Antwerp Construction Company - Occupational Health and Safety, Steel Building Collapse - Case Study Example

REPORT By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Table of Contents REPORT 1 Introduction 2 Engineering organizations 3 Occupational Health and Safety 6 Quality systems 8 Steel building collapse 12 Conclusion 15 References 17 Introduction Antwerp is an engineering construction company whose main field of operation is in the construction business. The company has created a reputation for itself as one of the best construction company in the country. It is for this reason that the company has made it a priority to ensure that the needs of its customers are met to the satisfaction of the customers. However, in ensuring that this is achieved, the company has taken various necessary steps that would ensure the employees always perform to their best. This is can be attributed to the way the company is run from the topmost staff to the lowest ranked staff. Despite the many precaution, there are times when accidents are inevitable, meaning that not always does one get a perfect record. In the case of this company, recently an accident occurred in one of the company’s construction site. This accident has brought not only grief to the families of the casualties but also repercussions to the company’s daily business routine. In addressing the said accident, this paper makes a report on how the company is managed and how the management relates to the accident. This will provide an overview of how an engineering organization is run. In addition to these, this paper will also look at the various steps that have been undertaken by the company in the past, present and future in an effort to avoid instances such as the recent accident in one of the construction sites. Finally, this report tries to capture the accident that occurred in one of the company’s construction site, and the events that led to the occurrence of the accident altogether. Engineering organizations In any given organization, engineering organizations included, it is always important to have an elaborate structure of the company. With an elaborate structure, it becomes easier for the company to achieve its objectives faster and in a manner satisfactory to the customers. In line with these statements, Antwerp Construction Company has made it necessary that an elaborate structure has been established to oversee the businesses and the activities of the company. Therefore, this means that not everyone on the company is on the same level, but rather people have been employed under different capacities. This is dependent on the skills that each individual brings to the company and the type of work that requires such skill. At the peak of the structure is the board of directors, whose main objectives are to oversee the interest of the shareholders and the company itself. The board constitutes member obtained from the company as well as external members. This ensures that the board remains independent to facilitate it to make some of the critical decisions that touch on the company’s business. The next tier after the board of governors is the management team. The management team comprises of the various directors of the company, whose sole duty is to oversee the day to day running of the company. The management team is tasked with making some of the critical decisions on behalf of the company (Atallah 2006, p. 50). However, these decisions are required to have a positive impact on the company, meaning that the company should be able to create profits by implementing such decisions. The last tier of the company is the employees who have been distributed to the various departments of the company. These departments are headed by individuals who tasked with ensuring that the various duties of their departments are accomplished accordingly. Additionally, the company has established various policies to oversee the smooth running of the company’s businesses and activities. These policies are somewhat like rules and principles that govern the company, thereby constituting the mantle of the company’s businesses and activities. As much as they are formulated to assist the company they are also of equal importance to the employees of the company. This is because, with such policies, every employee of the company is aware of the various responsibilities they are required to undertake, thus reducing the amount of supervision. Additionally, these policies constitute rights of the employees as long as they work for the company. These policies have been formulated in such a way that they cover every activity of the company (Atallah 2006, p. 80). This is evident, by the way, they have been divided based on the important aspects of the company. There are health policies, which touch on the health standards of the company such as stipulating the need for all employees to wear protective gear while in the construction sites. Additionally, there is also the work ethic policies which stipulate the various ways in which employees are required to conduct themselves while at work or during assignments to the construction sites. As earlier stated, the company is made up of various departments, which form the backbone of the company. These departments are tasked to undertake different duties within the company, thus ensuring a smooth running of the company. The departments have been classified in to three main areas which are, legal department, finance department and the construction department. The legal department is responsible for the numerous legal issues that may befall the company or ensuring that the company complies with the legal provisions of the country. The finance department, on the other hand, is tasked with the handling and distribution of finances across the company. This ensures that the company does not exceed it financial capabilities, thus making it possible to meet the various financial requirements of the company. Finally, the construction department is tasked with ensuring that the company