Heliport Safety
Equipment Hazards
Hospital staff can be exposed to helicopter-related equipment hazards, including the tail and primary rotor blades.
It is vital to stay alert around helicopters to avoid injury.
The blades can seriously injure or kill an unaware or uneducated staff member. Hats, loose clothing, and gloves can be sucked into the engine air intake fans, potentially causing a helicopter to malfunction and crash.
Possible Solutions
- Limit access to the heliport area to staff trained in helicopter equipment hazards.
- Establish safe work practices, such as:
- Do not administer CPR to patients on transport carts while the carts are under the helicopter blade. This may elevate a staff member's height to the extent that staff members could be hit by the helicopter blades.
- Approach and leave the helicopter in a crouched manner when rotors are turning.
- Properly secure all items such as loose clothing, hats, gloves, scarves while in the helicopter area.
- Good housekeeping shall be maintained in all helicopter loading and unloading areas (29 CFR 1910.183(g)).
- Avoid the tail rotor area and helicopter blade area.
- While checking the helipad area, make sure the windsock is up, all the lights are working, and everything looks good mechanically.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-1. Why should hats, loose clothing, and gloves not be worn around the helicopter tail rotor?
You forgot to answer the question!