Tag Archives: Construction Sites

Safety Equipment at Construction Sites

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The construction sector has been growing proportionally with the increase in the rate of commercial construction. New opportunities seem to presenting themselves every day in this sector. Hence, one cannot question the fact that being associated in this field is a profitable venture. However, this can present a number of hazardous situations as well and this is perhaps the reason why the use of safety gadgets in the construction sites has been increasing steadily.

Possible Hazards at Construction Sites

Working at construction sites can be seen as being one of the most hazardous occupations on the block. Construction workers frequently suffer from a variety of injuries that might leave an impact of varying degrees on their lives. Potential hazards at construction sites include-

  • Collapse in the scaffolding and trenches
  • Injury caused by electric shocks and arc blasts
  • Injury can also be caused by suffering falls from great heights.
  • Injury caused by repeatedly straining already injured areas or injuries caused by repetitive motion.
  • Injury caused due to the failure in using proper protection equipments at construction sites.

All the above have been known to cause injuries at construction sites globally. Often, these hazards occur due to failure in proper training of the construction workers and poor supervision at construction sites. Hence, it is important to educate workers on the correct ways and means of accomplishing their job as well as on the safety measures that they could adopt while being on field.

Safety Equipment at Construction Sites

Among the many ways in which the safety of the construction workers can be enhanced, the use of protective equipments is perhaps the best known way.

  • For eye and face protection- Activities such as cutting, welding, nailing and the like are common at construction sites and can lead to foreign objects getting in the eye. Hence, it is important wear protective eye glasses and face shields when dealing with such hazardous situations.
  • For Head protection- There always remains the possibility of objects toppling over form great height and injuring the heads of the construction workers. It is, therefore, important to wear protective equipments such a s a hard hat in order to safeguard oneself against injury by falling objects or accidental collision with electrical objects.
  • For Foot protection- Needless to say, a construction site is always full of objects that is not exactly safe for the feet. It is, therefore, important to protect the feet from being injured by wearing slip and puncture resistant shoes and boots.
  • For Hand protection- It is also important to protect the hands from getting injured by wearing the appropriate protective gloves during work. For instance, workers need to wear welding gloves while welding, insulated gloves while handling electrical equipments. Rubber gloves for concrete work and the like.
  • For Hearing protection- Construction sites are always accompanied by a varying degree of noise, some of which can be hazardous for the auditory faculty of the worker. It is, therefore, important to make use of protective equipments such as, ear plugs or earmuffs when dealing with work that involves a lot of noise.

Occupational fatalities have been increasing at an alarming rate with the increase in the rate of construction work all over the globe. Construction workers are known to suffer from fatal injuries and even death during their course of work. Hence, the use of protective equipments while working at construction sites is of utmost importance.

 

Construction Telehandlers work seamlessly in rugged construction sites

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Telehandlers are frequently used lifting machines, typically mounted on mobile chassis and equipped with a telescopic boom that provides different lifting heights depending on the requirement. Telehandlers are generally applied where normal forklifts cannot work. The opening end of a telehandler is mostly fitted with a with a pallet fork for lifting and transferring materials from ground to a height or from one place to another on a construction site. Some customized models of telehandlers may be designed to lift buckets or other similar attachments to carry liquid or semi-liquid materials.

Types of telehandlers

In the construction industry, “Rough Terrain Forklifts” are commonly called telehandlers. In fact, telehandlers are just one type of rough terrain forklifts. There are total three types of telehandlers are found:

  • General telehandlers – These are the telehandlers that are commonly used in any construction site that can comfortably move from one place to another and have a vast utility in lifting weights to a height. A high-reach telehandler can lift a weight up to a height of 50-56 ft. They can carry 5500-12000 lb. to that height. These days, many other attributes are added with a high-reach telehandler to increase its utility, like steering wheels that can tilt, roomy cab design for increasing operator’s efficiency, single joystick for multiple functions, all-wheel steering, etc. These telehandlers are used in adverse environments where construction works are going on.
  • Rotating telehandlers –These telehandlers are as efficient as general telehandlers but with an additional benefit that these telehandlers can rotate 360 degrees with lifted weight. That means a rotating telehandler can cover a wide area from a single position. This particular feature of rotating telehandler helps to work seamlessly where space is short or where too much movement is not possible. Some rotating telehandlers contain two joysticks instead of one. The second one controls the rotation only. Most models are available with stabilizers that ensure safe movement of the rotator from one side to another when the telehandler is fully loaded.
  • Straight mast forklifts – Apparently, they look like lift trucks but they are actually a different kind of telehandler with having features of a rotating telehandler and forklift. These machineries are mostly used in construction sites for loading and unloading building materials. Their standard lifting capacity varies from 5000 lb. to 35000lb and lifting capacity just like a general telehandler. Straight mast forklifts are available in two-wheel and four-wheel carriage.

