Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine November 2024

HVACR NewsMagazine November 2024 State National Chapter News OSHA Reveals Top Injuries for HVAC

Top 10 injuries for HVAC contractors— 1. sprains 2. strains 3. tears 4. fractures 5. cuts

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, HVAC workers suffer from one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses. Exposure to hazards like electrical shock, burns, and ergonomic injuries are part of the job. Everyone in the HVACR industry knows the hazards but we are a trade of strong willed, independent, strong in our back and too late strong in our brains to prevent injuries to ourselves. Lifting with our legs and not our backs doesn’t even make sense to most of us. Just bend over and pick it up. Don’t be a wennie! Then at age ??? maybe 40, 50, or certainly by 60, our back tells us that using our legs would have been a much smarter thing to do. Replacing a compressor without proper lifting equipment is a way to make that back problem start at 30 instead of 40. Walking the ceiling joists is required but speed and carelessness can put you in a fall to the floor or straddling a 2x. One good friend, climbing a pull-down attic ladder, spent several weeks in a hospital when it collapsed. As we move into A2L and flammable refrigerants, we have to be informed, aware, and committed to safety. One good story. A friend who has been in refrigeration for many years, now working on a flammable system, forgot. Just did what he always did. Lit the torch to separate copper from the evaporator. Can you say, probably had to change his pants. He is fine and probably will never make that mistake again. “All is well that ends well”. Only thing??? They don’t always end well.

6. lacerations 7. punctures 8. amputations 9. heat 10. chemical burns.

Just google OSHA safety accidents in HVAC. It is just a glimpse into the number of accidents in our industry. Another thing we have to take seriously is working in confined spaces. We’ve talked about new rules that will affect us even in residential. Access to and keeping tabs on guys working in crawl spaces will change the way we run service. Prices will have to go up to pay for the extra help that will be required. We should have been more careful for years; but now, we have to take health and safety seriously, not just for the homeowner but for our workers. We may have never been quite as dumb as the guys in this picture, but we all have taken risks. Gonna’ have to do a better job of taking care of ourselves.

You may have never done it but Did you think about it?