Two Safety Precautions That Must Be Taken on Building Sites
Due to the hazardous nature of building sites, there are many safety precautions that must be taken when working in this type of environment. Read on to discover what these precautions are.
Check the scaffolding after any alterations are made to it
Sometimes, a scaffold that has been erected on a building site may need to be altered; the labourers might, for example, need to extend the width or the height of this structure in order to gain access to a different part of the building to which the scaffold is attached.
If or when these type of alterations are made to the scaffolding on a construction site, a person who has undergone scaffolding training should check the newly-altered scaffold to ensure that the alterations were performed correctly.
The reason for this is that any alterations to this structure that are carried out haphazardly could compromise the stability of the entire scaffold. If an extra platform is added to the top of the scaffolding and this platform was installed in such a way that its weight is not evenly distributed across the load-bearing supportive components underneath it, the parts of the scaffold that are bearing too much weight might collapse.
This could then lead to workers on the scaffold, as well as those standing on the ground near this structure, being crushed by the falling debris.
Place a portable partition around parts of the site where extremely noisy equipment is being used
The noisy equipment that often needs to be used on building sites (like chainsaws, jackhammers and welding machines) can inflict irreparable damage on the ears of those in the vicinity of this equipment. This damage may come in the form of tinnitus or hearing loss.
This is why when people on a site are asked to use this equipment, they will usually be given a set of earmuffs, to prevent the sound produced by the equipment from entering their ear canals and causing damage. This is an effective way to protect these individuals from the aforementioned hearing issues.
However, labourers who are not directly involved with the use of this equipment and who do not, therefore, have any protective earmuffs, can also develop hearing problems if they get too close to this equipment.
This is why, when noisy equipment needs to be used, the area in which they will be operated should be sectioned off (with a portable partition) so that access to this area is limited to those who have the right type of safety gear.