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Have you ever been to a construction site? There are so many things that go on – creating the foundation for the structure, moving of the heavy construction equipment, workers randomly moving and working here and there! It is quite possible that you hurt yourself, if you are not properly aware of what is going on and where.

Proper safety gears must be worn and used by everyone who is working as well as moving about in the construction site. At some place, there might be some concrete construction going on and on the other side, there can be structures of glass being made. Being careless can be dangerous for you as well as for others.

What needs to be done?

Very construction site follows some basic safety measures such as –

• Wearing safety gears – high visibility jackets, eye protection gears, helmets etc.
• There are boards and signs that clearly indicate the actions or steps that need to be taken
• Things that are prohibited and should not be done.

Whether you are a worker or even a visitor at the construction site, you need to make sure that all these measures are followed by you.

Operating the Heavy Construction Equipment:

Heavy construction equipment is something that cannot be operated by everyone. It needs skill, training and certificate. Therefore, when you are about to operate the heavy construction equipment such as loaders, excavators or backhoes, lifts or cranes, it is a must that you communicate well with the other workers.

The heavy construction equipment often moves very fast and swiftly. Within a fraction of a second and just by clicking on a single button or by moving the steering handle or joystick slightly, the lifts, cranes or the buckets can move swiftly from one direction to the other. Hence, the unaware and inattentive workers can get hurt or harmed by the movement of the heavy construction equipment.

On the other hand, it is also quite not possible to remove the workers from the construction site. The reason is that the workers do all the manual labour and make sure that the dumping, excavating, lifting and all other construction works are performed well.

How to communicate with the workers?

There are some key factors that the heavy construction equipment operator must keep in mind. The machines or equipment move quite fast and swiftly on all directions. Hence, before pulling or pushing the steering handle, a concerned person must indicate the clearance of the ground. It is only then that the operator should start the task.

On the other hand, the concerned person should communicate with the other field workers. It is only when the workers give thumbs up to proper tie up of the objects that need to be lifted, or the clearance of the excavation ground or the proper direction of the dumping ground that the operator would start the action. Hence, it is a chained or a linked process that is successful only when all the workers and the heavy construction equipment operator communicate together well. To communicate with each other, signs or boards, high frequency lights, torches etc. are frequently used. But the traditionally popular method of communication is two-way radios, though smartphones are also widely used nowadays.