It may not come as a surprise to hear that the construction industry is one of the biggest in the United States, since every resident and most companies need a physical place to be. Houses, banks, schools, libraries, hospitals, skyscrapers, and more need to be built by professional crews, and this makes up the impressive American construction industry, which may be worth over one trillion dollars today. But this is hard manual labor that involves a lot of tools, equipment, and materials like drills, blowtorches, paint, glues, bricks, and much more, and basic safety must be observed for the workers on a construction site to help prevent an accident that can threaten life and limb. At the same time, precautions should be taken to protect the project itself from accidents, such as floor protection during construction to keep glue, paint, and more off of fresh tiles, and floor protection during construction can help save time by avoiding messes like that. Cardboard floor protection, a door frame protector, and other forms of temporary surface protection can be used to keep glue, paint, plaster dust, and more away from certain services. No construction work is complete without floor protection during construction or protection for painting.
Why Use Floor Protection During Construction
It is fair to say that a modern construction site is a messy place. Paint, paint primer or thinner, glue, and dust from plaster or bricks can get everywhere, and in some cases, these loose materials may damage or compromise surfaces such as tiles, glass in windows, carpets, and more. Spilling a bucket of paint onto the carpet of a newly built floor can mean a lot of hassle to either clean off or replace that carpet, and no construction manager would want time wasted like that. Carpets are also known to soak up a lot of particles, anything from dust to pollen to plaster powder, and this may be true during a construction job, too. Loose powders during the job can soak into the carpet and turn it into a hazard for the occupants for the finished building, since it will give off a lot of VOCs. Floor protection during construction can protect carpets from paint and powders, and also protect tiles from dropped items like bricks, or keep glue and primer off of tiles or bare concrete where it doesn’t belong.
Other surfaces may need protection during construction, or during remodeling of a building. While painting the frames of a window, it may be a good idea to put paper or other materials on the glass panes so that no paint or other liquids get onto it, and while painting a wall, a crew can put down floor protection to guard carpets against drips. Furniture, too, can be either removed from a room or draped in protective tarps and other materials during work.
Worker Safety
The workers themselves will need protection from harm on the work site, and this goes beyond a hard hat. Workers should wear colorful vests and outfits such as with orange and yellow to increase visibility, and even reflective tape can be put on their sleeves or vests so that they are easy to see in low lighting. This can help a vehicle driver avoid a worker, or help a crane operator refrain from striking a worker with the crane’s cargo. This clothing is meant to create a sharpy defined outline for the worker, so that they cannot blend into the background.
Workers may also need to protect their eyes and respiratory system during work, and lung issues are actually common in construction. There are plenty of airborne hazards, such as silicate particles, fumes from engines, and more. In fact, among all occupation-related diseases in the United States today, lung illness is in first place. Silica particles, for example, are much smaller than sand grains and can be released into the air during sawing, drilling, cutting, or sanding down bricks and other materials, and many workers across the United States are exposed to such particles during work. Fumes from spray foam insulation is also an issue. Surgical masks, goggles, or even respirators or gas masks can help workers avoid many different fumes and particles during work, especially indoors.
