BRIEF:

You have been appointed as a Project Manager of a 17- storied high rise

building in Mumbai. The site is surrounded by many other sky-scrapers.

Your company has prepared a safety manual for normal buildings since so

far your company was engaged in the construction of townships and

industrial buildings. Top management has asked you to revise the safety

manual. Discuss the various aspects in this situation. Following data is

provided.

Foundation - Partly pile foundation

Partly rock cutting and dewatering

R.C.C. Frame structure

Tower cranes for construction

Dozer and JCB machines for earthwork.

Steel scaffolding, bucket lifts for concrete and automatic batching plant.

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WORK

The scope of work involves construction of a 17 storied high rise building in

Mumbai, in which construction of the foundation work is partly pile

foundation and partly rock cutting and dewatering. The construction of

building is of RCC framed structure and the major machineries used will be

tower crane, JCB and dozer. The material mainly used for scaffolding and

shuttering work will be of steel and concrete works will be carried out with

the help of buckets lifted through lift arrangement and tower cranes. The

supply of concrete will be from an automatic batching plant located near by

the site.

HAZARDS

The following are the common hazards and its causes for the said project.

In piling works the legs of the tripod should be properly spiked in the

ground. This will prevent accidents due to slipping up of the tripod

legs when rested on a paved ground.

The failure of a pulley due to shearing of bolt or pin is quite common;

hence checking of pulley is essential.

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 The accidents due to drowning and injuries while handling sheet piles

are also very common and care should be taken during processing.

Blow is the most hazardous hazard in well sinking. The presence of

gas in deep foundation is also a danger.

Piling work causes vibrations that my damage the near by structure

and hence examination of structures near by piling work should be

examined before executing the work.

There are chances movement of subsoil mass into the borehole,

which may cause subsidence to some existing foundations in close

proximity.

Vibration caused by the operation of machinery at sites adjacent to the

excavated pit may cause collapse of walls unless they are properly

braced in case of excavation work.

Rock cutting involves blasting operations and are risky and special

attention is required during the process, otherwise it may cause

damage to lives and properties.

Rock excavation involves drilling and blasting operations. This

includes transportation of explosives, loading and unloading of

explosives, handling of explosives, storage of explosives, using of

explosives etc and hence it is risky and special care is required in

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 handling the above works. The above work shall be done carefully

with trained staff and supervised by qualified personnel.

Most of the accidents during the use of explosives are caused due to

faulty loading of blast holes, failure to withdraw fast enough from the

blast area, returning to blasting points too soon from after firing,

presence of strangers near the blasting points, misfire etc.

The construction of a framed structure involves transportation of

material, handling of material, scaffolding and formwork, mixing of

material, placement of concrete, removal of formwork and scaffolding

etc. Usage of machineries is more in the works except scaffolding and

formwork and the condition of machineries should be in sound. Lack

of maintenance in machineries may also cause accidents. Regularly

scheduled inspections are important in maintaining Tower crane and

other machineries using at site.

The cranes with long boom are likely to touch live overhead power

line. Accidents of such type are not uncommon. Never it should be

overloaded.

The scaffolding materials used should be of good quality and must be

thoroughly checked after its erection and before doing concreting

works to ensure safety.

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 The shuttering materials used should also be of sound and quality

materials. During its operation like lifting and placing there are

chances of falling down of materials and may cause damage to human

lives, working at bottom. Special care is required during its operation.

The electrical installations at batching plant should be adequate. The

location of batching plant should not be near by electric lines, there

are chances that the boom of crane may touch the electric lines and

may lead injuries or death to the personnel working around it during

the movement of crane for lifting of materials from bin.

The men and machineries moving near by the plant should be

provided with safety precautions.

SAFETY LEGISLATION AND STANDARDS FOR CONSTRUCTION

INDUSTRY

There is no safety legislation applicable to construction industry in India.

The following are the standards of rules in construction industry.

