Workplace Safety

Countless hazards can arise when workers are operating materials handling equipment on the jobsite. However, if operators and surrounding workers practice the proper safety guidelines, you can keep your jobsite free and clear of danger.

According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), there are two different categories of materials handling equipment: Earthmoving equipment and lifting and hauling equipment. OSHA provides safety guidelines for each of these types of vehicles. You can ensure a hazard-free jobsite by requiring your workers to follow these rules:

Earthmoving equipment safety

According to OSHA, earthmoving equipment is any type of equipment that moves dirt around, although some of these machines are also used as equipment haulers. This includes loaders, scrapers, wheel tractors, bulldozers, crawler tractors, off-highway trucks, agricultural and industrial tractors, graders and similar equipment. OSHA’s safety rules for earthmoving equipment are as follows:

• Seat belts must be provided on all equipment as designated by OSHA. However, seat belts are not necessary on equipment designed only for stand up operation or equipment without a roll-over protective structure (ROPS) or adequate canopy protection.
• No construction equipment or vehicles should be driven on access roadways and grades unless the area is specifically designed to withstand the equipment. Additionally, every emergency access ramp and berm must be constructed to restrain and control any possible runaway vehicles.
• All machines that move in two directions, including rollers, front-end loaders, bulldozers and compacters, must be equipped with an audible horn. The horn must be loud enough to be heard over the other jobsite noise and should be used whenever the operator is moving the equipment in either direction.
• If earthmoving or compacting equipment has an obstructed view to the rear, this equipment should not be moved in reverse unless it either has a reverse signal alarm that is loud enough to be heard over the jobsite noise or another worker signals the operator that it is safe to reverse.
• All earthmoving equipment must be equipped with service brakes that operate even when the equipment is fully loaded.
• Scissor points on all front-end loaders must be guarded.

Lifting and hauling equipment safety

OSHA defines lifting and hauling equipment as equipment that moves raw materials around a jobsite. This might include industrial trucks, forklifts, stackers, telescopic handlers and other similar equipment. The OSHA safety requirements for this type of equipment are as follows:

• Never exceed capacity ratings for equipment.
• The rated capacity must be clearly posted on lift trucks, stackers and similar vehicles so that the operator can see it. When adding auxiliary removable counterweights provided by the manufacturer, the vehicle’s capacity must be adjusted accordingly and posted.
• Do not attach steering or spinner knobs to the steering wheel unless the steering mechanism can prevent road reactions from causing the steering wheel to spin. If so, you must mount the steering knob within the periphery of the wheel.
• Only authorized workers can ride on powered industrial trucks. Those who are authorized to ride must be provided with a safe place to ride.
• You must receive the manufacturer’s written approval before making any modifications or additions that might affect the capacity or safe operation of equipment. If you receive approval to make these changes, you should change the capacity, operation and maintenance instruction plates or tags accordingly.

When materials handling equipment comes into play on the jobsite, workers can face a myriad of potential dangers. OSHA requires that operators of equipment and machinery must be qualified by training or experience to operate that equipment. If you want to keep your jobsite clear and free of danger, ensure that only experienced workers operate equipment. You should also constantly reinforce OSHA’s safety regulations with all equipment operators as well as surrounding workers.

From off-highway dump trucks, pickups and flatbeds to earthmoving equipment like loaders, bulldozers and scrapers, jobsites are constantly swarming with heavy equipment. Most modern construction jobs would simply be impossible without this crucial equipment. However, if not properly inspected on a regular basis, these machines can quickly turn from helpful to downright dangerous. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) rules are somewhat vague when it comes to the proper inspection of heavy equipment. That’s why safety experts say your best bet is to refer to the manufacturer’s manual to find inspection criteria for each unique piece of machinery.

Drawing up your own inspection checklists. Unfortunately, heavy equipment manuals often do not include a thorough inspection checklist. If that’s the case, you should create your own checklist, using the operating instructions and maintenance procedures as a guide. You might want to include two or three different checklists: a site safety checklist, a safety equipment checklist and a systems checklist (including oil system, hydraulic system, etc.) As you build these checklists from information provided in the equipment operating manual, you might also want to refer to the general OSHA inspection guidelines that apply to your specific equipment. Once you have these inspection guidelines in place, you’ll want to introduce the checklists to your employees. It’s important to train each heavy equipment operator to walk through the checklist for their equipment on a daily basis—before they crank up and get to work.

