Tag Archives: construction safety

Excavator safety training

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Safety should be the prime motto of any construction company and also the employees in the company should give equal importance to it. Eventually, if the company is asking them to follow the safety parameters it is for the benefit of the employees. They will remain safe at work. Construction industry is considered as an industry that consist lot of perils for its employees. Day in and day out there are news of people getting injured or even getting killed in accidents happening on the site? As a matter of fact, most of the accidents that happen on a jobsite are due to negligence on the part of the employees and also once the accident has occurred they do not know what to do next. They leave it all for the paramedics to come and take care of the situation. It seems that they do not have the proper training to manage situations on their own which is one of the reasons why this sector sees so many fatalities.

Now one also needs to follow certain safety measures while they are on the heavy equipment. For instance the operator working on an excavator has to pretty sure that while he is working there is nobody present in the vicinity of the machine. The excavator has to move to and fro and also has to swing its arm every now and then. It is not possible for the operator to keep a tab on who has come near to the machine and therefore people should avoid coming near to it while it is at work. The operator also has to be responsible for his own safety. For instance, he should be wearing proper gloves so that if he inadvertently touches anything that is extremely hot he will not damage his fingers. Also wearing boots all the time he is there inside the cabin is a must.

These safety points should be a part of his training program. A list should be made on what the operator of an excavator should do and what he should not and he should be following those safety rules religiously. For instance, before he starts working with the excavator, he should check if the brakes are working fine. Also check if the levers in the machine are in order. An engine check should also be done. The operator should report any shortfalls right away to the supervisor or to the team who handles issues pertaining to heavy equipment. So while the machine is getting repaired, if there is a spare excavator that can be used, the operator can jump on that one or else wait till the time the first one is not fixed.

The construction company should also encourage its operator to take safety trainings at regular intervals. You get to learn a lot in such training programs. The trainer will bring those facts that you were unknown to and also very important to you as far as your safety is concerned. Working on an excavator is fun provided you are following all the necessary safety measures.

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Safety trainings

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Acquiring trainings on subject that is connected to your line of business is crucial towards the overall growth of a person. Trainings can bring the best in you and that will help the business to grow. You get to learn so many things that you were not aware of prior to the training and then you only need to bring it in practice so that it gets inculcated in your daily routine. Different industries conduct different types of training to see that their men can become efficient asset to their company.

Well those trainings are certainly important but there is one more thing that is not done on a continuous basis and that is safety trainings. Businesses should also ensure that they provide their men with enough training on safety and explain the importance of safety during work. These trainings play an important role in keeping the employees safe and for averting an accident that could have taken place due to sheer negligence.

There has been enormous change observed in people post training sessions. They prefer to work safely and with patience. People who did not care much about safety do take it more seriously than ever post the trainings. They begin to value their life and also lives of others. These safety trainings are so important in industries where there are numerous accidents reported annually. Industries such as construction should give special training to their men.

Men in such occupation are always posed to internal and external safety threats and they should be trained on how to remain safe while they are working on the jobsite. Training sessions should be conducted in a phased manner where people doing a particular kind of work (for instance laborers) should be given safety training pertaining to their line of business. They do not have to learn or understand the safety techniques that need to be given to an operator. They will not learn anything from such training and therefore segregating people based on their job is crucial.

Once that is done, the trainer needs to keep the training materials handy so that without losing anytime he can straight away start with the sessions. Try to keep the training short and crisp. It actually helps people to understand the content easily. Long training sessions can become tiresome and many may lose their interest while the trainer is on an important topic. You can also split the sessions into parts. Nevertheless, one needs to ensure that all the people who attended the previous session are also present for this one.

Use pictures, diagrams to explain things. It has been noticed that people understand things easily that is represented through means of diagrams and pictures. Also get the guys to give live demo. Keep a situation in front of the people and ask their reaction. That will let you know if they are able to grasp anything. It also makes the session interactive and fun loving. You must be training them on an important stuff but always do that by setting a lighter mood.