meets the various construction contracts it has entered into are completed to the satisfaction of the customers. Individuals appointed to these departments are required to possess special skills that relate to that department. This would in turn distinguish them from individuals working on other departments. In order to ensure that these departments meet their needs, the company offers incentives to the workers in the various departments. These incentives work as motivation to the workers thereby ensuring that the workers commit themselves fully to their work. The incentives are issued in the form of awards issued to individuals and departments as a whole. These awards are issued on merit upon individuals who have shown immense commitment to undertaking their duties. Occupational Health and Safety The company is aware that the kind of activities undertaken by most of our employees is dangerous in nature. This means that there is always the possibility of employees suffering injuries while in the course of their duties. Therefore, for this reason the company has not slept on the matter but has established occupational health and safety measures that are deemed effective in addressing the various health issues that may face its employees. This shows that the company does indeed give priority to the health of its employees while they within their work stations. In achieving this, the company has formulated what it deems an elaborate health and safety policy that is supposed to oversee the health issues of the company. Some of the provisions on the policy include the type of gear that employees are required to put on while out in the construction sites. However, some of the protective gear may be expensive to some of the employees especially those in the labor section. Therefore, to ensure their safety the company provides the protective gears to them thus ensuring that their health is not compromised while working for the company. Where accidents befall the employees during their course of duty, the company takes full responsibility. However, this is dependent on the prevailing conditions that led to the occurrence of the accident in the first place. Where it is clear that the accidents were due to the fault of the company’s machines, then the company takes full responsibility to the extent of taking care of the treatment of the injured. However, where the accident arises out of the negligence of the employees in the course of their duties the company takes partial responsibility. This means that the employees will be required to cater for some of the treatment procedures. The reason behind this is to ensure that employees observe high standards of care while operating the various machines. Additionally, it reduces exploitation of the company by employees for accidents and injuries suffered as a result of their own negligence. This, therefore, shows the legal position taken by the company in events of accidents within the curse of duty of its employees. Additionally, for these to be possible the company has gone ahead to install various systems that would ensure that the health of the employees is safeguarded. These systems have been designed in such a way that they cater for every employee no matter their job capacities. One such system is the establishment of a sick bay within each construction site. The purpose of the sick bay is to offer first aid attention to employees who may succumb to injuries while undertaking their duties. This not only saves time but also ensures that the employees do not suffer from second infections as they await to be taken to hospitals. In addition to these, the company has also established an effective alarm system whose sole purpose is to notify the employees of any accident within the construction sites. Furthermore, the alarm system also serves the purpose of informing employees to leave their jobs whenever the supervisors perceive working conditions as unfavorable. This, therefore, reduces the rate at which accidents occur within the company. The alarm system has also been integrated with nearest hospitals, which makes it possible for paramedics to make a fast arrival at the scene of the accidents. Therefore, the accident system that has been installed by the company is probably one of the best and is probably the reason as to why there have been few accidents affecting the company. To oversee the occupational health and safety systems are up to date in dealing with any health matter within the company an Occupational Health and Safety committee is formulated. The committee is constituted with individuals who possess skills in safety management thereby maintaining the integrity of the committee. Every year the committee is required to conduct inspections on the system that have been put in place by the company. Once the inspection is concluded the committee goes ahead to make a report on the existing systems. It is from these reports that the company is notifies as to which systems are up to date and which systems are not. Those systems that do not satisfy the criteria set out by the committee are then replaced by newer systems. Therefore, this ensures that the company has the right tools to counter any hazards that may befall the company with ease (Tang et al 2005, p. 90). This, in turn, ensures that the company does not suffer great losses in terms of property and the lives of the workers upon such hazards. The occupational health and safety committee is also tasked with establishing the policies that govern the health situation in the company. This ensures that the company abides by the various legislative regulations that have been established to regulate health in construction companies. In addition to all these steps undertaken in ensuring conducive working conditions, the company also conducts Job Safety Assessment (JSA). The purpose for conducting this activity is to try and assess the possible hazards that the company may be faced with in the near future. This is achieved by observing the workers as they