Employment

How Construction Companies Keep Their Workers Safe

At some point, most people have had a construction or home improvement company do work on their home. While the task at hand for the company is of utmost importance, there is another factor that is equally, if not more critical. This factor is safety, and its important to make sure that the company you hire puts safety at the top of the list next to your project. The last thing you want is a worker falling off the roof because he wasn't properly prepared to be up there. Here are a few ways that construction companies ensure that their workers are using safety precautions when working.

Certifications

Construction workers need to get trained in Occupational Safety and Health. Having this certification means that they have been trained in how to safely work in a construction environment, what to do in the case someone is injured and that they understand how to work the equipment they operate. These are all important to be trained in because you don't want to put someone else or yourself at risk of being injured because you didn't know what you were doing. A good thing to ask companies when looking for someone to hire is if all their workers are trained in safety and health. If not, you should keep looking.

Another area that employees should be trained in is how to deal with pre-1978 homes that may still contain lead. Lead paint chips used to be thought of as the most hazardous, but in fact lead dust is due to the fact that it can be easily ingested. When working in a situation that involves lead, construction workers need to be trained in how to contain it so that it doesn't get inhaled by people. If you are having work done on a house that may contain lead, make sure the company you hire has its employees lead certified. They should have no excuse to not be because it's a one-day training course on how to work on and renovate pre-1978 homes.

On The Job Safety

safety-at-workConstruction companies should have safety at the top of their priorities whenever working on a project. Again, the last thing you want to happen is someone falling off your roof because they didn't take proper precaution when they got up there. This is where being certified in occupational health and safety comes in handy. The company also should have a training course for its employees on the procedures for ensuring safety. By doing both of those things, the employees should understand all the necessary precautions they need to take when working on a home.

Some precautions that construction workers should take when working on a home are:

  • Wearing safety glasses and gloves when cutting materials or working with sharp tools.
  • Having a first aid kit handy in the case someone gets injured. A fire extinguisher should also be on site.
  • Hard hats should be worn at all times.
  • When working on the roof, secure ladders and use a rope and harness to avoid major injury if you fall.
  • Close off the area where work is being done. This will help keep people who shouldn't be there out of it.

Completing a project in a safe, timely manner is the goal for every construction company. When looking to hire one, you should do your research to see if the company does good work, but you should also find out if the company has had safety issues in the past, such as on site injuries or taking shortcuts when it comes to working safely. If you ask questions and are thorough, then you probably won't have anyone falling off a roof or injuring themselves.

Ryan G. is the owner of Cameo Construction, a home construction contractor in Columbia, Mo, serving the Mid-Mo region.

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