Improving construction safety

Working safely on construction sites is a constant challenge. Improving construction
safety is of paramount importance for all construction companies. There
is no denying, construction sites are hazardous places. Workers face
daily challenges including preventing falls, and chemical and trip
hazards. Construction health and safety is on everyone’s mind. What do
you do to reduce the chance of accidents on work sites?

Improving construction safety

Innovative thinking

The accident rate would be higher on work sites without the innovative thinking of construction companies. They are devoting extra resources to keeping workers safe. Developing new practices and adopting technology can improve construction safety up to 100%. Keeping up with changing legislation can challenge improving safety protocols. Encourage an open exchange of ideas to find new ways to build on construction safety.

 Software and technology

Technology improves managing construction projects. Software can link into your current processes and procedures, and existing safety programs. This allows everyone including workers to interact online using software tools.

Trying to track everything the old-fashioned way no longer works with pen and paper. It is time-consuming. Use software to track changes to construction safety priorities on an organisational level. Software platforms are a guaranteed approach to optimizing construction safety. You can configure software packages to meet individual organisational needs.

Advocate continuous improvement

Knowledge is a powerful tool. When workers know how to work with an organizations support, it creates stability. Stability leads to better ways to do the same work faster and safer. This gives the work site a culture of continuous improvement, which results in greater efficiency and productivity.

Document your safety procedures and plan using software to revitalize your business processes.

Proper equipment

Working on a construction site is dangerous enough without cutting corners with the use of incorrect equipment. All equipment should be suited to the job, and all machinery and equipment well-maintained. Most construction workers are subcontractors, what they do affects your reputation. And subcontractors, hire subcontractors to help them with the work. Make sure that you hire those with a good reputation and the right equipment to do the job. Check licences are in place for difficult jobs (for example, heavy crane work). Look at their own safety records from their work on past jobs. Check they are prepared to live up to your construction safety standards. And, make your stand on construction safety clear as part of the contract.

Conclusion

Regardless of whatever else you do, without the right management tools your organisation can be at further risk, you can even use some FREE RISK ASSESSMENT TEMPLATES. Technology has the ability to bring change and progress today. It has never been easier to integrate safety management software into you companies project safety alongside your processes and procedures. It is vital you keep up-to-date and accurate construction health and safety records.

Whatever your goals for improving construction safety, your organisation can have it all cost-effectively. Combine education, inclusiveness, innovation and commitment along with smart software to improve safety on your construction site.

Tips on Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Tips on Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Construction
safety is everyone’s responsibility. The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) has numerous regulations to assist residential
construction employers and employees in providing safe and healthful
workplaces. So, the onus is on all employers to take proactive steps to
assess risks to protect their workers. Employers have to plan and put in
place an occupational safety and health plan to prevent accidents on
work sites.

Construction work is a high-risk business, so risk assessments and safety statements keep safety at work uppermost in everyone’s mind. To highlight this point, out of 4,379 worker fatalities in private industry  for calendar year 2015, 937 or 21.4% were in construction, that is, one in five worker deaths last year were in construction. The leading causes of private sector worker deaths (excluding highway collisions) in the construction industry were falls, followed by struck by object, electrocution, and caught-in/between. These "Fatal Four" were responsible for more than half (64.2%) the construction worker deaths in 2015. By focusing on risk assessment, if construction companies eliminated these Fatal Four, it would save 602 workers' lives in America every year.

Construction moving towards integrated safety

Across
the world, the construction industry has a poor record for keeping its
workers safe. Too many serious injuries and deaths have driven
governments and employers to rethink workplace safety on construction
sites. There are legal requirements and it is an employer’s
responsibility to maintain a safe, healthy working environment. To
improve worker safety, the construction industry is moving towards
integrated safety management systems.

In the United States alone, nearly 6.5 million people work at
approximately 252,000 construction sites across the nation on any given
day.

Read the full article here

Construction moving towards integrated safety

A Guide to Construction Risk Assessment

Construction risk assessment is a real challenge as part of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration role. There are over 4,500 work related fatalities in the United States every year. So, you would think that the days of pen and paper to manage risk, safety and health are gone? Well, they are for most industries. However, the construction industry has been slow to change towards online digitization. This can be part of the reason why the industry has a poor productivity record. Relying on spreadsheets, pen and paper makes it difficult to keep track of everything. The loss of transparency of the building process happens when all the information required is not accessible all in one place.

In a modern business, using paper to manage business processes and deliverables like risk management reports, material and equipment procurement, scheduling, drawings and plans, as well as equipment logs and daily progress reports is not the most efficient way to manage that side of a construction business. Moving towards digitization, gives the business more consistent, better outcomes. It gives everyone involved transparent access to information sharing. Without this access, all stakeholders can work from a different version of the truth. This can cause misunderstandings, disagreements, mistakes and delays.

Using paper makes it difficult to capture real data for analysis. This can be crucial to your budget, and goods and services procurement. And, it puts the project and your business at risk. In an interconnected world, risk assessment is an area the industry has not yet embraced.

Construction work is high risk, so risk assessments are fundamental to the construction process. While using software to complete online risk assessments should be a normal part of the process, the industry is stuck in the past. Using paper-based methods is time consuming, costly and put the project and your business at greater risk. Surely, you are already busy enough dealing with the day-to-day operations out on the road. Does paperwork get pushed aside for more important things? Risk assessment software can help you remain competitive, and save you money and time. It can value-add to your business.

 Read the full article here: A Guide to Construction Risk Assessment