CIF Safety Week – Hazards associated with plant and pedestrian safety.

CIF Construction Safety Week is in full swing with The Safe Use of Mobile Equipment Day taking place on the 27th of October. This campaign talks about the safe use of mobile equipment and hazards associated with plant and pedestrian safety.

Pedestrians working in and around moving vehicles are particularly vulnerable, so it is important measures are taken to separate the two where possible. According to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) the greatest risk to pedestrians is from vehicles and mobile plant. They have highlighted that there are substantial blind spots on dozers, wheeled loading shovels and excavators, with workers at risk of being run over if they are in the operator’s blind spot.

Construction site traffic management plan

The HSA discusses that employers should have a construction site traffic management plan, appointing a person to carry out relevant risk assessments of workplace transport hazards to include an evaluation and assessment of vehicles and mobile work equipment in use in the workplace.

Segregation of pedestrians and vehicles is one of the most effective ways to avoid collisions and is particularly relevant in high-risk environments. However, every worksite is different and it can be difficult to provide separate routes depending on the size and layout of a facility. This is where proximity warning solutions excel, making segregation possible in any workplace, transforming unsafe working areas into safe working areas, removing blind spots, and addressing many common safety concerns.

Proximity warning solutions use RFID technology to make segregation possible regardless of available layout and space. They not only raise user awareness of nearby dangers but can also interact with vehicles, safety barriers and hazards to produce physical, audible, and visual alerts— restricting areas of operation, access control and creating no-entry zones.

To find out more about ZoneSafe’s range of proximity warning solutions, click here. And if you need any further help or advice regarding worksite safety, call us +44 (0) 1202 868000, email sales@zonesafe.com