NJIT Safety Gear Usage Discussion and Responses

Based on studies which indicate the major safety issues, such as falls or being hit, what can be done to make sure the labor force on a construction project use their safety gear?

It is important that you understand how important safety is on a job site and that knowing and understanding the accidents that can happen may help people to stay safe in the future.  

comment I have gotten to see this first hand by working on projects for a big general contractor and for a small contractor. When I worked for a small general contractor on a small project, it was very hard to get anyone to wear PPE, even though the leadership always had PPE on. Since nothing was being built like a structure (it was an parking lot) the workers really didnt feel like they were in danger at all. I think it was also hard to get workers to wear ppe because there was no disciplinary action from the subcontractor leadership or from my company’s leadership. It kinda seemed like nobody cared. I think one thing that would be done is to have a conversation with the foreman and the project managers of the subcontractors that are on site and make sure that they understand how important PPE is. I think another thing that needs to be present is disciplinary action for those who do not wear PPE. When I worked on a large hospital project for skanska, every single person always wore PPE, despite how dangerous there job was. This was because they knew that if someone from Skanska saw them without PPE then they would immediately be kicked off site and the subcontractor could be kicked off the job if one of their workers wasn’t wearing PPE. Even though this seems cruel and harsh, I think that action is one of the only ways to get people to wear PPE because if there is no fear of disciplinary action then nothing will ever change. Usually conversations are not enough because laborers will simply not listen to you. I think another major thing is that the safety needs to be stated from the beginning of the project. The general contractor needs to set the standard from the very beginning that safety equipment is important. I think sometimes the GC can be a little easy at first and slack off, this will inevitably lead to people taking advantage of the GC’s niceness

On a construction site of a project, construction workers face a wide range of risks and safety hazards, such as falls or being hit. Because of the dangerous nature of construction work, there are several ways to prevent construction site risks including ensuring the labor force are using their safety gear to help keep working conditions safe.To encourage construction workers to use their safety gear, safety training should be a continuous and ongoing effort to help reinforce best practices. Ongoing training will help the construction workers better retain what they have been taught and it keeps safety top of mind. A safety action plan should be established with input from employees. This plan should be implemented to share awareness among all workers and ensure it is properly executed and enforced. Safety rules should be clearly defined and explained to everyone on the site and that the consequences for failing to follow the rules will be strictly enforced. Daily site inspections and safety meetings should be conducted to ensure that all labor force are using the appropriate safety gear.