Telehandler attachments

Telehandler attachments are also important and selected as per the work specifications. The standard carriages pallet forks, rotating carriages, etc. are available with the range of 48-72 inch length. Besides, heavy duty multipurpose buckets, grapple buckets, and truss boom are also used depending on the requirements.

Telehandler tires

Tires are one of the most vital parts in telehandlers. As the machine need to work in a rugged construction environment and used to lift and shift heavyweights, rim sizes, thread depths, widths, and diameters of the tires vary according to the average weight lifting capacities of the machines. Both pneumatic tires and polyurethane tires are used in telehandlers.

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Safety First In Construction Sites

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The construction business is not an easy one. There are a lot of aspects that are to be considered when it comes to successfully executing a project. Among several aspects, the most important thing to be concerned with is the safety. It is to be made sure that no harm is cased to the workers or the environment at the time of the construction. At the same time, it is also to be ensured that the people who are going stay inside the building are safe. Therefore, a construction must be done with adherence to the guidelines of the government. Otherwise, legal hassles can leave a construction company completely devastated.

There have been many instances where people in charge have been slapped with extreme cases by the government due to negligence in this regard. An American project manager was sued by the government with charges of manslaughter when. He had ignored order to stop working. As a result, the construction site saw the death of an employee in the trenches. Another company had received orders to make payments of about one million dollars for the charges of terminating a foreman wrongfully along with two drivers as they raised their concerns regarding the fatigue of the drivers.

These actions taken against the company representatives have been done justly. The worker who had been fired had been compensated. However, the family of the deceased will hardly be ever able to compensate for their loss. The injustice done is not only affecting the deceased but also the friends and the family of the sufferer. Therefore, such damages are compensated easily with monetary penalties. Therefore, it is only natural to penalize the people responsible with stringent punishments for their negligence and lack of responsibility. That is why all companies are expected and ordered to stick to the construction rules stipulated by the corporation.

The occupational safety and health administration has been vested with the responsibility of inspecting the job sites, the unsafe practices in the city. They also levy fines for such activities and can also shut down projects. Some may have complaints about the apparent oversight. However, the devastating incidents are far more significant and prominent than the trivial inconveniences. Supervisors and construction workers who do not pay heed to the unsafe conditions are forced to acknowledge the responsibility by the governing body for their as well as other’s safety.

The operators of tower crane have been given the authority to get a project shut down if they feel that the safe lifts are being jeopardized by the wind speeds. In this way many visible accidents can be prevented. There has been the creation of a new group known as the Construction Equipment Safety. This group has mainly three goals. The first goal is to get all accidents highlighted due to the construction equipment so that others can avoid such unfortunate incidents. The second goal is to encourage discussion regarding the improvement of the safety in the construction sites, the finally goal is to share experiences and strategies so that new ideas could be developed.

 

 

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Workers working in construction sites are prone to various air-borne diseases

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We say that the human race is developing but it seems that we are making things that will cause more harm to us than ever. We make things for our ease but in this process, we forget that there are certain repercussions that we have to face and without wanting to know those repercussions we do things that affect us the most. Our environment is so polluted that every other day we get to see people dying of lung disorder, heart failure, and asthma attacks and so on. If we talk about people working in construction companies, we will find that they belong to the worst affected lots and are infected with various air-borne ailments. They have to go through a lot of dust that is so prevalent in a construction zone. Fresh air is so seldom for them and they are simply left with no other option than to inhale the polluted air.

It is not only the dust that they inhale but also the smoke that comes out of heavy equipment. Most heavy equipment run on diesel and after a certain period of time they emit smoke and intoxicants in large quantity that becomes unhealthy for the people around. There is primarily one reason why machines emit black smoke. It is particularly due to lack of proper maintenance of the machine. The equipment work for months without much lubrication and the engine oil also is not changed at regular intervals. This leads to problem in the engine and if the health of the engine is not good, it is bound to emit intoxicants in the form of black smoke.

What construction companies/employers must do to safeguard the health of their workers has become a matter of discussion and many companies are incorporating the following measures to ensure that the lives of their workers is not taken for granted.

