Construction is a business which seems like it will grow forever, and aside from the core business of building things there are a whole host of ancillary industries which thrive and grow alongside it. In particular, in a safety conscious age there will always be a demand for equipment which improves the safety both of people working in the building industry and of the end user. So an encouraging prospect for a small business idea clearly lies in the design, manufacture and distribution of more or less anything which works towards this end.

For the small entrepreneur there is an obvious opening for a new SME with its focus upon construction safety. In the US, three Department of Labor agencies have ultimate responsibility for the management and enforcement of all laws enacted in that field. It goes without saying that any contribution made by small business would need to be entirely cognizant of the policies and requirements of the DoL. A professional approach is therefore called for, anything less is not an option.

Swamp Mats for Safe Movement in Potentially Hazardous Conditions

In its manufacture and provision of Swamp Mats – Northern Mat and Bridge has taken such an initiative. Also knows as Access Mats, these products help to make the ground stable to allow crew and machinery to be safely moved around without risk of slippagepon surface water or precipitation. They also have the added benefit of preserving the environments in which they are used, simply by dint of being left behind once the site work is done.

Clearly there are many other opportunities for a small business wishing to enter the market for safety equipment around the work undertaken by the construction industry. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) oversees this and again any work in this area needs to be compliant with its terms.

Health and Safety Legislation Has Paved the Way for Some Novel Ideas

Some novel ideas in this field have emerged from the United Kingdom, where similar attention is paid to the health and safety of people at work and of later users. One such is the provision of an “emergency black box” (the idea having apparently been taken from the appliance of the same name which is required to kept on all civilian passenger aircraft). The idea behind this concept appears to be to provide a port of call for anybody requiring to know what to do next in the event of an emergency. Another is the simple installation of netting around scaffolding to minimize the risk to people passing below of injury caused by falling debris resulting from work being conducted at upper levels.

Some of the ideas being mooted by designers and entrepreneurs are surprisingly simple and would require very little in terms of financial investment prior to implementation. The real investment would seem to be in innovation, and in responding to real concerns with clever solutions, with the overarching concern of negating hazards and danger to anybody using the site.