undertake their duties and noting down some of the areas that could pose as risks to their health. Once this is done, then the company is capable of providing or undertaking the necessary steps to counter the said risks should they attach. Therefore, the Job Safety Assessment allows the company to integrate some of the accepted healthy practices and principles to the work being undertaken by the company’s employees (Harris & McCaffer 2013, p. 150). Quality systems Antwerp Construction Company is a quality based company meaning that it sets it objectives in ensuring that it provides the best services to its customers. This is because, with quality work, the company gains acceptance from its customers and maintains loyalty of its customers. Therefore, quality is one of the foundations of the company and should, therefore, be adhered to at any cost. Additionally, quality assurance is a factor that should be given priority due to the kind of activities undertaken by construction companies such as Antwerp Construction Company. This can be attributed to external factors, which might hinder the completion of the tasks set out. Where the tasks are met, they can be of poor quality and therefore it becomes equally important for the company to establish quality assurance mechanism. In order to facilitate this, the company has set out quality policies and procedures. This two aspects will ensure the company maintains accountability of all the activities undertaken by the company. This in turn minimizes instances, whereby the company’s activities are compromised which could lead to legal issues being taken against the company. Additionally, quality policies and procedures represent transparency of the company to its customers. This means that any customer can relate to the activities of the company without fear of lack of disclosure as to how undertakings are done in meeting the quality demands. In addition to these, quality policies and procedures maintain the consistency of the company, thus ensuring efficiency in undertaking various duties. This is because each and every employee of the company is guided upon by the policies and procedures set out by the company. Therefore, this minimizes instances where employees use different approaches in trying to attain the objectives of the company (Atallah 2006, p. 180) Despite these two aspects acting arm in arm the company draws a distinction between the two, thereby treating each of them separately. This means that the company has a separate quality policy manual and a separate quality procedure manual. In demonstrating this the company list some of the distinctions that exist between these two aspects. Quality policies serve as guidelines when making decisions regarding the company. This means that whenever the company is about to make decisions that are likely to affect the operations of the company, it is guided by the existing quality policies. The reason behind this is to ensure that the decisions reached at do not in any way compromise the quality of the company’s products. Additionally, quality policies are descriptions as to the company’s commitment to some of the key determinants of quality. This means that quality policies try to reflect on the factors which the company deems key in the running of its operations. The other meaningful distinction is the fact that quality policies form a basis for quality procedure and instructions. Therefore, this shows that the company cannot establish company procedures without first establishing policies since such procedures stem out of company policies. Quality procedures, on the other hand, act as recipe for the company. This is to mean that quality procedures stipulate how things within the company are to be coordinated in trying to meet the quality standards set up by the company. Therefore, quality procedures give a step by step directive of the activities of the company in meeting the quality demanded by the customers. As earlier stated procedures stem out of company quality policies, meaning that, without company policies, it is impossible to formulate the company’s quality procedures. Therefore in a nutshell quality procedures specifies how things will be done, when they will be done, by whom they will be done, and the type of records should be kept in relation to the company’s activities (Harris & McCaffer 2013, p. 300) Additionally, the company is guided by various principles, which form the backbone of the management quality set up of the company. These principles help the company to navigate through the various hardships that it may encounter as it tries to meet the required quality standards set out. One of the main principles revolves around customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction ensures continuity of the company and therefore the company makes it a priority. This is evident with the existing system whereby individuals are appointed to regulate and ensure that quality and demands of the customers are met with ease. The other equally important principle is in regards to leadership. Persons of authority are the one who determine the progress of the company, meaning that their actions determine how the workers of the company perform. Good leadership leads to quality performance by workers on their intended duties. However, where there exists poor leadership workers will always be at loggerheads with the company making it impossible for the company to attain most of its objectives. Therefore, in quality management set up the company tries to ensure that individuals appointed to oversee other workers of the company are people of integrity. Additionally, the company advocates for the participation of all employees no matter their job ranking when undertaking the activities of the company. This increases transparency within the company and provides various avenues through which the company can maintain quality work. The ISO9000 series of standards has also had a great impact on the company in regards to the quality of work undertaken by the