Highway Construction Safety

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Safety on a construction site is perhaps the most neglected part and stress should be put on the company to ensure that they follow the safety parameters at all times. When we talk about safety on construction site, we restrict ourselves to the safety of the employees and workers who work on the jobsite. But when we talk about safety on highway construction, it should not restrict us to the safety of the employees but should extend it to the safety of the people around the site. When you are working on the highway, you have vehicles moving on the road and it becomes the responsibility of the construction company to ensure that the vehicles passing by move safely and do not become a victim of an accident. The fact however suggests something else. It has been noted that a number of accidents and casualties that happen on the highways are because of not following the highways safety parameters. Though efforts are been made to reduce such incidents but the figures are alarming.

Need to have adequate signals:-

Most of the accidents that happen on the highway are due to inadequate availability of signals. The workers are busy doing their work and there is no one to give signals to the vehicles. For instance, when the construction work is happening on the end of a curve, it is crucial that the workers put some sort of impediments to slow down the vehicles or else they might not even see the construction happening because of the steep curve. For a second, they fall in the blind spot from where they can’t even anticipate anything happening on the other side of the curve. So when the vehicles are at full speed and they do not see any signals, they are bound to dash and that may cause severe casualty. In situation like this, the construction company should ensure that the workers deploy men who constantly provide signals to the vehicles alerting them of the work happening on the other side of the curve.

Workers manning the flow of vehicles:-

While the construction on the highway is in its full swing, the workers should man the flow of vehicles. They can close one part of the highway temporarily and ask drivers to use diversions. You only need few men who can control the traffic and show the diversion route. You can also put big blocks of impediments to block the way and use arrow signs to give appropriate signals to the drivers. There should be proper arrangement in place to control the movement on vehicles while the construction on the highway is in full swing. One must ensure that in no terms the vehicles should be passing close to the construction area.

Workers should be vigilant to oncoming traffic:-

It is crucial for the workers to remain vigilant at all times to oncoming traffic. They should make sure that none of the vehicles should pass close to them. During moments of high traffic, proper arrangement should be made to make sure that the vehicles move from a distance from the workers causing no accidents and eventually no casualties.

Safety of construction workers

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Accidents have become so prone in construction zones that it seems to be almost impossible to contain it. But the fact of the matter is we can contain many accidents from happening by following few safety parameters. This means that there is a severe lack of awareness amongst the construction workers when it comes to their own safety. Moreover, the effort put by the construction companies to educate the workers about the importance of wearing safety gears is negligible making things worse for the workers. The laws of US are strict enough to curb this problem but the real issue lies with the implementation at the ground level.

Other than this, due to the kind of risk involved it turns out to be a dangerous zone for the people working in it. The workers got to be careful when they are working at heights and while on the land they needs to have an eye on the heavy equipment that wanders all around the place. Though the operator stays vigilant to avoid any eventuality but still accidents happen and therefore it is the responsibility of everybody on the site to see that people around them are safe.

The construction workers also need to follow few safety parameters which will relatively bring down the incidents of accidents to a larger extent.

Wearing of safety gears:-

Safety gears starts right from wearing a belt to putting on a jacket. It largely depends on the type of work you will be doing and the site you are put into. Wearing helmets is quite common but many do not put the strap. This will let the helmet fall every now and then so it is better that the workers should tighten the helmet by putting on the strap. When they are working on heights like cleaning the glass window of a high story building, they should wear the safety belts so that in case if they lose their balance they do not hit the ground.

Check your tools before you begin to work:-

Workers are required to use a lot of tools. Right from Scaffolds to a hammer, they got to do with everything and therefore they need to ensure that all the tools that they will be working with are in perfect order. In case if they see anything to be shaky or not in order, they should immediately reach out to the officer in charge and report it to him. Resume working only if they are offered satisfactory equipment. Most of the times, there seem to be some issue with the ladder and the workers simply underestimate the issue and get on it. They are simply putting themselves at risk.

Know where the first aid box is:-

Most of the construction workers are not even aware if there is a first aid box available in the jobsite. They get to know about it only after the accident. Well, every worker should know about the location of the first aid box and how to use it. It can save their life and also the lives of their co-workers.

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A brief discussion on the construction cones – know its usage and types

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Constructions are very common in the present era, where new constructions are taking place everywhere. Be it a building, a road or even other huge constructions, there is one thing that needs to be taken care of and that is safety. Construction sites are always associated with possible dangers, hazards and accidents. Though the construction site workers know the areas in a site that are more danger prone and accident prone, the passers-by, the travellers in the road might unknowingly enter this zone.

