In construction, not every safety incident results in injury or damage. Sometimes, something goes wrong – but no one gets hurt. It is easy to see these moments as ‘lucky escapes’ and move on.
However, these incidents, known as near misses, are often the most important warnings a site will ever get. Whether it is a tool falling from height but missing someone or a vehicle reversing too close to a pedestrian, near misses highlight where things are starting to go wrong. Left unaddressed, the next time may not end so well. Keep reading this week’s blog to understand what near misses are and why recording them is essential for improving safety.
Personal protective equipment, or PPE, remains one of the most visible and recognisable elements of construction site safety. Hard hats, high-visibility clothing, safety glasses and protective footwear are all part of everyday working life on site.
But while PPE may feel routine, it should never be taken for granted. It is often described as the last line of defence – the final protective layer when other control measures cannot fully eliminate safety risks. Used correctly, PPE helps prevent serious injury; using it incorrectly or while damaged can give a false sense of security.
In this week’s Focus on Safety feature, we look at why PPE is so important, when it is required, and how to ensure it is properly fitted, maintained and inspected.
We’ve reached that time of year again. It’s a few weeks since the clocks turned back, the afternoons feel like night-time and many people in construction – whether on site or in office-based roles – are starting and finishing their working day in the dark.
Shorter, darker days can increase the risk of accidents on site, make commuting more hazardous and create extra opportunities for crime. The good news is that a few simple habits and precautions can make a big difference. In this blog, we look at three key areas for staying safe: working on site, driving to and from work and protecting sites from crime.
Sheriff Construction has recently introduced the Causeway ‘Donseed’ digital workforce management system across both our brickwork and roofing divisions.
Usually used by companies much larger than us, we took the decision to keep up with this latest technology, which is giving us greater control of our sites, improving safety and increasing efficiency. Find out more in this week’s blog.
From April 2022, a new app is set to make the process of checking CSCS skills cards at construction sites a lot simpler, improving site safety and tackling fraud in the process.
At the moment, different trades are signed up to 38 different card schemes which display the CSCS logo. This can lead to all kinds of complications when checking documentation and potentially to workers taking on roles they’re not suitably qualified/ trained for.
The CSCS Smart Check app is being developed as a solution that will allow all 2.1 million cards in the construction industry to be electronically verified quickly and easily in a single place. Keep reading…