SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION SITE

 SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION SITE

Introduction

The construction industry is one of the world’s major industries. Its achievement in rebuilding areas devastated by both natural and man-made disasters, and in providing power, services and communications to meet the rising needs and expectations of people throughout the world, has conferred great benefits on the human race.

Contributing to the high rate of accidents are those characteristics of the industry which distinguish it from the rest of the manufacturing sector.

All of us who have looked for and found a job in construction are concerned that our work should be safe and that conditions on the construction site should not cause damage to our life, our health and our professional skills.

Through this Blog Post – Safety, health and welfare on construction sites. we will help you to consider safety, health and welfare conditions on construction sites in your country.

The objective of this Blog Post is to provide suitable guidance on a legal, administrative, technical and educational framework for safety and health in construction with a view to preventing accidents and diseases, and harmful effects on the health of workers arising from employment in construction.

Identify the problem and overview

Health and safety are a multi-step process which includes the workers at the site, nearby people, supervisors, managers etc. Effective management of activities and competent site supervision are essence in maintaining healthy and safe conditions. In construction activities especially, greater the risk, greater the degree of hazard control and supervision is required.

Site Safe is a small independent organization set up by the construction industry. Its single job is to reduce construction injuries and deaths by taking the lead in promoting construction site safety.

Causes of accidents in construction

Work conditions and work behaviors are the direct causes of accidents. Proper management throughout the workplace can control these causes in the sense that management can create or maintain a suitable working environment. The main causes of accidents resulting from Construction work are as follows:

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• Lifting

Eliminate back injuries and muscle strains by ensuring that everyone practices safe lifting procedures. It’s always best to recruit a helping hand or to use machinery to move large objects.

• Violence 

Workplace violence is violence or the threat of violence against workers. Employees in conflict with one another tend to be especially unsafe when working together. Workplace abusing, Bullying, harassment, intimidation or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site can cause for a violence.

• Stress

Physical and mental stress can cause serious or even fatal accidents. Employees must be in the right mindset and physically sound for the job.

• Mental Distractions

Employees should leave personal matters at the door. Being distracted on the job is similar to being fatigued, stressed, or overconfident. Workers simply cannot perform their jobs to their full potential if their mind is elsewhere.

• Over confident

Overconfidence of employees can diminish carefulness or attention. Overconfident employees are likely to ignore safety precautions and forego double checking their work. Accidents can occur any time to anyone, no matter how skilled or experienced.

Effects of accidents in construction

•        Increased injuries and deaths
•          Higher cost
•          Legal issues 
•          Decrease productivity

Solutions for reduce workplace Hazards

•          Overcoming Problems of Health and Safety
•          Health and Safety Experts Committee
•          Health, Safety and Security in Construction Site
•          Organizational Commitment and Safety Culture
•          Health and Safety Training 
  
•          Employee safety motivation and incentives
•         Promoting Job Safety and Health
•        Employee Assistance Program
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          Maintaining a Healthy and Safe Work Environment

Each member Duty for reduce workplace Hazards

• Client
•  Appoint the right people
• Allow adequate time
• Provide information to building team
•  Ensure that team communicates and co-operates
• Ensure suitable management, arrangement is in place
• Ensure adequate welfare facilities are on site
•  Ensure workplaces are designed correctly
•  Appoint a principal contractor
• Ensue a health and safety file
•   Protecting the public

 

 

 

• Contractor
•          Provide safe access on site
•          Provide welfare facilities
•        Working at height safety precautions
•          Safe scaffolds
•          Safe ladders
•          Roof work safety precautions
•          Safe excavations
•          Safe manual handing
•          Safe loading and unloading of goods
•          Safe traffic, vehicles and plant
•          Safe tool and machinery
•          Safe hoists and cranes
•          Safe emergency procedures
•          Fire safety
•          Safe storage, handing and disposal of hazardous substances
•          Managing of noise level
•          Hand-arm vibration safety procedures
•        Protecting the public

 

• Regulatory Agencies
•          Guidance notes
•          Safety alerts
•          Health and safety education
  
•          Enforcement
•          Health and safety law

 

• Employee
•          Wearing of PPE
•          Take care of equipment
•          Report any defects

Current situation in Sri Lanka

Construction is one of the most dangerous industries in the world. The ramifications of construction accidents are increasing with a growing trend towards complex projects, especially in developing countries like Sri Lanka. With the boom in the construction industry and with its gross product constantly increasing, the number of construction accidents and deaths has remained stubbornly high. The absolute mortality in the construction industry remains unacceptably high, and the accidents can cause a huge loss of life and property making the construction safety management important.

               

According to the information available at the Labor Department, the statistics related to fatal and non fatal accidents are shown below. Every year, 2,500 - 3,000 accidents have been reported to the Industrial Safety Division of the Labor Department. Out of this number, 40% to 60% were fatal and around 30% were due to construction methods.

Data analysis 

Interviews and questionnaires were developed to collect data. The questionnaires were delivered mostly by email and some were delivered via social media. The target population of the study included state and private companies. A total of 30 usable questionnaires that were returned by 11 responses, were checked and analyzed.

Conclusion

Experience has proved that workers and administrative staff are facing health and safety problems on construction sites. These problems are further exacerbated by the fact that sometimes there is little or no cooperation between those working on construction projects. It is clear that for too long concerns over the well-being of those employed in construction projects have too often been neglected and issues of health and safety need immediate and urgent attention

Reference

Almen, L., Larsson, T. J., and Thunqvist, E. (2012), “The Influence of the Designer on the Risk of falling from Heights and of Exposure to Excessive workloads on Two Construction Sites”, Safety Science Monitor, Vol. 16, Article 6. 

 Tam, C. M., Zeng, S. X., and Deng, Z. M. (2004), Identifying Elements of Poor Construction Safety Management in China, Safety Science, Vol.42( 7),pp 569-586

 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Construction Industry Noise Exposures, Brick layers, Technical Report, published by School of Public Health and community Medicine, University of Washington.