The repair workshops of contractors or those attached to construction

sites are covered under the Factories act 1948.

Quarries operated by a contractor are covered under the Mines Act

1952.

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 Vehicles plying to and fro at construction sites are subjected to the

Motor Vehicles Act 1951.

A Contractors office is covered under the Shops and Commercial

Establishments Acts.

The Contract Labour (R&A) Act, 1971, regulates the employment and

working conditions of contractors labour.

The immigrant labour is regulated under the Inter state Migrant

Workers Act, 1979.

The workmens Compensation Act, 1923 is applicable to all

construction sites throughout the country.

Child labour and maternity are dealt with under separate statutes.

There are four sources of legal requirements regarding safety as applicable

to construction sites and the construction industry.

(i) Standards lay down by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

(ii) Statutory provisions framed under various labour laws.

(iii) Contract conditions written into the Contract Document signed by

the client and contractor when the work is awarded.

(iv) Decisions, judgements and awards given by the judicial authorities

from time to time.

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SAFETY IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

As the work in this 17 storied building project includes foundation partly of

pile foundation and partly rock cutting and dewatering, RCC framed

structure, usage of machineries includes Tower crane, Dozer, JCB and steel

scaffolding work, lifting of concrete through buckets and the production of

concrete will be from an automatic batching plant. Following are the safety

precautions to be taken for the above building project.

o All workers must wear tight fitting clothes or uniforms, helmets, hand

gloves, protective footwear and eye goggles.

o Electrical connections must be handled with great care and all cables

should be properly insulated and earthing done.

o Excavation work involves drilling and blasting operations where miss

handling of explosives, usages, carelessness in transportation, misfire,

wrong blasting operations etc will lead serious injuries and can cause

loss of life to individual.

o Piling work causes vibrations that may damage the near by structure,

particularly the old ones. It is thus essential to keep watch on the old

structure while piling work is being done.

o Machineries operating near excavated trenches should be carefully

operated other wise there may be sliding of earth due to vibration

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 during operation and can also cause falling down of machinery and

loss of life of workers working around it.

o In framed structures scaffolding is required to make platforms for

working on heights. The material used for scaffolding should be of

quality and periodic checking on scaffolding should be ensured for a

safe working.

o The bracing of scaffolding should be checked during erection.

o The workers working at various heights for storied building for fixing

shutter, welding work etc should wear helmets and also the platform

over which the workers standing for doing work should be strong and

it should be ensured before doing any work.

o The materials like nut, bolts, shuttering and scaffolding materials

using at various levels for high-rise buildings should not be thrown

carelessly to bottom, which may cause injury or loss of life of workers

working at ground level or below levels.

o Proper maintenance of machineries using at site should also be

ensured for a safe working at site.

o Care should be taken during the operation of batching plant where

there will be movement of crane for lifting material from the bin and

also the movement of machineries like tipper, transit mixer etc for

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 dumping of aggregates and loading concrete from plant to site will be

adequate and proper safety arrangement should be made available in

this location.

o Good maintenance of plant and machineries will reduce the chances

of accidents.

o Safety training should be provided to workers for ensure a safe

working environment.

MANAGEMENT OF ACCIDENTS, EMPLOYMENT INJURIES AND

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS

Accidents at site can be managed and controlled to the maximum extent

possible by implementing a safety department at site headed by a safety

officer for overall control of activities and for providing sufficient training to

staff and workers working at site. Arranging a safety talk every day before

start of work will also help in controlling the accidents at site. All the

workers should be provided periodic and sufficient information regarding

safety and remedial measures. All the day-to-day activities should be

monitored and any remedial action required should be implemented

immediately for ensuring an accident free at site. Train all staff and workers

to perform and act themselves as a safety officer can reduce accidents. By

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putting safety boards wherever required mainly at hazardous locations and

by displaying at notice board, the causes of accidents and remedial

measures, where all people can come and read it, the accidents can be

minimised.

