Safety Manual for Construction
                         Table of Contents
                         Chapter	        Subject	       	       	      	       	       	       Page	No.
                         1	 	    	       Safety	and	health	rules	and	regulations	      	       5
                         2	 	    	       Employee	safety	and	health	education	         	       7
                         3	 	    	       Supervisory	safety	performance	evaluation	 	          8
                         4	 	    	       Fire	prevention	and	protection		      	       	       9
                         5	 	    	       Accident	and	incident	investigation	  	       	       11
                         6	 	    	       Job	safety	analysis	   	      	       	       	       12
                         7	 	    	       Hazard	communication	standard	        	       	       15
                         8	 	    	       Confined	space	entry	 	       	       	       	       17
                         9	 	    	       Hearing	conservation	 	       	       	       	       20
                         10		    	       Mobile	equipment	      	      	       	       	       21
                         11		    	       Powered	industrial	trucks	—	forklifts	 	      	       22
                         12		    	       Crane	operations	      	      	       	       	       23
                         13		    	       Hand	tools	    	       	      	       	       	       24
                         14		    	       Power	tools	   	       	      	       	       	       26
                         15		    	       Ladders	       	       	      	       	       	       28
                         16		    	       Slings	 	      	       	      	       	       	       30
                         17		    	       Scaffolds	     	       	      	       	       	       31
                         18		    	       Aerial	lifts	  	       	      	       	       	       33
                         19		    	       Respiratory	protection		      	       	       	       35
                         20		    	       Personal	protective	equipment			      	       	       37	
                         21		    	       Fall	protection		      	      	       	       	       38
                         22		    	       Welding	and	cutting	   	      	       	       	       43
                         23		    	       Electrical	safety	     	      	       	       	       46
                         24		    	       Lockout/tagout	procedures	    	       	       	       48
                         25		    	       Excavation	    	       	      	       	       	       50
                         26		    	       Ergonomics	in	construction	   	       	       	       52
                         27		    	       Lead	  	       	       	      	       	       	       55
                         28		    	       Silica	 	      	       	      	       	       	       56
                         29		    	       First	aid	and	medical	attention		     	       	       57
                                                                                                                          
                       Introduction
                       The most valuable asset your organization has is      However, safety isn’t the only thing you can do 
                       its employees. By improving safety and prevent-       to reduce your workers’ compensation costs. You 
                       ing accidents, you can protect your work force        can also lower your costs by proactively manag-
                       while also reducing your workers’ compensation        ing your workers’ compensation claims. This 
                       costs. And the BWC’s Division of Safety and           includes incident investigation, early reporting of 
                       Hygiene is here to help.                              injuries and working with your BWC employer 
                                                                             services specialist and claims service specialist.
                       This basic safety and health manual for the 
                       Ohio construction industry summarizes suc-            This manual can also provide your company’s 
                       cessful accident-prevention principles and tech-      safety teams with information to meet its goals 
                       niques. While application of these techniques         and obligations. It contains information on 
                       may vary according to the size and nature of          incident prevention, together with a complete 
                       your company’s operations, the basic principles       explanation of its use, and benefits and methods 
                       remain the same.                                      of application. 
                       Please note, this manual is not all-encompassing,     Please join BWC and the Ohio construction indus-
                       nor is it a document for compliance. It’s always      try in making occupational safety and health a 
                       important to customize safety and health programs     way of life.
                       to meet the particular needs of the workplace.
         
                       Chapter	1
                      Safety and health rules and regulations
                       Company	commitment                                                Involving all parties also helps ensure 
                       Safety is more than just compli-                                     the rules are presented in terms 
                       ance with Occupational Safety                                          the workers understand.   
                       and Health Administration 
                       (OSHA) regulations and                                                    Whenever possible, rules 
                       other government rules.                                                    should state what is to be 
                       It’s a state of mind that                                                   done, rather than what is 
                       must permeate the entire                                                    prohibited. Positive state-
                       company, including of-                                                      ments are more effective 
                       fice and field personnel,                                                   than negative declarations. 
                       management and hourly                                                      Rules also should be logical, 
                       employees.                                                                enforceable and applicable 
                                                                                                to the specific company or 
                       No business can expect to                                               department operations. 
                       have good safety performance 
                       unless the president, chief execu-                                 Rules, such as be careful around 
                       tive officer or owner demonstrates                             electricity, are too general, and therefore, 
                       through personal conduct and concrete                  not enforceable. And if rules are not or cannot be 
                       actions that safety is expected and required of all   enforced, it impairs the effectiveness of other rules 
                       employees.                                            and dilutes management’s commitment.
                       However, because managers are confronted              In addition to general company rules, develop 
                       each day with non-safety-related problems that        special-purpose safety rules for non-routine tasks, 
                       require immediate handling, they often are            the operation of dangerous equipment and other 
                       tempted to overlook safety and health activi-         hazardous jobs.
                       ties. That’s why a company must establish and 
                       enforce safety rules to communicate its com-          Review and revise rules on an ongoing basis 
                       mitment to safety, and ultimately, to prevent         and communicate them regularly to employees 
                       incidents and injuries.                               during new-employee orientation and at weekly 
                                                                             toolbox talks.
                       Company	rules
                       Company safety rules are designed primarily as        Government	rules
                       training aids to familiarize employees with poten-    In addition to company rules, employers must 
                       tially hazardous situations and operational errors    become familiar with the various government 
                       that can result in injuries. Rules can be readily     laws that define the minimum duties, actions and 
                       developed by observing existing conditions and        precautions all employers must take to ensure 
                       reviewing previous accidents.                         the safety and health of their employees. Federal 
                                                                             rules include OSHA’s regulations for construction 
                       Rather than having top management develop             (9 CFR 190 and 196) and for general industry 
                       and implement rules, it’s better to have all par-     (9 CFR 190 and 1910). 
                       ties help develop the company rules. Involve-
                       ment from supervisors, safety coordinators and 
                       employees leads to cooperation and an under-
                       standing of why the rules exist and what hazards 
                       they are designed to control.