Prioritising the Safety of Construction Workers: A Guide
Ensuring the safety of employees in any capacity is of utmost importance to any company director or a business owner. No matter the industry or sector you find yourself in, prioritising the safety of your employees should be at the top of your lists.
None more so than in industries like construction and other manual sectors. When faced with the prospect of heavy lifting and the use of heavy machinery daily, having the appropriate safety measures in place is crucial.
With over 4,000 major injuries occurring in the construction industries per year, you naturally want to do what you can to minimise the chances of something like happening on your own worksite. That is where we are here to help.
We have compiled a short guide below detailing some of the ways that you can prioritise the safety of construction workers. Read on for more.
Possess Relevant Protective Equipment and Resources
It goes without saying, but to ensure that your employees are as protected as they can be in the construction-based setting, you want to set them up to succeed as much as possible. This includes providing the employees with the appropriate personal protective equipment for the tasks that they will be undertaking.
For the most part, this includes the gear they would be wearing – think the likes of goggles to protect the eyes and gloves – but can also extend to pieces of equipment. Certain parts of equipment and heavy machinery can ensure that the construction worker can do their job to the best standard possible while also ensuring their safety.
Bel Lift Trucks provide forklift hire and a range of other material handling equipment for businesses like yours. You can rest assured that any heavy lifting within your business will be completed with minimal risk of injury to your employees.
Adequate Health and Safety Training
It can be challenging to keep track of every single member of your workforce, especially if you are a more significant construction business than some others. Naturally, there would be specific times when you would not be around to ensure that employees are safely using equipment and able to complete their tasks.
To minimise the risk of your employees injuring themselves while under your care, you must provide any new recruits with adequate health and safety training from the word go. This will ensure that your employees possess the knowledge required to monitor and use these pieces of machinery safely.
Furthermore, while providing the initial safety training is of utmost importance, it is not the be-all and end-all of ensuring the continued safety of your employees. Regularly refreshing your employees’ health and safety training is also essential and should be done at least once per year, if not more, depending on the individual circumstances of your business.
While these are but some of the things you can do to ensure the continued safety of any construction workers you might have, we hope this piece has shed some light on what you should do.