The contractor should make arrangements to provide first aid boxes at site

that are readily accessible during all working hours and are under the charge

of a person who is trained in rendering first aid. In large sites, ambulance

rooms should be maintained to treat workers in case of sickness or injury

during working hours.

SAFETY ORGANISATION AND SITE MANAGEMENT

A client or a contractor who is serious about establishing high standards of

safety at work sites as well as throughout the organization should have a

safety policy, which forms an integral part of the overall policy of the

organization. The safety policy comprises a statement of the organizations

objectives regarding safety of men, in operations and at work sites. It also

contains guidelines for actions that will be taken at appropriate levels to

achieve the objectives. Safety policy has to be made in a printed brochure

and circulate it widely amongst employees. The safety policy should deal

with the subject more positively and state that the top management wants

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risk free and zero accident work environment. The safety policy will enjoy

higher credibility and get better implemented if the safety reports reach the

top management or Board of Directors regularly and constitute a permanent

agenda item of their regular meetings.

A safety manual should be prepared and circulate it among all employees

and monitor the site works for ensuring whether the safety requirements,

safety policies are implemented at site and all the employees are following

the safety requirements for making an accident free site. Individual

organisations should be associated with all activities relating to safety, health

and welfare problems. For maintaining an effective safety and health policy

and system within the industry and for a better and efficient site

management for safety, outside co-operation like the following points should

be adhered.

Good relationships should be established with local inspectors of the

concerned government departments.

Laison with educational establishments can help to further a greater

participation by them in the training of young people in aspects of

safety etc.

There should be full co-operation with trade union officials.

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ROLE OF SAFETY DEPARTMENT

A large organization may set up a safety department to implement the safety

policy. This department should be integrated in the general organization in

the same way as the technical engineering and finance departments are

integrated. The direct control of the safety department may be vested in a

senior safety officer or a personal manager, but is essential that the overall

direction of the programme be vested in a nominated member of the top

management. Following are the functions of the safety department.

To establish the norms and guidelines for the provision of safety of

sites, men, materials, equipment and structures for the line

management in charge of these functions.

To prepare check lists, manuals, and other documents for use by the

line management in carrying out the function no.1.

To supervise safety at site and within the organisation.

To give advise on all safety matters in accordance with the safety

policy.

To maintain all safety records, prepare reports and monitor the same

to all concerned.

To conduct the safety training in the organisation.

To carry out safety audit periodically.

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 To discharge all statutory obligations of the organisation regarding

safety, and maintain liaison with the government safety machinery and

other industry associations.

To organise competitions, posters, melas and such other activities that

promote safety consciousness amongst employees.

In small organisations, even though they cannot create separate safety

departments, they will nominate a suitable officer to supervise safety

precautions.

ROLE OF SAFETY OFFICER

The safety department should be headed by safety officers, who are duly

qualified for the purpose. The following are the duties of a Safety officer.

To advise and assist the factory management in the fulfilment of its

obligations, statutory or otherwise, concerning prevention of personal

injuries and maintaining a safe working environment.

To advise the concerned departments in planning and organising

measures necessary for the effective control of personal injuries.

To advise on safety aspects in all job studies and to carry out detailed

job safety studies of selected jobs.

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 To check and evaluate the effectiveness of the action taken or

proposed to be taken to prevent personal injuries.

To advise the purchasing and stores departments in ensuring high

quality and availability of personal protective equipments.

To advise on matters related to carrying out plant safety inspections.

To carry out plant safety inspections in order to observe the physical

conditions of work and the work practices and procedures followed by

workers and to render advise on measures to be adopted for removing

the unsafe physical conditions and preventing unsafe actions by

workers.

To render advice on matters related to reporting and investigation of

industrial accidents and diseases.

To investigate selected accidents.

To investigate the dangerous occurrences reportable under factory

rules and the cases of industrial diseases contracted by any of the

workers employed in the factory under the rule.

