Safety courses can be very essential to the actual safety of your workplace, whether it’s a simple office or a construction place where people can actually get hurt very easily if they don’t know what they’re doing. Unfortunately however, there are misconceptions regarding the more basic safety courses that are typically reserved to office workers and employees working in convenience stores who aren’t usually under a great threat of injury. According to OSHA, even in these cases it’s not a good idea to cut corners when investing in safety courses for your employees.

 

The great thing about the best safety courses out there is that they teach practical safety training tips and vital information that has to be applied in a practical way to prevent accidents and injuries. Unfortunately, cheaper training courses are somewhat more vague, and they don’t provide as much support when it comes to practical learning.

 

You should never cut corners on investing in practical safety training courses, because the safety, health and possibly even the life of your staff might hang in the balance. Imagine a fire breaking out at the office and nobody knowing how to use the fire extinguisher properly. Similarly, there could be cases where an employee falls down the stairs or hits herself on the concrete floor and requires immediate first aid. All these issues are covered in your work safety course, so make sure that you invest in the best safety training course for even your most sheltered employees.

Whenever you move to a new location or start a new construction project, you’ll want to make sure that all the staff you assign to various positions will work like a well-oiled machine. At the same time, however, you’ll also want to avoid and minimize as much as possible any unique safety threats that might be associated with the new location.

 

Aside from giving your employees proper safety training and making sure they know which areas are off limits without the use of proper safety gear, you also have to consider hiring additional staff that can help with safety training and the practical application of the safety considerations that your employees will be working about.

 

Temporary site safety staffing is a good strategy for that. Your new temporary workers will be OSHA-trained and skilled at putting safety strategies into practice. Some of them will also have the OSHA 30 training and are experts in coordinating teams and teaching them about even the most complex yet necessary safety tasks that they will have to keep up with for as long as they remain at the construction site.

 

Without temporary safety staffing, you’d have to assign some of the more experienced workers to keep track of major safety concerns rather than do their usual work. That can still pose safety threats while also reducing the number of workers that will be assigned to certain tasks, and slowing down your work considerably.

Crane inspections are essential for safety, and OSHA takes them very seriously as should you. Post incidents and problems regarding structures that support the cranes and their operation are not too infrequent, and they can be extremely dangerous to the safety and the lives of those who operate the cranes, as well as anyone who is close by. So you will have to make sure your employees are aware of the main safety considerations that a typical annual crane inspection will have to cover.

 

First, it’s important to make sure all your employees that deal with crane maintenance and operation receive proper OSHA training, so that they know exactly what they need to do. However, it’s important not to stop at theoretical training. OSHA inspections are very thorough, so you’ll have to make sure that even your newest recruits know what they have to do.

 

OSHA inspections are mandatory to be performed on a yearly basis on all mobile and tower cranes as well as any other equipment that weighs at least 2,000 lbs. This is done to ensure that the equipment is used safely and kept in check according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

Before the inspection, make sure your employees review the OSHA guidelines and the manufacturer’s instructions regarding such issues as post assembly and post incident prevention, as well as taking proper care of everything associated with the operator station. The structural elements of the cranes should be checked thoroughly, including all gears, shafts, drums and pendant support systems.

Basic safety training courses are great for office workers who are rarely in any kind of real danger. They are typically just chosen by low risk industry workers and managers so they can avoid any issues in the case of an impromptu OSHA inspection. However, if your employees actually face certain risks, how well prepared will they be after taking those safety training courses?

 

Not all safety training is the same. Many courses simply present a theoretical coverage of the main points that workers have to know. However, when it comes to real life risks and threats, you might find that your employees don’t really have any kind of proper training to help them out.

 

Practical safety courses are required for that. If your employees work with electricity, toxic substances and/or large machines, or if they are required to work on tall buildings and roofs, they have to be given practical training so they’ll know exactly how to proceed in the event of a crisis.

 

So make sure you select a practical safety training course for your employees and managers, such as the OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 course, depending on their specific responsibilities and what they have to know. Even a less comprehensive OSHA-compliant course can be great, so long as it covers all the practical training issues.

You probably already know that there are two types of OSHA training courses for educating employees about work safety: OSHA 10, which is a basic, introductory course that only lasts 10 hours, and OSHA 30, which is a thorough and comprehensive, 30-hour course designed for those workers who constantly put themselves and others at risk with what they do, as well as for those who have a lot of responsibility on the job to ensure the safety of an entire team.

