Let’s face it; we’ve all thought about doing construction work. Just rolling up our sleeves and getting down and dirty to do some honest labouring. In fact, according to Statistics Canada “In 2010, 7.1% of working Canadians aged 15 or older presently, or had, worked in the construction industry”. And the trend only continued with an increase of over 50% since 2000, when 806,900 people were worked in the construction industry. Though the merits are numerous, including generally higher pay brackets for the role, self-management and others, these boons are not without drawbacks. Chief amongst those is the age-old notion of the dangers lurking in a construction field. There is some truth to this, and in 2017 the United States federal government statistics showed that one in five worker deaths that year were in construction or a related industry. So what does this tell us? In short, there needs to be a strict policy of safety that governs every worksite in Canada. Thankfully the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (or CCOHS) monitors and regulates all workplace procedural guides, and confers governing policies to maximize worker safety. But the feet on the ground enforcing these plans and instructions are the safety consultants. Most building sites in Canada will either deploy their own in-house construction safety consultant, or they will receive visits from one dispatched to the site. They are usually some of the first people inspecting a site before workers arrive, and there’s an abundance of tasks for them to accomplish. From giving advice regarding the safety of the workers on-site or coming up with solutions on how to optimize and improve safety, they have their work cut out for them. Through posting appropriate signage, briefing teams and utilizing their substantial knowledge, the construction safety consultant makes it their business to prepare a site so that everyone can make it home to their family at the end of every workday. It’s essential to always bring your vest, boots and hardhat to the job-site, but what’s equally as important is making sure that you feel safe at work. And you can bet that if a safety consultant has been there, then you’re good to go!
