Hardscape safety

Identifying hazards of hardscape installation

Objective

• To identify potential hazards during hardscape installation and provide prevention and protection strategies

SAFETY SCHOOL > Information provided by the Georgia Urban Ag Council and W.S. Pharr & Co.

Background

In addition to the more common job site hazards, paver and hardscape installation job sites also have some of their own unique hazards


Hardscape hazards

• Back injuries from lifting heavier segmental concrete products

• Back injuries from repetitive motion of paver installation

• Muscle pulls from digging and lifting

• Finger abrasion from handling concrete products


Hardscape hazards

• Skin rashes or burns from job site chemical spills and splashes

• Eye injuries from saw cutting

• Lung and respiratory injuries from long-term exposure to saw cutting dust

• Heat exhaustion


Hardscape hazards

• Impact injuries from moving equipment

• Vibration-related injuries from compaction equipment


Hardscape hazards

• Hearing loss injuries from working with high-decibel equipment such as saws and compactors

• Knee injuries from repetitive kneeling


Personal Protection Equipment• Typical PPE includes:

• Respirators

• Hearing protection

• Protective clothing

• Safety glasses

• Hard hats

• Work boots (safety footwear)


Safety footwear

• Protect paver installers from the everyday possibilities of feet coming in contact with:

• Tools slipping out of hands

• Dropping parts

• Rolling objects

• Palletized product, etc.


Safety footwear

• Most safety shoes and boots are also designed with slip-resistant soles

• Provides slip-resistant protection as well

• Slips, trips, and falls are among the most frequent causes of workplace injuries


Special protective equipment

• KneeSeatTM

• Alternative to traditional knee pads, offering greater comfort and less stress on the knees when kneeling

• Finger tape

• Protects fingers when using rough products or in wet conditions



• Knee protection

• Protects knees from moisture, cement, cold, and sharp rocks

• Dust masks

• OSHA requires a minimum of two head bands and a bendable steel nose bridge



• Hearing protection

• Required around any noise-producing activities such as sawing, compacting, or while other machine operation is ongoing

• Gloves

• Protection from abrasive injuries



• Safety glasses

• Must protect the front and sides of the eyes

• Must not be too darkly tinted

• Should be worn whenever striking, cutting, or splitting


Review

• Hardscape installation projects have unique hazards, which can affect nearly every part of the body


Review

• Personal protection equipment (PPE) is essential to reduce risk of injury


Review

• Safety footwear is particularly important, not only because of tools and products that may be dropped but also for the protection against slips, trips, and falls


Hardscape safety

Documents

Transcript of Hardscape safety