Category Archives: Safety Tips

Top 5 construction equipment safety tips that you must follow

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Equipment, tools and machineries are some of the most important aspects of a successful construction industry. To make sure that they offer a long and desired performance, it is a must that you take care of the equipment. With proper care, your construction equipment, tools and machineries will perform better and longer.

However, it is not just the longevity and performance of the equipment, but also using the equipment safely that is equally important. This will make sure that the hazards, damages and accidents caused by this equipment are low. Since these are often powerful and large, they need to be handled with safety. Here are a few construction equipment safety tips that you need to follow.

  1.  Learn operating heavy equipment:

 

Those, who operate the heavy equipment at a construction job site, must have professional training in how to operate them. This will ensure that no hazard or accident occurs while operating the machines and equipment. While operating, one must –

  • Be alert
  • Know the blind spots of the equipment
  • Stay aware of the surrounding and the functionality of the machines.

This will ensure that the job is performed better and faster, with no possibility of danger.

2.  Safety measures:

 

There are a few factors related to safety that one must keep in mind, while operating these construction machineries. These include –

  • Not climbing the machine or heavy construction equipment while it is moving
  • Always wearing the seat belt to avoid possibility of damages caused by accidents
  • Loading only till the capacity of the equipment or machine.

The heavy equipment can accidentally face a rollover. In such a case, wearing a seat belt can save a life.

3.  Checking the equipment:

 

Often negligence is the root cause of an accident. The heavy equipment is designed to perform a number of tasks. When you turn on the equipment, it is a must that you check each one of its parts such as the tyres, tracks, wires, components etc. In case any disturbance is found there, you need to repair it at once. Neglecting can lead to a possibility of permanent damage and accident.

4.  Falls:

 

Maximum of the accidents that occur, happen due to not following the safety standards for getting on and off the equipment. Workers often jump off and fall from the equipment and this is a major cause of accident. Always maintain the proper methods to get on and off the equipment.

5.  Loading and unloading:

 

When the load of the equipment is released, there is a chance that the equipment might rollover, if proper functioning is not done. Hence, the conductor must know how to do the loading and unloading task, balancing the equipment.

These are some of the most important construction equipment safety tips that one must keep in mind, while operating these tools and equipment at a job site. If safety measures are followed, there is no chance that these equipment and tools can cause accidents. Moreover, maintenance will also aid in the longevity and good performance of these equipment and machines.

Mistakes a construction company should avoid doing

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Humans are bound to do mistakes in their lives and so do they also learn from it. Mistakes can happen in any industry and in any profession but there are some mistakes that can be avoided and one will never want them to happen. Mistakes are certainly not pardonable in professions where you just can’t afford to make mistakes. Doctors for that matter are bound to make no mistakes. Similarly, we expect the same from a pilot. But there are others industries where a mistake made, may not be life threatening but can definitely lead to severe loses and one can only try to avoid them. Construction industry is one such industry where you commit a major error and you got to be ready to pay a big price for it. There are few grave mistakes that one should avoid making especially when he is part of the construction segment.

Safety of employees should never be compromised:-

You can’t take human lives for granted come what may. People who are working for you are your men and it becomes your moral responsibility to safeguard their interests and their lives. Therefore, you should provide them with all the equipment and trainings that will keep them safe and sound. By no means should the safety of the employees be compromised. This can pose a big threat to the future prospects of the company and if reported to the concerned authority, you may even have to pay the price by leaving the project or by paying a hefty penalty. Also when you know that a job needs the attention of expert workers, you should know deploy men who are not trained for that job. They may end up injuring themselves.

Title should be clean:-

When you take a new project, you should ensure that the title on the property is clean and it does not have any disputes. These things should be done before you take up the work. In case you are a contractor then knowing about the title will help you to determine where you are heading. You should always keep your hands off from any disputed projects as that will lead you to complications. Check with the title company if there is any dispute on the property and if the title owners are the ones you have been informed holds the property. Projects are held up for years due to non-clearance of title and have become a matter of huge concern.

Never miss out on your finances­:-

The financial part of the company plays an important role in determining where the company is heading. Construction companies are known for not able to keep a tab on their finances. Money is needed to buy raw materials, heavy equipment, paying salaries to employees and taking care of other operating expenses but it all should be recorded or else you will not have any clue where your money went and what you can do to prevent unwanted expenses. Keeping a log of all your transactions is the need of the hour for every construction company and it may turn out to be a big mistake if not managed at the right time.

