Effective Ways to Reduce Accidents in the Construction Industry

Accidents happen, even if you think you’ve taken every precaution. Developing effective ways to reduce accidents in the construction industry should be a top priority of construction professionals, from the boss right on down to the newest member of the crew. This should also be a goal for people who don’t work the concrete ribbons or the big steel, but encounter a construction site while going about their everyday business.

What the Company Can Do to Create Effective Ways to Reduce Accidents in the Construction Industry

• Provide effective training.
• Provide adequate safety equipment and establish a no-exceptions rule to using it.
• Perform regular inspections/reviews of the site, equipment, maintenance records, and employee procedures.
• Equip all hazardous tools with appropriate safety guards.
• Provide safe, dry, and secure areas for equipment storage and maintenance.
• Adhere to local, state, and national safety regulations.

What the Crew Can Do

• When pulled off a job to participate in a training exercise, don’t complain—give the new procedure or refresher your full attention.
• Avoiding construction accidents means not using a piece of equipment on which you haven’t received training.
• Crew members who are sick should stay home or perform only low-risk tasks if taking any medications that make them sleepy or dizzy.
• If a work area needs guardrails, handholds, non-slip surfaces to walk on, or barriers to reroute traffic, workers should inform supervisors of the situation.
• Be aware of the hazards of working on or around dangerous areas such as raised scaffolding, open trenches, and machinery with exposed moving parts.
• Watch not only your own back but keep an eye out for your coworkers as well.

What the General Public Can Do

• Speed limits are often lowered in road construction zones. Avoiding construction accidents means staying within the posted speed limit and keeping an eye out for workers who often must do their jobs a few feet or less from lanes of moving traffic.
• Whether driving or walking, respect temporary barriers that have been set up to protect not only the construction workers but you as well. Don’t be “that guy” who was too impatient to take an alternate route to your destination.

Coming up with effective ways to reduce accidents in the construction industry takes a combined effort. Call us at (210) 226-8888 if someone dropped the ball and you wound up hurt and are in the San Antonio area.

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