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EVALUATION OF DESIGN AND OPERATION SAFETY OF THE SMART STRAP SUMMARY OF QUALITATIVE ANALYSES
By Harold P. Broussard Jr., ASP, CSP
An analytical qualitative approach was used to determine the risk associated with the design and operation of the “Smart Strap” and to evaluate the likelihood and severity of injury resulting from exposure to any identified hazards.
RESULTS OF ANALYSIS
Primary risk factor in design and operation is to be caught between, i.e. pinch points, during application or removal of strap.
Severity of Potential Injury: Slight - Reversible injury requiring simple medical treatment with no confinements.
Probability of Injury: Low - Occurrence is so unlikely as to be considered nearly zero
EVALUATION OF SMART STRAP AGAINST INDUSTRY STANDARDS
The Smart Strap design features of light weight, relative to industry standard (approximately one third the weight of standard strap) and flexible verses rigid, provide a reduction of risk factors that are inherent with the design of the standard strap.
Reduced Risk of Ergonomic Musculoskeletal Disorders to the Lower Back
NIOSH Lifting Equation for manual lifting tasks provides a Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) and a Lifting Index (LI)
The RWL is the maximum acceptable weight healthy employees could lift over the course of an eight hour shift without increasing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders to the lower back and is 51 lb.
A Lifting Index, Actual Weight/RWL, with a value of less than 1.0 indicates a nominal risk to healthy employees whereas an index of 1.0 or more denotes that the task is high risk and that the number of lower back injuries will increase correspondingly with the increase in the index number. The goal is an index of less than 1.0
SMART STRAP MEETS THE WEIGHT GOAL SET BY NIOSH FOR MANUAL LIFTING!
Comparison of Smart Strap for 16” OD Pipe verses Competitors Steel Plate for 16” OD Pipe
LI for Smart Strap = 0.35 LI for Competitors Steel Plate = 1.96
Hazard Controls Built into Smart Strap Design for Associated Tasks
OSHA requires the reduction or elimination of hazards through the use of Engineering or Administrative Controls – Built into the Smart Strap!
Smart Strap is light weight and flexible which reduces the number of employees needed to complete the task of removing and replacing the strap during an inspection, eliminates the need for a mechanical lifting device and, thus, the potential for failure of such a device, and reduces the time to complete the task; limiting the duration of exposure to potential hazards.