5 Safety Tips for Construction Sites

About 6.5 million people work at some 252,000 construction sites around the country on any given day. The same number of workers are at risk of injury and death from the long list of potential hazards that these work environments present. In fact, the fatal injury rate is higher in the industry than any other. Some of the biggest hazards workers face in construction sites include falling from heights, collapsing of scaffold and trenches, electric shock, arc flash, repetitive motion injuries, and failure to wear proper protective equipment. A safety professional can conduct safety training in construction work sites to help prevent these sometimes fatal injuries and vulnerabilities. Even as you prepare your workers for official OSHA safety training, they should be aware of the following safety precautions that should be applied in construction sites:

• Scaffolding-related injuries and deaths are among the most commonly cited hazards in construction environments. To protect from scaffolding fall hazards, it is important that each scaffold erected is structurally sound and stands on solid ground. It must be rigid and able to carry its own weight along with four times its maximum intended load without displacement. Avoid supporting scaffolds with unstable objects like boxes, loose bricks, barrels, and other such materials.

• Falls account for the largest number of injuries and fatalities in the industry. With proper OSHA safety training, your employees will be taught the major factors involved in these fatal falls as well as ways to prevent them, from using aerial lifts and elevated platforms to erecting guardrail and safety net systems.

• A safety professional can likewise teach you about the hazards that construction ladders and stairways pose to workers. Preventing stairway and ladder-related injuries requires proper use of the correct ladder equipment for the task, as well as regular and frequent inspection of ladder equipment before use.

• A collapsing trench is another major source of injuries and fatalities in the construction industry. Trenching deaths started to rise in 2003, now averaging dozens of fatalities each year. To protect from trench collapse injuries, protective systems must be in place for trenches that are feet deep or greater. A certified safety professional or an engineer can also be employed to design this protective system

• Employ hazard communication so workers can be duly informed about the dangers of their workplace. It is also important to maintain an SDS that includes all chemicals within the facility.