Tips to Improve Construction Site Safety
Construction is an evergreen business, and for good reason--there are always inspirational projects structures that need building, homes that need improving, and essential systems that need supporting. But all these crucial functions go out the window when accidents happen, not just delaying products but hurting workers.
Whether you’re a foreman, site manager, or independent contractor, these concerns should be at the front of your mind if you organize construction sites. But it isn’t exactly easy to ensure a safe work environment with so many moving parts (literally!).
Don’t fear, though. This article will break down everything you need to know about improving the safety of your construction site.
Photo by Jack Sloop
Think Critically About Personal Protective Equipment
When you think of construction site safety, your mind might leap to the basic personal protective equipment— high visibility clothing, hard hats, long pants, and boots. But if you want to keep your site safe, you need to dig beyond the basics and invest in tools that you might not ordinarily think about.
For example, while it might be a basic policy to have hard hats, many sites should also mandate noise-cancelation devices like noise-canceling headphones. And these tools aren’t just for workers who operate jackhammers--any heavy construction equipment can create sounds of up to 120 decibels, far beyond the threshold that damages hearing.
Depending on your environment, you should invest in facemasks for your workers. It is easy for workers to cut corners and rationalize not buying high-quality masks, especially if funds are short, but they’re a must in sites with a large amount of dust or particulates.
Safety Education
Don’t let our focus on equipment fool you--construction site safety is just as much about administrative practices and worksite culture. One essential form of safety preparation is training and safety education programs.
No matter how competent your workers are, there’s no way to know if you’re on the same page as your employees unless you speak with them. They might have minimal experience in construction, or they might have worked on sites with different safety rules than yours. Proper training and education can mitigate this issue.
Additionally, safety education programs allow you to engage with your workers’ potential concerns. Workers might not know their safety rights on a construction site or might even think that they will be penalized if they get hurt on the job site. These worries can only make a site more dangerous--a construction site where people withhold information can’t be as safe as it needs to be.
Importantly, when you plan your safety education program, be sure to survey all the languages spoken on your site so you can make the programming as straightforward as possible.
Evacuation Plan
Another administrative policy is to make an evacuation plan. Accidents are never desirable, but they can turn from danger to disaster when there is no plan to respond to them.
It might be hard to imagine a situation where you’ll need an evacuation plan, but such circumstances are more likely than you would think. A fire, for example, can throw a construction site into chaos, and workers can fall into peril if they don’t know how to get out.
In these situations, you should establish a contingency plan to ensure that workers can get out of the site safely. These plans should include instructions for navigating out of the worksite as quickly as possible, but they should also make note of what workers should do if someone becomes injured.
Establish a System for Reporting Concerns
The only thing worse than an accident is a preventable accident. Simply think of how many times when, in the wake of a horrific disaster, you hear that those in charge ignored workers’ warnings. One of your top priorities as a site manager should be to avoid those situations.
To do so, you should create a transparent system for workers to report any worries, concerns, or issues. Make it clear that workers will not face retaliation for voicing their worries or sharing an issue (as is their right). By the same token, let them know that reports will not lead to any legal consequences for them.
If you establish a safety report system, ensure it is accessible. For instance, it is easy enough to make a Google Form, but it is only effective if your workers have the device and language skills to access it. By the same token, anonymity is paramount. No matter how open your work environment is, workers will always be more open to reporting concerns if they are sure they can be private.
Establish Regular Tool Checks
Returning to concrete practices, your site will become far safer if you make time to check tools regularly.
Many construction sites mean to check their tools before each day of work for ease of use. However, as any site manager knows, things can slip through the cracks when the rubber hits the road, and sometimes not every tool gets checked.
To avert any of the dangerous consequences of malfunctioning tools, established a scheduled date for checking every single tool in your collection. It might take up time, but it’s well worth it if it ensures that workers stay safe.
Plan for the Everyday, Not Just Crises
Last but certainly not least, you should make concrete plans for every single workday, not just contingency plans for crises.
Accidents often happen when workers have unclear directions, aren’t exactly sure what they’re doing, or launch into new tasks without all the necessary resources. You can avoid these situations by gathering your workers at the start of each day and laying out every task you’ll complete.
Doing so will give workers a clear sense of their responsibilities and keep everyone on-task and safe.
Final Thoughts
Although not all accidents can never be avoided (after all, they are “accidents” because it’s not all about intention), you can still minimize their likelihood and impact. Whether you need to add new equipment, create a new policy, or lead a different site culture, you can keep a site safe by being transparent, thorough, and forward-thinking.
Author: Rick Davies
