If you’re beginning a career as a construction worker, it’s important to fully understand the potential risks. Most construction workers take pride in being tough, but it’s not just your safety at risk. You also have a responsibility to keep your coworkers safe on the job.

There are plenty of jobs out there that are risk free and easy, but construction work involves taking serious risks, which is why each and every employee across the country needs to focus on safety. If you’re planning on starting a new career in construction, here are a few things you should know about basic safety on the job.

You have to make sure your entire working area is safe

Before you begin each job, no matter if you’re an experienced foreman or it’s your first day on the job, you should examine every aspect of the working area to ensure you will be safe. For instance, you might have to work from extreme heights, and if you aren’t carefully inspecting the entire area, you could risk falling. However, it’s not just about you. If you aren’t careful, you could also cause equipment or debris to fall, subsequently injuring someone else or damaging property.

You have to ensure that all the equipment, from web slings to helmets, are working properly

Before you start any new project, it’s essential that you take a look at each piece of equipment and make sure they are working properly. If you don’t know how to determine if web slings or rigging equipment is in proper working order, then you shouldn’t be using it in the first place.

All the fall protection equipment must be double-checked to guarantee no faulty gear is being used, and you should make sure every other piece of equipment is secure and solid. In addition to checking yourself, you should have your fall protection systems and web slings inspected by professionals every once in a while, too. Web slings, for normal service use, should be inspected at least once a year; they should be inspected monthly if they are being used much more frequently.

You have to make sure everyone else around you is remaining safe

Make sure every other employee that is working onsite is adhering to proper safety standards as well. Sadly, someone else’s mishap can end up causing harm to you and others, so it’s essential that everyone is on the same page when it comes to industrial safety. If someone shows up to the job intoxicated, it’s everyone’s responsibility to speak up.

In short, if you see something, you really should say something.

If you want to learn more about fall protection training and quality safety equipment, contact Certex today.