Tag Archives: jobsite safety

Safety trainings

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Acquiring trainings on subject that is connected to your line of business is crucial towards the overall growth of a person. Trainings can bring the best in you and that will help the business to grow. You get to learn so many things that you were not aware of prior to the training and then you only need to bring it in practice so that it gets inculcated in your daily routine. Different industries conduct different types of training to see that their men can become efficient asset to their company.

Well those trainings are certainly important but there is one more thing that is not done on a continuous basis and that is safety trainings. Businesses should also ensure that they provide their men with enough training on safety and explain the importance of safety during work. These trainings play an important role in keeping the employees safe and for averting an accident that could have taken place due to sheer negligence.

There has been enormous change observed in people post training sessions. They prefer to work safely and with patience. People who did not care much about safety do take it more seriously than ever post the trainings. They begin to value their life and also lives of others. These safety trainings are so important in industries where there are numerous accidents reported annually. Industries such as construction should give special training to their men.

Men in such occupation are always posed to internal and external safety threats and they should be trained on how to remain safe while they are working on the jobsite. Training sessions should be conducted in a phased manner where people doing a particular kind of work (for instance laborers) should be given safety training pertaining to their line of business. They do not have to learn or understand the safety techniques that need to be given to an operator. They will not learn anything from such training and therefore segregating people based on their job is crucial.

Once that is done, the trainer needs to keep the training materials handy so that without losing anytime he can straight away start with the sessions. Try to keep the training short and crisp. It actually helps people to understand the content easily. Long training sessions can become tiresome and many may lose their interest while the trainer is on an important topic. You can also split the sessions into parts. Nevertheless, one needs to ensure that all the people who attended the previous session are also present for this one.

Use pictures, diagrams to explain things. It has been noticed that people understand things easily that is represented through means of diagrams and pictures. Also get the guys to give live demo. Keep a situation in front of the people and ask their reaction. That will let you know if they are able to grasp anything. It also makes the session interactive and fun loving. You must be training them on an important stuff but always do that by setting a lighter mood.

Safety awareness is instrumental across all levels of employees

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Construction laborers are not only engaged in one of the most arduous tasks but also one of the most risky works and their safety should be at top priority to the construction company. They can’t play around with their lives thinking to save some money by not providing them with the safety accessories. Construction companies in US are kept a keen watch by the body who is concerned about the safety of the workers. If these companies flout the law they will be penalized heavily and legal process will also be followed against the company. Companies ideally would not want to go through all this and therefore ensure that they provide their employees with all the necessary safety stuffs and minimize any untoward incidents at the workplace. Now other than providing basic safety infrastructure there is one more thing that is perhaps more important. It is to let the employees know the importance of the safety infrastructure and why they have to wear them all the time they are inside the jobsite.

All employees should understand the importance of safety:-

Before explaining the employees about the safety infrastructure you have for them, it is imperative that you explain them the need to use those accessories. They might be accustomed to a particular way of working and if you introduce something new to them, it may take time for them to acquaint with it. Some may not even want to use it as they may take that as a hindrance to their job. For instance, if you ask your operator to wear some special boots which is a bit heavy but will keep his feet safe he may initially not like to do so unless he is informed how the boots will protect his feet. This awareness needs to be imparted to different section of employees. They need to be informed why they have to wear the safety gears and gadgets. Some may already know about it but there may be few who may not. A collective training in this regard will be very helpful not only from the point of view of the employee but also from the perspective of the construction company.

Wearing of safety gears should be made mandatory:-

Nobody wants things to be shoved down their throat but there are few things which should be mandatory for the betterment of the employees. Wearing safety gears is one of them. The company should appoint few men who are working in supervisory roles to monitor if people doing perilous tasks are following all the safety parameters. If not they can instruct them to wear the gears first and then perform the task. Employees may feel a bit of inconvenience first but it is essential for his safety.

Safety training should be conducted once in three months:-

Safety trainings should be conducted once in three months and all the employees of the construction company right across all the levels should be part of this training. It helps in learning something new every time you attend one and also gets updated of new safety measures that the company is taking for its employees.

