November 16, 2019
Construction sites can be hazardous places at the best of times but during the autumn and winter months the risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of workers increase. It is important to ensure procedures are in place to protect staff as the days grow shorter and temperatures fall, says OnSite Support’s Damian Lynes.
According to the Health and Safety Executive’s 2018 statistics, nearly a quarter of the 58,000 non-fatal injuries to construction workers each year are caused by slips, trips or falls, the risks of which obviously increase over the autumn and winter, with shorter days, falling leaves, wet weather, ice and snow.
The risk of other accidents also rises at this time of year. For example, people can rush jobs to get out of the cold and may lose concentration, increasing the risk of mistakes being made; or numb fingers could mean dropped tools or materials.
Cold and wet weather can take a toll on people’s physical and mental wellbeing too: the