Workplace health, safety and wellbeing for Rubber Hose Makers: hot ovens, heavy coils and pressure tests
Hose units combine hot curing ovens, heavy coils and mandrels, and pressure tests. Each carries its own risk and needs its own habit, not one general poster.
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Share your requirementsWhy workplace health, safety and wellbeing matters in rubber hose makers
Loading and unloading coils and mandrels from ovens means heat, weight and awkward lifting, often at the end of a long shift. Burns and strains are common and often unreported. Pressure testing carries a different risk: a hose released wrongly or a test rushed under deadline can injure the tester and the person nearby. Because the lines are long and the ovens are loaded in batches, people slip into habits that nobody reviews.
Good looks like three practical routines. Oven work is rotated, with limits on time in heat and gloves and sleeves required. Heavy coils and mandrels have lifting aids and a rule on how many people move them. Pressure testing has written steps, guards and a release method, practised and signed off for each tester. Near misses are reported and read out at the start of the shift.
How to set it up
1. Walk each risk with the people who do it
Ovens, coil handling, mandrel handling, pressure testing, cutting. Ask what hurts, what nearly happened and what they do to cope. Note the answers before judging.
2. Rotate oven loading and limit heat time
Spread loading across people, give breaks and water, require gloves and sleeves. Check at the start of each shift, not once a year.
3. Add lifting aids and a rule for coils
Trolleys, hoists or simple stands for heavy coils and mandrels, and a rule on how many people lift. Record any strain complaint so patterns show.
4. Write pressure test rules and sign off testers
Set up, guards, release and what to do on a failure. A senior watches each new tester before they work alone. See the Rubber Hose Makers overview for the testing stage.
5. Run a short near-miss habit
One minute at shift start to share a near miss or a burn from the last shift. Record it. Over a quarter, patterns tell you what to fix first. Check legal requirements with a qualified professional.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask oven staff how long they work in heat before a break and who decides.
- Watch a pressure test and note which steps are followed and which are skipped.
- Count burns, strains and near misses recorded last quarter, and how many were told only by word of mouth.
- See whether gloves, sleeves and lifting aids are present and used at the ovens.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach workplace health, safety and wellbeing in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Make reporting normal and blame-free. Ask at the start of each shift and act on what you hear. If reporting leads to a telling-off, you will hear nothing and the injuries will continue.
Only people briefed on the written steps and observed by a senior. Re-check practice often, especially when orders are urgent and the temptation is to rush.
Rotation, breaks, drinking water, gloves and sleeves, and loading order can all be set by the supervisor. They cost little and show staff that the heat is taken seriously.