Working Near Bodies of Water
Construction · Ver en español
Talking points
- When employees work over or near water where the danger of drowning exists, personal flotation devices (PFDs) must be provided and worn.
- Ring buoys with at least 90 feet of attached line must be available every 200 feet along the water's edge. Check that the line is not rotted or tangled.
- A rescue boat with an operator must be immediately available — meaning crewed, fueled, and ready to deploy within minutes, not stored in a trailer.
- Cold water dramatically reduces survival time. In water below 60°F, even a strong swimmer can become incapacitated within minutes due to cold shock and hypothermia.
- Beware of current. Rivers, tidal waterways, and even drainage channels can have deceptively strong currents that overwhelm even experienced swimmers.
Ask the crew
Are we near water today — and is everyone who needs one wearing a PFD?
Standards this talk is built on
A toolbox talk is a short safety briefing. It supports the training a standard requires; it does not replace it.
Run this talk with your crew and keep the record
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Sign-in sheet
Print this page to collect signatures, or run the talk in Jobsite and workers sign in on their phones.
| Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|
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