Night construction can reduce the risk of traffic accidents and give you more site layout flexibility. But other challenges, especially low visibility, create new hazards. Protect your crew with these tips for making a construction site safer at night.
Use the Right Type and Amount of Lighting
OSHA outlines lighting intensity requirements for areas including ramps, storage areas, runways, and worksites. It’s important to light all areas adequately for the safety of your construction workers and passersby, as well as to meet safety guidelines set by OSHA and your state’s Department of Transportation. Using a mix of lighting types, such as light towers and balloon lighting, helps you control the coverage and intensity of light in each space.
Position Lighting Correctly
Another tip for making a nighttime construction site safer is to position all of that lighting correctly. You want to prevent glare, which can cause dangerous conditions for workers and drivers, by placing lighting on flat, firm ground and away from overhead obstructions, like power lines.
Reduce Dust
At night, dust in the air can severely limit visibility; it’s also detrimental to workers’ health. Minimizing dust makes the environment safer for work and your workers’ well-being.
Water trucks are a popular dust suppressant method, but dust control chemicals may perform better for your worksite. Use dust control methods that best align with your work goals and are permitted by state law.
Enforce Wearing Reflective Hi-Vis Apparel
Finally, it’s critical for all workers on the jobsite to wear reflective hi-visibility apparel. Hi-vis gear greatly increases worker safety by improving the visibility of the wearer.
Depending on the manufacturing methods of your preferred gear, reflective material on hi-vis clothing works in different ways. For example, prismatic reflective material containing thousands of acrylic or vinyl microprisms provides better reflectivity than glass beads when exposed to water. It’s important to wear the right hi-vis gear for the circumstances and to keep all hi-vis apparel in good condition to keep the wearer safe.
