Management System
The significant gaps/ drawbacks in the existing management system has been demonstrated in sec 2.2 (gap analysis) and detailed action plan with target date and responsible person is demonstrated in the action plan.
Main recommendations according to their priorities to improve the existing management systems
are:-1. Review the statement of intent/ Policy with a current date and name of the person signing it. The most tangible way to assess the top management’s attitude towards is
evident only if the policy statement is effective and covers in brief the intention of the top management and the approach towards health & safety issues. Policy statement is the first document that any person would see and thus benefit by improving the public image.
2. It may not be practically possible at times for the top management to address critical issues that needs quick decisions. Hence, appointing a competent Health & Safety management representative is required, who should be the focal point to address any issues on behalf of the top management besides his normal duties.
3. Some critical activities require specialist who are adequately trained and experienced in that field. Therefore, appointing adequate health & safety advisors or specialist is required who can perform exclusive health & safety jobs.
4. A platform is essential for coordinating or presenting key issues that needs consensus and conveyed to all departments the quickest and easiest way. Therefore, timely and scheduled meetings need to be conducted to discuss safety related issues.
5. Companies that ask employees for their views on health and safety issues can cut down on accidents. By including workers’ ideas and involving them in enforcing health and safety rules, companies can create a positive attitude towards maintaining good practice and make significant improvements collective participation of all in suggestions can yield more improvement options.
6. The best way to identify all hazards and risks is to breaking down all critical jobs and describe the method use to conduct those activities and critically assess the risks involved. This requires a system of method statements and risk assessments for all critical jobs.
7. Health & Safety programmes include provision of adequate training, personal protective equipments, reward programmes etc. Hence, allocating a budget for health & safety on all projects are essential and same must be incorporated while assessing the project values and putting forward bid proposals for new contracts.
8. All health & safety programmes needs to be measured and only by assigning a SMART (Simple, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) objective one can measure the performance. Only measuring gets the activity done. Hence, objectives and targets need to be clearly identified and periodically reviewed, in any case not later than yearly.
9. The management system needs to be continuously reviewed and measured so as to incorporate any changes in the company’s organization, equipment or processes.
Therefore, internal audits are required to be conducted on an annual basis.
These actions benefits the company by improving the organizational capability in handling health & Safety issues more effectively, reduction of injuries and cost reduction, business interruption protection, reliability and productivity improvement, public image/ trust improvement, improve the employee relations and help the management take pro-active actions to reduce risks pertaining to workers and thus reduction in direct/ indirect costs. This will also avoid business interruption due to injuries, investigations and enforcement actions and also timely rectification of issues to avoid injuries and asset damages helping cost reductions.
Some of other noticeable benefits are to win and retain contracts; avoid loss of key staffs;
availability and affordability of insurance.
Physical Hazard – Working on Scaffolding
During the course of hazard reviews, all significant hazards have been identified and prioritized based on the criticality of the hazards and the risk ratings i.e. Priority P1 has the highest risk rating which is obtained by multiplying the severity and likelihood of the hazard being affected, P2 is medium risk rating and P3 is low risk rating. The methodology is detailed in section 4.
Working at height- on scaffolding has been identified as the most significant Physical hazard in the company’s activity due to its risk rating being very high and previous incident records showing high numbers of injuries due to injuries related to scaffold workings. All existing controls were assessed and additional controls are recommended according to the hierarchies of control and level of protection that control gives in avoiding
risk:-1. It is critical to design all load bearing scaffolds properly according to the British construction standards and follow the sequence of erections.
2. Before erecting scaffolds on pathways/ roads or next to property owners, it is essential to seek permission or no objection certificates. This will avoid unnecessary business interruptions due to stoppage of work by local authorities or public.
3. Erection of temporary scaffolds/ ladders costs more time and exposes the workers to hazard during erection, ascending /descending and inspection of the same. Therefore, MEWPs or mobile access platforms should be considered for temporary works not exceeding few hours. Work can be done quicker with fewer people.
