Creating Safe Construction Work Environments

Creating Safe Construction Work Environments

Many work environments pose risks and they all have preventative measures to protect their workforce. Construction sites are certainly one such environment. They present many unique risks but there are plenty of Health and Safety measures that can be taken to protect your workforce. 

In this guide we will share with you some of the ways you can work to protect your workforce and keep them safe onsite with a Health and Safety Consultant

PPE

From high visibility clothing to eye protection, hardhats and respiratory protective gear, PPE is essential to protecting your workforce. The wide-ranging selection of PPE covers a plethora of potential hazards.

Even when safety systems and measures are followed there are still risks. Whether falling objects, trip hazards or contaminated air, hazards are ever-present on a construction site. Making sure your workforce has the appropriate personal protective equipment is key to maximising their safety.

Freelance Workforce

At times of peak workload, your workforce can become thinly stretched. This leads to more mistakes which can not only be costly to your business or workmanship but also to your workforce themselves.

During these peak workloads, you can remove some of the pressure with a temporarily supplementing your workforce with freelancers. From additional quantity surveyors to specialised tradesmen, there are freelancers ready to help you meet work demand.

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are essential to safely navigating a work site. Whether you are operating on fragile surfaces, working at heights, or using machinery a risk assessment is essential to identify the possible risk and consequently outlining measures to prevent incidents.

Risk assessments highlight potential threats and record them. By recording the prospective risks all team members can be made aware of potential hazards and the steps being taken to mitigate them.

Training

Employee training is important to all elements of any project and safety is no exception. Ensuring your workforce is not only trained in general health and safety but in safety practices specific to their role is essential.

For instance, scaffolding should only be constructed and disassembled by people with the appropriate qualifications. Similarly, anyone working on scaffolding or any area of a building site should be trained in Health and safety measures relevant to their role. 

Equipment

Even with all the correct training and skills, your workforce cannot operate safely without the necessary tools. Trying to work with the wrong tools for the job is a quick way to cause needless accidents which can be harmful to your workers. Not only do your team need the right tools but those tools need to be properly maintained. 

Communication

Communication is one of the most important ways to improve the safety of your building site. All of the safety measures and systems are only useful if everyone is aware of them. Taking time to communicate all the safety measures and precautions with your workforce allow them to optimally perform their roles safely.

Whether it is making sure everyone understands their PPE requirements or sharing the results of your risk assessments clearly communicating with your team is essential.

Protect your workforce

Your workers are the driving force of your business and their safety is of the utmost importance.

Building sites are filled with potential hazards which stand to cause harm to your workers and the risk is much higher if you don’t take the precautions listed in this guide.

From equipping your teams with the right PPE and tools to ensuring they are properly trained and understand the Health and Safety measures you have put in place there are many ways to mitigate the risks on the job. 

To receive additional support with your Health & Safety requirements we can help, find out more on our page dedicated to Health and Safety consultancy services