Proper maintenance of machines:-

Intoxicants in the air are one of the major reasons for the falling health of construction workers and machines emit intoxicants due to improper maintenance. To get this fixed, the only way is to ensure that the machines are maintained at regular intervals. It is quite obvious that the operator may forget to send the machine for maintenance. Hence, a calendar must be prepared where you jot down the date when you will take the machine for a wash and get it serviced.

Procure heavy equipment that are environment friendly:-

Many construction companies are in the process of acquiring green machines that will not emit or will emit less toxic in the air as compared to the ones being used currently. Though the equipment will be expensive but will last for more years and will also not pose a risk to the health of construction workers.

Set up camps to check the health of workers:-

Construction companies should take the initiative where they set up camps at least twice in a year and conduct a complete health check-up of its employees. They should not just restrain it to the laborers but also include staff and guys from other departments.

Use the proper service to improve your business in construction sites

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Well, if you are willing to start your career and cannot manage to choose the right path, then it is the high time that you should take a decision. Business is all about profit. You have to make profit and earn huge amount of money from your business. So, in that case you can definitely rely on the construction business. It is the most powerful business field that can provide you huge profit. Like the other business field you need to follow the strategies o this business. A reputable and good construction company always share good and cordial relationship with their clients. From the architects, communities planners to the usual contractors you need to take care of everyone and maintain good relation with them in order to complete your work within time. There are many such professionals who work really well in this field can assist you to perform your job perfectly. They work as a managing unit and always provide their parts of specialization to help your business so that it can get success. They are the experts who offer services to the clients and help them to plan and execute that plan into reality.

To maintain the dignity and reputation of your business it is really important to take help from the experts. They can really help you to plan the strategy of your business. In fact you will be able to know the construction management properly. There are many professional contractors who can help you plan and execute your plans. This is a brilliant service that helps to run the contractual process smoothly. Through this amazing service you can definitely make a good impact of your site. As the staff members will help you to establish is properly so it will definitely help you to improve your business.

If you are a start up company and do not have proper experience on this field then you should definitely hire a good service provider who can help you out from this situation. There are a number of service providers who can guide you in your work. As you have to perform a number of heavy works in the construction site so you should definitely need to buy the useful heavy equipment. They can also guide you to buy proper equipment.

 If you can appoint a reliable construction company to design and build up the process of your business, then you will get success in a much simpler and easier way. They will do everything for you. From handling your finance, management to build up the perfect environment for your site they will help you in each way. So, you can definitely trust them and take their help.

So, in the world of construction or any other field service is the main thing. If you cannot give proper service you will not get success in life.

Prevent Accidents at Construction Sites with Heavy Equipment Back Up Alarm

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If you are in the construction business, then you must be aware of the number of mishaps that occur regularly in the construction sites. As somebody involved with the whole business, you must be aware that working without heavy equipment is not really an option in the field. So, what can one do in order to reduce the number of accidents? Take safety measures, of course.

The Heavy Equipment Back Up Alarm

Working at construction sites almost always equals to working under hazardous conditions. One really cannot avoid being prone to accidents when they are involved in this particular field of work. It is in thinking along these lines and coming up with safety solutions that the people involved in the arena of construction have come up with certain solutions to reduce the number of accidents. And the back-up alarm system put to use in heavy construction equipment serves this function.

Dealing with heavy equipment without venturing into the danger zone is not really an easy feat. Operators or those in the vicinity of the heavy equipment are always vulnerable to hazards especially when it comes to backing up the heavy equipment. Anybody in the vicinity of the heavy equipment can meet with an accident if they are not careful enough. This is where the heavy equipment back up alarm comes in. Back up alarms have been found to save the day by emitting a high frequency sound that warns people in the vicinity of the heavy equipment when it is being backed up.

Things to Keep in Mind When Dealing With Heavy Equipment Back Up Alarms

Back up alarms can prove to be great when it comes to ensuring safety and preventing mishaps from occurring at construction sites. However, construction site supervisors need to keep certain aspects of the back-up alarm in mind when opting for the deal.

  • Back up alarms are meant for the safety of the on-site worker or people who might be in the danger of running over by the heavy equipment. In such a situation, it is important for the back-up alarm to be audible from a distance of at least 200 feet.
  • The other aspect that construction site supervisors and workers need to ensure when handling back up alarms is the proper functionality and bi-directional feature of the device.
  • Since, the noise emitted from the back up alarms has been found to be of significant discomfort for people living in the surrounding areas, a lot of companies have come up with certain alternative solutions, such as, self-adjusting alarm volumes that keep the noise in check.
  • Manufacturers have also come up with integrated back up alarm systems that are a mash up of lights, camera and radar system. Construction site supervisors can consider using some of these to enhance the productivity of the entire thing.

