The 21stcentury has brought high-quality equipment for all types of work, which needs to be performed at heights. However, numerous risks still exist. No matter which machines your company hires for its purposes, it’s important to give employees proper training.
It’s possible to avoid numerous risks just by being prepared. Let’s discuss the top 4 dangers of working at heights and ways to prevent them.
- Trips And Falls
Window washers, painters, and construction workers are often exposed to the conditions of uneven terrain, unused materials, and buildings at different stages of construction completion. If the worker is distracted, all of the above can cause serious injuries. The leading cause of trips and falls at all high-rise objects is the lack of fall protection. Employers and managers must provide all workers with proper fall protection systems. Even the best equipment with high guardrails can’t protect a worker from falling. Personal fall arrest systems are a “must have” for all employees.
- Electrocutions
Working at construction sites often exposes people to unprotected wiring, power lines, and damaged electrical systems. Even though the chance of being electrocuted is small due to proper markings, the lack of attention may lead to fatal outcomes.
The simple way to protect a worker is to hand out hard hats. Head protection can save the worker from flying objects as well as from accidently touching the unprotected wiring. Hard hats must be inspected before each use and replaced immediately if damaged.
- Falling And Flying Objects
Many injuries occur due to falling tools or construction materials. All workers must be equipped with hard hats and personal fall arrest systems in order to keep the damage to a minimum. Some teams use a safety monitoring system, which involves a person identifying the hazards and warning the team members of potentially dangerous spots.
Each construction site should have a protection plan where all the hazardous zones are marked. It will restrict access to the places, where only specially trained people should be working.
- Getting Trapped
When working on a construction site, employees are at a danger of being caught between dangerous objects. It could be construction materials and equipment, machinery, collapsing beams, and more.
The only way to prevent this danger is to check all the servicing equipment and familiarize the workers with possible hazards of the site. Workers should learn to keep their focus at all times since the lack of attention can lead to injuries.
