If you have spent the last few years working in construction and have a sound knowledge of the industry, in addition to the key qualifications that you need to be able to run your own business, then you may be considering doing just that – starting a construction business of your own. A construction business could be an incredible option for your career, as there is always work in construction.
However, what it is important to remember is that you would need to build up a team of employees to be able to launch your new business. While you may know all there is to know about construction, you may know very little about being an employer. Part of the role of starting a construction business is taking on employees, which can be daunting if you’ve never dealt with it before.
The most vital part of being an employer in the construction industry isn’t negotiating pay or set times for lunch breaks; it’s health and safety. Construction sites can be dangerous places, and accidents can easily happen, which is why health and safety are even more important. Bearing that in mind, if you are going to start a construction business, it is crucial that health and safety should be at the forefront of your mind.
To help your business get off to a good start, below are some useful tips and pieces of advice that you may want to take note of.
Adequate training it vital
When it comes to ensuring that your team are safe while at work, implementing a specialist training program is vital. As the business owner, it is your job to ensure that your team members understand the risks that construction work posses and know how to stay safe while on the job. If you don’t offer adequate training, then you could be held accountable for negligence if an employee was to get hurt.
Insurance is a must
Accidents happen, and when they do, sometimes the consequences can be severe or even life-changing. As the owner of the business, there are certain workplace accidents that you may be held accountable for. Ask any construction injury attorney, and they will tell you the same thing – there are plenty of construction injuries that you could be held accountable for.
If you are held accountable, you may be required to pay compensation, which could be a very high amount of money, depending on what the injury is, which is why having insurance in place to cover these kinds of costs is so vital.
Risk assessments must be done regularly
For every new building site, you begin working on, you must have a risk assessment performed. This is a crucial part of running a successful construction company. If you want to ensure that your company runs seamlessly and accidents are minimal, it is vital that risk assessments are done regularly.
As part of the risk assessment process, it is also important to determine what pieces of safety equipment will be required for the job at hand. Things like work gloves, hard hats, overall, steel-capped work boots, and padded work trousers, are all items that you may need to offer your team members to wear.
If you are going to start a construction business, it is important that you take health and safety seriously from the start.
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