Understanding the general OSHA guidelines. Although OSHA does not provide comprehensive inspection guidelines and checklists, the administration does offer some general requirements. Here a few of OSHA’s inspection rules that should be a part of your customized inspection guidelines:

• Frequent (daily) inspections: A competent employee should inspect materials and equipment on a frequent basis. OSHA typically defines “frequent” as daily. Therefore, these checks should be completed daily or even more often if necessary.
• Motor vehicles and mechanized equipment: Although OSHA does not provide any specific requirements for this type of equipment, the administration does point out that all equipment being left unattended at night should have appropriate lights, reflectors or barricades to identify the machinery’s location. Additionally, OSHA provides specific requirements for this equipment if it is being used or transported in the vicinity of power lines. (See OSHA 1926.550(a) (15))
• Off-highway motor vehicles: All motor vehicles that operate within an off-highway jobsite must be inspected at the beginning of each shift. The worker inspecting the vehicle must ensure that all essential parts and equipment are in safe operating condition and free of any apparent damage that could cause equipment problems or failure. The service brakes (including trailer brake connections, emergency stopping system, parking system (hand brake), horn, tires, steering mechanism, seat belts, coupling devices, safety devices and operating controls must all be checked. Additionally, if jobsite conditions require lights, reflectors, windshield wipers, defrosters or fire extinguishers, these parts must be inspected, as well. If any defects are discovered, the damaged part must be repaired before the vehicle is put to use on the jobsite.
• Earthmoving equipment: According to OSHA, earthmoving equipment includes scrapers, loaders, crawlers, wheel tractors, bulldozers, graders, tractors, off-highway trucks and other such equipment. Although the administration does not offer specific inspection checklists for this equipment, OSHA does say that seat belts must be provided on all equipment required to have seat belts as specified by OSHA 1926.602.
• Properly trained employees: Heavy equipment must be inspected frequently and regularly by a competent person who is designated by the employer. OSHA explains that these employees must be properly trained in inspection guidelines to be considered a “competent person.”

If you want to keep your workers safe and your jobsite running smoothly, it’s important to have comprehensive inspection checklists in place for each piece of heavy machinery. It’s also important to train your employees on proper inspection techniques and ensure that they walk through these checklists each and every day. Contact our office today for more information. You can also visit the OSHA Web site at www.osha.gov.

Injuries resulting from slips, trips and falls are one of the primary causes of accidents in the construction industry. Overall, these types of accidents are responsible for 15% of all accidental deaths, second only to motor vehicle fatalities. Many of the causes for walking/working surface injuries and fatalities in the construction industry stem from grease, wet spots, clutter, uneven walking surfaces, ice, electrical cords, and broken ladder steps. To reduce injuries and the resulting workers’ compensation costs, both workers and supervisory staff need to be vigilant to spot and remedy potential hazards as soon as they are identified. Here are some of the most common reasons and remedies where construction injuries occur on the job site:

Wall Openings, Sides and Edges. Construction sites are especially hazardous because they almost all have some combination of wall openings, sides and edges that are not protected, or holes or openings in the floors. These are danger zones which must be addressed to ensure the safety of on-site workers. A few simple remedial measures can correct these hazards:

• Regularly survey all work sites continuously to identify potential hazards from holes or edges and apply appropriate safety measures.
• Cover or use a guard for any identified floor holes.
• Where an unprotected edge might result in a potential fall or slip of more than 6 feet, apply an appropriate guard rail or give workers a suitable fall arrest device, such as a safety harness

Scaffolding. Quite a few construction sites employ scaffolding so that construction workers can enter the work site. However, due to poor or unsafe construction practices, many unnecessary injuries occur from these correctable hazards. To ensure safe use of scaffolding, contractors should employ the following:

• Ensure the building of scaffolding is performed by people properly trained or ticketed to build scaffolds according to the manufacturer’s design. All scaffolding should be examined after completion by an appropriately trained supervisor.
• Provide adequate rails in accordance with OSHA guidelines to prevent unnecessary falls.

