Sunday, March 10, 2024
Injury records demonstrate the four hazards that cause the most injuries to construction workers. OSHA has designated these as the FOCUS FOUR and would like all construction workers to work together to make all of us aware of them and to mitigate them. We all can go home safe every day if watch out for ourselves and we watch out for those around us. Remember to always be aware of your surroundings. Use what you have been trained to do. 30-30-30. Every thirty minutes, take 30 seconds to look around you in at a least a 30-yard radius and look for hazards and what is happening around you. It is easy to get tunnel vision on what you are doing and lose track of what is happening around you. The FOCUS FOUR are FALLS, CAUGHT-IN-BETWEEN, STRUCK BY and ELECTROCUTION. Each week we will cover one of the FOCUS FOUR and I encourage you to talk about all these hazards with your co-workers, you peers, your crew members and your management.
The more we talk about them, the more discussions we have, the more aware we are all and the better chance we all have of going home safe. Make safety a real focus and part of the culture. Small things make a difference, don't have any meeting without discussing safety, don't start a day without discussing safety with the crew and doing a JHA, and don't assign or change a task without discussing safety. If every executive, director, manager, supervisor and employee did this daily, then everyone in the organization would be thinking about safety and focused on it. Being aware throughout the day is the biggest step we can take to get our people home safely every day.
Struck By: One of the leading causes of work-related deaths is contact with objects. This could include:
Struck against an object
Struck by an object
Caught in an object or equipment
Caught in collapsing material
Objects that fall, roll, fly, slide, slip and swing can do serious damage to a person. Construction workers hit by building materials, vehicles slipping off of jacks, loggers struck by trees – all have a high fatality rate, but all are preventable.
About 75% of struck-by fatalities involve heavy equipment, such as trucks or cranes, according to OSHA. Workers in agriculture, construction and manufacturing are most at risk, but firefighters, police, transportation employees, office workers and others also can count contact with objects in the top three causes of death and injury.
According to Injury Facts®, there have been about 700 workplace deaths due to these types of incidents every year for the past decade, and hundreds of thousands of injuries annually that involve days away from work. Check out the data details here.
These Injuries can be Prevented
Inattention to surroundings and being distracted can lead to injury, as does faulty equipment, lack of proper training, improper behavior by workers, or lack of workplace assessments and housekeeping.
Paying attention is vitally important for those operating machinery, as well as those working around it. NSC offers some additional tips employers and employees can use to help prevent injury from contact with objects:
- Check vehicles before use to make sure they are in safe operating condition
- Securely and neatly store loose materials
- Secure items that are stored at a height Store heavy objects close to the floor
- Open one filing cabinet drawer at a time to prevent a tip-over
- Wear the proper personal protective equipment for your environment, such as steel-toed shoes and a hard hat
- Always walk behind moving equipment if possible
- Never obstruct your vision by overloading moving equipment
- Only operate equipment you are properly trained to use
- Make sure all safety devices on your equipment are in good working order before use
- Use extra caution around corners and near doorways
- When large equipment is being operated, always make eye contact with the operator before approaching
- Secure all loads and lift them evenly to prevent them from slipping
When you are proactive and E Light provides proper education on job-specific hazards, conducts safety assessments, addresses gaps and provide corrective action, the risk of being struck by an object at work is dramatically reduced. Let's all work together to be safe and keep our friends and co-workers safe. Remember every day....Listen to the JHA briefing, ask questions, fill our your pre-task card while you are listening to the JHA, challenge people that enter your work area that were not in your JHA briefing and 30-30-30. Every 30 minutes, take 30 seconds to look all around you for 30 feet. Always know what is going on around you. If you see something unsafe.....say something.
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