Supervisors Training

Training Outline
 What do you THINK?
 HSE Philosophy
 Roles and Responsibilities
 Accident Prevention
 Key Construction Safety Areas
 Safety Auditing
 Key to Safety Execution

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 What do you THINK?
Please make a comment on the following statements
(Open discussion)
 What is the function of the Supervisors with regards to
safety?
 What are the Project Safety Targets?
 Accidents are inevitable consequence of construction
activity
 Accident prevention efforts should be directed at the
manual workers who are prone to accidents
 Safety is an issue that should be addressed as soon
as construction commences

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 What do you THINK?
 Safety is not integral part of the construction
progress, but is something that must be
superimposed upon it.
 Method of Statements are good tools for planning
sequence of events, but are useless in terms of
safety
 Permit to Work should be handled by Safety Officers
and the Permit Applicants. My only interest is that
they are signed and in my hand.

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 Safety Philosophy
 Safety is a number 1 value
 We must complete this job without a fatality or a
permanent disabling injury
 People are our most important asset
 Result of an accident;

 Pain – All injuries hurt

 Inconvenience – Personal, Work related
 Work Restriction – Replacement may not be easy to find
 Financial Loss – Personal, Company

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 Safety Philosophy
 Program in place
 Measurement of Compliance and Control
 Safety Auditing
 Inspections
 Training
 Induction
 Toolbox Meeting
 General & Specific Training
 Reward – Reaching Safety Milestone/Targets

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 Roles and Responsibilities
 The supervisors is the key player in meeting Project
Objectives
 He has authority over those resources devoted to the
completion of the work
 The Supervisor must control the work
 He must ensure that it is carried out in a safe manner; that
the planning of the work includes planning for safety
 All equipment required is available – right tools for the right
job, Permit, Work Procedure and JSA are available
 Personnel understand the requirements of the procedures
 All procedures are followed – short cuts inevitably lead to
accidents; set example

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 Accident Prevention
 “Accident Prevention” suggest that accidents are
lurking around the corner
 Needs a more positive stance;
 Accidents are not inevitable consequences of an
operation
 Accidents arise from an unhealthy interaction of a
number of factors (people, materials, environment,
equipment)
 Virtually all are controllable
 Management/Supervisor has the greatest degree of
control

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 Accident Prevention
 Exertion of this control at 
the earliest opportunity
will eliminate or minimize
the effect of Accident
 “But I’m not the guy
having the accidents. It is
my steel erectors and
laborers that you should 
be talking to. They’re the 
ones that can get hurt.
Focus your efforts on
them. They are the people
who can stop accidents”.
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Disagree!! Remind
yourselves of the definition
of “Supervisors”. “
Somebody who has
effective control over the
work activities of theirs
subordinates”
Emphasis on CONTROL
By failing to exercise this
control, or by exercising it
incorrectly, supervision is
contributing to, and indeed,
causing accidents!
 Accident Prevention
 To be able to control, supervisor’s must identify in
advance what needs to control
 Accidents are immediately caused by;
 Unsafe acts (Somebody walking across a steel beam),
or
 Unsafe conditions (An unprotected excavation), or
 A combination of both
 The injured persons all work under supervision
 i.e. They are persons who SHOULD all be under the
effective control of a supervisor
 It is a lack of effective control that puts that person into
an environment where he is exposed to hazards
 It is a lack of effective control that allows person to
carry out an unsafe act
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 Accident Prevention
 Use our failures (i.e. Accidents) to identify where to
direct our efforts in order to improve our performance
 So how are accidents caused?
 “Peel back the Onion”: Delve into the layers/ levels of
causation that give rise to the accident
 The levels occupied by activities/ omissions of
supervisions/ management are invariably the most
influential.
 The removal of the cause at these levels/ layers
would remove the accidents

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 Accident Prevention
Sample Incident from a Project;
• Mr. Dee a worker, tripped on
redundant stacked scaffolding
materials
• He was trying to find somewhere to
wash his tools
• It was dark
• There was no lighting provided
• Mr. Dee fell into cable trench
• He suffered serious injury.

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 Accident Prevention

 Why?
 Injured because - Fell down in cable trench - Why?
 Because - Tripped over scaffolding materials- Why?
 Because - He did not see the scaffolding - Why?
 Because - There was no lighting provided - Why?
 Because - Supervisor had not requested any lighting

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 Accident Prevention
 Or,
 Injured because - Fell down in cable trench - Why?
 Because - Tripped over scaffolding materials- Why?
 Because - Visiting cable trench to wash tools - Why?
 Because - No other facilities to wash tools - Why?
 Because - Normal washing facility had not been filled
up with water - Why?
 Because - Supervisor had failed to checked/ allocate
responsibility to someone to replenish water supplies

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 Accident Prevention
 Each chain of causation illustrates a failure by the
supervisor to exercise control over the work environment.
The removal of any link within the chain of causation,
maintains the safety of the situation prior to the work activity
 Most effective way is to remove the earliest link in the chain
 Leaves less to chance, and relies less on individuals’
behavior
 This is important, since we are invariably dealing with
workers that may be:
a) Unskilled in their trade
b) Inexperienced in the construction industry
c) Migrant

(a) + (b) + (c) = Unpredictable Behavior

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 Accident Prevention
 YOU as Supervisor must direct efforts in ensuring a safe
working environment that either,
1. Eliminates the opportunity for workers to carry out unsafe acts
e.g. Providing ladder access, providing a scaffold platform
or
2. Minimize the consequences of an unsafe act e.g. Providing fire
extinguishers, providing safety harnesses
 You extend these controls beyond conditions to cover unsafe
acts
 Change behavior by instruction, example, disciplinary action etc
 YOU are thereby undertaking your supervisory responsibilities,
by effectively controlling the activities and environment.

