Site Safety, Hazard Awareness, and Emergency Procedures
Site safety ties everything together. Hazard awareness includes falls, falling objects, electrocution (overhead power lines), unstable ground, wind, and struck-by hazards from moving equipment. Barricades and signage keep the public and other trades out of the drop zone. Overhead power line clearance is a classic trap: scaffolds must maintain the required distance from energized lines, and the distance depends on voltage and jurisdiction. Housekeeping and tool tethering reduce dropped-object risk. Emergency procedures cover rescue from height (a suspended worker can suffer suspension trauma), first aid, and evacuation routes.
Traps include assuming a hard hat alone protects against falls, ignoring wind forecasts for tall or sheeted scaffolds, and failing to plan rescue before fall arrest is used. Suspension trauma is a real hazard: a worker hanging in a harness must be rescued promptly, and rescue must be planned, not improvised.
Worked example / rule of thumb: The "stop-work" triggers: overhead power lines within the required clearance, missing guardrails or ties, unstable ground, high wind on a sheeted scaffold, or a red-tagged scaffold. Any one of these means stop and escalate. Plan rescue before anyone clips in.