Winter safety boots on construction sites

Safety: Winter Footwear

All construction workers own and are expected to wear the appropriate approved safety footwear, this footwear is usually the same regardless if you are working inside or outside on a construction project. But when winter arrives and construction continues outside in the wet, cold and snowy weather most workers have a tendency to switch to a different type of footwear.

The footwear they switch to is usually either a winter boot or a work boot that has thinsulate insulation in it.

There are several differences between the two of them;

• Winter work boots are bulkier and heavier than normal work boots. This can make climbing or walking on elevated places more difficult.

• Winter work boots are usually completely waterproof no matter how much snow you’re standing in when working.

• Winter work boots are harder to take off and on when entering or exiting a home.

• Work boots usually have better soles and are able to reduce the risk of slips and fall compared to the bulkier winter boots.

• Work boots can be more easily bought with a composite toe and shank instead of a steel one.
This lightens the boot and helps stop the transfer of cold.

Regardless of what footwear that you choose you will need to make sure that they are safety approved. The boot must have a protective toe and a protective shank between the sole of the boot and the bottom of your foot.

If you are a supervisor you will have to keep an eye out for employee’s that are not wearing safety boots in the winter. Buying winter boots that are not safety are a lot cheaper and some workers will take the risk of not having any safety protection on their feet so that they don’t have to buy another pair of expensive work boots just to work through the cold winter.

There’s nothing worse on a job site then having to take someone to the hospital after they have a nail embedded in the bottom of their foot because they were too cheap to buy a pair of winter safety boots.

So be safe and make sure you and your employee’s have their feet protected.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Protect your construction site from falling items

Over a five-year period, there was an average of 2,000 lost-time injuries caused by falling objects in the sectors served by IHSA. This safety talk can help start the discussion around eliminating this hazard in your workplace.

Safety: Protecting workers, the public and clients from falling objects

Safety is a premium on construction sites. Safety is so important in construction that it is more important to work safely than anything else that must be completed on a construction site.

Falling objects have injured an average of 2000 people in the last 5 years in Ontario.

Falling objects can come from workers working on scaffolding, roofers working on a roof, workers in an aerial lift, workers on ladders and cranes and lifts moving material.

The objects can be from as small as a hammer to as large as skids of natural stone. The range of injuries can be from minor wounds to life threatening situations.

There should be steps taken on construction sites when there are workers that are working off the ground while using any of the above mentioned items;

• A safety talk should be given at the beginning of the day before anyone starts working, the safety talk will explain what workers should do to stay safe on the site and also to help give them the information to work safely.

• Areas with workers that are working off the ground should be avoided by most employees, the less people around the area the less likely anyone will be struck.

• Put up safety tape to stop people from walking under areas of concern. Safety or physical barriers like snow fences can stop the public or your clients from walking into an area that might be dangerous to them.

• Depending on how high you are working or the size of the area your working on you can install catch nets that will stop anything from hitting the ground or people below.

• Warning signs will inform people about the dangers that are posed if you are near the area.

The greatest form of safety on a construction site is information. The more information that are given to the workers on the site the more they will know what to do and not to do.

Remember stay safe.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Working around a mobile crane on a construction site

Safety: Proper Crane usage

Today’s construction industry is hyper sensitive when it comes to safety, not just general safety but all aspects of safety on and around the worksites. A workers safety today is more important than anything else that has to happen on a construction site.  Safety should be thought of before anything else when planning to erect anything.

Safety must be the first priority when using heavy equipment, heavy equipment such as Cranes.

Crane Safety and Proper Crane Safety Procedures

Cranes are very large and slow moving equipment and because of this require everyone on the worksite to understand what to do around them and what not to do around them. Safety training should be given to all employees’ that are onsite when a crane is working even if they are not directly interacting with it.

For workers that are working with the crane they should be given a training course on the proper procedures and signals to work with a crane. The person that is directly signalling the crane operator should be a competent individual that understands what they are doing and has the ability to stay alert at all times.

There are several things that you need to look out for when a crane is operating on a construction site, there are many things that can go wrong that can cause harm to workers;

• Power lines. Power lines should be avoided at all costs. You must keep 10 ft away from power lines at a minimum all times when working with a crane, the higher the voltage of power lines the farther away you will need to stay.

• 12% of all accidents are from cranes tipping over, care and caution must be taken when cranes are lifting heavy loads or extending out a long way from the base.

• Boom failure. If the machine is not well maintained or the weight is too great a boom on a crane can break. No one should ever stand directly under the boom.

• Roll Over’s. When a crane is traveling or adjusting position it can be vulnerable to rolling over and workers must be kept clear of the area. Also if the operator fails to extend legs out to add support a roll over can take place because of the weight on the boom. 50 % of rollovers happen because the outriggers were not engaged.

• Poorly compacted fill. Cranes need to be careful when setting up, if they are on fill that has not been compacted enough it can cause the crane to tip or roll over.

One of the key set ups for mobile cranes is there outriggers. They must set there outriggers on solid ground and have the crane body level, they also have to make sure that the outriggers left the crane body off the ground until the tires are not touching.

15% of accidents with cranes are from the rigging failing; slings, hooks or loads falling out of rigging.

15% of fatalities with cranes are from workers being struck by the loads or pulled off because of contact with the load.

7% of fatalities with cranes are from crushing, that means workers were caught between crane and carriage. When a crane swings the counter weight at the other end protrudes farther out from the tracks and can strike a worker if they are to close.

When communicating with a crane there are 6 main hand signals, these hand signals should be learned before anyone try’s to communicate with a crane. These signals should be learned even if you are communicating with the crane via radio, because sometimes the noise on a construction site does not allow for proper radio communication.

Before any slings, hooks or rigging is used it should be inspected by a supervisor and the crane operator to make sure that everything is working properly. Safety hooks and other safety straps need to be used at all times.

Remember that with a crane the weights that are being moved are unforgiving and dangerous and everyone must stay aware at all times.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders Inc.