Top Ways to Increase Safety for Small Construction Businesses

Construction can be a lucrative and rewarding field, but it is fraught with potential safety hazards at any site. Even if your construction business is just taking off or starting to grow, there are some simple ways you can improve the safety protocols for yourself and your workers.

Involve the Workers

Every person has an interest in their own safety. However, you can increase this kind of awareness just by getting workers involved in the best practices on the site. Construction business managers should consider putting together a committee that deals specifically with accident concerns. If a manager already has an existing safety program in place, this committee can review it for any potential flaws and update it as needed. In addition to a committee, an action response team might be a good idea. Workers involved in shaping their own safety practices are more likely to take these protocols seriously.

Control Your Machines Remotely

Heavy equipment workers might use on a construction job can present a real danger and cause injury. One of the ways to stay safe on a job is to use radio remote controls whenever possible. These kinds of devices don’t need to be connected to equipment via cables. They will only react with a programmed receiving unit, and they should not interfere with other radio remotes nearby. Workers can control many aspects of construction equipment this way while remaining safe from some of the hazards the machines might present.

Keep Accounts

Both good and bad behavior in relation to safety is something a construction manager should record. Workers who attend meetings regularly, wear protective gear, and take proper precautions are people a construction owner can reward with incentives. Although rewards for an accident-free workplace over a certain number of days might seem like the obvious place to start, managers should consider other incentives first. Relying on an accident-free program could lead workers to underreport safety issues.

Communicate Daily

Things on a construction site can change from one day to the next. It’s important for business managers or a safety officer to conduct a thorough inspection of any site both before and after each workday. This kind of investigation will help reveal and problems that could present hazards the next day. Small business owners should make it clear that direct, effective communication of the day’s goals is important. Accidents are less likely to occur when everyone knows what to expect.

Safety in the small construction business is an important issue with many facets. However, it doesn’t have to be a needlessly complex or expensive part of your venture. A few of these simple yet effective tips can put business owners or managers on the road to a secure working environment.