Top 5 Tips for Keeping Your Construction Crew Comfortable
Comfortable workers are happy and productive workers, and when you go the extra mile for your construction crew, they’re likely to return the favor. What are the top 5 steps you should take to optimize the conditions on your site? We’re glad you asked!
1. Make Sure You Have Enough Porta Potties
While many events scrape by with one porta potty for every 100 guests, the guidelines for construction sites — where workers will be using facilities on a daily basis, often for months at a time — are different. OSHA requires you to install one porta potty as well as one urinal for every 40 workers under most conditions.
If you want to keep your construction crew comfortable, however, it’s best to go above and beyond. Nobody likes to have to wait in line to use the restroom, after all, and longer wait times will also affect the productivity on your site.
Are you running a large construction site with more than 200 workers? Do you get visitors? In that case, porta-potties might not cut it at all — and you may prefer to invest in a restroom trailer with flushing toilets and fully functional sinks instead.
2. Keep Your Construction Site’s Facilities Clean with Extra Service Appointments
Nothing will make your crew feel as appreciated as making sure their porta-potties are well-maintained. Yes, you will probably be able to get away with just one service appointment per week — but it does not take long for the facilities to become unpleasant to use. By having your porta potties cleaned a minimum of twice a week, your construction crew will be able to relieve themselves without dreading it (or waiting for that one porta potty that’s still clean to become available).
Are you not sure how often your porta potties or restroom trailers should be cleaned and serviced? Monitor the conditions in your facilities yourself to determine the needs your construction site has. The optimal number of service appointments will, after all, depend on your climate and the “traffic” the porta-potties get.
3. Add Portable Hand Washing Stations
By now, nobody in the world is left without any doubts regarding the importance of proper hand hygiene. Make sure that your workers can wash and sanitize their hands whenever they need to. You have a lot of options now. Portable sinks where your workers can wash their hands with running water and soap — and dry them! — are a must-have on any construction site. For extra ease, you might want to consider adding hand sanitizing stations, as well.
If you truly want to go above and beyond, it’s good to know that portable hand washing stations that provide hot, as well as cold water, are on the market today.
Making sure that your workers’ hand washing facilities are in good shape, and that there’s a sufficient number of handwashing stations, doesn’t just make your workers feel appreciated. It will also cut down on sick days and ultimately increase productivity.
4. Keep Your Construction Crew Hydrated
The most cost-effective way to ensure that your crew has easy access to clean drinking water is to provide durable refillable water bottles at the beginning of the project and to offer access to running tap water so they can quickly get a refill whenever they need to — so make sure that water is always close by.
As a backup, however, it’s always good to have a stock of bottled water on hand, too.
5. Offer a Break-Room Trailer
Construction is hard work — and although your crew will be used to grueling shifts, they’ll need to take breaks, too. Where will the members of your crew go while they’re having their lunch or taking a short break?
Your workers don’t have to stand around on the site with a cup of coffee in hand when you offer a comfortable trailer where they can relax and rehydrate during their breaks! Whether your crew is working hard during a hot summer or in the thick of winter, they’ll always appreciate a clean and well-maintained space to sit down and get some shade or warmth. Here, your construction crew will be thrilled if you keep some coffee and tea brewing.
As a bonus tip, we’ll say that many people look for ways to keep their construction crews comfortable when summer rolls around or a heatwave hits. While summer offers a set of unique challenges, you shouldn’t wait for soaring heat to think of ways to improve your workers’ comfort.
Construction crews will welcome the steps you take to make their day better all year round. That, in turn, can translate to reduced error margins, higher productivity rates, fewer sick days, and workers who can finish their projects ahead of time.