Health and safety is a concern for any business, but in the construction industry, it’s something that you have to think about constantly. It’s a dangerous industry and there are plenty of opportunities for people to get injured, which can be very costly to your business. If somebody is injured, it’s likely that you will lose an employee for a while and you may have to cease work while an investigation is carried out. That lost time means lost money, and there is a chance that you will be subject to a fine if you were not following health and safety procedures properly. So, it’s important that you keep your employees safe at all times. These are some of the best ways to avoid injuries in a construction business.
Train Employees Properly
The most important thing you can do is make sure that all of your employees are trained properly. You need to invest in site safety training courses for all of your employees, no matter how experienced they are. People get into bad habits over time and that can lead to injuries, so even if people have a lot of experience working on a construction site, they could still benefit from regular training. It’s a good idea to carry out training on a regular basis to refresh people’s memories and make sure that they are always following health and safety procedures to the letter.
Invest In The Right Equipment
Modern construction equipment tends to have better safety features than older models, so it’s worth upgrading. When you are buying new equipment, you should always look at the safety features and factor that into your decision. It’s worth paying a bit more for something that is safer for your employees to use. If you are buying second hand to save a bit of money, make sure that you check things over properly to ensure that they are in good working order and there will not be any dangerous malfunctions once you start using it.
Wear The Right Protective Clothing
The right protective clothing is vital on a construction site. If your employees are not wearing it, they are most likely in breach of health and safety regulations and you could get a big fine. But more importantly, things like hard hats and goggles can be the difference between a fatal injury and a minor one. Protective clothing is there for a reason, so make sure people are wearing it.
Keep First Aid On Site
No matter what you do, injuries are always a possibility on a construction site so it’s important that you are prepared for them if they do happen. That’s why you need a well stocked first aid kit on site at all times. You should also make sure that at least a few of your employees are first aid trained. If you only have one first aid trained worker, what happens if they are the one that gets injured?
If you follow this advice, you can reduce the chance of an accident on site and protect your construction business.
