It’s important to know the correct safety measures to take before you or your staff use a walk-behind or rider floor scrubber. Keep yourself protected by familiarizing yourself with the scrubber or sweeper manual, following all OSHA training standards, and making sure all floor cleaning machine operators use the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
It’s always a good idea to wear, at a minimum, safety glasses and hearing protection when operating a scrubber or sweeper, especially for long periods of time. Of course, you should always follow your facility’s established protocol and OSHA guidelines for the use of PPE. However, there are other instances where additional PPE could be used when operating or servicing your scrubber:
Hearing Protection
Gasoline, Propane, and Diesel engine powered scrubbers create enough noise to warrant hearing protection. The vacuum turbines are often quite loud as well. OSHA’s rule states that if the noise level exceeds 85 DBA hearing protection must be worn.
Eye Protection
The level of eye protection required depends on the types of chemicals being used and the environment the machine is operating in. It may be necessary to wear goggles while filling a floor scrubber if harsh chemicals are involved. Safety glasses are generally acceptable when operating the sweeper or scrubber. Remember that whatever chemicals that you put into the tank will end up in the dirty water tank. Also, it is possible that the machine may pick-up additional harmful chemicals while scrubbing the floor. The same PPE required for filling should used for emptying the tank. You should also wear eye protection when checking, changing, or maintaining your machine’s batteries, especially when adding water to batteries as splash back could occur.
Respiratory Protection
Properly operating floor scrubbers will not generate dust in most applications. The water from the scrubbing process suppresses the dust. However, some cleaning chemicals may produce fumes that could be harmful if mixed incorrectly, therefore it is a good idea to utilize respiratory protection when preparing or filling machines.
Sweepers can be more difficult to manage in terms of dust emission. If the filters, seals, and vacuum systems are not working perfectly a sweeper can produce dust from the surface being cleaned. Depending on the dust present in your facility it may make sense to require operators to wear respiratory protection devices.
Gloves, Aprons, and Other Protective Clothing
In most cases gloves and other protective clothing will only be necessary while handling cleaning chemicals or working with your machine’s batteries. For chemicals, the level of protection needed will be prescribed on the chemical SDS sheet. However, when working with batteries, it is always a good idea to wear protective clothing (especially gloves) as corrosion from battery acid may exist on battery terminals, or water or other fluid may splash back or leak from your battery during maintenance. Always check the SDS sheets of any chemical about the PPE required while handling the product.
Proper use of a floor scrubber can make your business safer; for example, by preventing slips and falls. But that’s only if your staff stays on top of proper safety measures when using the machine! Knowing how to use your floor scrubber properly and safely will help keep yourself and your employees safe. Be sure to read up on your floor scrubber before use, and contact our floor cleaning experts if you have any questions. Above all, don’t forget to use common sense!