Uneven/Unclean Walking Surfaces. Most slips and falls on uneven or unclean surfaces can be fixed simply by immediately addressing the problems as they arise. Good housekeeping can eliminate many of the problems that result in injuries to workers.

• Ensure that all workers wear work boots with slip resistant treads.
• Clean up any spills immediately.
• Always be alert to conditions and don’t walk or move without examining the surface area of the work site.
• Do not carry materials or equipment in a manner which obscures your ability to see what’s in front of you.

Using Ladders. Portable ladders are frequently used on construction sites. However, many falls occur because the ground is uneven, the ladder is not safely fastened, or the ladder is at an improper angle. To avoid needless injuries, educate workers and supervisors so they can ensure that the ladder is:

• Safe and not damaged.
• Secured to a solid structure.
• Extended above the access landing by 3 feet.
• On an even and solid surface.
• Designed to bear the weight of a worker and with whatever tools he employs.

Simple safeguards and sound housekeeping can radically reduce needless injuries and resulting Workers Compensation claims that result from walking and work surface injuries.

OSHA has a standard for almost everything you do when you’re working on a construction site. The agency developed 29 CFR 1926.500 – 503 to outline specific requirements to protect you from falling on the job. Included in that standard is a discussion about fall protection while you’re operating heavy equipment. What OSHA forgot to add, were guidelines about how to properly get on and off the machinery you use everyday without incident.

That doesn’t mean the subject isn’t important. Many injuries occur because workers fail to properly mount/dismount heavy equipment. Here are some basic procedures associated with mounting/dismounting of construction equipment that can keep you alert to the hazards and reduce your risk of injury:

• Look before and where you step
• Use every available handhold/foothold – Handholds and footholds should be made of a solid material, and permanently fixed into position. Chains are not acceptable because they aren’t stable.
• Maintain 3-point contact – This means you must have contact with one hand and two feet or two hands and one foot at all times. Three-point contact forms a triangle, with the worker’s body being the center. The smaller the triangle, the more stable you are.
• Step squarely, never at an angle
• Never attempt to mount/dismount from moving equipment
• Never jump off equipment
• Mount/dismount facing the equipment
• Never climb up to or get down from cabs or seats with tools or other items in your hands. Always use a drop rope to raise or lower supplies, tools, and equipment.
• Be conscious of the clothing you wear – Don’t wear loose or torn clothing because it might become caught on equipment.

Once you have successfully mounted the equipment, you should check inside the cab to be sure that:

• All door latches work and can be opened from both inside and out
• The seat suspension operates the way it’s supposed to – If there are any loose, broken, or missing parts, report it to the supervisor immediately.
• The forward and rear adjustment, weight compensators, and other adjustable features work correctly
• The seat belts adjust properly and are free of apparent damage that could cause failure. Keep in mind that OSHA mandates whenever seat belts are provided in a vehicle, they must be used whether or not the rules specify usage.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that up to 1,000 occupational eye injuries occur every day in the U.S. workplace. This costs American employers roughly $300 million a year in Workers Compensation claims, production loss, and medical expenses.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in a 1980 survey that three out of five workers who sustained an injury were not wearing personal eye protection when the injury occurred. Another 40% of workers injured were wearing some eye protection, such as protective eyeglasses, that did not include a side shield. The BLS survey also revealed that roughly 70% of eye injuries resulted from flying particles or sparks. Exposure to chemicals accounted for another 20% of eye injuries.

It is estimated that more than 90% of all eye injuries could have been avoided with the use of the appropriate eye protection.

Simple Steps to Reduce Eye Injuries

Reducing eye injuries in the workplace is a relatively simple matter. Here are some suggestions and ideas that you as an employer and worker can employ to reduce damage to this very precious sensory organ:

• Know the Dangers — Every employer should conduct a hazard assessment of their workplace. Hazards vary from minor dust, high impact particles to chemical splashes. It is not enough to provide eye protection; it is equally important to supply the right eye protection to suit the employment circumstances.
• Train Your Workers — Many workers simply don’t bother with wearing any eye protection at all. Almost half of injured workers said their employer neglected to tell them when to wear eye protection let alone the correct type of eye protection. By taking the time to educate your workers on the dangers posed in their jobs and enforcing protective measures, you can dramatically reduce unnecessary and avoidable eye injuries.

