If you run a construction site, it is essential that your are aware of the health and safety requirements that go with running a site.
Construction accident statistics
In the UK, 11% of construction works have suffered an on-site injury due to a moving object such as falling debris. Personal protective equipment like hard hats should always be worn to avoid these types of injury on construction sites.
Health and safety guidelines
The Health and Safety Executive, under the guidance of the UK government, put out health and safety regulation information for all industries that operate in the UK. Every construction site should adhere to these regulations as stringently as possible.
Additionally, your construction company might need to develop strict health and safety guidelines of its own to ensure site worker safety.
Construction site training
Training site workers on health and safety procedures before they start work on construction should be a top priority on any construction site. This could take the form of on-the-job training from an established member of the team or training videos and presentations.
Proper training of your employees will help you to reduce your construction site insurance premiums as well.
Protective and efficient workwear
When on a construction site, it is essential that site workers are kitted out in efficient workwear. As we have learned from the statistics above, lack of proper safety workwear can be fatal.
Not only do you need to ensure the site workers have the right protective equipment, but you need to ensure that it is efficient. Ill-fitting and heavily used workwear can be unfit for purpose, which could pose a risk to the safety of the site workers wearing it.
Site safety assessments
Construction sites should undergo regular safety assessments to ensure they are compliant with safety regulations. This is usually the job of a site manager in collaboration with the site workers.
Reporting practices should be put into place to help site workers raise safety concerns. Acting on these concerns is the responsibility of management and should be done quickly and efficiently.
Worker physical health
Due to the physical nature of the construction industry, site workers might find themselves with physical ailments from time to time that require medical attention. As many site workers are self-employed, there can be tendency to carry on working regardless to keep earning.
No matter a site worker’s employment status, it is the duty of the construction firm in charge to care for workers’ physical health while they are working.
