Employees deserve a safe and secure workplace. Sitting in one spot for hours, exposure to harmful fumes, and lifting heavy material without any machinery takes a toll on their overall well-being. Unsecure working environments are also a significant health hazard. Accidentally spilling a corrosive chemical or improper usage of a power tool ends in a disaster that can be fatal. All it takes is one step in the wrong direction.
In 2020, close to 5,000 workplace injuries resulted in death alone. Unless employees start following the rules and guidelines stated by OSHA, you can drag them to court. There are several legal bodies here to help. But most importantly, it’s essential to know what safety measures should be apparent when you clock in at your job. Here are some safety regulations you should see in place:
- Regular Health Screenings
You are at a high risk of inhaling and ingesting harmful dust and chemical particles if you work on construction sites or handle heavy metals. While these airborne particles may not have immediate effects, they will take a toll on your system in the long term. Initially, you may start having allergic reactions before developing asthma. Soon, you may feel sick, such as getting frequent indigestion, developing complications in your lungs, making breathing difficult, and ultimately noticing blood in your saliva.
For instance, from the 1940s to 1970s, asbestos was heavily used in construction work. These microscopic fibers take time to settle in your body and become cancerous. Most cases get found when cancer has already spread and is expensive to treat.
Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer discovered years later due to your employer’s negligence. It becomes grounds for mesothelioma lawsuits that anyone with the condition can file.
- Instructions On Using Machines
Heavy equipment, especially machines like bulldozers, is not easy to use. This equipment needs to be operated safely and with specific speed limits applied. If a worker is not careful, any machine can injure them, cause loss of limbs, crushed bones, blindness, burns, and death.
You should get adequate training before getting the liberty to operate. It should include starting the machines, guidance on the control panel, using the device, and what to do if the equipment is stuck and causing resistance.
Additionally, you should know how to maintain the equipment, clear the pathway when a piece of large machinery is running and install floodlights while working in shaded areas. If you cannot control the machines, you should get a safeguard to assist you in doing your work. Break-in between usages is also part of the safety regulation.
- Available Sanitation Facilities
Working all day surrounded by harmful chemicals and metal dust, some of which can cling to your skin and get absorbed, needs to be washed off. Your employer must provide you with potable water that is clean and fresh and access to water storage. It prevents the water from running out when multiple employees make their way to freshen up. It includes available facilities to help you clean yourself when you head out for lunch.
It would help if you also had a dispose-off area where you can take off used disposable gear without the need to wear them home. Sanitation also includes access to a toilet which accounts for all the genders in the workforce. It would be best if you also had a separate area for lunch. If your company cannot provide a place, they should at least arrange for a container away from the working site and get cleaned for usage. Pest control and taking care of harmful rodents are also part of sanitation. Under no circumstances should you use rotten, damaged, or smelly chemicals that can destroy the cleanliness of your environment.
- Tools To Block Out The Noise
The human ear has a limited hearing range. If this gets damaged, you can experience deafness. The acceptable range is below or at 70dB. You cannot experience hearing loss or injure your eardrums at this level. However, above 85 dB is hazardous and can lead to permanent damage. Your employer must provide you with ear mufflers to cancel out the noise.
There needs to be a noise detector at the work scene to regulate sound levels, including not letting all the noisy machines work in unison. These machines also use intense vibration that can leave your muscles spasming after every use leading to long-term tremors.
Final Thoughts
Worker safety should be a priority for many large enterprises. Unfortunately, very few agencies pay attention to laws protecting workers and continue their projects without any thought to a secure environment. Therefore by causing awareness of rules and regulations. As an employee, you can demand fair compensation to treat illnesses and conditions who got it because of your profession.
As a staff member, you have a right to regular health checkups to learn about your well-being. The care your employer gives should also include providing you space to clean up, manual on using machines and blocking out loud noises to save yourself from lasting injuries. If none of these rules get followed, you can take the company you work for to court.