Tag Archives: construction equipment safety tips

Top 5 construction equipment safety tips that you must follow

Equipment, tools and machineries are some of the most important aspects of a successful construction industry. To make sure that they offer a long and desired performance, it is a must that you take care of the equipment. With proper care, your construction equipment, tools and machineries will perform better and longer.

However, it is not just the longevity and performance of the equipment, but also using the equipment safely that is equally important. This will make sure that the hazards, damages and accidents caused by this equipment are low. Since these are often powerful and large, they need to be handled with safety. Here are a few construction equipment safety tips that you need to follow.

  1.  Learn operating heavy equipment:

 

Those, who operate the heavy equipment at a construction job site, must have professional training in how to operate them. This will ensure that no hazard or accident occurs while operating the machines and equipment. While operating, one must –

  • Be alert
  • Know the blind spots of the equipment
  • Stay aware of the surrounding and the functionality of the machines.

This will ensure that the job is performed better and faster, with no possibility of danger.

2.  Safety measures:

 

There are a few factors related to safety that one must keep in mind, while operating these construction machineries. These include –

  • Not climbing the machine or heavy construction equipment while it is moving
  • Always wearing the seat belt to avoid possibility of damages caused by accidents
  • Loading only till the capacity of the equipment or machine.

The heavy equipment can accidentally face a rollover. In such a case, wearing a seat belt can save a life.

3.  Checking the equipment:

 

Often negligence is the root cause of an accident. The heavy equipment is designed to perform a number of tasks. When you turn on the equipment, it is a must that you check each one of its parts such as the tyres, tracks, wires, components etc. In case any disturbance is found there, you need to repair it at once. Neglecting can lead to a possibility of permanent damage and accident.

4.  Falls:

 

Maximum of the accidents that occur, happen due to not following the safety standards for getting on and off the equipment. Workers often jump off and fall from the equipment and this is a major cause of accident. Always maintain the proper methods to get on and off the equipment.

5.  Loading and unloading:

 

When the load of the equipment is released, there is a chance that the equipment might rollover, if proper functioning is not done. Hence, the conductor must know how to do the loading and unloading task, balancing the equipment.

These are some of the most important construction equipment safety tips that one must keep in mind, while operating these tools and equipment at a job site. If safety measures are followed, there is no chance that these equipment and tools can cause accidents. Moreover, maintenance will also aid in the longevity and good performance of these equipment and machines.

Safety tips for heavy equipment

We just cannot imagine doing work without heavy equipment in a construction industry. They are so important that work can come to a standstill; companies can lose projects just because of unavailability of proper heavy equipment. Alternatively, the construction companies who do not take good care of their machines end up paying dearly for getting them repaired and in this process may even lose the existing equipment forever; which means that they have to buy a new one. It is very important to take extreme care of the equipment knowing that it constitutes a major part for allowing you to earn your daily bread and butter.

When a person buys heavy equipment, he/she is given a list that talks about the safety norms that he/she must follow to keep his machine in good health and working for many years to come. It has been seen that people do not follow the safety parameters mentioned in the list. They use the machine as per their own whims and fancies and when they start experiencing complaints from the machine and then they feel that they should have followed the safety measures. However, it gets too late for them to do so.

We would be talking about few very generic safety tips that one must follow to keep his heavy equipment up and running.

Qualified and trained personnel to work on your machine:-

You may not want to give your machine to any layman to operate. It is recommended that you hire an efficient operator who knows about the machine and also has experience in operating it. Operators who have good knowledge in operating heavy equipment will often guide you when you should be servicing the equipment. They also get to know well in advance if there is anything wrong with the machine and at times can get that fixed without giving a call to the mechanic.

Avoid any sort of collisions:-

Due to lack of communication, operators end up bumping off the machine with other equipment. These accidents are bound to happen. However, if there is proper communication, then a lot of these accidents can be avoided. It is imperative to communicate with the people who are working around you and also to be alert with the things happening around you. There have been instances where the operator has just bumped off another machine lying at a place as he failed to locate the machine there. Well, the operator can’t be held responsible for that as he gets so engrossed with this work that it is possible he may fail to see things that are lying low and may knock the stuff. Had he been communicated or informed that there is something lying down that low and he needs to be careful, the accident could have been avoided leading no injury to the machine.

Regular maintenance of the equipment:-

While you are busy with work, you may skip the thought of maintaining the equipment. However, that does not go well with the machine. It needs regular maintenance and if that’s not done then it can lead to lot of problems later.