Stay safe around active construction sites

With the arrival of spring weather, people have started enjoying more outdoor activities. This also means construction is about to become busier.

While we usually equate the spring season in Manitoba with road construction, it’s the busiest time for residential work as well. Home construction season doesn’t solely involve new dwellings going up in new communities. It also includes demolitions, infill construction, landscaping projects, driveway repairs and many other home-renovation tasks taking place either inside or outside of houses.

This means residential construction and its accompanying common hazards can be present in any neighbourhood. With more people understandably feeling the urge to get more active outdoors, now is a great time to remind people of all ages to keep an eye out for the potential hazards that can pop up.

Vehicles, equipment and materials used on construction sites can pose a hazard to workers, drivers and pedestrians on residential roadways while work is taking place. These hazards can include equipment backing onto roadways, as well as machinery and trailers parked on city streets.

If equipment will be working in an area, a safety buffer will usually be marked off to alert drivers, pedestrians and workers that equipment will be active. Mobile machinery should be equipped with backup alarms to alert when a vehicle is reversing onto a street. Please be alert for these situations while driving, biking or walking in residential neighbourhoods.

It is also common that building materials such as gravel or rock may need to be temporarily deposited on a roadway for a short period of time during work. If you have children, please remind them that piles of gravel or stone are potentially dangerous and should not be played upon. Equipment is usually nearby to move these materials and there is always potential for a pile to shift.

The best way to avoid any mishap is to ensure children do not go near piles of sand, gravel or stone. Construction fences are also sometimes attractive for curious children. Please remind kids that fences should not be handled and that everyone should keep a safe distance from active construction sites.

Take the time to remind your family members to be aware of potential hazards and take some small and simple steps to avoid them. This can go a long way in avoiding a catastrophe or injury.

Excited customers eager to check on the status of their new dwelling may feel there’s no harm in visiting the construction site to see how things are progressing. It is important to stress that these are active construction sites and home owners visiting without an appointment with their builder can potentially put activities on the worksite at risk and can even impede their possession date.

All visits to construction sites should be co-ordinated by appointment only and with the full awareness of both the builder and their site supervisor. This is to protect both the workers on-site as well as customers themselves, who are entering a worksite and not likely to have the proper protective equipment required to be worn on-site. This could potentially stop work on the home.

The Manitoba Home Builders’ Association’s best advice is to contact your builder if you’d like to visit your new house during construction.

May 4 to 9 is Safety and Health Week in Manitoba and it’s a great time to highlight the importance of the health and safety of everyone who works in the residential construction industry, the customers they serve and those in the communities they help build. Safety is always a top priority of the MHBA and its member companies across the province.

Stay safe this spring!

Lanny McInnes is the president of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association.

lmcinnes@homebuilders.mb.ca