Work zones come with inherent dangers, but your company can reduce the risks at a work zone by using safety equipment. Make sure your company has an ample supply of this essential safety-related work zone equipment, and people on job sites will be exposed to less danger as a result.
Signs Declaring the Work Zone
Signage is perhaps the most important safety-related work zone equipment, for no equipment is better at protecting accidents than basic awareness is — and signs help make people aware of a work zone and its particular dangers.
There are many different types of work zone signs available. Depending on the location and scope of your company's projects, you might need:
- Roadwork signs
- Construction signs
- Hazard-specific signs
- Instructional signs
When determining whether your company has sufficient signage, ask yourself whether the signs and their location make people aware of the site, detail any particular dangers at the site and explain what people near the site must do.
For example, a roadwork zone might have safety signs leading up to the work zone that explain what to expect, signs that mention lane changes or narrow shoulders, and signs that tell drivers how fast they can go through the site.
Cones Bordering Specific Areas
Cones are also widely useful safety-related work zone equipment, and they typically complement signs. Cones aren't as detailed as signs, but safety cones are extremely noticeable because they're typically bright orange and sometimes reflective.
On a job site, cones are especially helpful in demarking borders fo specific areas. They might mark where non-workers shouldn't go, like when cones are used to cordon off part of a road that drivers need to steer around. Alternatively, cones can mark off an especially hazardous area within a job site, such as the location where a crane will set an object that's being lifted.
Cones can also be used to alert workers and site visitors to specific hazards. You can have cones placed near open holes and exposed pipes, for example, to reduce the risk of someone tripping over these as they work.
Hardhats Covering Everyone's Heads
Some of the most dangerous objects at a work site are overhead items that can fall, and the most important part of the body to protect is the head. This combination makes hardhats absolutely necessary safety-related work zone equipment.
Make sure every employee on a job site is wearing a hardhat, and keep a few extras at each job site for any visitors who need to inspect the work area.
it is interesting that, as a society, we have decided to lump so many different jobs and trades under the umbrella term of "contracting." One person could use the work contractor to refer to someone who is framing a new building. Another person could use the word "contractor" to refer to someone who was painting walls. Don't even get us started on the term "construction worker." That one's pretty vast, too!
Since we realized we cannot possible say everything we want to say about construction and contractors in a few paragraphs, we decided to write a blog. And if you are reading this right now, you've found it. Please stick around and read a bit!