One might, therefore, conclude that among the many safety measures that have come up on the block, the back-up alarm system is definitely one of the best.

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Get the detail of most useful heavy equipment for construction sites

Well, running a successful business is not an easy job. It needs experience, skill and patience. However, the most important thing that can help you to run your construction business is heavy equipment. Without the help of good and reliable heavy equipment it becomes very difficult to run a construction site. You need to purchase the most important heavy equipment such as bulldozer, excavator, wheel loader, backhoe loaders, skid steer loaders and many more. Such equipment help to maintain works properly. Workers cannot work in the construction sites without the best equipment. To dig the ground, shift extra material from one place to another they need to take help from heavy equipment.

Therefore, it is really important to know every heavy machine properly before purchasing it for works unless you know the details of such equipment you cannot work with them. Here is a list of some essential heavy equipment. Check it out-

Backhoe loaders:

It is almost same as the tractors. It contains a big shovel that is attached at the front of the machine. There is a small bucket strongly attached with the loader. You have to use this bucket for digging.  Usually workers consider it as medium sized equipment that is used for smaller works. It needs a very small space to perform the entire operation. It can easily move dirt and other additional material, dig fields and trenches; in fact, you can install smaller pipes under the ground with the help of this equipment. One of the best features of this machine is that it can be used in any places.

Bulldozer:

To run a construction business, you have to rely on bulldozers because it is the most useful and strongest equipment that is very important for the construction industry. You can move extra dirt and all the wasted material from one place to another with the help of a bulldozer. A big flat blade is attached with the front side of the machine. You can use the two hydraulic pistons to operate it. Actually these two pistons help the blade to move in right direction. A bulldozer helps to crush larger boulders easily.

Motor grader:

Motor grader is a type of heavy equipment that is used to grade smoothly and move small dirt. It is a very important machine that helps the workers to complete their works within time. It has a big and long blade which is attached with the machine perfectly so that it can meet every angle in order make a flat surface. Well, this equipment also has another blade which is located at the front axle. This part of the machine helps to perform underground mining. It actually uses to grade dirt properly or gravel roads. Thereby, motor grader is the most important equipment for the construction sites.

These are the most useful heavy equipment that are used in the construction sites. You should try to know about the different parts of this machine in order to work properly.

Heavy Equipment Is Not Only Needed In Construction Sites But Also In Oilfields

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Many people have this preconceived notion that heavy equipment are meant to perform only in construction sites and is hardly required in any other place. However, heavy equipment play a crucial role in mining industry as well as in oilfields. It requires real strong and big machines to excavate deep into the earth to remove the dirt and sneak in further down to extract resources. If not without these machines, it would be unimaginable to portray a human doing it all by himself. The reason why people think that heavy equipment are only used in construction areas is because they see a lot of construction happening in and around their vicinity but hardly see a mining site or an oilfield nearby. For them to see how things work in a mining site or an oilfield, they have to visit a destined location where they can get to see all.

In a nutshell, heavy equipment are an essential component to extract oil from an oilfield or for that matter extracting any useful resources from the crust of the earth.

We would be discussing the need and utility of heavy equipment in an oilfield and how without them it would be vulnerable for people to bring out the much needed resources.

In a construction site, you may have seen people timing their work well as they have specialized in doing this thing for years. In the same way, it requires specialized men to drill an oil rig. You can’t just start extracting oil by employing men who have experiences working in construction sites. They may not be of any good to you and you should be looking for men who have worked in oilfields before and that lot of guys can prove to be beneficial to you.

You would definitely need equipment to dig rigs but you can’t have the operator working in a construction project to do the same job for you. You may need specialized men for that who has experiences in digging oil rigs and knows how to proceed further under any given situation. Ideally, you will come across 2 types of drilling rigs. One would be water based and the other land based. In case of land based rigs, you need equipment that have the potential to drill in deep in the ground and also suck in the mud as it goes deeper and then with the help of other machine, extract the oil from the earth. It is not always that the equipment used in a construction site can also be used here for this purpose. They may have some special equipment which are exclusively used for digging and still may not use an excavator to excavate the earth.

In order to dig deeper, they need more advanced equipment than having to dig for few meters. Therefore, the costing of such advanced equipment would definitely be higher as compared to the ordinary ones. An oilfield is not all about digging in and sucking the oil out but it has more involved with it.