 

The OSHA 30 course is typically designed for fields managers and safety supervisors who work in the construction industry. While some regular workers might also need the OSHA 30 training course, these experts are the ones who make most of the decisions at the work site, and they are also responsible for making sure that the right employees are assigned to the correct jobs, according to their training and expertise.

 

Work safety strategies are also devised and tweaked by construction managers and supervisors, and temporary workers are assigned their duties by these professionals as well. So it stands to reason that they will be the ones who need the most safety training and the most comprehensive OSHA training courses to help them become informed so they’ll make the best possible decisions.

Depending on the type of business you own, you might be putting your employees at more of a risk than other companies. In some cases, such as when working in an office, employees won’t face so many risks as for example, when they work in a large factory with complex and dangerous machines. Of course, protections training is necessary in both cases, as there are always risks that have to be avoided. However, only a handful of industries will actually require full protections training for employees.

 

It might be of no surprise that one of these industries is construction. For a construction worker, it’s business as usual to provide quality work under stress and under major risks. You’ve probably already seen the pictures of the brave construction workers who were responsible for building the Empire States Building and other tall buildings in New York, showing them moving around at high altitudes without a harness or any other safety gear. Since then, of course, times have changed a great deal, and construction workers require OSHA fall protection training to prevent safety risks to themselves and others.

 

Some manufacturing industries will also require full protections training for the simple fact that those employees have to work with large and dangerous machines or highly toxic and flammable substances.

In case an OSHA officer comes to your job site unannounced, it is important to be prepared. Some of the most common types of violations refer to fall protection, but there are other similar examples as well.

Fall protection failures can be caused by dangerous equipment, while operating or when placed above it, holes which are camouflaged in certain materials or obstructions, runways, walkways, or ramps etc.

In case there is any danger of falling debris or other heavy material, all employees should wear hard hats. To prevent objects from falling from higher levels, there should be erected a canopy, barricades, guardrail systems, etc.

Scaffold safety can be another source of fines from the part of OSHA representatives. Some of the followings are common types of scaffolding issues to be aware of. Scaffolds may be loaded beyond their capacities or have inappropriate foundations. Suspended scaffolding may have improperly secured suspended systems, and therefore keep on swaying. The suspension ropes may be frayed or kinked, whereas the platforms could be cluttered with debris or other stumbling hazards.

OSHA inspectors may require proof of employees’ safety training. At the same time, ladders should be in a good state and adequately used with legible warning labeling intact.  For some of the best in OSHA training in the construction industry look to https://www.triventsc.com/.

Heat stress can lead to illness, and even death. Heat stroke is the most serious type of heat-related illness. There are other heat-caused conditions such as heat cramps, heat rash or heat exhaustion. The good news is there are many precautions which can be taken even when the temperatures are too high, and people need to do physical work.

There are many factors involved in heat illnesses, such as hard physical labor, high temperatures, without any wind or breeze, low water intake, waterproof clothing, and so on. The most common symptoms may include feeling exhausted, nauseous, dizzy, irritable, or confused, headaches, or even fainting.

In order to prevent heat stress, there should be a complete prevention program put into practice. Moreover, employers should offer OSHA 30 training regarding the dangers of heat stress on the job site and how to deal with them. At the same time, employees should be provided with plenty of cool water in the proximity of their working place.

Modifying the work schedule can also do the trick. There should be enough resting periods between work stages. Acclimatizing your employees is another important aspect. Another great idea would be to appoint someone responsible for monitoring the heat conditions and identifying potential heat victims.

As the summer temperatures increase, top fall protection application for the job site can be lifesaving, especially for professional roofers. Falls tend to be the number one cause of deaths in the building industry. The main reasons of falling hazards include dehydration, lack of proper training, dizziness caused by heights, lack of proper safety equipment and working at awkward angles.

At any rate, heat stress prevention can certainly be associated with fall protection. One of the best ways to prevent falls is to properly plan the whole work process. Thus, you need to clearly define the exact way in which the job will be done, the tasks that will be involved in the process, and the required safety equipment. For instance, when roofers are on top of a roof performing construction activities, you need to consider all the potential hazards, such as holes, and carefully plan the suitable fall protection for each type of job.

Providing the right equipment with the right Colorado crane school training is another important component for creating a safe job site environment. Ladders, scaffolds, or safety gear can do a lot to protect workers from dangerous falls.

Moreover, training all employees involved to use the equipment correctly/properly. The employer is the one responsible for training employees how to properly use their safety equipment.