Safety First: Closing Construction Sites for Christmas
Christmas is nearly upon us, and this means a well-deserved break from work. But while having a bit of time off to spend with family and friends is a reason to celebrate, having an accident on a closed work site is not. Injuries or property damage as a result of lax safety practices could be a festive disaster.
There are a number of potential hazards that can impact the safety of a closed work site, including excavations that haven’t been cordoned off and reo bars that haven’t been capped off. Piles of equipment or construction material not only have sharp edges, but can pose a crush hazard.
Now is the time to make sure you have all the right site safety equipment in stock, so your customers can find it when they are preparing their sites for closure over the festive period.
At CCI, we’re your one-stop shop for all the construction, civil and industrial supplies your customers will need, from silt fence to traffic equipment to tapes and cable ties.
Putting up safety barriers
Star pickets, safety caps, barrier mesh, barricade tape, reflective bunting are must-haves for erecting safety barriers on sites.
Cordoning off hazardous areas like deep excavations or stocks of equipment and materials is necessary. It could be all too easy for someone to wander on to a site after a little too much festive cheer and fall into a pit or excavation, or climb a building under construction and fall off a floor, with devastating consequences.
Controlling traffic
There is a lot of traffic around over the holiday period and it’s important that drivers are diverted away from hazards on the road. To do this, your customers will need traffic cones and bollards.
The regulations governing bollards vary between states, with Queensland adopting newer, more stringent requirements for bollards and cones used on main roads.
Class 1W bollards are approved for use on main roads projects in Queensland, while Class 1 standard bollards are suitable for construction job sites across Australia.
Flooding and erosion
The right erosion control measures will not only help safeguard a closed work site against damage from erosion, they will also protect local waterways and wildlife.
In most places around Australia, effective erosion control is a legal requirement, and sites that don’t employ erosion control measures could be liable for some hefty fines.
Your customers will want to know that their erosion control materials, such as sandbags and silt fence, are reliable and high quality, lowering the risk of erosion and flooding of closed sites from heavy summer rains.
Tying up any loose ends
During the Christmas period while work sites are closed, it’s important to secure any materials that could blow around. Cable ties can be used to tie off anything that’s loose, or hold up signage, shade cloth and banners.
Shutting work sites down safely over the festive season is a top priority, and safety supplies will be in demand. Make sure you have your customers covered with quality stock from CCI. We make it easy to stock everything you need, without having to source items from multiple suppliers.
