Safety on construction sites is a must because we need to keep people safe while they are doing their jobs because; even though working in construction is a high-risk job, it doesn’t mean that people should be afraid to go to work every day. And not because it is a high-risk job doesn’t mean that you have to be unsafe on the job. Because we live in the age of the internet now, and as everything is at the tip of our fingers, news circulates around very rapidly. There is a lot of truth on the internet, but there are also a lot of non-factual things, and you need to use your critical mind to see the fake form of the truth. So come along with us, and let’s debunk some of the myths about construction safety.
#Myth 1- Complying to the OSHA means that you are totally safe
OSHA stands for Occupational Safety and Health Act, and complying with it only means one thing, it means you are in compliance with the OSHA regulations. Give yourself a pat on the back for that. OSHA had developed an extensive set of rules and regulations to prevent incidents in the workplace. If your company complies with the OSHA norms and nothing happens, count your blessing because statistically speaking, complying with the OSHA regulation has an average or worse than average injury rate. So, not complying with it doesn’t ensure your safety; it just means you are doing the job according to the law.
#Myth 2- Accidents will always happen
The logic isn’t adding up here; the math isn’t mathing; it is like saying if something can happen, then it’s okay for it to happen. Well, this is not the truth; just because an accident can happen, that doesn’t mean it should happen. Almost (not all) every accident that occurs in the workplace can be prevented with the proper level of training, planning, and if you put specific systems in place. There’s always a worst-case scenario, and an accident can happen, no matter how safe you make your workplace, but that doesn’t mean that you should be haphazard with it. The company should do its best to make the workplace as safe as possible to take the risk of accidents as close to zero as possible. Most investigations after the accident found that if the appropriate measure were taken and if the company did follow safety protocol, then most of the accidents that occur in the workplace can be prevented.
#Myth 3- Safety is achievable
Well, with high-risk jobs, it is very improbable to totally escape risks, yes risk can be ignored and transferred, but you can’t evade it. You can’t predict the future, and neither can you predict future risks, and error is human, so the risk is always afoot. To give a proper definition of safety, let’s look at the NSC or National Safety Council. They describe it as “the control of recognized hazards to attain an acceptable level of risk,” and it is nearly impossible to achieve safety. Also, what we consider safe today, might not be considered safe in the future, and 100% safety is not achievable and can’t be reached by any stretch of the imagination. However, you might be telling me that many construction sites complete their jobs with 0 casualties. While it is possible to have nothing wrong happen or accident occur on the site, total safety is not achievable.
Remember, not everything that you read or see on the internet is true, and you need to separate the truth from the fake. I’m not the first to say this, but it is important because people tend to forget this. Sound off in the comments section below and tell us if you want to read more about myths about construction.
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