Masonry Safety Hazards
The hazards associated with masonry work are numerous and overlap with many other trades in the construction industry. Here are some common masonry safety hazards for your company's consideration:
- Silica dust (respirable silica) from cutting and mixing masonry products
- Flying debris from cutting and sawing block which can fly into a person's eye
- Heat illness from working outdoors without adequate shade and water
- Slips, trips, and falls from walking surface trip hazards
- Back strains from improperly lifting of material and equipment
- Cuts and abrasions from hand and power tool use
- Falls from scaffolds when installing masonry products above the first level
- Struck by incidents from falling tools and equipment from scaffolds
- Falls from step ladders
- Struck by from mobile equipment on the construction site
Masonry Job Hazard Analysis
In order to identify the hazards associated with a particular masonry job site, one must perform a job hazard analysis (JHA). A JHA is a form used to find hazards in the environment, with specific procedures, and with equipment or tools. The JHA is an advanced form of a simple safety "inspection" form that most companies would use to identify hazards.
Masonry Safety Management
Having an effective safety system in place requires good safety management personnel. It is customary and necessary to identify and assign responsibility to at least one person at the site so accountability may be achieved. The size of your organization will determine the number of safety management personnel which are needed to adequately manage masonry company safety responsibilities.
Masonry Safety Manual
A good masonry safety manual will contain subject matter that addresses the hazards listed above. It will also identify one person as the final authority when it comes to company safety issues. Our
masonry safety manual does this very well if you are in the market for one. In addition to all this, your masonry safety manual should be something that is useable. Balancing between usability and compliance can be very difficult, but it is necessary in order to ensure safety is optimized to the fullest extent in your organization.
Masonry Safety Topics
Masonry safety topics should include topics that are relevant to the masonry trade and hazards. The list of hazards at the top of this article would be a good place to start when choosing safety topics. A good safety topic library will include these topics plus more related to overall safety and health in construction. Our s
afety meeting topics library is the best you'll find online. We honestly believe that.
