If you do some research online, you’ll discover that one of the leading causes of all construction worker injuries and deaths is fall hazards. In fact, it accounts for almost 50 percent of all fatalities in this particular industry within one year, which is exactly why the most crucial thing is to guarantee that the scaffolds are safe.
No matter if you’re a construction worker or if you manage the entire site, you might be wondering – what can I do to improve the scaffolding safety? Luckily for all individuals that are wondering the same thing, the article below can help. Let’s take a look at what you must do.
1. The Safety Equipment Must Be Suitable
Source: faset.org.uk
Before anything else, one of the most important things that must be ensured on any construction site is that employees use and have suitable personal protective equipment or PPE for short. This is especially true when people operate on height, especially since a lot of injuries happen while in the air.
For example, most accidents involve falling items, hence, utilizing a hard hat will prevent some serious injuries from happening. Additionally, non-slip shoes and fall arrest gear are crucial when standing on scaffolds, which is why all construction workers must have them. You can check lakeshide-hire to learn more about safe scaffolding.
2. Be Careful About The Load Limit
Although most people don’t realize it – especially the ones that don’t work in this industry – scaffolding materials do have a load limit. In fact, they are made with particular weight-bearing capacities in mind. Opting for components that cannot sustain the load employees intend to utilize will pose a really big danger to them.
The platforms that they’ll be standing on can split, shatter, or fully collapse, which can not only cause injuries but death as well. Because of this, you must know exactly how much load the scaffolds can take, and you must also ensure that the employees respect those load limits.
3. Always Follow All The Regulations And Standards
Source: build-review.com
Every single industry out there has its own regulations and standards that employees must follow, no matter if they’re working in an office or from a construction site. These laws and regulations will vary from one state to the next, which is why you must learn and follow them all.
A lot of the rules and laws include the utilization of scaffolds, hence, it’s crucial for you to learn what the regulations are before you even think about installing platforms such as the ones offered by Brogangroup. By doing so, you could prevent dangerous situations from happening, and you can avoid being liable for neglecting the industry regulations.
4. Inspecting The Materials is Crucial
Before the platforms are installed, all of the materials must be inspected. While inspecting the materials that’ll be utilized for constructing the platforms, you must guarantee that there are no deficits or damage that can easily jeopardize the complete integrity and safety of the platforms.
Additionally, you should know, all of the components must come from the same producer. Why is this important? Well, they’ll be created and manufactured to be installed together and any components that are mismatching could lead to the platforms collapsing later on.
5. It Must Be Installed Properly
Source: simonstapleton.com
If there are any instructions provided by the manufacturer of the scaffold, you must guarantee that you understand all of them. And, you must also check and learn whether or not you’re utilizing proper fasteners and bracings. It is not an option to use the wrong components when installing a scaffold, particularly since this is precisely what leads to it collapsing.
Also, a lot of experts advise that you utilize protector rails when constructing the platforms. Besides this, guarantee that the area around the platforms is absolutely safe while constructing them, and don’t forget that you need to avoid placing and intersecting them with power lines.
6. Frequently Inspect The Platforms And Tools
When the platforms are installed, you shouldn’t forget to inspect them frequently. They must be inspected often for any defects, debris, as well as other factors that can easily create an issue for the workers. Keep in mind, the best time for inspecting them is at the start of every day before the workers arrive since this will ensure that they are safe.
7. Keep The Base Clear
Source: riskandinsurance.com
You should never, I repeat, never place vehicles – cars, trucks, vans – and heavy machinery at the base of the scaffolds. Why is this necessary? Well, the people driving the vehicles could collide with the base – something that will most likely cause the entire construction to fall down. This is also the case with heavy machinery, hence, you must make sure that the bottom of the construction is always free of these things.
8. Organization is The Key
What do tools and equipment have to do with the security of scaffolds? Well, everything. If they aren’t organized and put back to their place after use, they can lead to trip and fall accidents, and they could also be pushed over the edges, leading to the object injuring someone on the ground.
Hence, at the end of every workday, you or an individual in charge of that should check and see whether or not all the tools and equipment are left on the stands. If there are, they should be removed immediately since they do pose a really big hazard. Clutter-free areas are the best areas to work in and they can increase productivity levels as well. And if equipment is not working well, then you should do hydraulic hose repair to ensure safety.
Conclusion
No matter what your role is at a construction site, the most essential thing that you, your workers, and/or managers need to guarantee is that the scaffolding is secured and properly installed. If you opt for following some or all of the aforementioned tips, you can prevent accidents from happening, meaning that you’ll lower the possibility of someone getting injured or dying while on the site.
So, now that you know what are some of the most significant things that you need to do, you really shouldn’t waste any more of your free time. Instead, you should start inspecting the scaffolding at the building site, and more importantly, you should inspect whether or not the employees working there have the PPE equipment they need.
