Construction workers in New York City have a unique struggle to face. They're almost always working up rather than out due to the limited area the city occupies, and the fact that high rise buildings and sky scrapers are common there. Unfortunately, this also means that scaffolding-related injuries are common.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has pointed out that up to 65 percent of the construction industry works on scaffolds. This translates to 60 fatal accidents and 4,500 non-fatal accidents that occur on scaffolding every year. Reducing these injuries can be difficult simply due to the environment that workers like you have to deal with. There's a lot going on all at once and just one slip of the mind or a tiny mistake can result in a fall.
If you want to reduce the potential of scaffolding-related accidents and injury, you should check out tools like a safety and health program tailored to point out the biggest hazards in scaffolding. This can help you identify potential dangers or hazardous situations before they become an issue. Additionally, you may want to keep one of OSHA's checklists on hand. They provide a different one for different types of scaffolding and list out the dangers specific to that scaffolding type. Being able to physically keep track of issues or things that need to be watched may do wonders for the safety of your construction site.
Of course, mindfulness also plays a role. Try to instruct your workers to keep an eye on their surroundings at all times. When combined with the above tools, it's possible to reduce the dangers of working on scaffolding.
