Tips to Safely Use Your Drain Cleaning Equipment

As with any job (whether it’s being a chauffeur, a teacher, or a drain technician), the number one thing that needs to be remembered and made a priority is safety. Safety for yourself and safety for others. It’s so easy to get into the rhythm of things and start daydreaming, thus allowing your mind to wander and your awareness of your surroundings to falter. No matter what you are doing, being aware of what is going on around you and being aware of what you are doing is extremely important. Especially when it comes to working with tools or equipment that can cause bodily harm.

If you’re a drain technician utilizing drain cleaning machines, blades, cables, and reels, it is extremely important to ensure you are doing everything you can to provide safe working conditions for yourself and those around you. Here are a few tips you can follow to ensure that you are working safely:

Read the Manual
The first thing you can do to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you is to read, in its entirety, the manual for the equipment being used. Now, you might think that this is common sense, but there are tons of people out there who buy something they’ve never used before and then try to figure out how to use it on their own by trial and error. Depending on what you are using, this could work. However, if you are using something that is more technical, or something that requires a certain skill set or knowledge of a certain industry and its equipment, then reading the manual is a must! It will tell you all of the important information you need to fully understand how to properly and efficiently operate all aspects of the product.

Know all the Info. and Use Tools and Equipment Properly
After you’ve thoroughly read the manual, it’s important to make sure you know how to properly use your equipment. Hopefully, after reading the manual, you have more insight into the product you are using and all of the tools and accessories that can be used with it. If you are using a drain cleaning machine, for example, it is beneficial for the drain technician to understand how to use the machine so that he can properly and effectively complete his job without causing any damage to the pipes. The drain technician should be able to efficiently determine the cause of your issue, the kinds of drain machine needed to clear the issue, and the accessories needed to assist in the drain cleaning process for better, and longer-lasting use.

Inspect for Damage
Once you’ve read the manual and learned how to properly use your equipment, tools, and accessories, you’ll want to inspect said equipment for any damage. The last thing you want is to be electrocuted because you are using frayed cords and those cords come in contact with water. It is vital to ensure that all parts of your equipment show no signs of damage; not only so that you can be sure of your own safety while working and utilizing said equipment, but also so that all parts are working the way that they are supposed to for maximum efficiency.

Wear the Proper Protection
On top of making sure your equipment isn’t damaged, it is vital that you use the proper protection needed to prevent any harm or contamination. If you are an experienced drain technician, you probably already know how contaminated wastewater is. For those who don’t, wastewater can contain a number of contamination and diseases. That is why it’s extremely important to ensure full, proper protection. Some forms of protection a good drain technician should use are: eye protection, rubber or latex gloves (beneath steel reinforced cable safety gloves!), and coveralls. It is important not to wear any loose clothing or accessories that can get caught, thus causing injury. After working with contaminated wastewater, always remember to wash, wash, wash to remove any bacteria that may have been caught while working.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings and Operate Safely
Finally, the last point is to be aware of your surroundings! Whether you are working alone or with a team, it can be easy to zone in on the work and forget about your surroundings. However, being aware of what is going on around you can greatly reduce the risk of injury. If you follow the proper safety precautions, listen to your surroundings, and listen to the machines being used, you can hear if anything sounds off, or different than normal, and you can prevent the risk of potentially losing a finger (if not worse).

Whether you are a drain technician using a drain cleaning machine or simply there to pass the tools and help, it is of the utmost important to not only know the ins and outs of the equipment being used, but to also follow all of the safety precautions listed above (and more) so that the job can get done in an efficient manner with no injury to anyone! For more information of how you can create a safe working environment and to find all of the tools and equipment needed to complete the job, head on over to Duracable.com. You’ll find everything you need and more and have the best customer service experts at your disposal to get you safely working today!