Construction Safety

...Construction is the most dangerous land based work sector in Europe (the fishing industry being more dangerous). In the European Union, the fatal accident rate is nearly 13 workers per 100,000 as against 5 per 100,000 for the all sector average (Source: Eurostat)....

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking. Normally the job is managed by the project manager and supervised by the construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or project architect.
For the successful execution of a project, effective planning is essential. Those involved with the design and execution of the infrastructure in question must consider the environmental impact of the job, the successful scheduling, budgeting, site safety, availability of materials, logistics, inconvenience to the public caused by construction delays, preparing tender documents, etc.

A site-safety sign at a highway overpass construction site describing the mandatory safety procedures and equipment.

Construction is the most dangerous land based work sector in Europe (the fishing industry being more dangerous). In the European Union, the fatal accident rate is nearly 13 workers per 100,000 as against 5 per 100,000 for the all sector average (Source: Eurostat).

In the U.S. there were 1,225 fatal occupational injuries in the construction sector in 2001 with an incidence rate of 13.3 per 100,000 employed workers. [1] For the same year the construction industry experienced 481,400 nonfatal injuries and illnesses at a rate of 7.9 per 100 full-time workers in the industry. [2] Construction has about 6% of U.S. workers, but 20% of the fatalities - the largest number of fatalities reported for any industry sector.[3]
The problem is not that the hazards and risks are unknown, it is that they are very difficult to control in a constantly changing work environment

Hazards to construction workers

The leading safety hazards on site are falls from height, motor vehicle crashes, electrocution, machines, and being struck by falling objects. Some of the main health hazards on site are asbestos, solvents, noise, and manual handling activities.

Hazards to non-workers

Many construction sites cannot completely exclude non-workers. Road construction sites must often allow traffic to pass through. This places non-workers at some degree of risk.
This sign and advisory plate penetrated the windshield and roof of a car in a side-impact test crash. A safer sign would have stiffer uprights, no advisory plate and the flashing light would be moved to the point of the sign to spread the impact force.
Road construction sites are blocked-off and traffic is redirected. The sites and vehicles are protected by signs and barricades. However, sometimes even these signs and barricades can be a hazard to vehicle traffic. For example, improperly designed barricades can cause cars that strike them to roll over or even be thrown into the air. Even a simple safety sign can penetrate the windshield or roof of a car if hit from certain angles.


Reference :

...www[dot]wikipedia[dot]com....

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

...Some job sometime produce more than one type of hazards, it’s depending on the characteristic and the complexity of the job. More hazards created from the job, more potential loss /injury this can be...

PPE is equipments that being used by operators to protect them from hazards which possible to expose them in their working environment while they are working. This hazard can be a physical, chemical, or even a biological one. Some job sometime produce more than one type of hazards, it’s depending on the characteristic and the complexity of the job. More hazards created from the job, more potential loss /injury this can be.
PPE is not the best and the first step to control and manage the hazard. But it is the last one. There are engineering and administrative control before it. The best and the first step to control the hazard are by using mechanical or engineering control. If those steps can be applied well, this will stop hazard from its source. But, this is sometime cannot be applied well since sometime the engineering control will stop or at least reduce the function of the tools or equipments that have been modified. Sometime it is also annoying the operator to do the job well. An eye protector that has been made from transparent acrylic for sawing machine will reduce their visual. In certain condition, this will create another hazard than become a protection, at least this will make their productivity less. That is way combination between two or three control steps sometime need to be applied in order to create safer working environment for the operator.

There are several weaknesses of this steps, they are:

•It’s need regular and effective supervising to ensure all operator wear the PPE in proper way.
•All operator must be trained well regarding on how to use PPE properly
•And off course it is required more money to buy all the PPE.
•The PPE will reduce the comfortable of operator while they work, in some case if the usage is not wear properly then it will raise a new hazard.
•Sometime, if training is not given to the operator they may think that all the hazard already eliminate from their working area but it’s NOT.

PS : Picture taken from :www[dot]wildlandfire[dot]com