Using the Correct Eye Protection

Different jobs and trades require different eye protection. Here is a brief description of available eye protection:

• Safety Glasses which have side guards offer the least amount of protection. They are best used in minimal exposure areas with low amounts of dust, or limited exposure to flying chips or particles. There are different types available ranging from glass to plastic, but the latter is not very scratch resistant.
• Goggles/Glasses Hybrid offer superior protection from the affects of dust or impact particles because they possess a seal of either rubber or foam which prevents particulates from otherwise breeching exposed eyes. Workers who wear prescription eyeglasses which have non-safety lens are best advised to wear goggles.
• Face Shield Protection provides additional protection to the face and is especially valuable in guarding the entire face against chemical splashes, particles and chips. Face shields do NOT provide primary protection against eye injuries. They should almost always be used in conjunction with either goggles or safety glasses.
• Filtered Helmets or Goggles are best used when working with either laser or welding equipment. As many of these workers will need to lift these protective helmets frequently, it is also recommended that they be wearing either goggles or safety glasses to avoid eye damage from nearby workers such as grinders for example.

Preventing costly and needless eye injuries can easily be achieved simply by taking a little extra care and time to spot the dangers, educating your employees, and providing the right eye protection to suit the job.

There’s no question that working in the trenches can be a bit risky at times. However, every excavation jobsite doesn’t have to be a danger zone. With the proper safety guidelines in place, you can ensure that your workers remain secure and enjoy a safe working environment.

Make the rules crystal clear

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) offers explicit rules for excavation work. If you follow these regulations to the tee and enforce the rules with your employees constantly, you’ll be confident that your workers will stay safe in the trenches:

• Before allowing workers to enter the trenches, you must clear all surface hazards and move the spoil pile back two feet.
• Locate and protect, support, or remove all underground utilities and other hazards before workers enter the trench.
• Provide a safe means of entry and exit from excavations that are more than four feet deep.
• If you suspect hazardous atmospheres might exist in the site, you must test for these conditions. If hazardous atmospheres are detected, you should eliminate them before workers enter the trench.
• If your team is working in an excavation site more than four feet deep with the potential for hazardous conditions, you must provide emergency rescue equipment. Depending on the particular jobsite, this emergency equipment might include a breathing apparatus, a safety harness and line, and a basket stretcher.
• Provide adequate protection for workers in a trench where water could accumulate or where loose rocks or soil could fall or roll from the excavation face.
• Your workers must be trained to know when to leave an excavation and how to respond to an emergency.
• Employees must know how to properly use all provided equipment and protective gear.
• All workers must maintain safe work practices at all times.
• Employees should be trained to immediately report unsafe conditions to their supervisor.

Designate a safety leader

OSHA also recommends that employers designate a “competent person,” who can continually enforce safety rules. This competent leader should be responsible for:

• Daily inspection of the trench, nearby areas and protective systems. The worker should look for any evidence of potential cave-ins, protective system failures or any other hazardous conditions.
• Inspection of the excavation site after every rainstorm or other occurrence that could increase the odds of a hazardous situation.
• Immediate removal of workers from the trench if any hazardous conditions exist.
• Provide safe walkways where workers can cross over the excavation.
• Protect workers from potential cave-ins by providing a protective system designed in accordance with OSHA regulations. This might include support, sloping and benching or shield systems.

Without the proper safety procedures in place, an excavation site can easily become a death trap for workers. Protect your workers with a comprehensive set of safety regulations. You should also train your workers on these safety protocols and constantly reinforce these regulations. Although it might require some extra time and effort on your part, a strict safety system will definitely pay off for you and your workers.

Oftentimes the smallest hazards can be the most dangerous ones in the workplace. From slippery floors and loose boards to protruding nails and cluttered walkways, there might be potential threats everywhere you turn at your office or jobsite. However, if you follow a few simple guidelines, you can easily remove these dangers and keep your workplace safe for your employees.

