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Salvage Yard Employee Safety Rules

Salvage yard employees work among many different types of materials, including metals that can be in various stages of decomposition, and plastics and rubber. These materials, as well as the machinery utilized to move them, can pose potential safety hazards to employees. For this reason, it is important that salvage yard employees take note of a few safety rules to help make sure that they have a healthy working experience.

  1. Unstable Surfaces

    • Employees should not climb or lean on unstable surfaces, such as stacked metal or machinery. The additional weight or movement of a person climbing could cause the surface to collapse or the employee to fall. This could cause injury or destroy potentially useful materials. Employees should also not add additional materials or weight to already unstable areas by stacking materials. Any salvage yard materials that are found to be stored unsafely should be moved carefully using proper machinery such as a crane, with your supervisor’s permission.

    Equipment

    • Equipment such as a crane or forklift should be used to move any large or potentially hazardous materials in a salvage yard. These materials include large appliances, cars or scrap metal which could injure the worker. Workers should also use protective gloves when handling these materials to avoid cuts or infections due to the sharpness or deterioration of any items in the scrap yard. If an item is too heavy or too dangerous to be moved even using machinery, the worker should consult their supervisor before attempting to move the items on their own to help avoid accidents and potential injuries.

    Unsupervised Buyers

    • A salvage yard may have potential buyers that come to find usable parts for cars or other mechanical devices. These buyers should not be allowed in the salvage yard or should not be allowed to try to harvest parts from cars or other machinery without supervision from a salvage yard employee. This is to help make sure that the buyer stays safe while on the property. An employee should accompany the buyer at all times and assist them with the safe removal of any parts or metal that they want to purchase.

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