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Working on a construction site involves a fair share of risks. Paying attention to your surroundings so that you can minimise the risks on your site is essential to insure that no one is injured. Below we discuss the five most important risks to construction sites and the easy steps you can take to avoid injury or damage.
Working at Height
In 2017, almost half of the fatalities of workers in Australia were caused by a fall in height. This usually takes the form of falling from roofs, ladders or scaffolding.
Preventing Falls from a Height
People working on scaffolding should only be allowed to complete their work if the conditions are appropriate. This means that site supervisors should not allow scaffolding work to continue if the scaffolding is wet or muddy. Workers should also wear appropriate workwear, including good grip shoes and a hard hat. The site supervisors should arrange for the scaffolding to be inspected by a qualified person before each shift.
If working at height is not necessary, it should be avoided where possible. A work-positioning system should be used as a precaution to reduce the potential injury to a worker in the event of an accident.
When working on ladders, it is important to insure that they are placed on a flat and stable surface to prevent sudden movements when elevated. When working as a precaution, the ladders should always be secured to the building. Ladders are often overlooked when it comes to inspection, but maintenance should take place on a regular basis. If any fault is found, it should be removed from the worksite and disposed of immediately to insure that no further use is made of it.
Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome
Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) occurs when a worker uses tools that vibrate heavily for long periods of time. HAVS can cause nerve damage in your arms, as well as problems with the circulation of your fingers.
Preventing Hand-Warm Vibration Syndrome
As technology improves, your tools should insure that you have the best equipment available to improve safety and efficiency. To prevent HAVS, upgrade your tools to those with lower vibration rates than your current set of tools.
Laborers should also work in shifts when operating tools with high vibration levels. Breaking after each shift is an important step in the prevention of HAVS. Gripping high-vibration tools should also be avoided as this is strongly linked to HAVS.
Noise
Extended exposure to noise is a significant risk to construction sites, with the construction industry responsible for 18% of all hearing loss claims made by the Australian workforce. It is important to monitor the sound levels at your construction site to insure that workers are not exposed to potential hearing damage, which is irreversible.
Managing Worksite Noise
First, and most obviously, workers should only operate loud machines if they have adequate ear protection at their disposal. It’s easy to walk around the work site without ear protection, but it’s the simplest and most effective way to avoid significant hearing loss.
A common test to check if the level of noise is rising to a harmful level is that if you have to raise your voice to talk to someone one metre away, then the level of noise is likely to be hazardous.
A noise assessment should be carried out on your site to insure that noise levels are within acceptable levels. Safework Australia suggests that noise should be kept below 50 decibels for work requiring high concentration and constant conversation and below 70 decibels for other basic work. To reduce noise, it is suggested that all machines should be reviewed to determine whether less noisy models can be purchased. Also, check to see if you can plug your equipment into the mains electricity supply instead of using generators. Inevitably noisy work at times when fewer workers are in the workplace is effective in limiting noise exposure.
Electricity
The risks associated with any electrical work in the construction industry are extremely high. The use of electrical equipment on outdoor work sites that may become wet is very dangerous, as is the use of electrical tools on metal surfaces such as scaffolding. Electrical equipment such as extension cords and sockets are particularly prone to damage.
Preventing electrical hazards at the workplace
It is important to regularly inspect and examine any electrical equipment you use to reduce the risks to workers. This inspection is usually carried out by qualified professionals, such as electricians.
Residual-current devices (RCDs) should also be used for any plug-in electrical equipment. If a potentially harmful power leak has been identified, this device will automatically shut down the power supply to your tools.
It is also important to be aware of overhead and underground power lines so that you can carry out work away from these areas.
Fire
Fire is a huge risk at construction sites in Australia, especially because of our hot and dry climate. It takes only one spark to cause significant fire damage, so it is essential to have the best fire risk prevention strategies in place.
Preventing Fire Risk at Construction Sites
The simplest way to avoid fire hazards at the workplace is to ban smoking on site. Maintaining electrical equipment properly and using as many non-flammable materials as possible are easy steps to significantly reduce fire hazards. Hot work should be completed away from hazardous areas, such as chemical areas, and all regulations should be followed.
Safety at the workplace is as important as the work being done, so it deserves your full attention. There are many more risks associated with working on a construction site, but these are just five that we have chosen to highlight. Don’t let work get in the way of having the latest risk management procedures available, your workers will thank you for that.
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