Staying Safe With Winter-Time Construction Debris Removal

Winter construction can be hazardous when the weather creates dangerous work conditions. But construction debris disposal can help.

While the idea that removing construction debris can help minimize the dangers of accidents might seem like obvious, it is too often a task that gets overlooked.

In fact, according to OSHA statistics, over 20% of worker fatalities were in construction and, of those, between 40 to 60% were caused by falls.

And construction debris was to blame for a many of those falls.

Avoiding Construction Site Trips and Falls

Conscientious contractors look for ways to reduce their overhead while maintaining worker safety and building quality. Much of this can be accomplished by lowering labor and material costs. However, the challenge is in speeding up the construction process without sacrificing safety since a hurt or injured worker can cost not only time, but money.

As a result, the best contractors are proactive when it comes to best practices in construction safety. And safety management includes a construction site that is kept  as clean as possible.

A large part of site safety is keeping construction debris to a minimum. It may not seem like a dangerous thing to fall from a few feet, or simply trip over some loose debris, but it’s exactly these types of “minor” accidents that make up the majority of fall injuries and even construction deaths.

Falls: The Main Cause of Construction Accidents

While it is a given that someone falling from a tall building or structure is going to be badly hurt, if not killed outright. But the vast majority of injuries and deaths on construction sites don’t involve tall building or excessive heights.

In fact, OSHA notes that almost half of all fatal falls resulted from falls of 20 feet or less, and many of these were from heights of less than six feet! Part of the reason for this is that the average person’s reaction time is about half a second, which is about the time it takes to fall four feet. Falling six feet means it is almost impossible for someone react and possibly break their fall.

In addition to the speed of falling, when a person falls their impact force increases. For example, if a 200 pound man falls a full six feet will hit the ground with almost 10,000 pounds of force. If he falls on clear, solid ground, this can be brutal and – on occasion – even fatal. Unfortunately, there can often be a variety of debris or material that the worker can fall on. Broken concrete, rebar, metal cutoffs and lumber can potentially cause more damage than the fall itself.

Much of these potential hazards can be eliminated by regularly cleaning and removing construction waste, debris and rubble. Simply keeping a consistently cleared and clean job site can vastly reduce the potential for trips, falls, and other related accidents.

By minimizing accidents on the job site you will also reduce paperwork, losing costly labor hours, and incurring additional insurance and medical costs. And you may quite possibly save a life, as well.

Outsourcing Construction Debris Removal as a Business Tactic

One of the common problems for many contractors is that they don’t have the time or the manpower to spare for continually cleaning up their job sites. The good news is that they don’t have to. Maintaining regular construction debris removal is much simpler when it’s outsourced.

For most construction projects, for example, the ideal set up is to have a series of debris clean ups and removal. When this is outsourced to a reliable, professional firm the clean up and removal can be scheduled and carried out with minimal disruption to the construction job.

Not only that, but outsourcing your construction debris removal allows you to keep your crew working on the productive part of your project, which is building, not cleaning.

Trash hauling and site clean-up is normally considered “part of the job” for contractors and their crews, but it doesn’t have to be. One way to look at the benefits of outsourcing is to consider that every hour your crew spends picking up debris, cleaning the site, and hauling and disposing of the material, is an hour NOT spent generating revenue on a project. This is known as “opportunity costs”.

And the bigger your job, the more the opportunity costs add up.

Add to that the possible costs of required disposal training for your employees, the benefits of outsourcing these tasks become more attractive. There is often much more to construction waste removal than simply tossing it all into the back of a truck. Knowing what can be disposed of legally and where is a big part of what makes a professional firm a smart and cost-effective choice.

Simply having your guys take everything to the local landfill – assuming there is one – is not always the most cost-effective means of disposal either. In fact, construction debris recycling and the re-purposing of many construction items and materials is a more responsible approach for a business to take.

Finding the Right Firm for Your Job

Once you’ve decided that outsourcing your site clean up is indeed cost-effective, and will improve the safety of your job site, you need to determine which firm is the right one for the job. You can usually find plenty of local guys with trucks that are willing to do a “cheap” job, however, taking that route can often end up being anything but cheap.

A+ Enterprises provides an efficient, safe and eco-friendly construction waste disposal services so you don’t need to worry about the pick up or disposal of the debris after your project is complete. Whether you need our services several times during a construction project or just once after it is complete, our hauling professionals will ensure that the construction debris is out of your way so that you can get on with the job.

Our team specializes in construction trash removal. We can be at your facility in mere minutes, so call us today! Our crew is fully insured and well-trained, so you can trust them to get rid of your unwanted items in a professional and courteous fashion.

One of the best things about hiring A+ Enterprises is that we recycle a much of the material we pick-up. This is proof of our commitment to being an eco-friendly removal service. If you have questions about what we do or what we believe, give us a call at (570) 299-3138.

Call us today at 570-373-9996 or Visit Our Junk Removal Page  for 10% off!

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