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Safety Ideas


Cleaning Equipment Steps

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Photo showing heavy equipment steps with mud and stone on them. Smith Dickson of Thiele Kaolin - Hobbs Mine writes, "an easy way to clean mud from the steps of a front end loader or other equipment is to carry a small garden hand spade in a large zip lock bag. It can fit into a lunch box or lunch tote. Remove the small spade from the zip lock bag, clean the steps, return the spade to the zip lock bag and store it. At times a shovel may not be readily available and this small spade will do the job rather quickly and it is convenient to carry along and it may prevent a slip or fall."

A high number of accidents at surface mines are due to slips and falls from equipment due to mud and ice build up. When a shovel is not available for mounting equipment, using a small garden tool can help in eliminating these slip and fall type accidents. Always remember to keep three points of contact when mounting and dismounting equipment.



MSHA extends a thank you and a tip of the hardhat to

Smith Dickson,

a winner of a limited edition sticker and patch.
If you have a tip you would like to pass on, you can e-mail it to zzMSHA-MinersTips@dol.gov. If your tip is selected, you will receive credit in this space.



Issued: 09/22/2005
Tag # AP2005-90827



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