Hence, it is a must that safety measures are properly taken to ensure that the passers-by, the travellers and the cars driving on the roads are made aware of the possible danger. This is what the construction cones can help the workers with.

What are the construction cones?

Amongst the many safety measure tools that are used in a construction site, the cones are the most important ones. As the name suggests, these are made up of a conical shape. Usually, the colour is a bright orange; however, at times the colour of these construction site safety cones can even be made up of a fluorescent green colour. These cones mark the possibility of hazard within a certain zone and by placing the cones, the danger area is marked.

These cones are usually made up of high quality PVC plastic. The better is the quality of the plastic; the better will be its performance and longevity. In most cases, the cones are heavy at the bottom, so that they do not get twisted or turned over easily by wind.

Variety of construction cones:

  • Non-reflective cones:

 

These types of construction cones come in a plain base colour like orange or fluorescent green or rarely some other colours. They do not have any reflective bands used on them. Hence, in case there is no light in the area, where these cones will be used, they might not be very suitable to notify the possibility of danger or hazard in the area.

  • Reflective cones:

 

These cones have reflective collars, so that in dark atmospheres, when light reflects on these cones, they hazardous zone can easily be identified. This way, the passers-by and also the cars on the roads can understand and identify the area that is to be avoided.

Areas of usage of these construction cones:

Visibility is the purpose of using these construction cones. These can be used in all the areas, where caution needs to be taken in order to avoid accidents. The most widely used areas are –

  • At building constructions
  • Near road constructions
  • To conduct traffic control.

Conclusion:

Now that you have understood about the importance of these cones at the construction sites, it is a must that you buy the good quality ones with proper weight and height. This way, the cones will be visible from a distance and will also withstand strong winds. The colour, height and weight must be considered during your purchase of these cones. Buying the reflective ones is a must, when they ate being used on the roads.

Give importance to the safety of workers – They really worth it

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Safety is considered to be an important factor in any aspect of one’s life and when it is concerned with the construction business, safety of workers becomes all the more important. It has been seen that people pay lot of importance to the heavy equipment they possess, they take good care of their finances to ensure that the money is utilized in the most optimum manner, they give a lot of emphasis to their clients to ensure a continued healthy relationship but what they fail to prioritize is how safe they can make the working environment for their workers. Time and again we get to hear news of accidents happening in a construction site and a worker either ends up losing his life or getting grievously injured in the mishap. There could be two possible reasons why accidents are so prone in a construction site and what can be done to lessen it if it can’t be eliminated completely.

Safety measures not followed by the construction company:-

Many construction houses usually shy away from inducting appliances that can change the face of the existing safety issues of the workers. They simply do not have the money to invest it in introducing safety measures or they are least bothered about their safety and well-being. Well, this kind of approach of the employers should definitely change as there are several laws present in the country that talks about strict penalty if the companies are found not incorporating safety measures for the workers. Construction companies in order to maintain their good reputation should not fall into any legal trouble especially if it is pertaining to the safety of the workers. Other than that, they also have to compensate the worker if at all he becomes a victim to any possible mishap. The amount of compensation is huge and the company should think about modernizing its infrastructure that can reduce the instances of accidents rather than spending the money in paying compensations.

Safety measures not followed by workers:-

People working in a construction site are often habituated working in perilous environments and do not have the practice to wear any safety appliances while at work. Therefore, it becomes the onus of the company to prepare stringent safety parameters which should be followed by all working in a construction site. It should not be only limited to workers but also to people inspecting the work. All have to follow the safety guidelines while they are inside the premises. If possible, companies can appoint a person whose work will be to check if the workers are following necessary safety guidelines and when are into doing some perilous work, are they on with their safety equipment. If at all he finds anybody without his safety gears, he has every right to ask him to wear the stuffs before he gets to work.

Sufficient training should be given to workers:-

It is the responsibility of the company to educate its workers of the safety guidelines and explain them why it is important to wear the safety gears. If the workers understand the importance of the gears, they will not be reluctant to wear them.

