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Weekly Toolbox Talk: Floor Openings

 

weekly toolbox talk; floor openings

Note: Open Enrollment period starts May 12 and ends June 6, 2025. All benefits-related information and actions will take place in MyMAREK. If you do not complete your enrollment, your coverage elections will remain the same, except for FSA, Dependent Care, and HSA.  For those accounts, you’ll have to log in and specify your annual contribution amount. Each branch office will send out communication to its employees on meeting dates and times. 

 

Important Note for Texas Employees: 

If you are currently enrolled in the Base medical plan, please be aware that this plan will no longer be offered for the upcoming plan year. 

If no action is taken, you will be automatically enrolled in the Texas HMO Plan. However, you also have the option to log in to MyMAREK and actively choose the HSA Medical Plan, if that better meets your needs. If you need support accessing MyMAREK please contact your local HR branch rep for assistance. 

 

 

FLOOR OPENINGS 

 

Safely covering a floor opening with a piece of plywood requires more than just laying down the material over the hole, or even nailing it down. 

 

Total on-the-job safety means a total job of eliminating hazards.  Half a job or inadequate or incomplete jobs of covering hole hazards can result only in half, inadequate, or incomplete accident prevention. 

 

A recent accident illustrates the point. A carpenter on the roof of a building was cleaning the trash on the roof. The carpenter walked over a sheet of plywood lying on the roof, picked it up, took a step or two forward, and in the act of standing the plywood up, the carpenter fell through a hole in the floor.  Why did this happen? 

 

The plywood over the hole was not marked in any way and was not secured to the floor.  There was no warning of any kind on it.  The man mistook it for a piece of loose material on the floor. 

 

The carpenter was not told about it. He wasn’t aware of the fact that the covering on the floor was covering a hole; he mistakenly picked it up thinking it was trash, and without inspecting underneath the plywood, he walked right into the hole. 

 

Anything less than total safety is no safety at all.  The total safety attitude must be kept in mind when floor openings are being covered. 

 

  • Make sure holes are covered securely, with a cover big enough and rigid enough to prevent failure. 

  • Pay attention to danger warnings about floor openings. Listen when you are told about them. 

Never move a floor opening cover without permission.