A construction site can be a real hotspot for hand injuries. Due to their frequency, we want to look at the impact of these injuries and how to manage them better.
There are a fair few ways these occur on-site. The most common include:
The causes are often the result of equipment malfunctions, falling objects, compression between objects, electrical faults, and insufficient training or instruction.
Hand tools are a huge contributor to hand related injuries in the workplace. When using common tools such as hammers, hand saws, pliers, angle grinders etc, fatigue, rushing, complacency, using faulty or damaged tools or a lack of training can often lead to workers injuring themselves.
The long-term impact of a hand injury ranges from minor to severe. A minor injury could mean changes in grip strength and reduced range of motion of the fingers. In more serious cases, a worker may lose the ability to use their hand.
Awareness is everything. You can educate your workers in the following ways:
This is more than just talking to your workers, as a supervisor/manager you need to give your workers adequate information, instruction and supervision when it comes to health and safety on-site. Real-life examples of incidents that have life-changing effects on workers (e.g. health, livelihood) can further highlight the importance of hand safety.
Ensure the workplace is regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure controls are in place / being used and that they remain effective. One way to do this is to complete a site review in the HazardCo app.
If you’ve got a question about hand injuries or any other health and safety matter, the HazardCo Advisory Team is here to help. Give them a call on 1800 954 702.
Meeting your health and safety requirements shouldn’t be a chore. Instead, it should be an easy, functional and productive part of your day. With HazardCo, that is exactly what it becomes.
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