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Let safety of your employees come first

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A construction or a mining jobsite is often considered as a danger zone for people who are working in it and also for the ones who steps in for their individual reasons. Accidents are prone to happen in such kind of jobsite where the loss can be limited to just heavy equipment or can even injure the workers working on the site. If the loss is restricted to heavy equipment then that is manageable. You can fix a machine by repairing its dent or simply replacing the vital part and can get back the machine with the same vigor. But if an employee or a group of employees are injured in the accident then that can lead to a bigger problem. You can’t fix that because it if they get seriously injured in any accident that scar will remain for the rest of their lives. It is therefore very important to understand how crucial the safety of your employees is that you just can’t compromise at all on that front.

The steps that you can take to ensure that your employees are safe at the jobsite are as follows.

Train your employees on first aid:-

All the employees on the jobsite should be well trained with first aid procedures. The training should be conducted by experts in the field of paramedics. An employee can even injure himself without even contacting any external force. For instance, he has been given to pick a big sledgehammer and has been asked to disintegrate a strong structure using it and while doing so he sprains up his muscle and is now not able to move an inch. He is perhaps finding uncomfortable to even sit on the ground. The workers around him should know the first aid that they can give him to ease his situation and make him feel comfy till the paramedics show up at the jobsite.

Wearing accessories that keeps you safe is a must:-

Make it mandatory for everyone who is working on the jobsite to wear necessary accessories that will protect him from potential perils. A person who is monitoring the progress on the jobsite should at least wear a helmet so that while passing through a tall rise, if even a small stone falls on his head, he will not get hurt by that. Operators working on heavy equipment should buckle up and wear gloves so that they do not injure their hands by touching something that is hot. They should also be wearing boots all the time while they are inside the cabin and the quality of the boots should be such that it does not hurt their legs and also not make it sore when they remove it.

Water storage should be adequate:-

Employees working during summer get easily dehydrated. They need to drink sufficient water to keep their bodies hydrated and full of energy. Therefore there should be a water storage facility around the jobsite where all the employees can fill in water in their bottles and keep sipping it whenever they feel thirsty.

 

 

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Construction safety – teaching employee CPR

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It is believed that the safety of the employees in a construction site can be achieved only if the employees follow all the safety procedures while working on the site. Therefore it becomes a must to train your employees about the importance of safety while they are there on the jobsite and not just the importance but what all procedures they should follow to ensure that they are safe. It cost a lot of money to the construction company if an accident occurs on the site and they do not want something silly to happen just because the employee was complacent enough to follow the safety procedure. Now there are also certain risks to employees that are not related to their work. For instance, if an employee gets sudden cardiac arrest while he is working on the site. Here nobody is at fault as the employee can get a cardiac arrest even if he is following all safety parameters. But if nobody does anything to save the life of the person then everybody should be condemned.

Now the question arise what can one do when a person working next to them gets a sudden cardiac arrest on the jobsite and a team of paramedics will take nearly 30 minutes to arrive. If nothing is done, then it is possible that the person next to you will lose his life. It is better to do something than just standing out there and being a mere spectator. Well, if you are a witness to such a situation, do not just be a witness but act swiftly to save his life. Perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) immediately on the person which will probably bring him back to life or will give him that extra time so that he can take the pain and survive till the paramedics arrive to the spot.

CPR is a live saving technique which is a must to know. Many people suffer from heart related ailments and therefore it is very natural for one to get a cardiac arrest while he is travelling, eating, laughing or simply working with you. Now if a situation like this arises, the first thing you should do is alert the people around you so that a team of doctors can be called. The next thing is to kneel beside the head of the casualty and try to tilt his head a bit backwards. This will allow the airway to open. Check if the person is able to breathe and if he is not then you should start with chest compressions.

You need to interlock your hands and position it in the middle of the person’s chest and compress it for 30 times at a go. After doing 30 chest compressions, you should move the person’s head backwards and breathe in twice after making a seal over his mouth. Make sure that you do not inflate his lungs by breathing more than 2 seconds. Aim for conducting 100-120 chest compressions in a minute time.

These trainings need to be imparted to every employee so that they can not only save the life of a person on the jobsite but also of a person who is sitting right next to them in a restaurant, plane, train or a bus.