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Safety awareness is instrumental across all levels of employees

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Construction laborers are not only engaged in one of the most arduous tasks but also one of the most risky works and their safety should be at top priority to the construction company. They can’t play around with their lives thinking to save some money by not providing them with the safety accessories. Construction companies in US are kept a keen watch by the body who is concerned about the safety of the workers. If these companies flout the law they will be penalized heavily and legal process will also be followed against the company. Companies ideally would not want to go through all this and therefore ensure that they provide their employees with all the necessary safety stuffs and minimize any untoward incidents at the workplace. Now other than providing basic safety infrastructure there is one more thing that is perhaps more important. It is to let the employees know the importance of the safety infrastructure and why they have to wear them all the time they are inside the jobsite.

All employees should understand the importance of safety:-

Before explaining the employees about the safety infrastructure you have for them, it is imperative that you explain them the need to use those accessories. They might be accustomed to a particular way of working and if you introduce something new to them, it may take time for them to acquaint with it. Some may not even want to use it as they may take that as a hindrance to their job. For instance, if you ask your operator to wear some special boots which is a bit heavy but will keep his feet safe he may initially not like to do so unless he is informed how the boots will protect his feet. This awareness needs to be imparted to different section of employees. They need to be informed why they have to wear the safety gears and gadgets. Some may already know about it but there may be few who may not. A collective training in this regard will be very helpful not only from the point of view of the employee but also from the perspective of the construction company.

Wearing of safety gears should be made mandatory:-

Nobody wants things to be shoved down their throat but there are few things which should be mandatory for the betterment of the employees. Wearing safety gears is one of them. The company should appoint few men who are working in supervisory roles to monitor if people doing perilous tasks are following all the safety parameters. If not they can instruct them to wear the gears first and then perform the task. Employees may feel a bit of inconvenience first but it is essential for his safety.

Safety training should be conducted once in three months:-

Safety trainings should be conducted once in three months and all the employees of the construction company right across all the levels should be part of this training. It helps in learning something new every time you attend one and also gets updated of new safety measures that the company is taking for its employees.

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Equipment Safety Tips

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Heavy equipment being such an important part of the construction industry, it can be said with no doubt that one needs to take good care of the machines he possess. He can’t just play around with things because if machines fail to function when it is supposed to, he will be into some real serious trouble. Therefore it is important to say that before the start of any project, check the health of your heavy equipment and if you find something not so correct, you better get that fixed first and then put them to use. Concurrently, one also needs to follow quite religiously the safety procedures when it comes to their heavy equipment. When safety procedures are followed it only lengthens the life of the machines making things more comfortable for you.

There are innumerable incidents that get highlighted on a regular basis that happens due to not following all the safety tips leading to heavy losses to property and at times even to life.

We will be discussing few heavy equipment tips that we all can follow to keep our machines healthy and simultaneously incur less cost on the repairs and fixtures.

Get good trained men on your machine:-

You should realize that you are dealing with big heavy machines that can turn dangerous if not operated by trained men. Give it to a newbie and he will make a big mess out of it. Therefore, it is of immense importance that you let your construction equipment to be operated by trained men who have sizeable experience in dealing with such huge stuffs.

Communicate with people around you:-

When you are working on the machine, it is imperative that you keep on communicating with people who are around you. It would be foolish to assume that they will understand your next move and will move away from your path. They may be engrossed with their work and if you fail to talk to them and ask them to move away you might find them exactly on your way and that might lead to some serious eventualities. Get your walkie-talkie out or 2-way radio so that you can ask people to get out of the way. Do not make a situation where things will become difficult for you to take care of.

Check your machine at the end of the day:-

You might be working very hard all day along and do not get the time to check if everything is ok with the equipment even though you get a slightest of hint of some problem. In a situation like this, you should check the machine at the end of the day and see what could be the problem and if it is a serious one try to report it to the people in charge. The repair team will take it from there and will fix whatever issues it had.

Regular maintenance is the key:-

This is perhaps the most critical and also the most ignored thing. Due to enough load of work, regular maintenance of machines can be easily forgotten. However, that will make matter worse and therefore try to get some time out of your busy schedule and ensure that you service the machine on a regular basis.

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