills so that everyone knows how to leave the building calmly.
4. Electrical and Tool Safety
- Inspect tools before use.
- Keep cutting tools sharp, since blunt tools slip.
- Never use wet hands on electrical switches.
- Report frayed cables and do not repair them yourself.
- Keep guards on machines.
- Switch off machines before cleaning them.
- Turn off and unplug equipment at the end of the day.
5. Your Part in Workplace Safety
Safety is everyone's concern. Discuss it in groups, and listen to your classmates' suggestions. If you see a danger, say something, or report it. Good ventilation and lighting also make a workplace safer. Take breaks when you get tired, because fatigue causes mistakes. A safety culture exists where every person looks out for everyone else.
New words
- housekeeping
- Keeping a workplace clean and tidy.
- fire triangle
- Fuel, heat and oxygen.
- ventilation
- Fresh air movement.
- fatigue
- Extreme tiredness.
Summary
- Good housekeeping prevents many accidents.
- Safety signs use colour and shape to give information.
- Fire safety and tool safety protect everyone.
Class activity: Safety Walk
- Inspect a workshop or classroom.
- Note good and bad practices.
- Report your recommendations.
You need: Safety goggles, Work gloves, Dust mask
Exercises
Answer in your exercise book first, then check your answers.
1. A red safety sign means…
- A. stop or prohibited
- B. safe
- C. wear goggles
- D. exit
Show answer
Answer: stop or prohibitedColour.2. The fire triangle consists of…
- A. fuel, heat and oxygen
- B. wind, rain and sun
- C. sand, water and air
- D. iron, wood and oil
Show answer
Answer: fuel, heat and oxygenFire.3. Water should not be used on oil fires.
- A. True
- B. False
Show answer
Answer: TrueSpreads fire.4. Extreme tiredness is ______.
Show answer
Answer: fatigueSafety.5. State three good housekeeping practices.
Show answer
Answer: Sweeping up, clearing walkways and putting tools away.Any three.6. Why are blunt tools more dangerous than sharp ones?
Show answer
Answer: They need more force and can slip.Tool safety.
Lesson 2
- Strand
- Health & Safety
- Sub-strand
- Environmental Health
- Indicator
- B9.1.3.1.1 – Discuss the causes and prevention of poor sanitation in the school/home/ community/site/ workshop/ laboratory
Introduction
Walk through some Ghanaian towns after rainfall, and you will see blocked gutters, floating plastic and stagnant water. Poor sanitation affects everyone.
1. What Is Sanitation?
Sanitation: Safe management of human waste, solid waste and waste water.
Good sanitation includes clean toilets, safe disposal of rubbish, clean drains and safe water. Poor sanitation occurs when waste is not properly managed, and it spreads diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery. It also breeds mosquitoes and flies, smells bad and blocks drains, leading to flooding. Workplaces such as markets, mechanics' yards and food stalls can be particularly affected.
2. Causes of Poor Sanitation
| Cause | Example |
|---|---|
| lack of facilities | no toilets or bins |
| poor attitudes | littering, open defecation |
| poor planning | no drains in new areas |
| weak enforcement | bye-laws not applied |
| overcrowding | too many people in one area |
| poor maintenance | broken toilets, full bins |
| poverty | unable to afford waste collection |
3. Prevention
| Setting | Actions |
|---|---|
| home | use toilets, cover bins, clean compound |
| school | clean toilets, handwashing, labelled bins |
| community | clean-ups, sanitation bye-laws |
| workshop or site | sweep regularly, dispose of oil safely |
| laboratory | use proper chemical disposal |
4. The Waste Hierarchy
- Reduce: buy and use less.
- Reuse: use items again.
- Recycle: turn waste into new products.
- Recover: use waste as energy or compost.
- Dispose: send what is left to a landfill.
Plastic recycling is growing in Ghana. Companies buy and recycle waste plastic, and groups such as Nelplast have turned it into paving blocks. Sorting your waste makes recycling easier and creates jobs.
5. National Efforts
Ghana introduced National Sanitation Day in 2014, encouraging citizens to clean their communities on the first Saturday of each month. Assemblies employ environmental health officers, and they can prosecute people who break sanitation bye-laws. Still, lasting change depends on attitudes. If people believe that waste is somebody else's problem, the country will remain dirty. As a young person, you can lead by example, and you can encourage your friends and family to do the same.
New words
- sanitation
- Safe management of waste.
- open defecation
- Passing faeces in the open.
- landfill
- A site for burying waste.
- recycle
- To turn waste into new products.
Summary
- Poor sanitation spreads disease and causes flooding.
- Causes include attitudes, poor planning and lack of facilities.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle, and change attitudes.
Class activity: Sanitation Audit
- Inspect toilets, bins and drains at school.
- Record problems.
- Propose solutions to the head teacher.
You need: Used sachet-water bags, Labelled waste bins, Work gloves
Exercises
Answer in your exercise book first, then check your answers.
1. Which disease spreads through poor sanitation?
- A. cholera
- B. asthma
- C. measles
- D. sickle cell
Show answer
Answer: choleraWater-borne.2. Which is the first step in the waste hierarchy?
- A. reduce
- B. recycle
- C. dispose
- D. recover
Show answer
Answer: reduceOrder.3. National Sanitation Day is held monthly.
- A. True
- B. False
Show answer
Answer: TrueFirst Saturday.4. Turning waste into new products is to ______.
Show answer
Answer: recycleWaste.5. State three causes of poor sanitation.
Show answer
Answer: Lack of facilities, poor attitudes and weak enforcement.Any three.6. How does poor sanitation cause flooding?
Show answer
Answer: Rubbish blocks drains, and so rainwater cannot flow away.Link.
Homework
- Sort your household waste for one week and record what you could reduce.