On job sites with dangerous equipment or physically taxing job tasks, safety is key. It is important to be sure that no accidents can happen, as they can harm your workers in addition to costing the job money and time with the ensuing delays. Many workplace accidents occur due to negligence or improper training, which is why it is important that you do not become complacent and should always strive to keep your site up to code. Below, we explore in greater detail the importance of safety in construction and how to ensure it.

Importance of Safety in Construction

Running a hazard-free construction site is important for obvious reasons. Of course, you want to ensure that all workers on the job are safe and you also want to be sure to prevent any potential accidents from occurring whenever possible. Naturally, you do not want anyone to come into harm’s way, but it can be potentially costly to deal with workplace injuries. In addition to this, there are some other effects that safety issues can have on a job site.

Financial Savings

Safety on the job also equates to long-term savings, which is not necessarily something that may occur to you when you are thinking about job safety! These savings come into play in a few different ways, the first of which is insurance. Insurance is a non-negotiable if you are doing construction work, and it is not cheap, either! However, the fewer accidents that you have on the job and on the record, the lower your insurance cost will be. Of course, you will also not need to deal with costly legal issues or pay worker’s comp if you keep your workers safe and healthy.

Industry Credibility

Obviously, nobody wants to hire a business that is going to have safety issues and injuries while completing their work. Clients are going to opt for safer companies whenever they can because they are linked with the construction company once they make the choice. Any injuries or dangerous happenings on the job may be reflected upon the client themselves, at least in the eyes of the public, and they will not want the bad press! The safer you are, the more job opportunities and contracts will be available to you.

Credibility with Workers

Safety will also make your company more desirable to employees, affording you a greater pool of candidates– and likely quality candidates, at that! Of course, employees will not want to willingly put themselves in harm’s way, so they will avoid companies that have a reputation of being unsafe whenever they can. Workers are looking for cautious, safe work environments where they can complete their 8 hours– or more than 8 hours. After all, nobody wants to trade off their health for money. It is not worth it!

How to Ensure Safety on the Job

There are some simple ways that you can be sure to uphold safety on your construction site. For instance, performing routine checks and maintenance on your equipment and heavy machinery is crucial to preventing accidents. Having trained professionals come in and do site safety inspections is another way to ensure that everything is working properly and is up to code– and it also ensures that if there are issues with the site, they are caught before someone gets hurt.

Preventative Checks

Many of the accidents and safety issues that can pop up during a construction project are due to tools and fault machinery or other equipment. Firstly, it’s important to be sure that your site is adhering to all OSHA guidelines. Some important things to take a look at are electrical tools or other electrical equipment. Issues with wiring or other defects can be hazardous to workers and lead to harm, such as electrocution. All machinery and tools should be properly maintained to avoid the emergence of any issues, but even if they are regularly maintained, they should still be checked and evaluated for safety regularly, too. There is no such thing as being too careful on the job site!

Vehicles in landscape and building construction can account for many different kinds of workplace accidents, so it is important to be scheduling regular maintenance and inspection of these. Some, but not all, companies will have mechanics on site that are dedicated to these machines. If they do not have their own trained mechanics, and none of the other employees are certified to perform these tasks on the machine, the company should either be bringing them to a third party or hiring a mechanic to come to the site or garage. Some such vehicles include trucks, forklifts, excavators, and even more stationary equipment like cranes.

Site Inspections

Site walkthroughs are important to not only gauge the progress of the construction work but to also evaluate the job for safety and to see if all coding and regulations are being followed. Not all site inspections are done the same way– depending on the size of the construction site, the inspection may be done by one or several people across different trades and concentrations. On some occasions, specialists are also brought in, in order to consult on different topics like accessibility or waste management. When it comes to site evaluations to specifically evaluate the quality of the work and the safety of the site– typically referred to as a quality inspection–, these will result in monthly reports that identify issues and concerns so that they can be properly addressed.

There are several points of a construction project during which a site inspection is important. These inspections help to mitigate risks and human error, allowing your team to stay ahead of any safety issues. This is why it is important to conduct inspections at key points in the project, such as project commencement, excavation, and roof construction. Typically, during an inspection, the individuals conducting the check will have a list of elements to inspect and adhere to. What is being looked at may fluctuate slightly, depending on individual details about the project.