Improving safety around lifting equipment is the key to reducing injuries and accidents on your construction site. Lifting equipment ranges from heavy machinery such as cranes and forklifts to height safety equipment such as harnesses. If you don't take care, heavy machinery can drop materials mid-air and cause injuries. Also, height safety equipment can snap or break and cause fall accidents.
You can maximise equipment safety on your construction site by following these tips:
Inspect Equipment Before Every Lift
It's normal to assume that since you inspected your crane yesterday, it is still in excellent condition today. However, this isn't always the case. During lifting tasks, some parts of the equipment may develop faults. Progressing to the following day's work without inspecting the machinery can prove catastrophic.
Thus, make a point of inspecting equipment before every lift. If you are the site manager, you can designate the role to an individual on the site to ensure it's done meticulously every day. Also, educate your workers on the importance of inspecting their personal protective equipment before working at heights.
Check Equipment After Accidents
Accidents occur on construction sites all the time. It could be something as simple as the forklift colliding with a wall as it lifts large objects from one place to another. No matter how incidental they may be, accidents can cause damage to equipment, which can consequently jeopardise safety on the site. For example, in the case of the forklift, if the impact causes the equipment to malfunction, it can quickly drop loads mid-air and cause catastrophic accidents.
Since you may not be present to witness every incident on the site, train your workers to give the equipment a quick check after an accident. They should ascertain that the damage won't pose any dangers to workers on the site. If it does, the equipment should be shut down immediately for repairs.
Service Lifting Equipment Regularly
Both lifting machinery and personal equipment require regular services to enhance performance and reduce accidents on the site. For pieces of machinery such as forklifts, cranes, hoists, hydraulic elevators and others, inspect them thoroughly, lubricate moving parts and look out for loose parts.
Personal equipment should be checked for tears or points of weakness that could jeopardise one's safety when working at heights. If possible, engage a lifting equipment inspection service to ensure all the crucial parts get thorough checks.
Safety should be a priority on your construction site. Follow these tips to ensure safety when working near or with lifting equipment to avoid fatal injuries and accidents during the project.