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.