Top 5 Residential Construction Safety Tips

If you’re someone who runs a construction company (or you’re simply an individual who works for one), one of the top concerns that you have is making sure that you and your staff remain safe at all times. After all, working on a construction site means that you are exposing yourself to all kinds of potential hazards from flying rocks and electrical wiring to being struck by a moving vehicle or hurt by heavy equipment.

That’s why, in order to avoid experiencing any of these challenges, we have provided you with a list of our Top Five residential construction tips below:

Have everyone dress appropriately for the job. One of the most important things for all construction workers to do is dress for appropriately for their job. They need jeans, long-sleeve shirts, well-fitting work boots, gloves and a helmet. All of these things will help your workers to be protected from weather elements and also from harming themselves while operating certain kinds of machinery.

Make sure that people are not crowding the construction site. Something that a backhoe operator will express is a pet peeve is when there are people who are simply standing around a construction site. Not only does it cause crowding but it increases the chance of an accident taking place. People don’t need to watch a hole being dug. They also don’t need to have lunch where others are working. Therefore, make sure that only the people who need to be at a certain area are there at all times.

Be aware of “backing up”. There are a lot of accidents that happen on construction sites simply because a truck or tractor has backed up without the people who are standing behind it ever noticing. That’s why it’s important to have some reverse-motion precautions put into place. Install some back-up alarms on your construction machinery, make sure there are wide-range mirrors on all of your vehicles and don’t forget to also use rear-mounted cameras too. It’s also important to tell all of your employees that they should have a spotter standing in their vicinity when they plan on moving backwards to alert them of anything (or one) that might be in their way.

Stay aware of how getting on and off of equipment. If you were to ask a crane and rigging company like Bigge Los Angeles for a great construction tip, one thing that they would probably tell you is to always stay aware of how you get on and off of equipment. You can do this by making sure that your gloves and boots do not have mud on them (that can cause you to fall and slip). Also, when it comes to your gloves, putting on high-grip ones can help you to secure your grip when operating equipment or driving a forklift or truck. Use a step ladder to reach high things, avoid carrying objects while you’re climbing and if you need someone’s assistance getting on or off of something, make sure to ask for it.

Have good lighting. It’s not uncommon for construction jobs to continue after the sun sets (especially during the winter months); therefore, it’s important that the site is well-lit. So make sure that there are tripods, string lights, flood and clamp lamps and of course, flashlights on site. When workers can see, they can do their jobs safely and well.