When I graduated from university and moved into my own place, the only house I could afford was right near a manufacturing plant. At first, I thought living in the industrial part of the city would be a nightmare, but it actually turned out to be fascinating. I quickly developed an interest in industrial equipment and supplies, and spent many evenings walking around the factories to get a better look at what was going on inside. Since then, I've moved to a quiet part of the city, but my interest in industry never waned. Since I don't have the luxury of being able to visit the industrial district anymore, I thought I'd do the next best thing--start a blog about it!
With the continued rise of modern skyscrapers and an overall trend up to conserve space in tightly packed metropolises occupations of all kinds are having to work higher than ever. Not only that but because of the massive scale of a lot of these buildings some tradesman and contractors are having to work at high altitudes for months, possibly even years at a time. Safety has come a long way since the early 20th century when work on tall structures first became a regular component of construction jobs but you must always stay vigilant when working in an inherently more risky area than normal. Here are 3 precautions you should always take when working in a higher than normal workspace.
1. Height Safety Equipment
There are specific laws that govern what you must wear when you are working at any dangerous height level and these are very similar across all states and territories in Australia. The gist of it is you must be using height safety equipment. Wear a full fall-arrest harness or use a work-positioning system if you are working even close to unsecured heights. If you don't have one of those two you do not put yourself in the vicinity of a dangerous height, it's as simple as that. As well as this you must be wearing a helmet when on an active construction site and you must have all your work tools secured from falling as well. In addition to this think about the weather before you go out, if it is cold and windy you should wear thicker material and flexible gloves.
2. Don't Work Up High If You Don't Have To
There are many tasks you can complete on a construction work site that do not require you to be at great altitude. If your job doesn't specifically require you to be up high you should avoid it all costs. While it may be safe to work up high there is always an intrinsic risk tied to working that far off the ground and if you don't have to take it then don't. Preparing construction equipment, prefabrication, organisation of materials and more can all be done on the ground floor.
3. Think About Everything You Are Doing Before You Do It
If you find yourself in a situation where you have to work in a full harness then remember while you are safe you want to do everything you can to keep it that way. There are many hazards to working with tools on the ground level and these are multiplied when working at height so be careful. Plan out every move you are going to make before you do it. Do your job methodically and accurately so you do not have to come back a second time.
You do not need to be worried when working on tall structures if you follow correct safety protocol and different construction sites will have different procedures you have to follow to stay safe. Follow these to the letter and you will never endanger yourself while working onsite.