Ways To Manage Slips, Trips & Falls At A Construction Site


Many workers are faced with injuries daily at their workstations due to slips, trips, and falls. Fortunately, these accidents can be reduced with the application of several measures. In most cases, these accidents cost the company a lot of money which include compensation fees.

An estimate of around 40% of accidents related to slips, trips, and falls occur due to negligence, especially when working at heights. This reflects the importance of the Construction Safety Orientation Course (CSOC) training, which is compulsory for every construction worker working in Singapore to attend. The course guides and teaches the construction workers on their responsibilities and prepares them for times of emergencies.

This is why the work at height course for workers is available to train your employees. They gain expert advice and skills on how to evade accidents when working at heights.

Before looking at the means of preventing these accidents, we need to focus on why they occur. Slips frequently happen when there is not enough grip on the floor. Friction and traction are significant on the floor to avoid slipping. It is either through enhancing the footwear or the floor. Whichever the case, some of the reasons why slips happen are due to loosen mats and rugs on the floor, oily or wet flooring, spills and weather hazards, as well as extra smooth floors that do not have enough traction and friction.

As for trips, they occur when your foot hits an object, and this leads to a loss of balance. Consequently, someone ends up falling. Some of the common causes of tripping include uneven flooring or walking surfaces, obstruction, uncovered wires and cables, clutters, uneven carpeting and lack of sufficient lighting.

Here are some useful and effective ways to reduce slips, trips, and falls on a construction site.

Decluttering and housekeeping 

You can never overemphasize cleanliness on a construction site. It is crucial to maintain clean surfaces at all times, as this will help to deter any potential accidents. If you are unable to do so, employ workers to clean the surfaces appropriately and then consider hiring a third-party company to do the job. Some of the housekeeping duties they will assist you with, comprise of cleaning all spills on the floor, marking wet areas, sweeping away all particles and debris, removing all obstacles on the floor and ensuring the orderliness of the construction site.

Without proper cleaning and housekeeping, changing the flooring and other items on the construction site is irrelevant.

Using appropriate flooring 

If the flooring at the construction site is inappropriate, consider changing it for a better design. The floor needs to be coarse and with high friction to prevent slipping and falls. You do not have to change the entire flooring. You can modify the surface by making it a little bit rougher. Since it is a construction site, you may even save more on recoating the floor with the availability of labour and resources.

Equipping staff with proper footwear

Do not let your employees get to work without the appropriate footwear. This may lead to trips and slips when working on the site. If they do not have the right and suitable shoes, you should equip them with a pair to prevent any accidents from taking place.

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