Construction site safety is just as essential for small contractors as it is for large companies. After all, your workers are performing many of the same tasks and incurring the same risks. This is why SafetyPro Resources, LLC wants to provide you with some specific construction safety tips that apply to your size company.
Smaller construction contractors may operate on a slim margin and might tend to skip essential safety practices – but this is a serious mistake. Your workers can sustain serious injuries and you can be saddled with huge fines for non-compliance that contributes to an accident. Follow these important construction safety tips to establish and implement safety protocols for your company workers.
Here are 5 Construction Safety Tips for Small Contractors:
- Promote Safety from the Top Down
- Create & Share Written Safety Policies
- Develop site-Specific Safety Plans
- Establish Safety Accountability with Everyone
- Invest in Safety Training
Let’s briefly examine each one of these tips.
No. 1 Promote Safety from the Top Down
Building a safety mindset must begin with the company owner and be passed down through the leadership hierarchy to every employee. Companies should not expect workers to practice appropriate construction site safety if it is not promoted, taught, modeled, enforced, and encouraged by management. Small contractors should be even more proactive to implement construction safety; you have fewer workers and much more to lose from an accident that results in serious injuries.
No. 2 Create and Share Written Safety Policies
An old adage states, “If you don’t write it down, then it never happened.” Your safety policies should be written down and shared with every member of your team. This written policy manual should include OSHA-required safety standards for every area that applies to your type of construction specialization, including general construction safety tips and procedures. Be sure to outline what safety equipment you provide, training requirements, and enforcement procedures.
No. 3 Develop Site-Specific Safety Plans
A generally written safety manual is a great beginning, but every construction site has different challenges and some common risks. One of the first steps in any project you undertake should be to develop safety plans that are specific to a particular job site. Outline and explain construction safety measures like storage locations for that site, entrance and exit lanes, any site-specific hazards, and more. This is also a good time to review common safety measures from your written safety manual.
No. 4 Establish Safety Accountability with Everyone
Emphasize to your team that safety for each person is everyone’s responsibility. Even with smaller contractors, one careless mistake can cause tragic accidents that affect many people. Make sure each of your workers takes safety training and implantation measures seriously and keeps one another accountable. Sometimes a friendly reminder between workers can prevent a serious accident.
No. 5 Invest in Safety Training
Cutting costs is always wise in any business, and that includes small construction contractors. But avoiding safety training as a cost-cutting measure will only cost you much more in the long run – and not just financially. With the nature of the construction industry, lives are at stake; at a minimum, life-altering injuries are in the balance. Don’t risk your company’s reputation or your workers’ lives. Invest in professional safety training to protect your business and your team.
No. 6 Have a Valid Safety Program in Place
Perhaps the best construction site safety tip for small contractors is to have a valid safety program in place. Small contractors that employ 10 or fewer workers need the same professional safety training and program development as do large companies, just on a different scale. SafetyPro Resources, LLC can work with you to develop a safety program tailored to fit your company size, industry specialty, and budget. Contact one of our safety professionals today to inquire about safety program development and training for your small construction contracting team.
Download our free Sample Checklist for Injury and Accident Investigation to avoid costly mistakes and omissions! When an employee is injured or an accident occurs, how you react is important. Use this checklist and don’t leave out any of the vital steps to prepare a workplace accident investigation report.
Smaller contractors need professional-grade safety plans and training as much as the largest construction company. Your workers and business are just as valuable. Use the construction safety tips above to create and implement a safety plan for your contracting business and get the professional assistance you need from Safety Pro Resources, LLC.
