The 6 main dangers of construction sites!
Construction sites are considered the most potentially dangerous and accident-prone parts of any work environment. Excessive exposure to these construction site hazards exposes workers to injury and possible death. To avoid this, a business must know how to identify and be aware of all potential hazards that may be encountered during normal business operations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) wants all employees to have a solid understanding of their susceptibility to harm or injury in the workplace.
Listed below are the top six construction site hazards identified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA):
- Electricity: Electricity is one of the greatest dangers to people, whether at home or at work. Power line workers, electricians, and electrical engineers work with electricity all the time and can be exposed to this hazard on a daily basis. On the construction site, the best way to prevent this type of hazard is for power line workers to be a safe working distance from power lines. Other precautionary measures include monitoring and isolating the vehicle from which they can work. This would help prevent electrical hazards from injuring them while they work.
- Excavation and Trenching: OSHA has recognized excavation and trenching as the most dangerous construction operation. From 2000 to 2006, the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics (USBLS) recorded 271 worker deaths in trenches and cave-ins. These hazards are preventable, but injuries related to these hazards are still happening. Both employer and employee must follow safety rules and wear protective equipment to minimize the dangers when trenching and digging.
- Falls – Falling from a scaffold over six feet or a fixed ladder over twenty feet is the most dangerous and common hazard on construction sites. Falls from high places such as ladders, scaffolding, and roofs account for more than fifty percent of accidents that occur in the workplace. The usual cause of this incident is slipping, tripping and using unstable ladders. There are myriad reasons for fall hazards and to eliminate such hazards, employers should have a fall protection program as part of any overall workplace safety and health program. Workers must be trained to identify and assess fall hazards and be fully aware of how to control exposure to such hazards, as well as know how to properly use fall protection equipment.
- Ladders and ladders – According to OSHA’s construction safety and health standards, ladders and ladders are major sources of injuries and fatalities among construction workers. These recorded injuries are serious enough to put a worker on sick leave. OSHA recorded approximately 24,882 injuries and 36 deaths per year related to falls from ladders and ladders used on the construction site. To prevent such accidents and injuries, employers and employees must comply with OSHA’s general rule for the safe use of ladders and ladders.
- Scaffolding – Each year, approximately 60 workers are killed by falling from scaffolding; one in five falls on construction sites is fatal. The greatest potential risk from scaffolding is due to the moving components of the scaffold; scaffold failure related to damage to its components; load loss; being struck by suspended materials; electric shock; and incorrect configuration. Construction workers who erect and dismantle scaffolding and work platforms on construction sites are at risk of serious injury from falls. Scaffold hazard is addressed in established OSHA standards. They give specific requirements for maximum load, when to use scaffolding, bracing and the use of guardrails.
- Heavy Construction Equipment – Approximately 100 construction workers are killed each year by heavy construction equipment. The main causes of such accidents include: ground workers struck when a vehicle backs up or changes direction; equipment rollovers that insult the operator; mechanics run over each other when the brakes are not set properly; and ground workers crushed by falling equipment from backhoes, buckets, and other moving construction vehicles. To prevent this type of hazard, workers must follow all necessary construction safety guidelines to eliminate exposure to such injuries and accidents.
Safety risks on the construction site are unavoidable; however, these can be prevented by educating workers on how to identify hazards that may be present in the workplace. The employer must establish adequate safety standards that meet the maximum requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This will ensure that workers have a safe working environment during normal operation.
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of construction site hazards; however, these top six items are certainly important that all construction site employers need to be aware of and continually work to prevent from happening.
