4 Vital Roles Of Safety Consultants On Construction Sites
Are you worried about safety on your construction site? Hundreds of preventable accidents happen on construction sites across the country, resulting in bodily harm to the workers and high compensation costs for the project owners. You can avoid these mishaps and accidents by hiring a safety consultant for your construction projects. Safety consultants are professionals knowledgeable in safety standards for different work environments. They ensure that the work environment is safe and that people are trained on, and comply with, safety measures. What role do they play in construction site safety management?
1. Safety Inspection and Compliance
Each employer or contractor is mandated to keep a safe workplace. The most prevalent safety regulations are by the Occupational Safety and Health Association. But there are also workplace safety regulations and codes by different federal and state authorities.
Safety consultants inspect for compliance with these safety standards and regulations. On a construction site, they will evaluate:
- Fall protection
- Hazardous energy protection
- Personal protective gear including respiratory, eye, and face protection
- Machine safety, including moving machinery like heavy trucks
- Proper hazard communication
A safety consultant can point out areas where the workplace does not comply and recommend remedial measures. The inspection also evaluates safety knowledge by the crew and management alike. They identify gaps where training is required for different roles on the site.
Besides mitigating the threat of serious accidents, it helps avoid legal problems from non-compliance when the authorities come for an inspection.
2. Develop Safety Manuals
Although there are general safety standards, each construction site is a unique environment, and safety measures must be relevant. Therefore, a safety consultant will develop a safety manual that is unique to the present workplace. These manuals outline issues, such as safety training for different roles on the construction site, hazard communication, and fire escape routes.
These safety manuals become the reference for safety matters when the construction site is operational. They help the construction crew internalize safety issues.
3. Conduct Regular Safety Training
People can only comply if they have been properly trained. Safety consultants conduct safety training sessions to instruct the crew on safety standards if they have never been trained before. They also conduct refresher trainings to keep the knowledge updated. A safety consultant will also conduct safety drills to assess how well safety training has been internalized.
4. Investigate Safety Incidents
If an accident happens on a construction site, the safety consultant will investigate to find out the cause of the accident. In addition, they will check whether safety measures were observed, and if not, the steps that can be taken to enforce observation to avoid further accidents.
Would you like to maintain a perfect safety record on your construction site? Talk to a safety consultant about your safety concerns.