You were more than thrilled to see the street workers, decked head to toe in brightly colored safety workwear, out on the road this morning. After calling the Mayor’s Hotline to report the crater sized hole last night, you wondered how many more times you would be caught off guard by what the city wants to still call a pot hole. On a narrow, two land road where the speed limit is 45 miles an hour, you would be willing to set up a group of neighborhood members with flags to help slow the traffic if it means that these safety workwearing road crew members can get the job done sooner rather than later.
Although there are big trucks with flashing lights on the many pot hole repair projects that are going on around the city, drivers still need to be aware of the workers who are on the ground completing these tasks. For this reason, high visibility clothing, including custom reflective jackets and fluorescent vests are standard apparel. Sent to work on these problems in all kinds of weather, these workers also have items like heavy duty rain gear for construction sites in their arsenal. No one wants to damage a car because of a neglected pot hole, but even more important than fixing the pothole is the life of the worker who is completing the repairs.
High Visibility Jackets and Other Kinds of Safety Workwear Protect Those Who Are Working in Dangerous Locations
People who sit behind a desk all day do not completely understand the dangers that surround the working conditions of people who find themselves on busy roads and highways. And while some of us may not understand the real danger, we can all appreciate the efforts that are needed to make sure that these workers remain safe. In addition to the safety clothing that must be worn by these workers, training is also important. In fact, a new employee in the first month at work has more than three times the risk for a lost-time injury than others, according to the Institute for Work and Health in Canada. In contrast, Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that workers 65 and older experienced 94.2 injuries per 10,000 full-time employees, a number that is less than any age group in 2014.
You may be in a hurry to demand the repair of potholes around your city as this winter finally winds down, but it is important that you are also ready to slow down for the workers who are out on the roads trying to make repairs.
