The importance of hygiene measures at work
Hygiene measures at work are especially important in the construction sector. Workers exchange tools and construction items and need to be close to each other in most of the functions they perform.
For years there has been a strict protocol that includes security and hygiene measures that are both small and large international construction companies like Site & Field must comply. Some of these measures are summarized below and are very important to prevent accidents by both workers and people outside the work.
Hygiene and safety measures at work
The most important safety and hygiene measures at work are the following:
Previous training for workers
Employees must be aware of the risks they may face at their workplace. This must be carried out through prior training in which the prevention and control measures that they must take to guarantee their safety in the different tasks are taught.
Fencing and access
The site must be fenced and create safe access for employees to work areas. With the fencing we prevent people outside the work from accessing it, putting their personal safety at risk. Scaffolding, ditches, and roofs must have secure access.
Signaling of the work
All the work must be signposted, both to indicate the prohibition of access to people outside the work and to signal the passage of workers and construction vehicles.
Use of safety devices
Occupational health and safety measures must include mandatory safety devices, such as protectors and sound signals. These devices must work correctly, since they are key to avoid accidents.
Site & Field is an expert in these devices, such as the intelligent site safety systems Cad.42.
Hygienic and rest facilities
Both in the construction of custom houses and in any other type of work Workers must be provided with hygienic and rest facilities.
These spaces also serve to provide first aid and to locate, for example, fire extinguishing media such as extinguishers.
Use of PPE
Workers must be provided with protective equipment for all their needs.
Ear muffs and ear plugs, helmets, gloves, special face masks against wood and silicates, special work shoes or even belts.
Collective protections
In addition to individual protection measures, collective protection measures must also be taken.
We are talking about elements such as railings, safety nets, gap coverings, vehicle safety stops and other similar measures that will depend on the characteristics of the work.
General additional hygiene measures
You may be wondering what additional hygiene measures we should practice to deal with the current COVID-19 pandemic situation.
Up to 80% of accidents at work in the construction sector derive from a lack of planning and control of hygiene and safety measures , so we must pay special attention if we want avoid contagions by coronavirus in the work.
For the application of the necessary safety and hygiene measures, the construction company must apply the following guidelines:
Encourage individualized work
Whenever possible, it is recommended to encourage individual work to avoid excessive contact between colleagues.
Although it is not easy, companies in the sector must make an effort to reduce contagion.
Give the workers the annex to the Health and Safety Plan
A report with safety recommendations has been published in the Health and Safety Plan.
The company must deliver it to the workers as part of the training it must provide in the area of security against COVID-19.
Disinfection elements
For the disinfection of workers’ hands, the construction company must set up an area on the site where to put soap, water and paper to dry their hands or, failing that, a hydroalcoholic gel.
If possible, the number of toilets should also be increased to avoid long journeys until reaching them.
Frequent cleaning and disinfection
To guarantee the disinfection of construction media, shared scaffolding or materials, it will be necessary to disinfect at least once a day.
Each manual work tool must also be disinfected when going from one worker to another.
Isolation of possible affected
If a worker lives with someone or has been in contact with a person who has contracted the coronavirus and develops symptoms of the disease, the company must isolate them and call the emergency services that each Autonomous community has designed to attend to coronavirus cases.
Staggered access to the work
As far as possible, it is convenient to establish a staggered access system to the work by the workers. For this, a calendar will be set where the name of the workers and their work quadrant are put.
Temperature taking
Companies should have a thermometer to take the temperature of their employees. They are a non-contact thermometer that measures temperature remotely and must be located in the first aid case.
Telecommuting for meetings
If in the work it is necessary to jointly inform the workers about the next task to be carried out in it, or to talk about the evolution, it will not be done in person.
Avoid meeting several people in the same space and therefore you should opt for telematic informational meetings to ensure safety.
Continuous working day
Continuous working hours are also recommended instead of split working hours in order to reduce the time workers spend on site and thus reduce the possibility of contact.
Now you know what hygiene measures at work are necessary in any company in the construction sector. Both in normal situations and in situations like the current one, of a pandemic, the instructions of the Health and Safety Plan must be followed to guarantee the safety of the workers.
