Safety nets are used at high-rise construction of storey buildings to help absorb energy of falling workers. This helps to prevent injury and harm of the builders.
Introduction
Working close to leading edge exposes workers to risk of falling. When protection is absent, the workers can easily be injured if they fall on obstacles.Builders cannot sustain injury when they fall from high places, this net is built to prevent damage when that happens. Personnel nets which are used to catch people reduce risk of injury, they are designed to catch workers from falling.
Safety construction nets are built depending on the need for use.
Types of safety nets
There are two main categories of safety nets used in construction. They are; personnel and material nets.
Personnel nets were designed to catch falling workers to reduce injury. These nets are in the class of passive protection. This is because the nets are placed there just in case the worker falls, but a construction can be completed and there are no cases of fallen workers. They don’t require the efforts of the workers for their effectiveness. On the other hand, there are other personnel protection nets that require conscious efforts of workers. They are called personal fall catch system. The builders must ensure the net will provide enough protection system.
The second type is the materials(debris) nets. These are designed to catch the materials used in construction from falling and causing unnecessary accidents. Such materials are, construction bricks, spade, scraps, iron or steel etc. the external and interior construction areas use these nets in the process of the construction.
Conditions for use of safety nets
The nets must be woven to allow aeration take place.
Must not be defective.
They should be suited for their purpose
Only inspected and approved nets should be used.
Effectiveness of the net
Nets must be checked on a regular basis to ascertain its effectiveness for use. Defective nets must not be used in construction as they can easily cause injury when heavy materials fall on them. During inspection, faulty parts should be removed, warn out regions be replaced and if need for overhaul replacement, it should be done before work begins.
Replacing warn out nets and installation of new nets
When replacing nets, the borders ropes must be made strong to withstand heavy weights. Faulty nets should not be reused again until they are deemed fit for use again.
The installation of construction safety nets must be done by qualified personnel and be protected from falling in the process of installation. Manufacturer’s instructions on installation must be followed strictly. Only do what has been approved of during installation to prevent unnecessary damage of caused by wrong installations. Removing or installation must be planned for, a systematic way is drawn on how to install and how to remove. Unless not stated in the manufacturers instruction, do not improvise.
Conclusion.
Safety nets are very useful in construction of high buildings. The rise in economy and development of cities has made people invest in real estates. The use of safety nets is very fundamental in the process of construction. However, the choice of the nets is solely upon the user.