To advise on the maintenance of such records as are necessary relating

to accidents, dangerous occurrences and industrial diseases.

To promote setting up of safety committees and act as adviser to such

committees.

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 To organise in association with the concerned departments,

campaigns, competitions, contests and other activities which will

develop and maintain the interest of the workers in establishing and

maintaining safe conditions of work and procedures.

To design and conduct either independently or in collaboration with

the training department, suitable training and educational programmes

for the prevention of personal injuries.

No safety officer shall be permitted to do any work, which is

inconsistent with or detrimental to the performance of the duties.

ROLE OF SAFETY COMMITTEE

A safety committee is a most useful instrument for facilitating the necessary

co-operative effort, which is essential to success in accident prevention. It

should have representative from top management, supervisory grades and

from the workers, with additional representation from the safety department

and maintenance staff. It should act as an advisory body and meet regularly.

Such safety committee can perhaps function more effectively in factories

where conditions are relatively static but there are obvious difficulties on

construction sites where conditions are constantly changing. The co-

operative effort, which is very necessary, will develop through the line of

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communication, which should exist between the site in charge and the

workers through supervisory grades, and helped by safety officers.

SAFETY TRAINING, INCENTIVES AND MONITORING

Following are the features of safety training.

The new workers should as soon as possible, be made aware of the

needs of safety and the organisation which exists to safeguard them

from accidents and from injury to health.

While recruiting workers it should be ascertained what experience

they have had and with what kind of work they are familiar and based

on that only they should be placed on work for which they are suited

and where they should get receive instructions from the immediate

superior on the precautions which should be observed as part of their

general instructions.

Some of the workers may indeed never have seen some of the more

simple forms of tools used on a construction site and may need

instructions in their use from somebody who has knowledge into that.

Where workers are unfamiliar with the language in general use on the

site, selected trained people who speak their language should be

available to help them.

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 Safety officers can advise the individual workers on safety and health

precautions during their visit to site.

Special talks can be arranged on various aspects of safety by means of

films to illustrate important aspects.

Special one day safety exhibitions with talks from safety experts can

also be beneficial and for a correct working.

Workers should be given instruction for working in high-rise buildings

where, they are required to work on platforms on high elevation and

through some other means in connection with various activities.

Members of senior management should meet regularly to discuss all

aspects of health, safety and welfare.

A better safety can be ensured at site by motivating the employees through

some incentive systems. Incentive system includes provision of a fixed

amount for the site personnel, which will be reimbursed every month along

with their salary for keeping an accident free site. If there is more than one

site, there will be a competition among the site groups for getting the safety

awards to their group for maintaining safety provisions at site as well as for

making the site free from accident. By arranging safety Melas and

competitions like exhibitions, film shows, lectures, discussions to sustain

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interest in the observance of safety precautions can also motivate the

workers and employees for a safe working at site. All the activities at site

should be monitored in a daily basis and any remedial measures required or

action o be taken should be implemented immediately for maintaining the

site totally accident free.

All the activities at site should be monitored in a day-to-day basis and the

safety reports should be made. Any remedial measures required should be

implemented immediately. The safety officer should watch the activities

carrying out at site and should ensure whether all the safety measures are

following at site. If anybody is seeing to be not adhering to safety

requirements, should be warned and action should be taken.

SAFETY CHECKLISTS AND INSPECTION REPORTS

For all the activities to be executed at site, checklists should be made and

should report to the concerned if any occurrence or fatal accident happened

at site.

The following are the safety checklists for Pile foundations

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 The workers or personnel employed for piling work must know the

elements of machinery and equipment, how they can cause accident

and what steps should be taken to avoid such accidents.

Near by structures should be examined during piling for avoiding any

accident which may come due to vibration during piling.

All the workers should wear helmets, protective footwear and eye

goggles and electrical connections must be handled carefully.

Engines must be stopped before fitting V-belts or flat belts on them.

The following are the safety checklists for rock cutting and dewatering.

