Perhaps your company has many safety protocols covered at the workplace, but you need to check if your ladder safety protocols are also put into practice. Understanding ladder safety with your team and having them attend an OSHA 10 safety training class can be very important, always.

To keep your team safe at the construction site, you need to help them understand that ladders are a tool, which can get damaged and what needs to be done to fix it. Because ladders are a tool, employees need to apply the same precautions they use when using other construction tools. Of course, you may not have to put your team through a ladder safety protocol, but there are certain things that need to be clearly established in order to have an accident-free jobsite.

Among these precautions we could mention never climb a ladder when feeling dizzy, exhausted or when you are about to lose your balance; never use ladders in windy or stormy conditions; always use the ladder with the legs placed safely on the ground. At the same time, if the ladder must be placed in front of a certain door, you need to make sure that it is either blocked, or locked, so that nobody opens it to tip the ladder over.

Safety meetings are a great tool for improving the safety culture at your construction sites. There are many excellent topics for your safety meetings, among which we could mention 3 of them:  Please remember OSHA considers this as training for your employees, and you should keep a signed copy of all those that were in attendance.

1. Fall protection is yet another essential topic for construction safety meetings. Falls are some of the most frequent causes of work-related injuries and deaths. Therefore, it is critical for employers to set up such work conditions, to avoid any kind of undesirable events. It is very important to have handrails, stair railings or harnesses available at the construction site.
2. Common construction hazards –this should help employees become aware about the most frequently encountered dangers at their workplace, and how they can avoid them; Among the most common hazards we could mention slips and trips, working at great heights, material and manual handling, or the so-called “vibration hand syndrome”.  The importance of having workers attend a Colorado crane school for work site safety.
3. Safety improvement plans –these are amazing tools for creating a safe and trustworthy environment at your construction sites. This should also include the means of showing any kind of progress made towards improving safety at the workplace as well as providing employees with all the necessary instruments for applying safety principles, to the great advantage of everyone involved in construction projects.

Building a strong safety work culture in construction can sometimes be a bit difficult. “Safety first” should imply more than words. All employees should be informed and educated in this field, so as they can put safety on top of their priorities when working on different construction projects.

Work site safety should represent a priority above other things such as productivity, costs, timelines, and so on. Because your employees represent your primary asset, it goes without saying that keeping them safe is of paramount importance.

By considering safety a top priority, you can reduce many costs and increase your business’ productivity. The best way to improve your safety culture at your workplace is by training your employees. Moreover, training should not be only a single event, but rather a continuous endeavor starting with OSHA 30 certification for all employees. In this way, employees are more likely to retain the necessary information and acknowledge the importance of safety at the workplace.

Safety committees are a great way to get your employees deeply engaged in your safety culture. For instance, you can assemble an accident response team, which will intervene in case of hazards and unwanted safety-related events. Conducting site inspections and meetings daily is yet another important step to be taken.

There are multiple reasons why work related injuries are problematic, and it’s not simply about the fact that your best employees are injured and they need time off. Your company might also suffer as a result of delays and your finances could be set back if you have to pay compensation. So the risk is definitely not worth it and measures have to be set in place to prevent work related injuries as best as possible.

 

What you might not know is that some trends and measures for helping to prevent injuries will not just ensure that your employees are safer and less stressed, but also that you’ll save a lot of time.

 

OSHA training classes will ensure that all employees have at least a basic level of safety training. As a result, managers and supervisors can focus more on quality control rather than having to explain the basics of OSHA 30 safety training multiple times to each new worker. Moreover, considerable time and money will be saved during emergencies as well, since employees will know how to safely shut down their equipment and leave without putting themselves or others at risk.

 

It’s also very important to note that a practical and efficient safety plan based on OSHA standards and focused on prevention will help your company and your workers remain safer and operate a lot more efficiently.

There are a lot of safety hazards that companies fail to take into account. The biggest problem is that this issue can claim lives and lead to severe injuries that could have easily be prevented with proper safety training and a practical safety plan. Following are the 3 most overlooked workplace safety hazards that you really need to be aware of:

 

1. Improper use of equipment: It’s not seldom that employees are hired on a job without being given proper training and information to help them handle and maintain their equipment properly. A simple example is that of the forklift operator who has to check for damage and malfunctions before even starting up the forklift, but who often fails to do so, which can lead to severe accidents and injuries.
2. Slip and fall hazards: Any construction site, factory or lab needs to have fall protection training to prevent accidents and people from falling or slipping in areas where there are slippery surfaces or spills, or where they have to work at a certain height that can become dangerous if they fall.
3. The use of dangerous chemicals: Unqualified factory workers often have to use chemicals that are extremely dangerous. Without proper training, they can easily injure themselves or become sick while using those chemicals. Also, it’s important to ensure that they have the proper gear available, such as special protection for their eyes, mouth, nose and hands when working with some of these substances.

Whether it’s because of an emergency safety issue or just routine, a site shutdown can lead to many possible issues and risks. That is why it’s very important to have a safety training and plan that includes practical steps for each employee to take when the site is being shut down or when there is an emergency that requires them to exit the premises in an orderly and responsible fashion.

 

Dealing with emergencies is very important. You have to be prepared for anything and everything, so that you can inform your workers exactly what they need to do. In factories, aside from being provided with extensive paperwork to sign and theory to learn about operating equipment safely, dealing with fires and chemical spills or knowing what to do in an emergency situation, workers are also required from time to time to run impromptu drills. They have to know what to do when they are required to leave their job station quickly because of an emergency and how to help during a site shutdown situation.

 

The best approach is a preventive one. Make sure you and your staff are fully aware of the main risks that might be implied during a site shutdown, no matter what the reasons for it. For instance, it might be important to carry off dangerous chemicals or to turn off machines that would otherwise cause a lot of problems and lead to dangerous situations. Also, it’s important to always put safety first and make sure all unauthorized individuals leave the work site and are accounted for.

A site safety plan includes all the rules and protocols that are necessary to make sure your employees stay safe. Following are a few of the most pressing matters that will need your attention before you consider setting up such a plan:

 

• One of the first things to make sure of is that you don’t hire unqualified workers to do dangerous or difficult work that would normally require the presence of an expert or a seasoned worker.
• Make sure that all your employees receive OSHA safety training with certified construction safety courses, even those that work in the office and are not normally required to walk through dangerous areas. At a construction site, for example, you never really know where some of your employees could end up, so having proper knowledge of safety protocols can keep them and their peers safe.
• A detailed and effective site safety plan should also have protocols in place that, even though are uncommon for most workplaces, are highly relevant for the job site that your employees have to navigate on a daily basis. So, for example, if you own a lab that deals with high temperatures or dangerous chemicals, proper signage and restrictions need to be in place in order to prevent unauthorized and untrained individuals from accessing those areas.