Improving workplace health & safety through collaboration
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Construction work can be dangerous if you do not follow safety rules and guidelines while at work. There is a high number of construction fatalities each year compared to all of the other workplaces put together. Why this occurs remains a mystery one can only assume it is because construction workers are not following safety procedures as they should be or that the guidelines that have been but in place are simple not enough. Either way OSHA is working to prevent construction fatalities and reduce the number of injuries that happen as well.
Statistics show that nearly 171 construction fatalities occurred in 2010. This may not seem like a large number but it is about three fatalities a week. As far as OSHA is concerned that is three to many each week. This is actually a drop in fatalities the amount of workers injured while on the job has been slowly declining over the last five years. Unfortunately this slow decline is not enough. Everyone must work to insure there are no more fatalities at all. There are several ways that we can prevent construction fatalities if we just work at it everyday by being and thinking safe.
What Is The Most Common Construction Fatality?
Statistics show that crane related accidents are the most common cause for construction site fatalities. When a crane is used properly it can be a wonderful tool that aids in the construction of a tall building but used incorrectly it can be a killing machine. Only about 10% of crane accidents are caused by some type of mechanical malfunction. The remaining accidents are due to poor maintenance, overturned cranes, dropped loads, booms collapsing and people operating the crane when they are not certified to do so. Most of these accident while not all can be traced back to a person that is not certified to operate a crane.
It is important to make sure the person operating the crane has gone through the proper safety courses and graduated with a certificate that states they are allowed to operate a crane. While a crane may seem simple they are actually complex machines and require a person that is skilled in operating them to function correctly. If you allow a non certified person to operate the crane and an injury occurs you and the person driving it will be subject to investigation. This may lead to fines, loss of business and even jail time depending on the severity of the accident.
Preventing Fatalities On Construction Sites
There are several things that can be done to prevent construction fatalities. Knowing what they are and how they can help you and those around you stay safe is the only way to stop senseless deaths from occurring. The number one way to prevent fatalities is to teach everyone about working safely. You should have a training course that is required before a person can start work. It should cover all of the basic safety issues such as first aid and personal protection as well as construction specific topics. You should train each employee how to properly use the tools and machines they will be required to work with on a daily basis. Teaching people how to do something correctly and safely before they even have a chance to do it one time will insure they do it correctly every time.
Along with training you should have weekly or monthly safety meetings. Pick a day or days that are best for your company and have all employees including supervisors attend the safety meetings. You must make them mandatory or some people will not show up. You can use this meeting time to go over current or constant safety issues with everyone at the same time. This will give workers a time and a place to voice their safety concerns as well. You should always listen to the concerns of your employees especially if they are working everyday and you are not doing the same job. They can tell you of things that occur on a daily basis that you may not have been aware of. Listen to what their concerns and do something to help them remedy the problem.
Falls are a large part of fatalities on construction sites. That is why you must require any person that is working at a height of three or more feet to wear restraints. These will help to prevent falls that could potential be fatal. They should also be trained in how to use a ladder correctly. Slips and falls from a ladder are just as deadly as a fall from a building. Check all scaffolding to be sure it has been securely built before anyone is allowed to work on it. By checking and thinking safely you can help prevent fatal falling accidents.
All employees should be warned about potential dangers before they enter the work site. If you know the floors in a building are old and possibly unstable you should let everyone know to walk carefully and watch their step while in the building. Scaffolding can be dangerous for employees and people that are walking near the area. Make sure to have a large area blocked off so pedestrians cannot get in the way.
Require your employees to attend and graduate from OSHA’s basic 10 hour safety training course. They will go over all of the safety concerns for a construction site and how to avoid fatalities form occurring. You can sign everyone in your company up for this training course. There is no reason for fatalities to happen in any workplace. It is our job to insure a zero fatality workplace for everyone.
Statistics show that nearly 171 construction fatalities occurred in 2010. This may not seem like a large number but it is about three fatalities a week. As far as OSHA is concerned that is three to many each week. This is actually a drop in fatalities the amount of workers injured while on the job has been slowly declining over the last five years. Unfortunately this slow decline is not enough. Everyone must work to insure there are no more fatalities at all. There are several ways that we can prevent construction fatalities if we just work at it everyday by being and thinking safe.
What Is The Most Common Construction Fatality?
Statistics show that crane related accidents are the most common cause for construction site fatalities. When a crane is used properly it can be a wonderful tool that aids in the construction of a tall building but used incorrectly it can be a killing machine. Only about 10% of crane accidents are caused by some type of mechanical malfunction. The remaining accidents are due to poor maintenance, overturned cranes, dropped loads, booms collapsing and people operating the crane when they are not certified to do so. Most of these accident while not all can be traced back to a person that is not certified to operate a crane.
It is important to make sure the person operating the crane has gone through the proper safety courses and graduated with a certificate that states they are allowed to operate a crane. While a crane may seem simple they are actually complex machines and require a person that is skilled in operating them to function correctly. If you allow a non certified person to operate the crane and an injury occurs you and the person driving it will be subject to investigation. This may lead to fines, loss of business and even jail time depending on the severity of the accident.
Preventing Fatalities On Construction Sites
There are several things that can be done to prevent construction fatalities. Knowing what they are and how they can help you and those around you stay safe is the only way to stop senseless deaths from occurring. The number one way to prevent fatalities is to teach everyone about working safely. You should have a training course that is required before a person can start work. It should cover all of the basic safety issues such as first aid and personal protection as well as construction specific topics. You should train each employee how to properly use the tools and machines they will be required to work with on a daily basis. Teaching people how to do something correctly and safely before they even have a chance to do it one time will insure they do it correctly every time.
Along with training you should have weekly or monthly safety meetings. Pick a day or days that are best for your company and have all employees including supervisors attend the safety meetings. You must make them mandatory or some people will not show up. You can use this meeting time to go over current or constant safety issues with everyone at the same time. This will give workers a time and a place to voice their safety concerns as well. You should always listen to the concerns of your employees especially if they are working everyday and you are not doing the same job. They can tell you of things that occur on a daily basis that you may not have been aware of. Listen to what their concerns and do something to help them remedy the problem.
Falls are a large part of fatalities on construction sites. That is why you must require any person that is working at a height of three or more feet to wear restraints. These will help to prevent falls that could potential be fatal. They should also be trained in how to use a ladder correctly. Slips and falls from a ladder are just as deadly as a fall from a building. Check all scaffolding to be sure it has been securely built before anyone is allowed to work on it. By checking and thinking safely you can help prevent fatal falling accidents.
All employees should be warned about potential dangers before they enter the work site. If you know the floors in a building are old and possibly unstable you should let everyone know to walk carefully and watch their step while in the building. Scaffolding can be dangerous for employees and people that are walking near the area. Make sure to have a large area blocked off so pedestrians cannot get in the way.
Require your employees to attend and graduate from OSHA’s basic 10 hour safety training course. They will go over all of the safety concerns for a construction site and how to avoid fatalities form occurring. You can sign everyone in your company up for this training course. There is no reason for fatalities to happen in any workplace. It is our job to insure a zero fatality workplace for everyone.
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References
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