Best Practices for Job Site and Construction Site Cleaning and Hygiene

The safety and health benefits of a clean job or construction site are numerous. Keeping a well-maintained work vehicle, good personal appearance, and a tidy work site allows you and your crew to function efficiently. Simple things—such as picking up tools you may have sat down in order to do another task or clearing out scrap left over after completing a portion of work—can help maintain a safe work area.

Maintain a clean and safe work vehicle.

A cluttered work vehicle represents a hazard to your driver. It can also make your technician look unprofessional and have an impact on the safety of others. Free-moving debris or materials may slide underneath the pedals of your vehicle and cause the driver to lose control. You should also consider checking and cleaning your windshield as well. Chips and small cracks can become even larger ones, which can lead to a broken windshield. Catch these before they become too large to take care of without replacing the entire windshield.

Consider these tips for maintaining a neat, clutter-free cabin:

• Keep your tools and work materials in separate bins.
• Keep the underside of your seat clear of garbage or tools.
• Clean up spills when appropriate, making sure you pull over to do so.
• Clean off boots or shoes prior to entering the company vehicle.
• Maintain a clean dash.

Always make sure your work materials get stored safely and properly. A loose ladder could kill someone. Ensure that all work items on the rack of the vehicle or in the vehicle's bed are tied down securely. Never place long objects such as ladders, pipes, boards, or rods through the windows of a vehicle, as workers or pedestrians can be struck and seriously injured by these objects. Ensure that items that have lids get secured and make sure that and items longer than the bed of the truck get properly marked and flagged to alert other drivers.

In order to ensure your vehicle remains roadworthy, you should also check to make sure the headlights, brake lights, and turn signals all function correctly. Check the tires for debris such as nails, bolts, or even tools. Keep an eye out for worn down treads.

Personal Hygiene

Maintaining a professional appearance can go a long way as well. Consider the basics. This means showering every day, shaving when appropriate, brushing and flossing your teeth, and wearing a clean uniform. You should also maintain a safe social distance from customers and coworkers whenever possible while COVID-19 still lingers.

Holes or tears in your uniform can allow for hazardous materials to come in contact with your skin. Keeping up with your personal hygiene can go a long ways as well. For one, your coworkers will be happier to work alongside you. You should always practice good housekeeping skills when at a job site. Practicing good personal hygiene can help avoid cross-contamination and protect everyone’s safety and health.

Job/Construction Site Cleaning

Maintaining a clean and safe job site is very important. It’s also the law. Job and construction sites—large and small—often have debris. This may include things such as toxic chemicals, boards with nails sticking out of them, and flammable materials. Keep all these things in designated, marked areas.

Work spaces should also be kept unimpeded by clutter so your technicians can work safely and freely, knowing they have the space to do so. If you focus on maintaining a clean and safe workspace, these habits will eventually become second nature. Managers can oversee the cleaning of the job site at the end of each day to ensure that the job site maintains a clean appearance and remains OSHA compliant. 

Keep a clean schedule and go paperless!

Scheduling your technicians with scheduling software means no more paper work orders or estimates, no more keeping track of items on paper. This reduces the clutter in your company vehicles, allowing your technicians to enjoy a cleaner, safer, and more efficient work day. Better still, good scheduling increases overall efficiency and eliminates wasted time.

By maintaining a clean work schedule and going paperless with a scheduling software, you could reduce clutter in your service vehicles as well as in the the office. If you would like to get a jump on creating a more organized work environment, consider requesting a demo of the field service scheduling software Smart Service.