What are the major demolition hazards and what precautions should be taken?
What do you mean by Demolition?
Demolition is the process of dismantling and removing an old building or structure that has been standing for a long time. There are many dangers and risks associated with the force that must be applied to accomplish this. To carry out demolitions, workers will have to use powerful tools and operate heavy machinery, which is why training is crucial to the success of the job. In the construction industry, demolition jobs are the number one cause of injuries, which is not surprising.
Principal Demolition Risks and Effects
Demolitions are associated with a number of hazards that must be taken into consideration. A number of serious risks can be posed to workers, such as falling from a height, collapsing structures, noise, debris, and even mistakes with machinery that may lead to injuries. In the event that this occurs, the injuries that may result can be extremely severe, even leading to death.
Working on demolitions can lead to death, broken bones, breathing issues, burns, and more.
Precautions to stay safe from Demolition
Proper Training and Experience for Demolition
A good way to reduce the risk of a workplace accident is through training. The best way to keep your employees safe is to empower them with the tools they need to stay safe by providing them with expert training. It is possible to prevent many accidents by reducing human error as much as possible.
Demolition workers should wear personal protective equipment
A good piece of PPE can help limit the damage that can be done to your body in the event of an accident. In order to protect your employees, you need to make sure they are wearing hard hats, durable clothing, boots and work gloves.
Take measures and monitor the Sounds, Dust and Vibrations
The safety standards in your workplace must also be monitored continuously so that you can identify when they are falling. As soon as the workplace starts to become dangerous because of excessive noise, vibration, and dust levels, you can step in and make changes in order to prevent it from getting worse.
Keep the construction site clean as it will decrease the risk
It is also important to ensure that your site is always clean and tidy at all times. It is very easy for your employees to injure themselves in an accident if tools are left lying around. . Furthermore, slippery or uneven flooring can result in more accidents than other types of flooring.
Method Statements and Risk Assessments are Essential
Putting together a risk assessment and a method statement can help reduce the threat of hazards. In a risk assessment, you are scanning your workplace with the objective of identifying potential hazards prior to taking any actions to resolve them before they become a problem.
In the meantime, you should prepare method statements in the form of documents which outline how the individual tasks can be performed safely.
Dispose and manage the wastage
Last but not least, in order to keep your workplace neat and tidy, you need to ensure that you remove any waste safely from the site as soon as possible.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that demolition jobs are dangerous by nature. You can, however, limit the risk your employees and also you yourself, who are exposed to by following the advice above, and thereby limit the risk they are exposed to during their normal working day.