Importance of safety and health in the construction industry

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Safety and health are the utmost concerns before any projects get underway.

While taking any project, you should begin thinking about several aspects at project inception and continue to check them out throughout the process.

Every job comes with the least level of risks, and when we talk about the construction industry, the risk level is higher than you have thought of.

Health and safety play a crucial role in minimizing the risks involved in construction sites. And when the constructors fail to introduce such safety and health measures, accidents often occur as an outcome.

The importance of safety and health management in the construction field is paramount.

Keeping safety measures and health concerns in mind can help you ensure a productive and safe working environment for the workers. However, on the contrary, missing safety and health concerns can lead to additional expenses, injuries, and time wastage.

The Building site injury’s scary statistics!

The statistics of construction sites basically refer to the workers with health issues and on-site injuries, which demonstrates how dangerous the construction sites can be.

You will be astonished to know that there are around 54000 on-site non-fatal injuries to the construction workers each year in the UK itself, and the majority of them involve the falls, trips, slips, and manual handlings of the projects.

Apart from these non-fatal injuries, the construction field also sees around an average of 41 fatalities each year. Of those 41 fatalities, around 49 per cent of it is due to the falling down of a worker from height.

These statistics indicate that the construction site's health and safety protocol is essential not only for the workers but for everyone.

Are you still unsure about its importance and think you can manage it otherwise?

Well, the necessity doesn't stop here. With appropriate health and safety protocols, you can unleash several other benefits.

Let us get acquainted with it first.

Why does construction site safety matter?

Construction is indeed an inherently hazardous profession. The safety of construction workers is critical as the domain is risk involved.

Practising appropriate health and safety measures on the construction site will do much more than just protecting the workers and the common public nearby.

The correct safety measures and processes can help you in

• Staying Compliant

 Safety is a necessity in the construction field.

A proactive approach to health and safety can help you avoid the penalties and fines and encourage workers to be a part of your project due to the safety concerns addressed by you.

• Preserve your bottom line

Accidents in the construction field can cause ample damage to the equipment and property.

Maintaining and creating a safer work environment will help avoid such accidents, protect the reputation, and keep the higher profits.

• Respond more quickly to incidents
  

Incidents often happen in even a controlled environment. Proper safety measures and quick response processes readily available can help the construction workers perform a prompt response to limit injuries and damage.

• Safety measures on construction sites protect the public
  

Safety measures on the construction sites not only protect the construction workers but also keep the public safe.

Construction sites are generally situated in the eventful areas where the general public is coming and going.

Insufficient protocols can lead to the objects falling on innocent bystanders and keep people at higher risks.  

• Decreased time and costs

Whenever an accident happens, it causes an injury on-site that leads to stopping the work.

The nature of such incidents needs appropriate investigation, and work cannot be continued until the research is underway.

Construction site accidents often drive up the project's overall costs. While using the appropriate measures can assure lesser risks, decreased time to deliver the results, and no additional costs.

• Beneficial for business

Not only for the general public and workers, the health and safety protocols are also beneficial for businesses.

This will ensure to keep the reputation of the company by delivering high-quality projects on time.

Common Risk concerns in the Construction industry

In many industries, ample risks are avoidable if taken care of nicely. Spotting the risks associated with them at an early stage can help you eliminate them before even occurring.

And while talking about the construction industry, the most common risks include

• The trip, Slip, and fall hazards

Construction workers often have to work on uneven, dirty, and wet surfaces while moving around ample obstacles, which increases the risk of trips, falls, and slips. 

• Working up high

Falling off a ladder, ledge, scaffolding, or several high locations can quickly become hazards. 

• Noise

Job sites are indeed noisy as the construction industry involves heavy and loud equipment. Prolonged exposure to extreme noise can lead to long-term hearing issues.

• Electricity
  

Electricity is one of the most common risks where the workers experience direct or indirect exposure including improper wiring, damaged insulation, and faulty tools leading to safety concerns.

• Breathing issues

Construction sites have the poorest air quality, and so the workers are prone to dangerous airborne hazards. This can lead to breathing issues for the workers.

• Moving Hazards
  

The largest and heaviest equipment is part of the construction industry. So, it can be challenging for the machine operators to see the co-workers on the ground, which creates a higher risk of injury.

• Vibrating machinery and tools

The construction workers' exposure to prolonged vibrations can give rise to hand-arm vibrations syndrome that can permanently affect the person's nerves, joints, and blood vessels.

These were just a few common construction safety risks, and many others are still not familiar with the people.

With the essentiality of identifying the common risks involved in the construction site, the constructor must incorporate several construction site safety measures to promote better employees' health and well-being.

With the common risks involved comes the necessity of taking some construction site safety tips. Let us get acquainted with several safety tips that must be implemented on the construction site.

Construction site safety tips!

 Practising appropriate health and safety measures in the construction site requires constant mindfulness and dedicated planning.

Your efforts to keep your workers safe ensures that the project proceeds according to the schedule only.

With the advantages of a focus on safety measures being pretty obvious, it is time to take a closer look at the work construction site and analyze what actions you can take to improve safety.

Here are a few construction site safety tips that are necessary for the long run.

• Assess the risks

Risk assessment is the initial step of avoidance.

Depending on the size of the construction project, a dedicated safety and health team must determine the hazards involved in the projects and activities that are dangerous.

Along with this, the dedicated team must recommend ways to work around and keep the workers safe. Safety risk assessment also involves a thorough process that must be followed step by step.

Following is the process for proper safety management in the construction projects

1. Identify the hazards
2. Assess the Risks by combining the possibilities
3. Control the risks with appropriate measures
4. Review and monitor the control measures 
   

• Use the right equipment.
  

Utilizing the correct equipment can help in eliminating several safety risks. It can help you complete the project in a lesser time.

You can incorporate ample automated tools and safety wearable to ensure the safety of the workers.

You will find ample personal protective equipment to protect the workers against safety or health risks at work. This might include:

• Safety helmets
• Safety goggles
• Waterproof safety boots
• Welding gloves
• Earmuffs
• Dust Masks
• Chemical resistant gloves
• Earplugs
• Safety belts
• Smart wearable
  

• Take necessary actions

After performing safety assessments, utilize the information gathered to make the correct response on time.

Find separate ways to ensure safety, including the moving machinery, safety wearable, safety signage, etc. 

• Train workers to help reduce risks on the construction site
  

Along with knowing what risks to look out for and measures to report, workers and the contractor must also know how and when they can deal with the potential hazards on the construction site.

Including the construction workers in your health and safety strategy is a fantastic way to deal with the issues and make them feel valued. It can potentially upskill them.

Therefore the training schedules for workers can ensure better safety on-site and also enhance their skills and potential.

• Make safety a habit

 It is essential to communicate with the workers about the importance of health and safety concerns.

Whenever you are on-site, ensure that every worker uses the safety kits daily. Make it a habit, not an occasional attire during the checks.

• Job safety analysis

Job safety analysis is mainly about identifying workplace hazards and controlling them on time to avoid upcoming incidents that can lead to severe accidents.

During the job safety analysis, the contractor determines which task needs to be analyzed as a risky one and further breaks it down into a step-by-step sequence.

This way, one can ensure that nothing is missed and that safety and health concerns remain integral.

Bottom Line!

Although the safety and health protocols can take obvious time to introduce, implement and develop, they are still invaluable for a safer working environment.

It is indeed not worth risking the safety and health of employees with poor protocols. By implementing the safety measures appropriately, the contractor can ensure better productivity, and even the workers become more proactive.

Dawlish Constructions takes the utmost care about the safety of workers while delivering the projects on time with desired quality.

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