Plant risk assessment is an important aspect every employer must carry out to ensure safety at the construction site. A construction site can be associated with many equipment ranging from light to heavy. No worker must feel threatened to work in such an environment where there are potentials of accidents or health hazards. A risk assessment made regularly helps ensure that the equipment is in a good working condition. Plant risk assessment must be carried out in a committed manner to ensure that plants are just as per the standards set by the industry.
For a better understanding of the hazards and bottlenecks in the plant, a comprehensive assessment of the plant is required to be made at intervals. With the right plant risk assessment, you can not only combat various challenges that come on the way, but at the same time, also help in creating a strong and safe work environment.
Go for plant risk assessment for the following reasons:
Not adhering to the safety parameters can make the construction sites prone to accidents. There can be various contributing factors such as an ill-functioning mobile plant, untrained and unskilled staff, lack of safety instruction, etc. It is important for the management to detect such factors. When potential dangers are detected measures can be taken to prevent them. Here are the various reasons why assessing the risk of the plant is imperative for the continuity and success of your business or plant:
• Preventing accidents – As mentioned above, construction sites are prone to accidents and sometimes the situation can even turn fatal for the workers working in these sites. Having a thorough inspection or plant risk assessment ensures that the plant is safe for people to work and ensure that the workplace is in adherence to the standard regulations and legal safety parameters.
• Staying abreast with safety regulations – It is important to stay abreast with the current safety regulations. Regulations change from time to time and hence it is important that the employer stays up to date with the current ones. Plant risk assessment involves checking whether the plant is adhering to the safety standards specified by the authorities.
• Ensuring cleanliness at the site of work – Often the environment of plants is messy. This can lead to different types of health hazards. Disorganized and cluttered work environments can lead to accidents which are unavoidable. Hence, it is important to do a plant risk assessment and ensure that cleanliness is at the highest levels at all times. It is important that a plant must have a proper waste management strategy implemented to avoid any accidental damages.
• Promote safety training at workplace – Assessment of plants is a necessity for employers in order to safeguard the workers on the construction site. Training the workers about various risks and safety parameters is also important. Safety training is a must for people working in plants. With such training they can detect risks better and when detected can immediately inform the supervising authority.
Points to be noted:
Assessment of risk and hazard is the bedrock for a safe and secure environment for work. There are various parameters which a plant risk assessment will help covering. In a nutshell they are as follows: –
1. Plant and equipment safety must be as per the industry standards.
2. Conducting thorough and timely plant risk assessment is essential.
3. Hiring a professional firm to assess the risk and other hazards is recommended.
4. Maintaining the current safety standards is a necessity.
5. Ensuring healthy and clean site of work for the workers is a must.
6. Trained and skilled staff to handle preliminary cases of the accident at the sites.
Having a safe place to work is the foundation for sustainable success of firms. This is not only important on ethical grounds but also legally. Any failure to compliances to safety and health parameters at workplaces can cause huge financial setback and legal obligations for firms.