Safety First is Safety Always. 8 best practices to improve construction site safety
The safety of any worker in a construction site should be the first thing to be addressed by an employer. It’s highly important for an employer to ensure that all workers are fully aware of the safety requirements that are needed for their tasks.
At Sahihi, we believe that no job or task is more important than a worker’s health and safety. Every procedure must be a safe procedure.
In this blog, we shall look at 8 best practices that should be observed, to improve construction site safety.
Education and training
Every worker in a construction site is entitled to education and training by his or her employee regarding safety. A worker must not be allowed to work in a construction site without proper knowledge about safety, how to stay safe and to ensure safety for other workers on site.
Every worker must know the right personal protective equipment (PPE) they should wear, and they must always wear it.
Awareness
Every worker must be aware of all kinds of risks involved in whatever site they intend to work in. If the job requires a worker to use any kind of machinery or equipment that requires certification, special training or authorization from a superior, a worker must take the necessary steps before carrying out any type of work. If any kind of hazardous chemicals or mixes are required to be used. All workers must know the risks involved and wear personal protective equipment.
A policy that keeps all employees in the know when it comes to safety, is the best thing any company can do for its employees.
Considering an insurance policy is also important. If you are a worker who is always working in high risk environments, take up an insurance cover does guarantees you financial savings in any type of accidents.
Communication and coordination
Accidents are most likely to occur when a worker is unsure of what to expect.
If a worker observes any unprotected job, which may pose a potential threat to their health or safety, he or she must inform management, and management must take the necessary precautions.
At Sahihi, we believe that, if a job cannot be done safely, it will not be done.
Communication in the construction site is a wise approach that construction companies can facilitate by equipping workers with communication devices like headsets or walkies that would ensure constant communication among workers throughout the day.
Worker participation
For an effective healthy and safe program, all workers are encouraged to participate and feel comfortable providing input and voicing any safety concerns that they may have. All workers must also have access to information they need to participate effectively.
Workers should not experience retaliation when they raise safety concerns; report injuries, illnesses and hazards.
Supervision
It’s very important to have a strong supervisor who ensures adequate safety measures are always observed by workers on site. This calls for a foreman who keeps tabs on all employees throughout the day and correct those who fail to adhere to construction site safety procedures.
At Sahihi, every worker is provided with safety rules that he or she must follow. Failure to do so results to strict disciplinary action being taken.
Documentation
To enforce and ensure effective construction site safety. All involved contractors, sub-contractors, and managers must have proper documentation of everything that is going to be done on site. It’s essential that all proper registrations and licenses are earned before any type of work begins. Workers, supervisors and contractors must provide evidence of their certification well in advance of their employment on site. All certification must be verified and approved by the necessary administrators. This protects the construction company from public scrutiny and legal action.
Job site inspections are necessary in safeguarding the company’s workers.
Proper equipment
To create an efficient culture centered around construction site safety, workers need to be given the right equipment for the right job at hand. Without the right equipment, it’s hard to have construction site safety because there is always an opportunity to get injured due to using the wrong equipment.
Ensuring that machinery and material are well maintained is also a safety observation for the company.
At Sahihi, we ensure head protection, eye protection, protective footwear, protective gloves as well as machine safety.
Transparency
The worst thing that any construction company can do is to cover-up or hide an accident. This impacts very negatively to the company and the public lowers it’s opinion to the company. People understand that accidents happen, as long as construction companies are doing their best to ensure safety.
A safer construction industry is one with fewer injuries, fewer workplace accidents and fewer deaths. Frequent training and a culture of wearing the right PPE is what keeps us all safe in the construction sites.
Our futures are only built through our people, at Sahihi Interior Builders, we aim to protect them.
