Friday, March 18, 2016

Ladder Safety Tips at Construction Sites

Ladders are essential part of height works, mostly used at construction sites. Several accidents occur due to falling from ladders. Hence it is essential to remember ladder safety tips during height work. These are also used in houses for home improvement works. The injuries that people sustain from ladder falls are often serious. Before starting work, it is also essential to give proper ladder training to your workers associated with this work. In order to help improve safety standards for ladder users, it is important to know what the main causes of falls from ladders are. Remember it is always a great risk to work on elevated areas; you may fall down and get some serious injury. So be careful about safety tips while working on ladder. You can minimize the risk of any breakage by simply balancing your posture and maintaining the ladder you are using. However there are some descriptions as well as some important points that may help you in a better way to get rid of this problem.
The first thing you have to follow is inspection of the ladder. Make sure that it is free from any type of liquid. This liquid may be some oil or water spill. However, make sure to minimize the risk of any slippage and serious injury afterward. Place it on plain surface making right angle with the wall. If the ladder is not positioned correctly then it may slip and you may fall down. Moreover, if you are using portable ladder then it may fold beneath you. The ladder base should about one quarter of the height of ladder away from base of wall i.e. twelve foot ladder should be three feet away from wall. If the ladder base distance is any less than one quarter away from wall, the risk of the ladder falling backwards increases. Remember, not to use bricks, boxes, etc. to raise the height of ladders to make them gorilla ladder. Keep your body centered 'between the rails' of your little giant ladder. Wear shoes with 'non-skid soles'. Do not wear 'leather-soled' shoes; they can be slippery. Don't use ladders in passageways, doorways, driveways or other locations where a person or vehicle can hit it. Set up suitable barriers or lock doors shut. Avoid pushing or pulling stepladders from the side. Repeated sideways movement can make ladders wobbly since they are weaker or less stable in those directions. These are some important tips that can help when you work with ladders.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Confined Space Training to Work Safe

Confined space working area may be available at different construction sites. These are also assumed to be a part of construction work. Yet workers may face confined space work in many major field of life. To work at such work places, a pan should be maintained for execution of all work and activities. Several hazards are also present at these places, hence be ensure to remove all these hazards from the work site before starting the project. Always make a master plan. Since working at these types of work is always dangerous hence permission should be taken to start work. Workers also should get Confined Space Training to work safely.  

Ladders are also important when you work on confined spaces. Hence it is also important to take ladder training. The training will help you to improve your skills. With safety trainings, organizations can easily draft an efficient fire emergency plan. Confined space training equips workers with the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure safe entry to confined spaces, including such precautions as testing of air quality, forced ventilation, proper observation and monitoring of workers.  Safety trainings will tell you that it is important to always treat any fire alarm as real emergency. Another important factor that must be considered is the meeting place. During emergencies, occupants must have a designated place so that everyone will be accounted for after evacuation. Of course, it should be away from the building. Oxygen-deficient atmospheres in confined spaces have less than 19.5 percent available oxygen, which means no persons should ever enter without the appropriate protective gear. Never use pure oxygen for ventilating a confined area. Use normal air supply only. Flammable atmospheres can also present a potential safety hazard for construction workers in confined spaces. Accidental injury and death related to working in and near a confined space often occurs as a result of standby and rescue. Sewers, trenches, pits, and storage tanks are some examples of such types of spaces & when you are going to work on these paces take some precautions. Workers working in these areas should be equipped with all safety equipments.

Finally, use ventilating equipment whenever possible to maintain the oxygen level between 19.5 and 23.5%. Toxic gases and vapors, if present should also be kept to within acceptable levels. Nearly two thirds of confined space deaths result from attempted rescues. Workers are to work in a buddy system, to designate another worker to remain outside the confined space to monitor the work, and to provide rescue when required.