Safety Tips Every Construction Worker Should Know

Over the years, we have represented so many people who have been injured while working at construction sites because they were not properly trained and/or were not given the proper safety devices to protect them from the dangers they were exposed to at their jobs. Hopefully, this will help:

Some Safety Tips every construction worker should know

Fall Protection– Falls kill more than 300 construction workers every year and hurt thousands. Deadly falls on the job are from unprotected roof edges, roof and floor openings, scaffolds, ladders, structural steel, leading edges, open shafts and more.

When fall protection is needed make sure that you have the right equipment and know how it works. Guard rails, safety nets are the best protection but where they are cannot be used then you need personal protective equipment such as: fall restraint systems, personal fall arrest systems or work position systems (on rebar) You will need to wear a full-body harness with any of these systems.

What is a full Body Harness? A full-body harness has straps around your trunk and thigh, with one or more D-rings in the back to attach the harness to other parts of the system. If you fall the harness will spread the stopping force over your thighs, pelvis, chest and shoulders Use only a full body harness never a body belly or chest harness for fall protection.

Learn about the types of fall hazards on your job and choose the right type of fall protection for each type of fall hazard. Harnesses can be used with an anchorage, a lanyard, a vertical or horizontal lifeline, a fall arrester or a shock absorber. A fall arrest system should not let you free fall more than 6 feet.

Training– The employer must fit and train each worker for the equipment used.

A competent person (someone who is trained in safety) must train workers at risk of falling about the fall hazards and the limitations in using the chosen equipment.

Training must cover all that can happen, like hanging in a harness and rescue. The trainer should tell workers and workers should ask about medical conditions that can be made worse by a fall in a harness.