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Jobsite safety for cell phone usage

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Cell phones have now become an integral part of your lives and there is probably not a single day when you do not make use of your cell phones. Right from staying connected to finding ways on google, it is being used for every small purpose that we can think of. You can get the latest updates of your favorite sport or know about anything going on any part of the world all that is available on your cell phone. Life has become so comfortable with the utility of cell phones but there also lies a danger attached to it. There have been a numbers of accidents and deaths reported of people who were using cell phones and could not detect a possible threat coming towards them. They were so engrossed on their cell phones that they did not realize the threat approaching them and met with an accident that resulted to serious injuries and also caused death to many.

When accidents can become so rampant while you are on the road then imagine how manifolds the danger might increase when the same activity is performed on a construction jobsite. A construction jobsite is a place where accidents happen even when people are aware of their surroundings. Even after keeping their eyes and ears widely open, accidents still occur. Most of the accidents are avoidable and there are very few which are not. Now the main reasons why large number of accidents take place in a jobsite is people not aware of their surroundings and are deeply focused on something that they should not be. The most common is using cell phones.

It has been witnessed that people especially on the construction jobsites uses their cell phones during working hours. Now, some have to use it to communicate with people linked with the job. It may be perhaps part of his job but definitely not at the cost of risking his life. People tend to get lost while talking and are so occupied in the conversation that they forget about what is happening around them and if they are at all standing in front of or beside any substance that can turn into a potential risk to them.

Texting is another dangerous thing that people do on the jobsite. While you are texting something, your entire attention is on the cell phone and you tend to get completely disconnected with the outside world. You try to send some important message but you forget something that is more important than the message and it is your life. While you are talking you someone over the phone you still can see things around and in case if something approaches you, you can swiftly move away but while texting, you have no idea what is going on around you. You can just hear things but can’t see anything other than the stuff you are writing.

The best way out is to create a safe zone for people where they can enter and call people up. Make it a mandate that they can’t use their cell phones anywhere other than those zones. In this way, they can do safe texting.

What are some heavy equipment safety warnings?

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When dealing with heavy equipment all construction project owners need follow certain health and safety guidelines to ensure safety to their workers as well as other people around the site. Faulty heavy equipment need to be repaired or replaced immediately as they can lead to fatal disasters and cause loss of monetary funds and lives of employees around the construction sites. A large number of accidents are reported every year that happen due to negligence of workers or awry equipments and lack of maintenance of proper safety warnings around the area.

The basic procedure that needs to be fulfilled with production of safety warnings in all construction sites and to be circulated through all employees, subcontractors and applicants, is mentioned here. The objective of these warning signs is to ensure that all workers follow these safety precautions when at work with heavy machinery so as to minimize the possibility of disasters taking place.

To ensure proper protection in the working area all employees must be handed with a copy of these health and safety rules at the time of their employment. And it is important that all the workers sign and submit the acknowledgement forms after reviewing the safety rules and clarifying all pertinent questions in these matters. The safety and health guidelines also need to be occasionally reviewed and updated to ensure they are current and applicable.

Enforcement measures are also necessary and employees should be subjected to disciplinary actions in case found to be violating these rules. Employees shall be afforded educational counseling and/or informative training to assure they have a clear understanding of the breach consequences and the importance of proper conduct under organizational rules. Nonetheless, nothing in the guidelines of this safety agenda will prohibit the management from terminating an employee for a safety violation. This is not progressive disciplinary system and any safety violation may lead to an employee’s termination without prior order or warning.  Management reserves all right to impose whatever disciplinary action it deems to be appropriate:

The measures can be anyone or more of the following mentioned points depending on the severity of the violation done.

  1. Verbal warning with recorded documentation in the personnel file of the employee in question.
  2. Written warning with mentioning of the details of the violation and also documentation of the offence in the personnel file of the worker.
  3. Termination if the severity of the violations seems to be too great.

The management personnel and supervisors will be deemed to appropriate disciplinary actions, if needed under certain circumstances as mentioned below:

  • Failure to provide adequate training to prospective employees before assigning them to the job.
  • Consistent safety guidelines violation incidents done by the employees under their supervision.
  • Not reporting accidents successfully or failing to provide proper medical assistance to any injured employee at work.
  • If precise cleanliness and housekeeping standards not being maintained as required which can prove to be a safety hazard.
  • Not being able to control or prevent unsafe working practices or conditions under their supervision.