Preventing construction accidents

Accidents at construction sites are extremely common, even though with proper precautions it is avoidable. It is desired to avoid accidents at a construction site because it may result in loss of time and money and also delay a project by a significant time resulting in extension of deadline. Hence it is advisable to avoid accidents at all costs.

Accidents that cause death of workers at a construction sites can be broadly categorized into top 4 causes, them being:

1- Falling from a considerable height.
2- Being struck by humongous objects.
3- Electrocutions at the workplace.
4- Being compressed between two objects.

The following are some crucial ways to prevent accidents at construction sites.

Hold safety training courses for the employees.

Employees should be educated on workplace safety standards and the potential risks/hazards they may encounter at the site. Employees should also be accustomed with required steps to take and first aid to provide in case any accidents happen.

Knowledge of equipments to be used.

Employees should be trained and certified to use the equipments they would be working on such as drills, cranes, pumps etc. A trained employee would know how to operate an equipment hence reducing the risks of harming himself and others on the job.

Frequent meetings on crew safety.

In a construction sites there will be several times when a high risk job needs to be undertaken. It is advisable to hold a meeting with the employees and make them aware of the potential risks and advise them to stay extra focused.

Use of protective clothing and gear.

It is to be made sure that workers wear the appropriate safety equipments such has high visibility goggles, uniforms, gloves before undertaking any job.

Clean workplace.

It is advisable to keep the workplace clean of debris and spills in order to avoid tripping and slipping by a busy employee.

Maintenance of equipments and tools.

Construction jobs require the use of heavy tools and equipments. Malfunctions of these during the job can have fatal results, thus it is advisable to properly maintain the equipments.

Special attention to heights.

A worker working at considerable heights should be extra cautious and must be provided with proper attire and equipments such as harness, gloves, knee caps to avoid the fatalities of fall damage.