Safety talks by month
March safety topics for plants and warehouses
March has more named observances than any winter month. It is National Ladder Safety Month and Workplace Eye Wellness Month, and the clocks go forward on the second Sunday. These eight talks follow those dates and add two weather talks to give before spring storms. One is where to shelter from a tornado. The other is why nobody drives through water on the access road.
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Print 30 toolbox talks, one page each
For plants and warehouses, with a sign-in sheet. Free after one short form.
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March dates and observances
Only observances confirmed on the organiser's own page are listed, each with its owner and a link. Where a date moves from year to year, the year is given. Check the source before you print a calendar.
Where the dates fall in March
National Ladder Safety Month
All of March
Workplace Eye Wellness Month
All of March
Daylight saving time begins
2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March
Injury data electronic submission
Due March 2
Days it can fall onDate set by the organiser each year
National Ladder Safety Month
When: All of March
Who runs it: American Ladder Institute
Ladders come out of storage for spring maintenance, so the inspection talk lands at the right time.
Source for National Ladder Safety Month (opens in a new tab)
Workplace Eye Wellness Month
When: All of March
Who runs it: Prevent Blindness
Pair it with a check of the safety glasses people are wearing today.
Source for Workplace Eye Wellness Month (opens in a new tab)
Daylight saving time begins
When: 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March
Who runs it: Rule published by NIST
The date moves between the 8th and the 14th. Give the talk the week before.
Injury data electronic submission
When: Due March 2
Who runs it: OSHA
Establishments covered by the rule send last year's injury and illness data to OSHA online.
Source for Injury data electronic submission (opens in a new tab)
8 safety talks for March
Each talk gives the hazard, words a supervisor can say at the start of a shift, one question to put to the crew, and the rule or guidance it rests on. Say it in your own words and wait for an answer to the question.
1. Check the ladder before the first climb
The hazard: Ladders come out in March after months on a hook. OSHA requires a ladder to be inspected before initial use in each work shift. A defective one is tagged "Dangerous: Do Not Use" and taken out of service.
What to say: Look at the rails, rungs, feet and spreaders before you climb. If anything is bent, cracked or loose, tag it and bring it to me. It does not go back on the hook.
Ask the crew: Which ladder here would you not want to climb?
2. Hands and loads on the way up
The hazard: A box in one hand and a drill in the other leaves nothing for the ladder. OSHA requires climbers to face the ladder, keep at least one hand on it, and carry nothing that could cause a loss of balance.
What to say: Face the ladder going up and coming down. If the job needs both hands for carrying, use a tool belt, a hand line or a second person.
Ask the crew: What do you usually carry up a ladder, and how else could it get there?
3. Stepladder setup
The hazard: Stepladders get set on dock plates, pallets and sloped drains. OSHA requires ladders to be used only on stable and level surfaces, and says the cap and top step of a stepladder are not steps.
What to say: Open it fully and set it on a level floor. If you need the top step or the cap to reach, the ladder is too short. Get a taller one.
Ask the crew: Where do you use a stepladder on a floor that is not level?
4. Eye protection that stays on
The hazard: Grinding, blowing down and chemical handling all put material at eye height. OSHA requires eye or face protection against flying particles, liquid chemicals, and chemical gases or vapors, with side protection where objects can fly.
What to say: Glasses go on before you enter the area, not when the job starts. If yours are so scratched that you take them off to see, get a new pair today.
Ask the crew: Which task here is most likely to put something in your eye?
5. The clock change weekend
The hazard: Daylight saving time starts at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March. The clock jumps an hour, so that night shift is an hour short and Monday's early start comes an hour sooner.
What to say: Clocks go forward this weekend. Check whether your shift changes length and set an alarm. Take extra care on the drive in and on the trucks on Monday.
Ask the crew: Who is on shift when the clock changes, and how are those hours handled?
6. Where we shelter from a tornado
The hazard: OSHA's tornado guidance says to shelter in a small interior room on the lowest floor, away from doors, windows and outside walls. It warns against rooms with flat, wide-span roofs such as cafeterias and gymnasiums.
What to say: Our shelter area is the one I am pointing at. When the warning sounds, go there, not to the dock door to look. I count heads, including visitors and drivers.
Ask the crew: How long does it take you to reach the shelter area from your station?
7. Water across the road or the yard
The hazard: Thaw and spring rain put water across yard lanes and access roads. The National Weather Service says 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock over an adult and 12 inches can carry away most cars.
What to say: Do not drive or walk through water on the way in or in the yard. Turn around and call me. Arriving late is fine.
Ask the crew: Which part of the site, or of your route, floods first?
Source: National Weather Service, Turn Around Don't Drown (opens in a new tab)
8. Label the bottle you poured into
The hazard: Spring cleaning means chemicals decanted into spray bottles and buckets. OSHA requires each workplace container of a hazardous chemical to carry the product identifier and information about its hazards.
What to say: If you pour it into another container, label that container before you put it down. An unlabelled bottle gets handed in, not sniffed.
Ask the crew: Where is there an unlabelled bottle or bucket right now?
A week-by-week plan for March
One way to spread the talks over the month. It is an example order, so move a talk when your own shutdown, weather or shift pattern says it belongs in a different week.
| Week | Talks | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Ladder month opens, and the March 2 data deadline passes. | |
| Week 2 | Give the clock talk in the days before the second Sunday. | |
| Week 3 | Spring cleaning brings out grinders, air lines and spray bottles. | |
| Week 4 | Before the spring storms, while there is time to walk to the shelter area. |
Safety topics for every month
The year by month, with the hazards each month's talks are built around. For talks sorted by length and by workplace, go to the safety topics library.
The year in safety talks
Guides that go with these talks
FAQ
March safety topics, answered
March is National Ladder Safety Month, run by the American Ladder Institute, and Workplace Eye Wellness Month, run by Prevent Blindness.
At 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March, according to NIST. Clocks go forward one hour.
Inspect before the first use each shift, and tag and remove a defective ladder. Face the ladder and keep a hand on it. Stay off the cap and top step of a stepladder. All of it is in 29 CFR 1910.23.
Print 30 toolbox talks, one page each
For plants and warehouses, with a sign-in sheet. Free after one short form.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
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