Common Construction Site Hazards & How You Can Protect Against Them
According to OSHA, “nearly 6.5 million people work at approximately 252,000 construction sites across the nation on any given day.” If you contract any of these workers, you need to know how to protect them from hazards and what to do if an accident occurs.
Here are some of the most common construction site hazards and how you can protect your business against them.
1. Construction Worker Falls
According to eSUB “falls from height account for nearly one-third of all construction deaths annually,” and these falls happen for several reasons, most of which are preventable. The most common fall accidents include unstable surfaces, failure to use or correctly use fall protection equipment, and using scaffolding and ladders that are unsafe or not installed correctly.
Most of the injuries sustained by falling at a construction site are avoided with the proper protective gear like non-slip boots and hardhats.
The CDC also gives three simple tips for employers to follow which help protect workers from falling while on the job:
- Plan before starting a new job so workers can work in a safe environment.
- Make sure the right equipment is available for workers working at heights.
- Train workers to use fall protection equipment and how to stay safe while working on roofs, ladders, or scaffolds.
2. Getting Struck by Objects
Having workers who do not know how to operate heavy equipment safely puts others at risk of being struck by one of these vehicles. Everybody working with heavy equipment needs to go through the proper training on using these vehicles.
To make sure everybody on a job site is safe, anyone entering the site needs to be aware of the routes these vehicles will take. Making sure everybody knows where these vehicles will be helps minimize the chance of somebody being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting injured by these moving vehicles.
Apart from getting struck by heavy equipment, there is also the possibility of getting struck by something unsecured falling. To protect against injury from smaller falling objects, everybody on a construction site needs to wear a hard hat.
3. Hazardous Materials
When workers on a job site are dealing with hazardous materials, like asbestos or other chemicals, they need to wear the proper protective equipment.
While injury from these materials is not evident immediately, there could be serious repercussions down the line.
4. Electrical Accidents in Construction
Everybody knows electrical work can be dangerous. It is important workers on a job site working with electrical wiring, or outlets know of these dangers, have the proper protective equipment, and have training working in this field.
The tools allowed when working on electrical aspects of a project should be clear. Electrical accidents happen in a split second and are difficult to detect, so you need to take extra precautions here.
How to Keep Track of COIs for Construction Projects
Even if you have all the right rules and regulations in place there is still a chance of injury on a construction project site. Because of this, once you have all the safety measures in place, you need to make sure the right insurance coverage is in place.
Making sure everybody on a job site has insurance coverage will allow your business to subrogate claims that arise from these accidents. Check out SmartCompliance to learn how to easily implement a certificate of insurance (COI) tracking software that will help increase your compliance.
