Many people are surprised to hear that numerous accidents leading to injuries or even death at construction sites have been caused by falls from a relatively low height. It is also a surprise to many that up to half of all serious work accidents are falls from scaffolding, walkways or work surfaces. Therefore, working on scaffolding is a topic that deserves even greater attention on sites of all sizes.
The perception that the safety requirements related to working on scaffolding are only related to large, company-led construction sites is definitely wrong. The same conditions also apply to small house construction sites, where almost without exception work is done at a height of more than two meters. Despite this, homemade wooden frames are a common sight on the walls of semi-finished detached houses. Self-made tune-ups are most often resorted to in order to save money, but in the event of an accident, the desired savings can turn out to be really expensive and fatal.
Especially in a situation where a private home builder hires outside workers, his role changes from a shoulder bank builder to an employer and main contractor. In this case, the obligations and responsibilities increase even more in terms of occupational safety. But whether or not there is external labor on the construction site, the starting point is always that the risk of an accident must be prevented even when the work surface is located at a height of no more than two meters.
Safe working methods on small house construction sites are not only a matter of conscience, as the related legislation and regulations clearly apply to the builder of a single-family house as well. Adequate protection with scaffolding is required in all cases where there is a particular risk of an accident, regardless of the working height. When the height exceeds the limit of two meters, the instructions become even more detailed; in this case, the racks must use the three-part side protection according to the regulation.
During the current Safety Week, Thursday is the day when we focus specifically on working on scaffolding. The goal of Telinethursti is that all construction sites comply with regulations and accepted practices and procedures for fall safety. This year, during Telinethursday, inspections will be carried out not only on larger construction sites, but also on small house construction sites.
The construction industry's long-term work on safety issues has produced good results in the field of professional construction. The best companies have not had any accidents on construction sites for years, and even otherwise, the accident frequency in RT's member companies is only a third of the general frequency in the industry. However, we see it as very important that multi-faceted information about safe working methods and the personal protective equipment needed at work is also directed at private house builders.
Ahti Niskanen
Agent
Building Construction Industry Association
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