4 Must-Follow Health and Safety Habits for the Modern Jobsite

The risks in modern jobsites are constant. Falls, chemical exposure and heat illnesses continue to injure workers across construction and related industries each year. The best way to reduce those risks is to build practical safety habits into daily work.

1. Standardize Pre-Task Planning and Fall Protection

Construction accounted for 47.8% of all fatal falls, slips and trips across all U.S. workplaces. When your work involves heights, there’s very little margin for error. Tasks such as painting, blasting, sanding and buffing, powder coating or surface inspections in high areas all require careful planning before work begins.

Additionally, pay close attention to your equipment choice. If you paint, coat or sandblast construction parts in high areas or large equipment like trucks and aircraft, you may want to consider using man lifts made for indoor paint booths. These enclosed systems replace ladders and scaffolding, allowing controlled movement up, down and side to side. They also come with built-in guardrails and gates to help reduce fall risks and back injuries linked to climbing.

LPI Lift Systems provides some of the top-rated man lifts for indoor paint booths in the U.S., with standard and custom solutions that are thoroughly factory tested. Its man lifts tailored for indoor paint booths offer higher safety and are used across industries, including construction, aerospace, rail and manufacturing. The company also has trained technicians who can assist with the startup and installation of the man lifts.

2. Monitor Air Quality in Real Time

Construction workers are often exposed to dust and chemicals that can harm their health. In 2024, 22.9% of construction workers said they were exposed to hazardous chemicals for four or more hours each week. Masks and ventilation are essential, but they only help so much if you don’t know what’s actually in the air. Therefore, you might need to incorporate air quality monitoring as a health and safety habit on your jobsite.

Real-time air quality monitoring allows you to measure PM2.5, PM10 and CO2 levels and set alerts when dust or pollution becomes unsafe. That means you can see problems as they happen, not after workers have already been exposed.

Aeroqual offers portable tools suitable for active jobsites like the Series 500 Portable Air Quality Monitor. It tracks particulate matter and gas pollutants, including CO2 and NO2. You can also use it to monitor environmental factors like temperature and humidity.

3. Proper Fit and Comfort of PPE

If you’re already doing daily pre-shift inspections of workers’ personal protective equipment (PPE), you’re on the right track. However, checking the condition is only part of the job. If PPE fits poorly, workers may not wear it properly or at all, which increases risk. You should check proper fit and comfort as another habit to improve health and safety on your jobsite.

As of 2024, OSHA requires employers to make sure PPE is properly sized for every worker, including the availability of smaller sizes for women. This means fit and comfort are now part of safety compliance. A helmet that slides, gloves that limit movements or safety glasses that don’t sit right can all make injuries more likely on busy jobsites.

Stores like Safety Gear now offer PPE in various sizes. The online safety store has helmets, gloves, safety glasses and earplugs from a wide range of brands in multiple size options. Its website is very user-friendly, making it easy to find PPE that properly equips every worker on your jobsite. The store can also supply large quantities of most of its products in just a few days.

4. Embrace Data-Driven Safety Tech

Thanks to technology, you can now spot risks earlier and manage safety more clearly. Consider incorporating a digital safety app into your worksite’s health and safety habits to help you record incidents, complete inspections and track issues over multiple jobsites.

One app you can try is SafetyCulture. This mobile-first safety platform works for construction teams of all sizes. Its features let you standardize safety inspections, pre-start checks, work orders and permits across all jobsites. You can also review data from inspections, reported incidents, sensor feeds and asset history to see where problems repeat.

Safer Jobsites Start With Smarter Choices

Keeping workers safe doesn’t have to be complicated. Start incorporating some of the habits on this list, and you can reduce risks, prevent injuries and keep your operations running efficiently every day.