As a general contractor, your job doesn’t just include the normal duties of a general contractor. You have to ensure that your hired hands or employees adhere to the general safety rules that come with construction jobs. It’s not always easy, and there are hundreds of rules. However, there are a few safety considerations that you should think about while on the job site. Here are a few of these considerations.
Safety Glasses are Necessary
Eyesight is precious, and when you are working around nails, wood chips, and various other objects, eye safety is important. This is why you should stress to your employees to wear safety glasses at all times while working. Just like hard hats, safety glasses help ensure that the eyes are protected from flying debris, chemicals, and more. In fact, as a general contractor, ensuring that your employees each have their pair of both safety glasses and chemical goggles is a great way to ensure that they are protected against the hazards of the worksite.
The Proper Clothing
If working with electrical, and even just on the general work site, your employees need to know what sort of clothing to wear. Since electrical work can be on the dangerous side, the NFPA 70E standard includes wearing things like long-sleeved shirts, overalls, long trousers, and tucked in shirt hems are required for the job site. It is important to stress this to your employees as well to help prevent as many injuries as possible.
No Horseplay on Site
While this general rule should be common sense, many general contractors find that their younger employees tend to play around a bit more instead of getting work done. While it’s better to keep working, horseplay on a construction job site can also be dangerous. You should stress to your employees the importance of avoiding horseplay to keep the job site as safe as possible.
No Alcohol, No Drugs
In conjunction with the horseplay section of your general rules, you should also stress the importance of keeping alcohol and drug-free zone. Work sites are not a place to play, and since both alcohol and drugs can alter the sobriety, focus, and mind in general, it is an awful thing to show up to work under the influence. Be sure to stress to your employees what your stance on alcohol and drug use on the work site is. They should know up front and immediately what will happen if they show up to work under the influence.
Conclusion
While these rules are not all the general rules of the worksite out there, you should still be sure to stress the importance of job site safety. You want to stay safe, and you want your employees to stay safe as well, which is why the rules are put into place. As the general contractor, it is your job not only to get the job done but to ensure that your hired hands abide by these rules to help keep your work site as safe as possible.
