One reason construction sites are inherently dangerous is so much material and equipment is moving around. One day, there’s a clear path from Point A to Point B. The next day, you must walk around several pallets of material and a work area set up just that morning.
With this somewhat chaotic environment, it can seem as if where you put your own equipment, materials, and waste doesn’t matter. Same for how and where you set up your work area for a given assignment. But in fact, this chaos makes such things even more important.
A large Midwestern electrical firm has an intense housekeeping program that includes employee training. Employees are graded on how well they follow the program. Electricians are expected, for instance, to stop periodically throughout the day and clean up the area. To new hires, this seems to be a productivity killer. However, experienced hands have found their productivity actually goes up, and this company has not had a lost time accident for more than two decades.
