Construction Safety Management

Statistics indicate that construction industry is among the sectors with the highest death rates and injuries incidents compared to other sectors. This report is a discussion of the six major identified categories of scaffolding hazards and the measures to mitigate the hazards.

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Title: Construction safety management
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Statistics indicate that construction industry is among the sectors with the highest death
rates and injuries incidents compared to other sectors (Kim, Cho & Zhang, 2016). Scaffolding, if

Running Head: Construction Safety Management 2
not well if not well managed, is a major contributor to deaths and injuries in the industry. The
identified major categories of hazards in scaffolding are falling hazard, ergonomic hazard, vision
hazard, falling object hazards, partial or full scaffold collapse hazard and tripping hazard.
(Collins et al 2014). It is therefore imperative that all contractors follow the laid out guidelines
by the Occupational safety and Health Act (OSHA) to ensure the safety of workers and prevent
economic loss. This report is a discussion of the six major identified categories of scaffolding
hazards and the measures to mitigate the hazards.
Falling hazard
Falling is s the most prevalent scaffolding hazard. Falling may result to fatality, muscular
injuries, bone fracturing among other injuries (Chen & Yang, 2009). OSHA guidelines requires
that appropriate fall protection measures to be taken for all scaffolds over ten feet. Proper
personal protection equipment to prevent personal fall should be utilized without exception. The
supervisor is responsible to make sure that the workers are properly trained on falling safety
hazard and prevention. It is the responsibility of all to observe OSHA guidelines while working
on scaffolds to prevent falling.
Falling objects
Scaffolding-related injuries also occur through being struck by a falling debris or
construction equipment. Injuries include fatality, concussions, and dislocated shoulders among
others. OSHA requires that guardrails are properly installed and an overlay net set up to prevent
workers or passing civilians being struck by falling equipment. Moreover, workers should be
properly trained on how to safely transfer material and debris should not be allowed to
accumulate to mitigate accidents through being struck by falling objects.

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Visual hazard
Accident related to scaffolds also occur through visual hazard. Visual hazard may result
to failing and tripping resulting to injuries (Kim & Cho, 2015). OSHA guidelines requires
sufficient lighting and proper signage while working on scaffolds to mitigate visual hazard.
Moreover working on scaffolds should not continue during adverse weather conditions that limit
vision.
Ergonomic hazard
Scaffolding involves heavy physical workload and may cause skeletal and muscular
injuries on the workers. Some of the ergonomic injuries include. OSHA requires that workers to
be made aware of the ergonomic hazard before commencing work. Ergonomic hazards may be
mitigated by the use of sufficient man power and training workers on the safe lifting techniques.
Safety equipment such as gloves and toe nails should also be utilized to protect against muscular
damage.
Collapse of the scaffold
Scaffolds may partially or fully collapse injuring workers and civilians. Collapsed
scaffolds also result in significant economic loss. OSHA requires that all scaffold should be
inspected and endorsed professionals. A scaffold must also have sufficient structural support and
not be overloaded as these may cause it collapse.
Tripping
This is a common cause of scaffold related accidents. Tripping may result in head
injuries, cuts and scrapes, broken ribs among other injuries. OSHA requires supervisors to ensure

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proper access through demarcation and appropriate signage to avoid tripping. Good
housekeeping and use of proper personal protection such as safety boots is useful in mitigating
tripping accidents.
References
Kim, K., Cho, Y., & Zhang, S. (2016). Integrating work sequences and temporary structures into
safety planning: Automated scaffolding-related safety hazard identification and
prevention in BIM. Automation in Construction, 70, 128-142.
Collins, R., Zhang, S., Kim, K., & Teizer, J. (2014). Integration of safety risk factors in BIM for
scaffolding construction. In Computing in Civil and Building Engineering (2014) (pp.
307-314).
Chen, J. R., & Yang, Y. T. (2009). A predictive risk index for safety performance in process
industries. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 17(3), 233-242.
Kim, K., & Cho, Y. (2015). BIM-based planning of temporary structures for construction safety.
In Computing in Civil Engineering 2015 (pp. 436-444).

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