TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Tool
Selection, Use, Maintenance & Storage
 The
Right Tool for the Task
Appropriate selection of tool for the
task will greatly improve the effectiveness of use, while reducing the risk of
injury and/or damage. Tools must be used only for the purpose for which they
were designed. The Hand Tool Institute offers easy-to-follow, proper tool
selection and use guidelines, by tool category.
HTI
Hand Tool Use and Selection Chart
The use of safety hand tools should be a key component of most industrial safety
programs. An understanding of the hand tool’s intended use and environment,
combined with proper tool selection, maintenance and storage, will greatly
reduce the risk of explosion and fire.
Ampco offers the following common-sense
guidelines for Tool Use, Maintenance and Storage, consistent with OSHA General
Industry Standard 1910.242 and HTI recommendations:
- Keep non-sparking tools clean and free from
ferrous or other contaminants, which may impair the non-sparking properties.
- Do not use non-sparking hand tools in direct
contact with acetylene, due to the possible formation of explosive
acetylides, especially in the presence of moisture.
- During normal use, all hammers and chisels
will progressively develop some damage to the striking faces of hammers or
the cutting edge and striking end of chisels. As part of the normal
operating and safety procedures, these tools should be returned to the
workshop, as with steel tools, to have the faces and heads redressed. This
is essential to prevent eye damage resulting from chips detaching from the
item during use (as supported by OSHA Standards 1910.266 and 1926.301).
- Do not store hammers and other hand tools
fitted with wooden handles in places where the handles may dry out and
shrink. This will increase the risk of the handle breaking or the head
becoming loose (as supported by OSHA Standard 1910.266).
- Avoid overstrikes, causing damage to the
shaft. Supply replacement handles are often available from the manufacturer,
and should be fitted by a competent operator, using an approved method of
fitting and paying particular attention to the fitting of the wedges (as
supported by OSHA Standard 1926.301).
- Fiberglass handles can offer advantages over
wooden handles in terms of breaking stress and tolerance for adverse
environmental conditions. Fiberglass shafts fail progressively, rather than
catastrophically, reducing the risk of sudden failure, injury or damage.
- When selecting a wrench, the jaw opening
should have a close and tight fit on the head of the nut or bolt to which it
is being applied. This is especially true with non-sparking tools, as they
typically do not have the hardness of steel tools.
- Tools are designed for specific use. As with
any tool, additional torque should not be applied through the use of
"cheater bars." In addition to the probability that the tool will
be damaged, this is a dangerous practice for the safety of the operator.
Wrenches should not be used as levers; nor screwdrivers as chisels, and so
on.
- The accepted standards of safety and
maintenance for common steel hand tools must also be adopted with
non-sparking hand tools, in addition to any specific recommendations
resulting from the alloys used.
- When sharpening non-spark safety tools, follow
normal safety procedures, such as the provision of eye and face protection,
adequate extraction and dust collecting facilities.
Government Requirements
for Safety Tools Use
In the U.S.A., there are many organizations such as the Occupational Safety
& Health Administration (OSHA), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and MSHA (Mine Safety & Health
Administration) that require or recommend the use of non-sparking hand tools in
many industrial applications. For example, petroleum & chemical
manufacturing, explosive and blasting agents, the marine industry, the mining
industry, the paper industries, and spray booth operations, just to name a few,
all require the use of non-sparking hand tools to eliminate fire and explosion
hazards.
OSHA guidelines specifically cite the use of
safety tools for handling of the following chemicals:
- Acrylonitrile
- Benzene
- Nonane
- Dichloroethylene
- Chloro-nitropropane
- Dioxane
- Dinitrotoluene
- Dinitrobenzene
- Dimethylphthalate
- Dimethylaniline
- Dimethylamine
- Diisopropylamine
- Diethylamine
- Dichlorvos
- Dichloroethyl ether
- Dibutyl phthalate
- Diborane
- Crotonaldehyde
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- Cyanamide
- Coal dust
- Chlorodiphenyl
- Chloroacetaldehyde
- Chlorine dioxide
- Aluminum
- 4-methoxyphenol
- dipropylene Glycol Methyl Ether
- Ethyl acetate
- Ethyl acrylate
- Ethyl amyl ketone
- Ethyl benzene
- Ethyl bromide
- Ethyl butyl ketone
- Ethyl chloride
- Ethyl ether
- Ethyl silicate
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- Ethylamine
- Ethylenediamine
- Flourottrichloromethane
- Furfural
- Glycidol
- Haptachlor
- Heptane
- Hydrogen cyanide
- Isobutyl alcohol
- Isopropyl acetate
- Isopropylamine
- n-ethylmorpholine
- n-hexane
- phenol
- trimethylamine
- VM and naphtha
- Zinc stearate
- 1, 2-Dichloroethylene
- ethylene oxide
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Ampco Safety Tools MSDS
Please see our Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for more technical information
concerning our products. This file is downloadable and printer-friendly in Adobe
Acrobat.
Material
Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
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