Heavy equipment disasters

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Heavy equipment have often been the reason of numerous accidents in a construction site. Nonetheless, they have also been the reason of some major disasters. Accidents are prone t happen but when we talk about disasters, it means quite serious ones. Heavy equipment disasters are not so often but when they do occur, the repercussion could be irreparable. You may find a lot of videos of heavy equipment disasters on internet and they are all real ones and not fabricated. Watching those videos will make you wonder how dangerous heavy equipment disasters can be and you may never want one such thing to ever happen in your site.

Mostly disasters happen when you can’t figure out what could happen next and continue with your act. There have been so many mining disasters that have taken many lives. The operator was not sure how much more to go and he kept doing his job. He did not receive any proper direction from the engineer about the same and things went awry. You may come across many such cases of disasters. In some of the cases, it was also because of poor quality heavy equipment or even outdated ones.

Here was an instance that happened in Houston where a huge pile of concrete slab fell on earth moving equipment that was stranded just next to it. The machine was severely damaged. However, fortunately no one was there inside the machine and therefore there was no loss of life. Had someone been there inside the cabin, he would have died for sure. Now the operator would never know if the crane could no longer carry the slab and will leave it. Such types of disasters are quite seldom in nature but they do happen and the impact of it is quite large and irreversible.

Some tips can be followed to ensure that such type of disasters do not happen in the future.

Keep the heavy equipment under the open sky:-

When you are parking your heavy equipment, make sure that it is parked under the open sky and does not have any heavy object looming over it. There are always chances of things falling down and therefore taking such unwanted risks should be avoided.

Clear communication is important:-

Most of the times, disasters occur due to unclear communication from either side. May be the operator failed to understand or it was not effectively communicated to him. Moreover, during the monsoon or in the winters, things may become very risky and the chances of disaster happening in such occasions increases manifolds. The operator may not find things quite visible and he may take a call that may turn out to be completely incorrect. He may fall in a ditch or may get trapped in mud. Once he gets trapped there, it becomes way too difficult to get the machine out from that. It may require the help of emergency team who will come down with their equipment to get the machine out of it. Therefore, what he should do and what he should not must be communicated very clearly to him.

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Heavy equipment accidents

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People say that accidents are quite prone in a construction zone and one can’t do much to stop them. Well, it is indeed true that one can’t do much to stop every form of accidents but can certainly work together to minimize the incidents that is not only causing harm to the reputation of the company but also leads to losing few good men. People will not be ready to work for a company that does not give importance to their safety. Workers in a construction site understands that accidents does happen but when they see that nothing is done to take care of the situation is when they start thinking of quitting. It is not wise to lose men like this and is therefore very crucial to take stock of the matter and ensure that proper mechanisms are brought in place to avoid them.

The most common form of accidents that occur in a construction site is from heavy equipment. The reasons of accidents can be different at different occasions but one should analyze the various reasons and come out with a formidable solution. It may not be an entirely foolproof one but may still work and you can then think of more ways to keep a check on this problem.

Stop using machines that are decades old:-

Heavy equipment that is pretty old are one of the major reasons of accidents. The operator has a very hard time to maneuver the machine and most of the times; he does not see the person and bumps him off. Since the machine is old, the brakes do not work properly which could have avoided a possible accident from happening. Moreover, the levers of the machines are also old and some of them might even be rusted. Well, proper care needs to be taken of the machine which is particularly old so that they do not become the reason of accidents.

Unavailability of competent operators:-

Earth moving heavy equipment are complicated machines and they require very able and experienced person to work on it. If you allow an inexperienced or an incompetent operator to work on such machine, it will lead to fatal accidents. It is therefore very significant to hire experienced and competent heavy equipment operator who has previously worked on that type of earth moving equipment.

Purchase machines that have rear visibility function:-

Not all heavy equipment are equipped with rear visibility function. This function allows the operator to monitor things at the rear of the machine. This means that when he is moving backwards, he does not have to put his head out of the window to check if there is someone behind the machine. All he needs to do is check the monitor which gives him the video of things at the rear and accordingly he can maneuver the stuff.

Keep your employees and heavy equipment insured:-

Heavy equipment accidents can lead to serious damage to the machine as well as to the worker. It is very crucial to get the machine as well as your employees insured. In case of any eventuality, the insurance company will take care of the monetary loss.

 

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