Occupational safety on construction sites

One factor that has a significant influence on occupational safety on construction sites is the above-average exposure to noise, construction dust and other dirt. Construction dust, for example, is part of everyday work in the construction industry. These dusts can cause massive damage to workers' health. Because when inhaled, they can affect the respiratory tract and damage health in the long term. Various types of dust are produced during cutting, milling, or grinding. In addition to wood dust, quartz dust is also one of the possible hazardous substances in the construction industry, which occur during the processing of bricks, concrete, or mortar. But also, the processing of gypsum, various types of limestone or hard rocks such as marble releases toxic dusts.

Dirt such as concrete residues that are stuck to the implement can also endanger occupational safety in the long term and have a lasting effect on the functionality of the machines. Proper maintenance is therefore essential and should be carried out at regular intervals.

The use of modern technology and suitable protective equipment minimizes the dangers on the construction site enormously and ensures the right occupational safety in the construction industry.

To ensure that fine silica dust and construction dust do not spread too much when processing different materials, materials should be processed in separately designated areas if possible. Although this can lengthen the distances somewhat, it has several advantages: Workers only use heavy equipment such as sawing or milling in certain areas of the construction site and thus protect other employees from noise or dirt. In addition, the danger zone is minimized to a fraction of the working area.

2. Dust-free work: Pick up construction dust during processing

In order not to let construction dust stir up in the first place, it should always be vacuumed directly where work is currently being carried out. Suction attachments for sawing or milling machines start at the emission source and extract a large part of the fine and construction dust directly during the processing of concrete or other building materials.

By means of a device socket on wet and dry vacuum cleaners, many commercially available machines can be connected directly to the construction vacuum cleaner or construction dust extractor. While construction vacuum cleaners are used to vacuum deposited dust, construction dust extractors are used to vacuum dust emissions from hand, electric or pneumatic tools and are connected directly to the processing tool via a suction hose. Thanks to the integrated automatic start-up, the extraction system switches on directly when working. The integrated filters capture even the finest dust particles and prevent them from spreading within the work area.

Another advantage is offered by vacuum cleaners with a fully automatic filter cleaning system. You can see when the integrated filters need to be cleaned. Through a short burst of air reversal, the filters clean themselves, ensure uninterrupted work and save time, as they make manual cleaning superfluous.

To ensure long-term occupational safety on the construction site, the equipment used must also be regularly maintained and cleaned. This includes tools such as saws, grinding machines or drills, but also construction machinery such as excavators, cement mixers or wheel loaders. After some time, not only superficial construction dust or other dirt, such as wood or metal chips, earth, or concrete residues, can adhere to the devices, but also penetrate inside the machines. This can sometimes influence the functionality and, in an emergency, endanger occupational safety on the construction site.

For machines and work equipment to be preserved as a long-term investment, regular cleaning of construction machinery, tools and small appliances should be part of everyday work. With the appropriate devices such as a high-pressure cleaner, this work can be done quickly and effectively. In conjunction with high-performance cleaning agents, even stubborn road and construction site dirt can be effortlessly removed with cold or hot water.

Smaller aids such as tools, power tools or machines should always be freed from coarse, superficial dirt with a vacuum cleaner in the first step. For example, a high-pressure cleaner is suitable for stuck dirt on devices without a power connection, as well as for slightly larger construction machines. For particularly heavy soiling such as concrete residues, a hot water high-pressure cleaner is used. Thanks to the high pressure, even stubborn dirt can be reliably removed without attacking the devices and their surface. In this way, vehicles, construction equipment or entire metal surfaces can be cleaned during occupational safety on construction sites.