A good Health and Safety policy helps guide people away from practices that are known to cause injury - and we like our users whole as much as is reasonably practicable. As such, users are strongly advised to follow the following rules. Hackspace users who are endangering themselves or others may face the consequences found at the end of this document.
Rules
Directive Alpha - If you're not sure, ask. Other members may have advice or guidance that would help you in your project and when working with tools and equipment, and we're more than happy to share that knowledge around.
Directive Omega - Do Not Be On Fire. This basic rule is the guiding light of safety rules, and as such, we have adopted it as our foundation of our health and safety rules.
You Must
- Wear PPE when necessary. Personal Protective Equipment is required for the use of many tools. Information about suitable PPE and safe operation is available on each tool's wiki page under the Safety header. If there is no PPE advice on a specific tool, please ask for advice or use what seems sensible/is used for similar tools. While we supply basic PPE for all equipment, we advise that members may be better served by owning and maintaining their own PPE as we have limited amounts and other PPE may be more comfortable.
- Complete inductions for the tools you wish to use. Inductions are provided for a range of tools in the workshop, for the protection of both you and the tool. While many tools are safe to use with a basic Workshop Induction, some of the tools require a specific induction before you can use them - this allows for both this allows for both the teaching of safe working methods, as well as tips on how to use and maintain the equipment. These inductions are not available to non-members, and as such all users of these tools must be members.
- Check out the equipment you plan on using before starting work - does it appear to be in working order? Are there potential issues with it? Can you easily reach the EMERGENCY STOP switch/button while working? If you see anything unusual or untoward that might indicate a safety issue, please ask for advice before going further.
- If there appears to be a maintenance issue with a piece of equipment, please 'tag' the equipment as such (a piece of paper with OUT OF ORDER and the issue with the equipment will suffice, over the power switch if possible), and send an email about it to the mailing list. If a piece of equipment is tagged as such, and you don't have the knowledge to fix or maintain it, please don't use it until it's back to a safe working standard.
- Clean up after finishing work. This removes hazards for other people working after yourself, but it also allows you to check that the equipment is in order, your work pieces are stashed away, and that there are no hazards for yourself or the next person in the area.
Consider
- Your working area. Is the area clean enough to start work? Are there cables or loose tools in your way? Is your work going to interrupt someone else's work area? Will your use of a tool create sparks near a pile of wood dust? Make your work area safe before starting work.
- Other members. Are members going to be walking around you to get to tools they need to use? Are other people close enough to where you plan to work to be a risk to themselves or you? Is the process going to create fumes that may cause issues for other people in the space, like spray painting? Is the equipment noisy enough that others working nearby should also be wearing hearing protection?
- Whether you know how to use the equipment in a safe and sensible way. If not, please feel free to ask for advice on the mailing list and telegram, or seek other expert advice before starting work - at very least, it could stop you wasting material, and at best it could prevent injury to you or the equipment.
Wisdom
Equipment and machines can be very individual - they can have quirks, and certain ways of working may be safer and better than others. Some of this wisdom will be on the hackspace wiki tool pages (which are under the equipment section in the side bar). If members are still unsure about best practice, please follow Directive Alpha - ask! On Telegram, our mailing list, in the space... there's usually a way to get an answer fairly quickly, and our membership can be quite chatty and free with advice.
Consequences
Warnings
While some behaviour is just worth a gentle mention to the member as it is a minor risk to their own safety (such as not wearing hearing protection whilst using the bandsaw), other behaviour is something that may necessitate a formal warning. It is better to let someone know that their behaviour is liable to break the safety rules prior to it actually doing so than issue them with a warning.
If someone is doing something that is highly likely to injure someone, or that has any likelihood of seriously injuring someone, anyone may ask them to stop using that tool. They may also be required to leave the space, subject to the same decision-making and reporting requirements as in the Code of Conduct.
Equipment re-training
Anyone found using equipment that requires an induction in a blatantly unsafe way can be stopped from using that equipment and required to go through the induction again before they can use the equipment. Anyone found to be attempting to circumvent this will be asked to leave the space by any member, and this should be reported as in the Code of Conduct. The board may decide to ban members who circumvent such restrictions, either temporarily or permanently.
Ban from using specific equipment
If someone has used equipment dangerously or recklessly multiple times with warnings and an induction (if available), there is the option for the board to permanently or temporally restrict someone from using that equipment in the form of a ban. Anyone found to be attempting to circumvent this will be asked to leave the space, and can be banned from the space. This request may be made by any member acting alone, and should be reported as in the Code of Conduct. The board may decide to ban members who circumvent such restrictions, either temporarily or permanently.
Asking people to leave
This is done by the same process as laid out in our Code of Conduct, but it's worth reiterating that any member can remove a non-member for unsafe working practices, and two or more members (or one board member) can do the same to another member. However, do not put yourself in danger: if the situation requires it call the police, or if safe to do so, remove power from the equipment that they are using.
Suspension and Termination of Membership
This is done by the same process as laid out in our Code of Conduct.