Ensuring Safety: Measures to Put In Place For Hazardous Applications
Implementing robust health and safety measures is not just a legal requirement. Robust safety measures in construction are crucial to the success of any modern construction business. With that in mind, here are five safety measures examples with explanations of why they matter.
Conduct Risk Assessments
All health and safety measures are based on solid risk assessments. The aim of a risk assessment is to evaluate all hazards (both existing and potential). Before hazards can be evaluated, they need to be identified. This means that implementing safety measures in construction starts with a thorough survey of what and where they may exist.
Once all hazards are identified, businesses need to assess each hazard and decide the type and level of risk and if it can be eliminated or if it needs to be controlled. Elimination should always be the preferred option. In the real world, however, many hazards are likely to need to be controlled.
Controlling a hazard essentially means avoiding exposing people to it as far as is reasonably practicable and taking all reasonable steps to protect them when exposure is unavoidable. The protection will be tailored to suit both the hazard and the individuals exposed to it. It will typically involve some form of protective equipment, including relevant training.
Install Fall Protection Systems
Working at heights is an almost unavoidable hazard of working in construction. This means that protecting people working at heights is one of the most important safety measures in the construction industry.
The safest approach to protecting workers who need to work at heights is to combine fall protection systems with. Work restraint systems. Fall arrest must be considered as a last resort. In addition to providing fall arrerst, the organisation will also need to develop a rescue plan to allow the person to be rescued once fallen.
Fall protection systems (such as the Container Collective Edge Protection System (ConCEPS) from SHEARFORCE) aim to prevent workers from falling. Work restraint systems provided by SHEARFORCE can be used as a backup system for extra safety or when collective edge protection along one side of a container is not possible, this may be due to overhang of solar panels, etc.
Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Personal protective equipment (PPE), although to be considered as a last resort in the hierarchy of controls is at the core of all health and safety measures in all environments, including construction. The key to using PPE effectively is to respect the fact that the first P stands for personal. In other words, PPE needs to be customised to suit each of the individuals who use it.
What this means in practice depends on the nature of the PPE. For example, at a basic level, it may simply mean ensuring that the PPE fits the person who is wearing it. At a more advanced level, it may mean choosing individual components to suit the specific tasks a worker performs. It may also require training workers on how to get the best from the PPE.
Maintain and Replace Safety Equipment
Some types of safety equipment are meant to be single-use Most safety equipment is, however, intended to be used multiple times or even indefinitely. For it to continue to function effectively, it needs to be suitably maintained.
At a minimum, safety equipment needs to be checked before and after each use to ensure that it is still in working order. Assuming that it is, it needs to be cleaned and stored appropriately, following the manufacturers instructions. If it needs any repairs or maintenance, The items need to be quarantined and taken out of use for maintenance.
Safety equipment that has reached the end of its useful life should be disposed of promptly and in a sustainable manner. If it needs to be stored before disposal, it should stay in quarantine.
Ensure Regular Safety Training
Ensuring regular safety training is essential for demonstrating compliance with health and safety measures. It’s also vital for promoting a safety-first culture. In addition to role-specific training, workers can be shown safety measures examples to help them understand the fundamental principles of safe working.
To find out more about steel gantries and how they can help your lifting processes, please get in touch with SHEARFORCE today!
Image Sources: Canva
