Keeping an eye on safety

In the past, people have been forced to work in very bad conditions, sometimes because there was just no other way and other times because that was the standard. Things have changed in the 20th century and working conditions have considerably gone up. The law regulates the rules of working conditions with a bit more focus on safety and the workers health. This leaves fewer places where employers can exploit workers in order to save a few bucks.

Can safety save your budget?

Another great change has occurred. Thanks to statistical analysis, all the industries which have a hazardous workplace label on them have a better perspective of the whole situation. They are now aware that, in the long run, accidents cost much, much more than regulating safety. They have also noted the fall of effectiveness and work quality in situations when workers feel ill at ease. The law has much harsher punishments for those who do not abide by them and in some severe cases this kind of behavior can be sanctioned by a complete shutdown of a project for an indefinite amount of time. Basically, in the worst case scenario, you lose a worker (or workers), have damage to your equipment, your project is shut down and you lose money due to paying fines. We didn’t even talk about lawsuits so far.
Not only can safety save your budget, it is one of the essential elements you have to pay attention to if you are in a more dangerous industry. You really can’t afford not to.

Safe construction sites

The construction industry tops the charts when it comes to annual accident rates in both injury and mortality categories. This is why I have chosen to talk about construction safety, since it is one of the harder environments to control, it is a perfect example of how you can put up a valid fight for your workers safety and the safety of you business.
There are many reasons why construction work is that dangerous. One of them is the fact that it includes operating heavy machinery, sometimes in very hard conditions. It also includes working in large groups and thus it requires a great synergy between the workers. Sometimes this is hard to achieve due to, for one, the fact that it is physically demanding work and on top of it all it is conducted in an environment that constantly changes. It is a lot to handle but it is not impossible.

There are cases in which there is nothing anybody can do, since accidents happen in homes let alone on a construction site but a lot of things can be avoided with good organization and diligence.

Equipment – Providing your workers with the right type of safety gear and enforcing its use is crucial for construction site safety. This way, you are making sure that they have the proper equipment to handle any task and even if an accident does occur, they are protected from injury to some extent.

Tools and machinery check up – A lot of times accidents are caused by tools and vehicles that break down. Not doing regular checkups on your equipment is something that is a very bad idea. Not only do you avoid stops in work due to a malfunction and worker injury, but you also ensure that they last longer so you can save on buying new equipment. Be reasonable though and when the time comes, don’t avoid replacing a faulty piece of equipment.

Site Safety Plan – Having a site safety plan is something you have to have when you are working on a project that has a budget of 50,000$ or more but it doesn’t hurt to have one even when working on smaller projects. This document contains all the necessary information on site safety and will help you manage all the dangerous elements and keep track of everything that has been done and the things that need to be done.

Worker education and worker experience – Since this is a joint effort, you have to make sure all the workers are aware of the risks, so they can identify and avoid them. This is achieved through organizing education seminars which are obligatory for all the workers and members of the staff. Situations like these can help you get better insight into their perspective and you can learn from their experience what you could change in order to ensure better safety.

The bottom line is – safety pays off

No matter how you spin it, it is true. Whether we are talking about saving on fines and lawsuits or finishing faster in order to continue work on another project, you can always be sure that safety is part of your success.