The accident rate in the construction industry is among the largest across all industries. This is why there is always a concerted effort by construction safety experts to bring this rate to its barest minimum in this ever-changing working environment.
But a lot of employers are still not fully aware of their duty of care to visitors, employees, and other individuals who are directly or indirectly related to their construction activities. It’s therefore important to dissect the major threats to construction safety and the scope of their preventive measures.
With adequate research and lifetime experience, we have highlighted the top challenges in construction safety risk control as well as prevention methods.
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Working at Height
Height is known to contribute to one-third of all fatal accidents in the construction industry. Demolition and reconstruction of buildings always require workers to work at height, which has led to several falls. The risk of height falls is usually increased by mobility and access restrictions.
For enhanced safety of workers, they need to undergo more training such as awareness training to help them curb some of the risks associated with height. The employee must properly plan and supervise working at height and take important precautions.
How to Prevent:
- Conduct a risk assessment and identify safety measures necessary to reduce risks
- Implementation of fixed barriers, scaffolds, mobile elevated platforms, aerial lifts, and guardrails
- Cover any holes in the floors
- Make use of personal fall arrest systems or safety nets
- Give instruction and training regarding working in high-elevation places
2. Moving Objects
The construction industry is a place with a lot of activities going on at the same time. Moving objects in the vicinity sometimes pose a threat to the safety of workers and other individuals. Although this does not have more impact on accidents like the height challenge above, it has contributed its quota to increase accident risks for workers. Construction sites can become quite hectic with the sheer number of constantly moving tradespeople and vehicles. Movement of dumper trucks, supply vehicles, and overhead lifting of equipment on uneven terrain, all contribute their own shear to pose challenges in construction safety risk control.
How to Prevent:
- Employ traffic management tools such as signage, marking, flag, or barricade
- Provide machine guarding and lock moving parts of machines
- Wear safety equipment such as hard hats, eyeglasses, and face shields.
- Avoid working underneath moving loads.
- Move away pedestrians from risky areas.
- Facilitate appropriate storage and shelving areas.
3. Noise
The construction industry is not deprived of noise pollution. Loud, repetitive, and excessive noise in construction sites can cause Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Noisy equipment and processes can be a dangerous distraction for the workers which can lead to on-site accidents.
As per OSHA standards, any employee or person near a construction site should not be exposed to noise equal to or above 85 decibels (dBA) continuously over 8 working hours, or an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA).
Some employees have resorted to the use of earplugs to minimize the effect of noise when working, but this doesn’t protect much from louder noises. The most ideal solution is for employees to be provided a complete noise risk assessment to help them identify which noise issues are very critical and which ones have a minor impact.
How to Prevent:
- Employing low-noise machinery, e.g., electronic equipment over diesel equipment, hydraulically-powered equipment over pneumatic power.
- Engineering controls over noise sources via acoustic curtains, noise barriers, and acoustic enclosures.
- Wearing hearing protection such as canal caps, ear muffs, and earplugs.
- Lubricating noisy equipment and machinery
- Limiting workers’ time near the source of the noise
4. Material & Manual Handling
Construction sites are crammed with materials and equipment always being lifted and carried around to aid construction work. Whether by the use of equipment or manually, movements will always have a certain level of risk. This aspect of the job (material lifting) is what employees cannot do without in the construction industry.
The most effective way to minimize the level of risk is by providing adequate and proper training on the lifting and handling of materials on construction sites. Also, if the duty of the employee involves equipment handling, his or her competency should be properly tested before they are put on the job.
How to Prevent:
- Adequate risk assessment of jobs that could lead to injuries.
- Deliver manual handling training to workers for lifting heavy objects.
- Use of machines and other mechanical aids such as turntables, hoists, trolleys, and slides to lift heavy loads
- Provide information on correct posture, lifting, and load techniques
5. Electricity and Fires
Construction sites cannot do without electricity and workers get exposed to the risk of electrocution daily. Most electrical hazards occur during refurbishment work on domestic and commercial buildings. Apart from electricians who are mostly exposed to the risk, other non-electricians like joiners and plumbers who occasionally perform electrical work also stand the risk of electrocution.
Fires can pick up from various sources – exposed electrical cords, inadequate firewalls, lightning strikes, and combustible chemicals. It’s critical that construction companies provide fire protection for their employees and train them to handle emergency fire situations.
Every member of the construction team should follow the rules and regulations related to fire safety and the use of electrical equipment.
How to Prevent:
- Wear protective equipment like helmets, face shields, electrical gloves, and footwear
- Detect any damaged or exposed live electrical cables and conductors
- Use cable covers and cord protectors.
- Implement fire extinguishers, fire alarms, and emergency exit signs
- Design building systems keeping current building codes and superior materials in mind.
6. Airborne Respiratory Diseases
Due to constant activity, the air in construction sites becomes a toxic mixture of fine particles of hazardous materials and fibers. Prolonged inhalation of such air can damage the workers’ lungs, resulting in diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary, asthma, and silicosis.
Asbestos is another big challenge, which refers to a set of six naturally occurring fibrous minerals found in older buildings. When asbestos-containing materials are disturbed or damaged, these fibers are released into the air, causing fatal diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and pleural thickening.
It’s crucial that workers are informed about the presence of suspicious materials and trained on how to deal with them.
How to Prevent:
- Train workers on how to use and maintain Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
- Check the air quality levels at regular intervals.
- Wear respiratory protection equipment in case of depleted oxygen levels.
- Disperse proper training in working with asbestos.
- Ensure safe disposal of asbestos waste.
7. Slips, Trips, and Falls
Slips, trips, and falls can occur in any environment, more frequently in construction sites as they have uneven terrain, unfinished structures, raw materials, and equipment scattered all around the area. Improperly erected scaffolding can also lead to the collapse of the scaffolding and fall hazards to the worker working over it. Faulty ladders and stairways that aren’t properly secured, or have slippery substances on the rungs could result in slips or falls.
These accidents can be prevented by managing the worksite and access routes with strict supervision.
How to Prevent:
- Ensure structural integrity of surfaces.
- Wear personal protective equipment like hard hats.
- Implement guardrails and safety nets.
- Designate storage areas for materials, equipment, and waste collection.
- Plant signposts around slippery surfaces.
- Clearly designate walkways and footpaths for moving around.
Conclusion:
With all these challenges and potential hazards inherent in the construction industry, how best can these risks be managed? Managing these risks is already a challenge on its own, but the most important way to deal with them is to have a proper risk management system in place. This system should be able to make assessments efficiently and quickly. Proper employee training on safety rules will also help them avoid certain types of hazards in the construction industry.
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