While managing a construction site, it’s imperative that your workers remain safe. Failure to do this could lead to injuries and even death. In fact, statistics gathered from 2015 found that nearly 4,836 employees were killed on the job. In order to avoid these serious problems, it’s helpful to follow a few important safety tips. With that in mind, here are six tips for ensuring road construction workers remain safe.
- Implement Safety Meetings Before the Day Begins
Construction workers know that one small change can greatly affect their current project. With that in mind, it’s wise to hold daily meetings with your employees. During these meetings, it’s wise to go over important safety tips. In addition, these meetings are great opportunities to ensure everyone has their required gear before work begins. - Ensure Workers Wear High Visibility Clothing
Statistics show that the average construction worker or laborer takes an estimated total of 30,000 steps each day. This is 20,000 more steps than the average person. Considering how much construction workers walk, it’s important they remain visible. High visibility workwear is brightly colored, ensuring your workers remain visible to other workers and people driving through your construction zone. There are many types of this clothing available including high visibility jackets and pants. - Keep Plenty of Water on Hand
Dehydration is a condition that happens when someone isn’t drinking enough water. The side effects of dehydration can range from mild to severe. Therefore, it’s wise to take care of this problem before it starts happening. Unfortunately, it’s often difficult for someone to realize they’re dehydrated until severe side effects start to kick in. In order to avoid this, you’ll want to have plenty of water on hand for your workers. In addition, it’s smart to allow workers to take a break every now and then to stay hydrated. - Control Traffic with Warning Signs
One of the main dangers for road construction workers is other drivers. Therefore, it’s best to set up plenty of signs leading up to your construction zone. These signs warn drivers that they need to reduce their speeds. Without these signs, drivers are likely to speed through your construction site which is extremely dangerous. Considering that, it’s imperative that drivers know to slow down and approach your road construction area with caution. - Don’t Allow Employees to Walk in Blind Spots
Throughout many road construction sites, large machines and automobiles help workers complete their tasks. That being said, your workers must remain aware of blind spots. Blind spots are areas where drivers simply can’t see who or what is near them. With that in mind, your workers will likely need to communicate with others driving these vehicles. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure that workers outside of vehicles or machinery can easily see those operating these types of equipment. High visibility jackets work well to ensure that your employees remain visible to others. - Protecting the Hearing of Your Workers
Many workers needing to fix roads will utilize various types of construction equipment. While this type of machinery allows workers to finish a construction job, these machines are awfully loud. Statistics show that sounds louder than 85 decibels are known to cause permanent hearing loss. Therefore, you’ll want to ensure that workers have access to earplugs.
To summarize, it’s imperative that construction workers remain safe while working on roads. In order to accomplish this goal, you’ll want to partner with a safety uniform supplier. This supplier will help ensure that your construction team has everything needed to work in a safe manner. Having high visibility jackets and other types of clothing on hand allows each worker to remain safe while completing roadway construction tasks.