The construction industry is dangerous but it doesn’t have to be.
In 2011 4,209 people died on the job at construction sites and over 480,000 individuals were injured. Work related injury and death is an epidemic in the construction industry, but we have the tools to cure this disease.
There are many ways to prevent such high levels of injury and death. The use of proper lifting chains and chain slings along with well made web slings is vitally important. They help to keep the workers safely on the buildings and insure that the load of materials being brought up to them is transported in a safe way. Far to many construction site accidents are the product of snapped lifting chains.
Another vitally important way to reduce the prevalence of accidents is for construction companies to introduce construction safety courses and crane training courses. These courses allow for a company of men to all act in a safe way. When an accident occurs, it is usually many individuals’ fault. Further these courses give workers the skills to spot lifting chains that do not fit safety requirements. Being able to spot unsafe lifting chains is one of the most vital safety skills that a construction worker could posses; construction accidents most often occur because of the use of faulty equipment, knowing when equipment is faulty is the best way to combat this problem. Personally, I’ve seen lifting chains snap, which at a glance looked perfectly safe.
Despite the use of government inspectors to judge the safety of construction sites, we can not rely upon them to keep our construction workers safe. They only get a thin snap shot of the greater picture, and often bosses will get the site up to code when they know that an inspector is expected. It is up to construction businesses and construction workers themselves to make sure that their equipment and their skills are good enough to keep them and their co-workers safe.
