Safety equipment and practices are ingrained in the construction industry, and with good reason. Construction work is dangerous and despite everyone’s best efforts, there are still construction injuries and fatalities happening every day in the United States. In 2019, 1061 construction workers died on the job, averaging out to nearly three a day.

On-site safety is a top priority across the industry. Safety best practices supported with effective safety equipment and products are the best way to minimize accidents, injuries, and deaths on the job site. In an effort to improve worker safety across the country, we have chosen common settings found in the construction industry and highlighted the safety products that you can use in these settings to improve worker safety.

Use the guide below to develop a construction site safety equipment list that is specific to the hazards of your site. Safety equipment lists in construction can increase the safety awareness of your superintendents, foremen, and other team members on site. Use them to help ensure construction worker safety as well as regulatory compliance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and any other relevant governing bodies.

Construction site laydown areas can be used to store any number of different materials, including hazardous chemicals and flammable liquids. When storing hazardous materials on-site, use a safety cabinet to ensure worker safety and regulatory compliance. Justrite offers safety cabinets for a variety of different classifications of chemicals, including flammable safety cabinets, paint storage cabinets, corrosive safety cabinets, and drum storage cabinets,  as well as outdoor safety lockers. For those storing gas cylinders on site, we also carry gas cylinder pallets and cabinets.

You might also find it necessary to utilize secondary containment equipment in your staging area. Justrite provides a wide variety of types of secondary containment, including both passive and active forms of secondary containment. Spill containment berms, pallets, and absorbents can all prove to be effective forms of secondary containment when properly utilized. For those seeking the most secure form of containment for drums containing hazardous liquids, we recommend using an outdoor drum shed and pallet.

It’s important to utilize proper job site safety supplies, even when construction materials have passed their usefulness. Waste disposal containers can provide a safe means for the disposal of oily or flammable waste. For the disposal of corrosive chemicals, you may find it necessary to utilize a corrosive cabinet until the chemicals can be safely disposed of off-site. In addition to the safety measures noted above, you should also ensure that your waste disposal and recycling areas are equipped with the appropriate forms of secondary containment in the case of a spill. For a berm spill barrier that offers the flexibility to meet your needs in a variety of settings, we recommend the Justrite Make-A-Berm™. It’s easy to install and stands as a customizable solution for unique applications. 

A diverse array of hazardous liquids and aerosols are put to use in carpentry shops, and it is important to ensure that your shop is equipped with the appropriate safety equipment to use, store, and dispose of all hazardous chemicals. When using and storing surface and parts cleaners, plunger dispensing cans offer an easy and safe solution. Flammable liquid safety cabinets should be utilized for the safe storage of fuels. For those seeking greater security for the storage of hazardous liquids, Justrite offers high security safety cabinets that can be locked and barred closed. Pairing your safety cabinet with the appropriate Type I or Type II safety can is an effective way to provide multi-layered storage for dangerous materials in your general carpentry shop.

Ensure that your team is appropriately equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent the spread of infectious disease by providing them with cough and sneeze guards, face shields, and hand sanitizer.  It is also vital to equip your team with access to face and eyewash stations should they find themselves with a hazardous chemical in their eyes.

For the safe disposal of aerosol cans, we recommend the Aerosolv® Aerosol Can Disposal Systems. It provides a safe, compliant, and cost-effective means to dispose of the contents of your aerosol cans, leaving you with ready-to-recycle scrap metal.

Maintenance and repair shops use countless different chemicals as they strive to keep your vital construction equipment fully operational. Your maintenance and repair shop should be equipped with a variety of different forms of safety products for the safe storage and use of hazardous chemicals, including but not limited to: Waste disposal containers, safety cabinets, face and eyewash stations,  as well as appropriate forms of secondary containment, whether spill containment pallets or berms.

Your repair shop also likely makes regular use of gas cylinders. It is important to use proper safety equipment when handling, storing, and disposing of gas cylinders to ensure safety and regulatory compliance. Justrite offers gas cylinder carts, racks, pallets, and cabinets for the safe transportation and storage of gas cylinders. 

Before your team ever breaks ground it’s important to run through your construction safety material list and to ensure that your trailer on-site is stocked with site safety supplies and PPE for any occasion. Justrite offers cough and sneeze guards to effectively create a physical separation between spaces within your trailer, and protective face shields that can be worn within the trailer or while walking the site. We also offer hand sanitizer in varying quantities, depending on your needs.

Your first aid station is one of the most important spaces on the job site, and making sure that it is equipped with construction safety supplies for every situation should be a top priority. Eyewash stations are essential when maintaining a safe work site, as well as regulatory compliance. You might also find it necessary to supply indoor or outdoor safety showers, or decontamination showers if there is a chance that your team becomes exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals. It is vital that you supply these forms of safety equipment and educate your team members and other contractors on how to use them, so that should the need arise, they are prepared.

Fabrication and welding are integral parts of the construction process, but they are potentially dangerous without proper safety equipment. When transporting gas cylinders on site, it is important to utilize a gas cylinder cart to avoid injury or damage to the cylinder itself. For storage when not in use, we recommend either a gas cylinder cabinet or pallet dedicated to their safe storage.

Active construction areas are the single most dangerous setting in the construction industry and can require numerous different safety materials throughout construction to mitigate the risk of injury or death. Whenever small quantities of fuel are being transported or used on-site, it is vital to utilize an appropriate safety can. For greater ease of use and accuracy when pouring, we recommend the Type II safety can.

When storing fuel or other potentially dangerous liquids on site, it is crucial to have the appropriate safety cabinet available for safe storage when not in use. In addition to safety cans and cabinets, it can also be beneficial to be equipped with a form of secondary containment. The ideal form of secondary containment will vary depending on the setting and circumstances, but Justrite provides spill containment pallets, berms, and absorbents for the safe containment of spills on site.

While specific needs will vary depending on the job site and the scope of work undertaken, you might also find that your site requires waste disposal containers, gas cylinder lockers, aerosol can disposal systems, and many others to ensure smooth operations and regulatory compliance.

Justrite has been recognized as an industry leader in safety equipment for more than 100 years, and we supply construction companies and job sites all over the world with the products they need to keep crews and contractors safe. Justrite carries numerous products that would be of benefit in many different construction settings. No matter what you need, we are confident that we will be able to help.