There are nearly 6.5 million people who work at around 252,000 construction sites across America each day. At these construction sites, accidents occur, which cause more fatal injuries than those in any other industry.
To help you learn how to prevent construction accidents, here are some tips from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
1. Check the safety of scaffolding equipment: Scaffold-related accidents result in around 50 deaths each year. Make sure that your scaffold is sound and strong enough to carry its own weight plus four times the maximum intended load without moving. It must be set-up on solid footing.
2. Have fall protection in place: Falls result in the highest number of construction fatalities. If you use guardrails, fall arrest systems, safety nets, covers and restraint systems, you can prevent many deaths and injuries from construction-related falls.
3. Inspect stairways and ladders: OSHA estimates that there are 24,882 injuries from falls on stairways and ladders. Make sure that your ladder’s load rating can support the weight of the user, including materials and tools. Stairway treads and ladder steps must be free of dangerous objects, slippery debris or materials that could cause falls.
4. Make sure workers are not near a crane in use: Often crane injuries occur when a worker is hit by an overhead load or caught within the crane’s swing radius. Do not move a load over workers and make sure you barricade accessible areas within the crane’s swing radius.
5. Wear safety protection: Serious injuries can occur if a worker is hit in the head, face, foot or back. Safety glasses or face shields should be worn whenever foreign objects could get in your eyes. Safety-toed footwear should be worn to prevent crushed toes when working around heavy equipment or falling objects. Hard hats should be worn when there is any potential risk of an object falling.
Often construction accidents occur due to the negligence of someone else. If you were the victim of a construction accident, contact the Law Office of W.T. Johnson today. We will help you get the justice you are entitled to.
