Every year, accidents on construction sites across the globe lead to fatalities and serious injuries. Indeed, incidents such as falling from scaffolding or being struck by a vehicle make working on a building site one of the most dangerous professions in the world.
In the U.S., there were 937 fatal work injuries in the private construction industry in 2015 alone, the highest number since 2008. Each year, one in 10 construction workers is injured on site, a huge number considering the industry workforce consists of approximately 9.6 million.
Although health and safety legislation has gone a long way to help prevent such tragedies occurring, these figures show there is clearly much still to be achieved if employers are to offer their workers the best possible protection.
So, what options are there to keep the construction workforce safe?
Safety firms are increasingly harnessing the power of the latest technology to produce ever more innovative equipment that promises to improve the welfare of construction workers.
Take reversing alarms. Most of us are familiar with the traditional “beep beep” noise these devices emit when vehicles are reversing. These alarms are fitted as standard on most construction and commercial vehicles, and are credited with saving multiple lives in the workplace and beyond. But in recent years, it has been noticed that when several alarms sound at once, which is a regular occurrence on construction sites, it is difficult to establish where the noise is coming from.
Thanks to the latest technology, a new generation of reversing alarms are being introduced, such as global safety firm Brigade Electronic’s White Sound bbs-tek reversing alarm. These alarms make a “ssh ssh” white sound that can be heard clearly on a construction site, even when workers are wearing headphones or ear defenders. White sound reversing alarms use broadband frequencies, giving greater directional information to the ear. This means the sound is instantly locatable – a huge leap forward in terms of safety, since even a split-second’s confusion can result in serious injury or death.