Disorderly = Dangerous

A cluttered and untidy workplace can lead to countless employee injuries and illnesses. For example, employees can slip on wet or poorly maintained floors, trip over boxes and other clutter in hallways, or bang their head on overhanging objects or badly stacked pallets. An unkempt workplace can also result in employees having a negative attitude toward safety in general. After all, if their employer doesn’t seem to care about safety, why should they?

According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), “All places of employment, passageways, storerooms, and service rooms shall be kept clean and orderly and in a sanitary condition.” As the employer, you are responsible for ensuring that the floors in your workplace are safe, tripping hazards are removed from walkways, and any other threats, such as nails, splinters, holes or loose boards, are repaired.

A clean workplace is a safe one

To make your workplace safer and your employees happier, follow these general good housekeeping tips:

• Make common housekeeping tasks part of every employee’s job. Everyone should pitch in to ensure a safe workplace.
• Always keep walkways clear of boxes, debris, tools and equipment.
• Ensure that all pallets are stacked properly.
• Remove any hazardous overhanging or protruding objects, especially in walkways and common work areas.
• Thoroughly check the workplace for any tripping hazards, including slippery floors, badly placed rugs, damaged carpet, holes and loose boards. Remove or repair these dangers immediately.
• Ensure that no aisles or exits are blocked with boxes, equipment or other obstructions.
• Keep floors well-maintained and clean. Always place “wet floor” signs on recently mopped floors.

In addition to these general housekeeping tips, you should also educate your employees about fire prevention. Ensure that your staff is aware of the following fire safety facts:

• An over-crowded storage area can cause a fire to spread more rapidly and can also block the spray from fire extinguishers or water sprinklers, making a fire more difficult to extinguish.
• Blocked aisles can also contribute to the spread of fire and can prevent fire fighters from reaching and extinguishing the blaze.
• Fire extinguishers and other fire-fighting equipment should never be blocked.
• Never obstruct heating equipment, vents, lighting and electrical equipment.
• Workplace fires are often caused by oil or debris that has collected in corners or other areas. That’s why it’s important to keep even rarely used areas clean and clear of clutter.

If you follow these simple good housekeeping steps and educate your employees about fire and safety hazards, you’ll be well on your way to a safer workplace. Not only will workplace accidents be much less likely, but your employees will be happier and more comfortable on the job.

Far too many employees die needlessly while working in confined spaces. Many of these fatalities occur because employers lack information about the potential dangers their employees might encounter. However, understanding the safety issues particular to these workers can help reduce this risk.

OSHA defines a confined working space as one that “hinder[s] the activities of the employees who must enter, work in and exit them. A confined space has limited means for entry or exit, and is not designed for continuous employee occupation.”

OSHA also distinguishes a ‘permit-required confined space’ as one that has the following elements:

• Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere,
• Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing the entrant,
• Has an internal configuration that might cause an entrant to become trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section, and/or
• Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard such as unguarded machinery, exposed live wires or heat stress.

Obvious types of confined spaces include but are not restricted to manholes, storage bins, tanks, underground vaults, pits, silos, process vessels and pipelines. A confined space can also be considered something normally deemed as benign but that can also be as deadly, such as an attic or crawlspace.

Before assigning a worker to a job in a confined space, employers should consider whether the employee might be exposed to the following potential hazards:

• High pressure fluids and gases, especially inert gases
• Chance of falling, being crushed or buried
• Biological hazards such as mold, spores, viral agents, or decay of organic materials
• Exposure to the generation of harmful or flammable fumes when welding
• Air contamination or oxygen deficiency caused by corrosion of metal or other chemical reaction
• Potential leaks, spills or release of hazardous materials
• Possibility of drowning

Employers should always familiarize themselves with the layout of a confined space and any potential hazard employees might encounter. Likewise, work crews should be thoroughly trained how to properly access these potential hazards before beginning work in any confined space.

Some workers will need specialized training and appropriate safety equipment. The situation might require frequent monitoring and supervision. More extreme situations will necessitate that you have a back up rescue plan, trained personnel who understand the risk issues involved for each individual location and appropriate and/or readily available safety equipment.

As crews gain experience with their work locale, they can also fine tune the procedures to suit the individual circumstances of each confined space situation.

By following these simple steps, employers can ensure the protection of their workers and, in the process, minimize the number of confined space injuries and fatalities.