 YOU ARE DOING YOUR JOB!

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 Key Construction Safety Areas
• To plan and complete
activities safely, you must
have an awareness of
what actually constitutes a
hazard.
• Use your resources!
 HSE Handbook
 Contract document
 HSE Section

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 Key Construction Safety Areas
 Safe Access & Egress
• Common areas used by many
• Essential in time of emergency
• Secured ladders, steps with handrails
• NOT : Cable tray/ ladder racking
• NOT : Outside of scaffold
 Working Platforms
• Fall Protection is the last line of defense
• Secure, with double handrails
• Scaffolding: Minimum width 3 boards, handrails, toe-boards, etc
• NOT : Single boards spanning pipe work
• NOT : Unprotected beams
• NOT : Pipe work
• Consider other methods, Man-lifts, man-basket
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 Key Construction Safety Areas
 Lifting Activities
• Extremely high loss potential
• Crane and operator checks
• Setting up of crane
• Lifting equipment; shackles, slings, hooks
 Personal Protective Equipment
• The “Norm” - Boots, Helmet, Spectacles
• Specialist - Goggles, dust masks, gloves, safety
harness, etc
 Electrical
• Extremely high loss potential
• Industrial fittings and fully insulated
• Earth circuit breakers
• Grounding rods
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 Key Construction Safety Areas
 Fire Prevention
• Critical in view of location and potential consequences
• Fire extinguishers
• Fire blanket
• Fire watchers
• Presence of Flammables materials
• Flashback arrester
 Correct Tools and Equipment
• Mushroomed heads
• Split shafts
• Poorly maintained
• Rebar seen as an “all purpose” tool

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 Safety Auditing
 Essential ingredient of the Safety Program
 Provides dedicated and concentrated focus on safety
 Highlights problem areas and measures behavior
 Safety auditing part of the job - All the time
 Need to be observant - Take time to see the whole
picture
 Whole picture includes workers as well as work area
 Project Multi-tiered approach
 What you see is not always the whole picture
- Hidden problems i.e. Permit Violations, Peoples’
lack of knowledge
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 The Audit
 Remember the objectives :
- To identify problems and PREVENT
RECCURRENCE
- A group exercise - Client/ Contractor/ Subcontractor
- Identify the safety violations
- Correct immediately any potential hazards
- Allocate responsibility for correction of others hazards
- Follow up is critical

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 Safety Auditing
 Who should participate?
• Supervisors must be involved (Managers, safety
officers, workers etc)
• They must be accountable for Safety
• Choose a geographical area/ subject
• Allocate a time
• Record what you find
• Allocate actions in writing
• Put problems right immediately
• Monitor trends and use as basis for development
of safety program

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 Planning: The Key to Safety Execution
 Safety : “A time consuming restriction that is placed on the
performance of the work activity, once that activity has
commenced”.
 Disagree : Safety is an integral part of any activity, and
must be engineered into the method by which that activity
is to be carried out, at the planning stage.
 Safety is not an after thought ; it is not a “bolt on”
 Must be addressed throughout the 5 key phases of an
activity:
• Planning
• Preparation
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Demobilization
 These are the “5 Steps to Safety”.
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 Planning: The Key to Safety Execution
The foundation of the “5 Steps to Safety” is Planning
 Is at the heart of quality performance. Quality in this
sense, includes safety
 Planning entrails the timely identification of all
aspects of the work activity (cost, safety, progress,
specifications etc), and results in the production of a
method of carrying out this work which
accommodates all areas of Safety.
 You are all aware of the value accredited to safety
on this Project.

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 Planning: The Key to Safety Execution
 An effective and widely used way of doing this, is the
development of a Method Statement
 Develop a sequence of activities, and establish
whether or not there are any hazards that arise from
their execution, within the particular environment.
 Based on this, compile a list of measures that need
to be taken to ensure that these hazards are
controlled
 Most engineering construction tasks are
combinations of a number of familiar regular
activities, the control of which are well known to most
of us.

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 Planning: The Key to Safety Execution
 Hot Work
• Fire hoses/ extinguishers, fire blankets, fire
watcher etc
 Lifting
• Tag lines, clear lifting area, correct set up of
crane
 Excavation
• Access, Shoring/ Stepping/ Battering Back
 Vessel Inspection
• Isolation, Standby man, gas test, safety harness
etc…

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 Planning: The Key to Safety Execution
 The sequence, interaction and location of these activities
within certain environments, may give rise to additional
safety measures e.g. Hot work within a confined space
may require continual gas monitoring, the use of
extractors etc…
 Once you have established the requirements for
undertaking the task, without comprising safety, you
should then consult the Client HSE Department
 Once agreed, you have a document that outlines your
sequence of activities, and the resources (equipment,
labor) required to complete them.
 The document can then be used at both the planning and
the implementation stage;
Recite to workers to familiarize themselves with task and
execution Keep at workface to act as consultative
document for all parties
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 Summary

“And the end is that the workman shall live to enjoy

the fruit of his labor;

That his wife shall not be untimely a widow;

That his children shall have a father, and that

cripples and hopeless workers who were once
strong men, shall no longer be a by-product of
industry” .

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