Construction Safety Equipment

Everyone who has ever been involved in the construction industry knows how important construction safety equipment is for the day to day operation on a job site. They know that the equipment is issued to them for a reason and that reason is their own personal safety.

This article seeks to highlight the four most common accidents and how they could have been avoided by following simple safety rules.

#1 – Electrical Accidents

Electricity is an essential part of working a construction site but, unfortunately, most people tend to take its safety for granted. OSHA regulations state that no one without the required construction safety equipment should be allowed to work around electricity, yet it occurs every day in the United States and it accounts for a great number of accidents yearly.

Standard issue safety equipment for working with electricity on a construction site includes gloves, hard hats and insulated work boots. However, some workers consider the hats to be too hot and the gloves too clumsy to wear while handling important tools. Still others believe that the boots are too uncomfortable to stand in for long periods of time. The most common accidents that involve electricity on a job site include workers coming into contact with power lines, not using the proper equipment, and not using extension cords properly around power tools.

#2 – Falls

No matter how neatly a crew might work, there will always be debris on site and debris means trips and falls. An overview of incidents show that most of the accidents involving falls actually occur above the ground, with workers tripping over their own tools and falling off of scaffolds or not using harnesses in conjunction with safety ladders. Every worker on site should be using safety harnesses, and should always check to make sure that ladders and scaffolds are constructed and used properly.

# 3 – Getting Hit

Hard hats are issued for a reason: to protect workers from falling objects. Drop a hammer or other tool from any height and it can become a deadly weapon. Not wearing your hard hat increases the chance that you will be one of dozens of workers who report being struck by falling debris on a daily basis.

The rules set down by government agencies like OSHA were created for a reason, to protect workers all over the United States. You might be surprised at just how many people think the rules are a joke and refuse to use the proper equipment because it is an inconvenience. Even those who are regularly issued personal construction safety equipment refuse to use them properly, and stand as the cause for the majority of accidents that can occur on job sites everywhere.

High Standards in Safety

The construction industry diligently tries to police itself, and will lay penalties upon those who do not use their construction safety equipment properly, but misuse still occurs today. You would think that even hearing about accidents that left workers maimed or worse, dead would convince them otherwise, but it does not. The top three items most abused or misused by those workers include boots, hard hats and harnesses.

#1 Boots

Standard issue boots for work on a construction site are often made of high quality leather and highly durable. They are made to last, and can come with steel plates in the toes, to prevent injury, and other will insulate them from electricity. The leading cause of misuse when it comes to boots is that many people just starting out in construction will balk at buying the proper footwear because of the price. Good boots cost more, and in the long run, are well worth the price.

#2 Hard hats

Every construction firm in the country regularly issues hard hats to their employees. It is not always easy to enforce the wearing of these hats on the work site, and those who do not like to wear the hard hats run the risk of becoming seriously injured if they are not careful on site.

The main reason for hard hats being created in the first place was to protect workers from being injured by falling objects. Accidents happen every day on sites all over the country, and should anyone working above ground drop a tool or piece of material, a better than even chance exists that it may cause serious damage to anyone it hits. Not wearing it because it is too hot or slips easily is just plain risky to do.

#3 Harnesses

Anyone who has ever worked above the ground knows the value of a good quality safety harness. Not all construction involves housing or commercial buildings. Crews that work on road construction, especially bridges and overpasses can tell you how at any second, you could literally be hanging by a thread over a significant drop off.

Most harnesses are created out of high quality leather that has been properly stress tested, and can hold upwards of 400 pounds. Even the nylon versions, which are widely more affordable, can turn out to be the most important piece of construction safety equipment you could ever own, no matter if you work high or low.