How To Avoid Construction Accidents

Working in construction requires health and safety instruction plus regular refresher training. Why? Well, there are many hazards with machinery, tools and vehicles. Also, the risks are higher with altitude—the more height, the greater the fall and prospect of injury and also fatality.

So what exactly can you do to prevent any harm coming to your workers and contractors?

There are some distinct actions you can take that go a long way in preventing accidents, so keep reading to find out more.

Safety Equipment

Wearing the proper safety equipment, i.e. gear that is fit for purpose. You’ve heard of PPE, we all have now we’re living with COVID-19. However, for construction sites, PPE (personal protective equipment) includes:

• Protective Gloves
• Earplugs
• Full face shields when using grinding, cutting tools
• Eye goggles or glasses especially necessary when dealing with chemicals
• Protective clothing including boots, overalls etc
• Fall prevention equipment

Hard hats, harnesses, and hearing and eye protection are a prerequisite for health and safety on building sites, and the PPE must be within its use-by date. Just the action of gearing up changes the mindset to one of vigilance to avoid danger and while the PPE is protective when the worse happens only using it prevents complacency that can bring on errors.

Site Survey

For smaller construction projects, the responsibility for creating a safe work environment is with the builder, and sometimes the most significant hazard to construction safety starts in the ground. It’s more common than many people know for the actual place of work to be a danger to the equipment and the crew. For example, the ground is too hard, too soft, or even prone to be volatile, things such as earthquakes, slips or sinking.

Before you start working in a specific area, take the time to survey it using tools such as soil sampling augers before you get to work. As all building work is regulated, you’ll need an engineer to sign off on a site before construction can commence.

Workplace Risks and Hazards

Clear signage and marking of all hazardous areas is a prerequisite for a safe construction site. During the build, there are a lot of risks to workers including

• Electrocution
• Hit by Vehicles
• Moving and transportation of supplies

Regular Breaks

With so many obstacles to get around, workers have to be in peak physical condition. Being alert and able to communicate is vital; therefore, a zero-tolerance policy to alcohol and drugs ensures there is no worker impairment while they’re on site. Regular testing of all workers ensures a safer workplace for everyone.

As the job is taxing, construction workers are required to take the regular downtime breaks. There is no working through lunch breaks to speed up delivery of the project as that is likely to cause more harm than good.

Most accidents are caused by human error. Yes, we’re only human! The lion’s share of accidents are caused by us and while this is alarming it does mean we can improve it with rigorous safety measures.

Communication is vital to reducing accidents among workers on building sites. For example, workers can not work on-site alone, even on small building projects where it’s hazardous and a construction site more than one person must be on-site at all times while work is occurring.

Report Accidents

All accidents must be reported, with an incident report. For each disaster the day and time it occurred plus there must be evidence of what happened, who was involved, and the outcome, i.e. did the worker or workers need medical treatment.

Always Stay in the Know

In the construction and building sectors, ignorance is not bliss and not tolerated. Your business must remain up to date with new regulations governing the industry and adhere to all health and safety requirements.