Safety in industries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Safety in industries - Essay Example When we look at the statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, it can be observed that in 2011, almost 540 fatal injuries at workplace were just due to fall in industries. In those scenarios where the height of the fall was known, almost 57 percent workers fall from a height of 20 feet or bit less than that. Out of these one in every four falls was from a height of about 10 feet or lesser than that. The industry deals with safety risks from activities such as roofing whereby workers are expected to take precautions for their own safety since not much can be done to maintain 100% safety. Enhancements to work at high heights such as scaffolds and ladders are also part of the risk since workers also slip and fall from them while in some cases the scaffolds and ladders fall causing deadly injuries to the workers using them. It is usually supposed that deadly falls are those where the victim falls from a height higher than three meters while in reality falls below this height can be dead ly especially when the head hits the ground first. According to Feld and Carper (2004), safety belts are regarded as the solution to falls in construction, but they only help to address falls in situations where the worker remains in a stationary position for a considerable period. It is not reasonable to provide a person painting a roof with a safety belt with no specific place to hook it. On the other hand, most construction managers rarely assess the experience of workers with regards to tasks requiring them to work in high heights to avoid paying higher costs. However, even with such evaluations, some workers may provide false information so as not to lose the job. Falls may also be associated with deep trenches on the ground that may be unknown to workers and without visible signs (Cheng, Kelly & Ryan, 2013). Dust is a common health issue in construction since it creates from most of the activities involved such as excavation and loading,