If your feet touch the street, you need to make sure that you are seen.
Whether it means a high visibility hooded pullover sweatshirt and a pair of reflective pants or breathable reflective rain gear, construction workers know that their safety on the job depends on the clothes that they wear, as well as the safety of the driving public.
The orange safety vest is supposed to be a signal to drivers, whether they are on the road in town or out on the country roads. Because road worker often takes place right along side the traffic, the Work safety can be a challenge if you are on a road work crew. From proper footwear to protect your feet from the heavy equipment and other conditions to the high visibility clothing that helps keep workers safe, the road construction industry does everything that they can to keep their workers safe while they are on the job. All of these safety measures will be of no use, however, if the drivers on the streets and highways are not doing their part as well. All of the high visibility clothing in the world is not match for a distracted driver.
Unfortunately, in the year 2015, 4,836 workers were killed on the job. That amounts to as many as 13 deaths every day. In an effort to make sure that workers are as safe as possible, industry safety standards are upgraded on a regular basis. In fact, training employees to understand all that they can do to make themselves safe is key to success. Consider the following statistics about other measures that are taken to make sure that workers will be healthy and alive at the end of their work days:
- Experienced workers are often the safest on the job. In fact, nearly 33% of nonfatal work injuries in the year 2013 that required time away from the ob were suffered by employees with less than one year of service.
- Although the average person may walk 10,000 steps a day, a construction worker or laborer may walk more than 30,000 steps a day. For this reason, proper footwear is important.
- Approximately $70 is spent per employee on foot protection every single year.
- Permanent hearing loss can be caused by any sounds that are louder than 85 decibels.
- Earplugs can reduce noise by 15 to 30 decibels, depending on the fit.
- Some workplaces are safer environments because they have more experienced workers. In fact, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that workers who are 65 years and older experienced only 94.2 injuries for every 10,000 full-time employees. This statistic is less than any age group in the year 2014.
The next time you are driving downtown or on the interstate, make sure that you pay attention to the high visibility clothing that indicates a construction crew is on the job!