Working in a road construction site comes with lots of potential hazards. Every year, thousands of workers on these sites are involved in accidents, with some losing their lives as a result.
To keep everyone involved in a road construction project safe, contractors need to make sure they brush up on road construction safety before commencing work. Here are a few basic tips to enhance safety when involved in such a project.
1. Invest in portable traffic lights.
Strategically placed portable traffic lights that you can purchase from traffic control equipment suppliers can help regulate the flow of traffic in the work site. In many cases, when there are road works, vehicles from the two directions are forced to share a single lane and must take turns to do so.
Traffic lights help control which cars must stop and which ones must go, ensuring that there’s a smooth flow and keeping everyone safe.
2. Provide appropriate gear.
Everyone working on the road site needs to have the right gear to keep them safe at all times. It is especially important that all people wear high visibility clothing.
Go for reflective or fluorescent clothes, vests armbands and so on. Protective clothes should be supplied too, including hats, eyewear, footwear, respiratory wear, gloves, and ear wear.
3. Provide regular security updates.
Every day, prior to commencing work, it is important that you hold a quick safety update to keep every member of the crew aware of any new changes on conditions on the work site.
If there are any shift new shifts, you need to do the same. Use these sessions to brush up on any personal protective equipment requirements.
4. Operate equipment carefully.
A significant number of injuries and fatalities reported during road works come from accidents caused by contact with equipment. That’s why you need to insist on careful use of all equipment and machinery on site.
First of all, all machinery needs to be operated by people with sufficient skills to operate them. Make sure that people don’t stand under hanging equipment like buckets or arms. People need to wear seat belts when operating vehicles.
5. Have experienced spotters on the site.
Spotters are personnel responsible for looking out for danger. They help spot any potential hazards and alert the crew before accidents happen.
Make sure that your spotters know where to stand, as well as which gestures they need to use. These gestures need to be well understood by other members of the team.
6. Improve visibility around the worksite.
It is highly important that the entire work area is as visible to every member of the team as possible. If you’ll be working in the evening, early morning, or in the night, you’ll need to have additional work lighting so your crew can see their surroundings properly. Make use of your spotters too if working on conditions of low visibility.
Conducting road works poses significant safety challenges, especially when the site is a busy highway. By putting in place the right measures, however, you can keep your team safe and go on to complete the project smoothly.