I do not wait for a signal from my supervisor to stop working in the event of a severe storm.

I discuss current weather reports with my colleagues.

In the Netherlands, we often have strong winds, particularly in the autumn and winter seasons.

• Flyaway objects or materials
• Shifting, flyaway scaffolding planks/floor plates
• Toppling or rolling objects
• Inability to control a load during crane operations
• Toppling of the crane; increased danger of working at heights
• Collapse of inadequately anchored or braced scaffolding
• Undermining of scaffolding, construction and/or passenger and freight hoists, stairwells, etc
• Trucks running off the road that end up in the work area
  

The table/matrix below identifies the measures you must take. This table is a guideline. Always check out your own location to determine whether you need to take action sooner!

• The operator is responsible for the safe operation of the machine and the safety of the people working in the vicinity.
• The foreman is responsible for safety on the construction site. This incudes things such as:

• Organizing timely consultation to take the right decision.
• Tidying up and securing the construction site.

• Everyone is obliged to monitor current weather forecasts and to take the measures outlined below.
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The Beaufort scale is used for average wind speed, not for the peak speeds of wind gusts. These two are often confused. For example, if the wind blows for 10 minutes at an average speed of 70 km/h with peaks of more than 117 km/h, this is not equivalent to a wind force 12 (hurricane), but a wind force 8 (gale).

Many people have difficulty with the fact that the Beaufort scale has two units (knots and km/h), whereby the limit values of each range in the scale do not correspond for these two units. This is due to the fact that the Beaufort scale originally was not based on an objectively measurable quantity, but on observing the behaviour of a ship.

Another point that some people have difficulty with is that the Beaufort scale is not a continuous scale. That is to say, that there is no such thing as a wind force 4.5 or 4.9, for example.

There are various parties that issue weather alerts with the most commonly used alerts shown below:

• Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) weather alert
• KNMI – Teletext page 713
• Weerplaza.nl – warnings
• Windfinder

The windfinder app provides an accurate forecast of the expected wind speed at your location.

The website of the Royal Dutch Touring Club (ANWB) has tips for driving safely in the event of a storm (click here for the link).