During drilling and blasting operation, movement and handling of

equipments, transportation, stock and usage of explosives should be

carefully handled.

Competent person should handle blasting operation for avoiding

misfire etc.

The machinery should be properly located during cutting operation for

avoiding any sliding of soil or falling of machinery during its

operation.

The dewatering pump should be of adequate capacity and in good

working condition.

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During the construction of framed structure, the following checklists for

safety should be maintained.

Scaffolding arrangements should be thoroughly checked before

concreting.

Ensure the formwork and scaffolding materials of good quality.

Ensure the workers are using helmets during working hours.

All arrangements for concreting like electric connection, platform for

concreting, loading and unloading of concrete from transit mixers etc

should be watched and ensure it is as per standards.

Lifting of materials to various elevations should be done by

considering the safety provisions.

Following checklists should be maintained and followed in connection with

usage of handling of machineries like tower crane, Dozer, JCB etc

o Proper and adequate maintenance should be ensured before operation

of machineries.

o The workers should not be stand near by machine during its rotating

or operating position.

o Ensure firm or solid platform for the operation of machineries,

otherwise due to vibration during operation can cause sliding of soil

or falling of machines, which may lead severe injury or loss of life.

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 o There should not be presence of fire near the diesel tank of

machineries.

o Operation should be controlled by a skilled person for avoiding and

accidents due to electric lines etc near by working site, which may

damage during operation.

Following checklists should be maintained for usage of steel scaffolding,

lifting of concrete through buckets

The material used for scaffolding should be of good quality.

Scaffolds must always be erected and maintained by skilled and

trained personnel.

Ensure that sufficient guard railing should be fitted and maintained in

platforms.

Platforms over which workers are standing should not be overloaded.

Ensure that loose packaging such as bricks should never be used

below standards.

Scaffolds must be properly braced and platforms must be properly

supported.

Check on straightness of ledgers, adequacy of bracing, alignment of

supports etc.

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 The machinery and bucket should be properly maintained or checked

before doing work. Periodical maintenance should be ensured.

A trained person should be engaged to control the men working

around it during lifting of concrete through bucket and its lifting

arrangement should also be standard.

Unloading of concrete from bucket should be done with trained or

competent person.

Check lists for safety at batching plant are the following.

One trained person should control the traffic and movement of men

and machineries around batching plant.

Proper arrangements should be provided for keeping the near by

working places or living places free from dust.

Ensure that all the electrical fittings and arrangements should be

properly done.

Men and machineries should be away from the crane while moving it

during lifting of materials from the bin for loading and producing

concrete.

The batching plant area should be free from electric lines near by it

which may cause electric shock or other major damage while moving

the crane or lifting the body of tipper during unloading of aggregate.

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The statutory safety records required to be maintained at sites are the

following.

Accident register

Dangerous Hazards Register

First aid Register

Register for the inspection notes by government officers

Copies of all accident reports and hazard reports filed to the

prescribed authority.

Inspection notes should cover (1) Name and address of the site (2) Name and

address of the contractor (3) Name and address of the site engineer (4)

Nature of the work done (5) Exact place where the dangerous occurrence

took place (6) Date and hour of occurrence (7) Nature of dangerous

occurrence.

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CONCLUSION/ RECOMMENDATIONS

The risk of accidents is present in all everyday activities and it is not fair to

pretend that a work site can be entirely free from accidents. However, a

more practical way is to consider a construction site safe when persons can

go about their normal daily work without undue risk. It is the responsibility

of the contractor that every work site under his control is provided with first

aid boxes that are readily accessible during all working hours, and are under

the charge of persons who are trained in rendering first aid. There should be

at least one such first aid box at every site. At large sites, the scale is one box

plus additional boxes at the rate of one box for every 150 workers normally

employed. It is appropriate for large construction sites to maintain an

ambulance room or dispensary with all facilities and adequate supply of

drinking water should also be made available.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES

o Course material for construction safety management

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