Common Construction Site Safety Violations

While it is important to stay within the budget and finish the project within the set timeline you should not do so at the expense of your worker’s safety. It is quite common for the people at construction work sites to have to deal with problems due to safety violations. These violations could be the result of project managers cutting corners due to scheduling and budgetary concerns or it could be because of untrained workers or simply laziness. No matter what the reason behind them is, you need to catch these safety violations and make sure to avoid them. The following are some of the most common and regularly occurring safety violations on construction work sites that you need to be on the lookout for.

Lack of Proper Fall Protection

Since falls are responsible for a huge number of construction worker deaths annually in the United States employers need to be more vigilant with fall protection. For almost a decade now inadequate fall protection has been the number one safety violation in the construction industry. Fall prevention is not possible without proper fall protection and you need to make sure that safety precautions such as guardrails and personal safety gear are always present and in place on worksites.

Inadequately Erected and Maintained Scaffoldings

Unfortunately, it is quite common for construction sites to have poorly erected and maintained scaffoldings. It is extremely important to have a competent individual overlooking the scaffolds. Neglecting scaffold inspections is a common construction site safety violation that often results in accidents on site. Make sure that your crew is aware of the general scaffold safety tips to avoid any accidents.

Misusing Ladders

It is quite common for workers to misuse ladders even though they are made for one specific purpose or task. You would not try to use hydraulic excavators to perform tasks that they are not made for so, you should also avoid misusing ladders. It is important to have all the right ladders present at work sites and the project manager should ensure that they are not being misused. 

Respiratory Protection

There are some construction activities during which respiratory protection is necessary. When you are breaking ground or demolishing a building there are a lot of toxic pollutants being released in the air that you need protection from. Failure to use respiratory protection in such cases can cause discomfort, health issues, or even severe lung damage. If you are going to be working around harmful chemicals or potentially dangerous dust you need to make sure that you are wearing appropriate PPE.