Construction work can be dangerous. Each job site is unique and presents its own challenges and ensuring that construction workers have the essentials is key.
You’ve probably heard of all the workplace accidents occurring. If you’re a business owner of a construction company, poor safety protocols can eat at your profits, significantly reduce productivity and even incur hefty fines for safety violations.
In this guide, we’ll cover the various essentials you’ll need to ensure your workers bring onto the job site for proper safety management.
Portable Power Station
Virtually everything we use on a job site, from battery chargers, and compressors to computers and fax machines, requires electricity. All job sites require power, whether provided by a temporary electrical service or a portable power station. A portable power station can therefore be considered an essential tool for construction workers to use.
A portable power station serves as a distribution unit to distribute power from the generator to all your electrical needs, like power tools and other devices. They’re suitable for outdoor and indoor use and typically protect against electrical shock.
Portable power stations are especially useful in temporary needs like job sites, off-grid operations, and disaster recovery. Depending on the unit, these power stations can use different fuel sources like gas, diesel, or even solar.
While many construction companies use permanent utility power or generator power, it’s not uncommon for the job site to be located far away from access to grid power. Therefore, using stand-alone portable units can be an excellent source of temporary job site power.
Personal Protective Equipment
As a construction worker, wearing a hard hat isn’t enough. It begins with using personal protective equipment to reduce various risks, such as:
- Prevent physical injuries
- Exposure to dangerous bacteria
- Absorption of chemical irritants
- The spread of germs
Always ensure your workers are maintaining their own protective gear. This keeps all the equipment clean and in good condition while preventing the spread of harmful bacteria.
Job Site Radio or Two-Way Radio
Carrying your cell phone might not be safe at your job site. Two-way radios are perfect for communicating with workers, especially outside your zone. They’re a durable, sturdy, and easy-to-use solution. It lets you stay connected with the construction site manager or other members of the team.
Additionally, having a job-site radio can be helpful when you want to listen to music or tune into various radio frequencies while at work. Jobsite radios are typically heavy-duty while providing long battery life and portability.
First-Aid Kit
Most accidents, when dealt with quickly, can be prevented from escalating into downright emergencies that may call for serious care like time missed working or hospitalization.
Make sure to have a first-aid kit with you at your job site. Items that you should consider bringing are:
- Adhesive tape
- Burn dressings
- Sterile gauze dressing
- Eyewash and eye baths
- Wipes
- Plasters
Protective Clothing
As construction workers, you’ll spend many hours out in the sun. Other times, you’ll be in the bitter cold, rain, or snow. Combining this with other hazards innate to the industry, you’ll need protective and comfortable clothing to keep you safe on-site.
Work boots are essential for anyone who spends enormous amounts of time on a construction site. With risks of slips, falls, punctures and caught-betweens, reliable and sturdy work boots will serve you well. Make sure the boots are electric and slip-resistant, waterproof, insulated, and have a welted sole.
Additionally, consider rugged clothing. This includes rugged jeans and rain jackets to help protect you when the temperature drops below freezing.
Also, base layers are essential to working comfortably on a job site. Consider long sleeve shirts and long underwear. Wear the right types of socks for the conditions as well. Woold blended socks are warm, while cotton socks are the most comfortable. Polyester is perfect for extremely hot days.
Construction Safety Tools
As technology has advanced, there are plenty of safety tools that workers can use to gain more awareness and detect potential hazards that may come up. Let’s look at a few of these tools taht form part of the essentials for construction workers:
- Mini wireless camera: Some cameras are designed specifically for the construction site. They allow crane operators to have greater situational awareness of what’s happening under and around their cab for enhanced visibility.
- Voltage detector: It’s a device you wear around your neck, which informs you if energized equipment or electrical fields are present. When the device beeps, you’ll know if you are near any deadline electrical fields.
Wrapping It Up
There’s no doubt that staying safe on a construction job site is vital. That’s why the Associated Builders and Contractors association invested $1.6 billion in workforce education. Whether you’re in residential or commercial construction, it’s common to incur injuries like strains, cuts, fractures, and cruises, which may require days from work (typically without pay) to recover. Having the essentials for construction workers could have avoided this.
Improving job site safety requires crafting a plan and continually educating your staff about potential risks.
We hope you’ve found our tips helpful in developing a safer workplace environment.