4. Most of the injuries from scaffolds occur due to fall of persons and materials. A partial restraint is required to arrest falling from height and reduce the impact of the injuries.
5. Where working at height is not avoidable above pedestrian/vehicle route, it is required to warn and protect by providing adequate warning signs and appointing flagmen.
6. Most of the falls from ladders occur due to improper positioning of ladder at the landing level, where the top of the ladder is shorter than the landing level. Therefore, it is required to ensure that ladders are extended at least 1 m or 5 rungs above the landing level.
7. It is necessary to warn workers/ people the worthiness of the access equipment they use. A scafftag system which is signed and inspected regularly should be put on all access equipments/ scaffoldings. Green tag for serviceable and red for unserviceable.
This would reduce the incidents of structure collapse, reducing injuries, cost reduction, avoid business interruption etc.
8. A dedicated trained and competent team is required to manage the erection, dismantling, modifying, testing and inspection of all access platforms including scaffoldings and ladders, so that a common best industry standard is followed through out the site. Therefore, appointment of a scaffolding supervisor and trained scaffolders are required. Inspections to be carried out not less than once in 7 days and before its first use.
9. There is a requirement of continuously monitoring the scaffold structures for any unauthorized modifications, removal of critical components etc so as to maintain the integrity of the structure. Adequate number of inspectors must be appointed to carry out this task.
10. Requirement of people and workers be aware of the hazards present at height and the proper use of the personal protection equipment like safety harnesses must be included in the training and tools box talks.
11. It is essential to have a hooking or a securing point while using safety harnesses for which lanyards with adequate strength and provision for securing them need to be considered to ensure that at all point of time the person working at height is securely hooked to a static point. Most importantly while moving on a top working platform.
Health Hazards – Noise due to construction equipments & machineries
Noise has been considered as the most significant health hazard in a construction atmosphere as there are a lot of close interactions between heavy machineries, equipments, plants, vehicles and persons and it is a continuous process. It is practically not possible to isolate or eliminate fully such noisy activities. Taking into consideration of this fact, the following
improvement actions are recommended based on the hierarchies of controls to reduce the impact of noise
emissions:-1. Establish the maximum exposure limit of 85 dB (A) or peak pressure of 140 dB(C) at the ear for all affected areas so that the measurements can be taken and levels exceeding can be identified and controlled.
2. Technology is advancing and there is a requirement of possibly sourcing suppliers for purchasing less noisy equipments and accordingly revise the purchasing policy and strategies and so that we can control the noise emission at the source itself.
3. In order to identify people vulnerable to induced hearing loss, audiometric tests must be conducted on a regular basis and accordingly classify them for noisy and less noisy jobs. The same needs to be done at the time of recruitment, to assess if the loss of hearing is due to occupational reasons. Likewise, exposure to noise must be limited to persons by proper job rotation, giving breaks and providing soundproof havens.
4. There is a requirement of re-routing the pedestrian walkways to ensure that they are avoiding the noisy activities and equipments so that their exposure to noise can be kept to minimum. Likewise, there is a need to re-design the vehicle routes to ensure that they avoid the public interfaces and buildings so that the noise due to transport and vehicle cause fewer nuisances to public and reduce complaints and enforcement actions.
5. Vibration of air particles and equipments is a prime cause of noise. Hence, there is a need to mount all static machineries on vibration proof mounts and kept covered or enclosed.
6. All operatives and staffs needs to be aware of symptoms of hearing loss, the hazards of noises and the right use and maintenance of personal protective equipments like ear muffs. Training and tools box talks must include these topics. Ear muffs are better ear defenders than ear plugs. Everyone should be provided with ear muffs while entering
‘Hearing protection zones’.
By ensuring that the above mentioned controls are put in place, the company can reduce the injuries and accidents significantly and thus save on both direct and indirect costs. Improve productivity by avoiding business interruptions, enforcement actions; improve the public image and trust. Improve employee relations and will also help optimization of resources.
7. ACTION PLAN