TOOLBOX TALK TOPIC: HOUSEKEEPING – SCRAP REMOVAL SYSTEM AND

WASTE CONTROL

HOUSEKEEPING: “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

SCRAP REMOVAL AND WASTE CONTROL

 Good housekeeping is one of the most important factors in maintaining a safe

job.

 Thousands of workers in the construction industry are injured each year

because they trip, stumble, or step on objects that are in their way. Such
accidents are too often blamed on the worker’s carelessness in not looking
where he is going, or being some place where he has no business to be.
Actually, such accidents are the direct result of POOR HOUSEKEEPING.
Good housekeeping is also very important in fire prevention. Rubbish, oily
rags and other scrap material are often responsible for fires and often result in
tragic loss of life.

 Material left lying scattered around on floors or work areas take considerably
more space than if arranged in piles or stored in bins or shelves. It takes
longer to sort and select needed items, and material is often damaged due to
being stepped on or knocked over.

 Good housekeeping is not maintained by cleaning up once a week or even

once a day, but by keeping clean all the time. It is everyone’s responsibility. It
involves many things. Material storage and scrap disposal are perhaps the
most important and most often neglected. We usually have ample space to
store our materials without having them scattered about for us to trip over.

 Scrap material should never be mixed with usable material. It will lay there for
days, presenting an untidy appearance, and will inevitably get kicked around
for people to trip over.

 Keep all scrap separated from usable material, and stored in piles where it
can be picked up for disposal.

 Issue of hardware/nails/screws/cartridges, etc. must be controlled and return

of unused items monitored.

TEST – ANSWER TRUE OF FALSE

1. Off-cuts and re-useable material must be True or False
removed daily and kept to a minimum.

2. Scrap material can be mixed with useable material. True or False

3. Waste material causes tripping and untidy conditions. True or False