It’s no secret that a construction jobsite can be an extremely hazardous place. However, when you add motor vehicles to the mix, the area can become an all-out danger zone.

Whether you’re working with dump trucks, flatbeds, pickups or any type of vehicle, it’s important to follow the proper safety guidelines so every worker makes it through the day unharmed. When workers are operating these vehicles on the highway, they must adhere to all Department of Transportation (DOT) rules as well as state and local traffic laws. Once the worker enters the jobsite in a construction vehicle, they must follow DOT and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) rules.

Here are some of the key motor vehicles rules as stated by OSHA:

• All vehicles must have a service, emergency, and parking brake system in good working condition.
• All vehicles in use must be equipped with at least two operational headlights and two tail lights, which should be used in dark or low-visibility areas.
• All vehicles must have operable brake lights and a horn at the operator’s station.
• No driver can operate a motor vehicle with an obstructed view to the rear — unless the vehicle is equipped with a reverse signal alarm or an observer is present who can tell the driver when it is safe to back up.
• All vehicles with cabs must have windshields and wipers. Cracked or broken glass must be replaced.
• Seat belts must be installed in all motor vehicles.
• Operating levers controlling hoisting/dumping devices must be equipped with a latch or other device which will prevent accidental starting or tripping of the mechanism.
• Dump truck tailgate trip handles must be arranged so that the operator will be in the clear during dumping.
• Employees must be qualified by training or experience to operate any equipment or machinery.
• Never use any machinery, tools, or equipment that is not in compliance with OSHA standards and the manufacturer’s operations manual. Broken equipment must be identified as unsafe and be tagged, locked or physically removed from the jobsite.
• At the beginning of each shift, you must check each vehicle you intend to operate for damage to the brake systems, tires, horn, steering mechanism, coupling devices, seat belts, operating controls and all safety devices as well as any lights, reflectors, windshield wipers, defrosters and fire extinguishers when necessary for operation.

If you want to keep your workers safe and sound, make sure that every person who operates a motor vehicle is fully aware of these rules. It’s important to constantly enforce these safety guidelines on the jobsite. For more information, visit the OSHA Web site at www.osha.gov.

Lost time and money aren’t the only considerations when an excavation accidentally hits an underground utility line; the safety of all of your workers is at stake, too. A ruptured natural gas line can cause a fire or explosion. The voltage from a severed electric line can be deadly.

The problem with locating these lines stems from the fact that electric, telephone, gas, and water lines might be buried almost anywhere under a construction site. Separate utility companies own them and install them at different times. According to the Construction Safety Council, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of safety and health interests in the field of construction, there are several other factors that further complicate locating underground utilities:

• Utility lines are made of a variety of materials: Steel, cast iron and ductile iron pipes, clay, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and fiberglass reinforced plastic.
• Cable might be made of copper or fiber optics.
• Conduits have different shapes, compositions, densities, and diameters, and their depths might be as little as 0 to 0.5 meter or in excess of 50 meters.
• Some lines (usually local telephone, electric and gas lines) might be stacked vertically in a common trench. Multiple lines might be grouped in a single conduit or duct bank. Multiple utilities might be grouped in common utility tunnels often called utilidors.
• T-Connections and looped service lines are usually overlooked if they are placed near utility boxes.

To help you keep your workers safe, the Council has established the following guidelines:

• Locate all underground installations by notifying the one-call system in your state, and follow all local policies and procedures for locating utility lines. You can find your state’s call center here: http://www.rmis.com/lib/safety/digsafecontacts.php.
• Become familiar with locating technologies and all their uses and limitations.
• Mark the proposed site that is to be excavated, and then have utilities mark the location of all underground installations.
• Pothole along the trench path to visually expose all utilities.
• Establish a zone around the excavation and allow only essential equipment near the edge. The size and area of the zone is based on soil type and anticipated surcharge loads. Be sure your employees observe this limited access throughout the course of the excavation.
• Dig carefully by hand if you suspect a utility was overlooked after the locations of buried utilities have been determined. Many cables are buried side by side.
• Allow only a qualified person to operate any equipment with the potential to make contact with an underground installation.
• Protect, support, or remove underground utilities as necessary to safeguard employees.
• Document the time of the call to the state system and keep proof at the job site.