company and its workers. The ISO 9000 series of standards is meant to ensure that companies adhere to the standard and accepted quality of work. Failure to honor this a company risks being banned for failure to provide quality services to its customers (Bubshait & Al-Atiq 1999, p. 41-44). Therefore, with the guiding principles set out in ISO 9000 series standards in regards to construction companies, the company has made an effort to try and meet these requirements. This is despite the numerous challenges the company faces in trying to interpret and put into action some of the ISO 9000 requirements. This is attributed voluminous amount of documentation that has to be undertaken in replicating the quality systems of the company’s activities. Additionally different cultural approaches in the construction companies have made it impossible to have a uniform practice, but the company does all it can in ensuring that it abides to the ISO 9000 requirements Steel building collapse The company has always made it a priority to ensure that its workers are safe while working on the construction sites. This is achieved by providing effective and standard tools to enable the workers meet their duties and obligations. However, sometimes accident do occur in the construction, but most of these accidents are minor accidents of which the workers are treated. Therefore, when the steel construction building collapsed it came as a huge loss to the company. This is because the company has always ensured that the construction of buildings was up to the recommended standard. This has made it possible for the company to avoid such accidents, which bring loss not only to the company but also to the unfortunate workers who find themselves within the building at the time of collapsing. However, this accident will serve as a lesson to the company in trying to avoid similar occurrence or accidents of such magnitude. It was on the 1st of January 2013 that the company suffered one of the worst accidents on its construction site. This is in relation to the collapsing of a steel building that was under construction something that devastated the company and its employees. The building was supposed to be seven storeys reinforced with concrete and steel. Reports collected from the survivors indicate that the building started collapsing from the third storey. This happened as the workers were leaving the building for their lunch breaks and by the time the building collapsed most of the workers had already left the building. However, there are those who were still within the building as it collapsed leaving some of them injured and one of the workers is dead. This is evident from the pictures taken from the construction minutes after the accident took place. The pictures will form the basis of our investigation as it is from the pictures that one can accurately determine what are some of the factors that led to the accident are. After the accident the company took upon itself to try and find out what could have led to the collapsing of such a building. This is despite all the efforts put in ensuring the strength and stability of the buildings. One of the factors that the company put into consideration was the prevailing weather conditions at the time of the accident. According to statistics and pictures taken after the accident it is evident that the accident occurred as it was raining. However, this poses a great challenge to the company as to how the rainy weather conditions could have affected the building under construction. The reason for this is the fact that the company has on numerous occasions overseen the construction of building under the same weather conditions. However, on this day reports indicate that the rain was accompanied by strong winds something that the company puts into consideration. This is because, with steel buildings, joints are attached by use of nuts, and if these nuts are not tightened then they could be blown away leading to the collapse of the building. Therefore, this shows that the prevailing strong winds could have contributed to the collapsing of the building. Additionally, in trying to establish whether this was the case questions were asked to those who witnessed the collapsing of the building. However, when conducting these questions it became clear that there were various versions as to what really happened. This questions also tried to determine whether the collapsing of the building under construction was instigated by one of the workers. This, therefore, shows that the company was serious in determining the real cause of the accident, and it would be unwise to ignore possibilities of such events. Since this was the first time most of the workers experienced such an ordeal some of them experienced psychological torture. This was further compounded by the death of one of the workers whom from the reports was a close friend to many. This has led to a sombre mood in most of the ongoing construction sites with some of the construction being abandoned for fear of them collapsing. This has in turn led to a drop in the work activities around most of the surrounding construction sites. In addition to these, the accident has led to most of our clients questioning the ability of the company to construct strong buildings. These has been compounded by the numerous versions of the collapse circulated by the public at large, and this has affected the ability of the company to realize potential customers. Apart from the accident causing immense economic effects on the company it also led to interference with the health of some of the workers who were inside the building being constructed. This is evident with the death of one of the workers (John) who succumbed to injuries while being rushed to the hospital. Additionally, three more workers (Kevin, Geoffrey and Earnest) experienced serious injuries to with Kevin and Geoffrey suffering from broken spine while Earnest fractured both his limbs. Two other workers suffered minor injuries and were rushed to the nearest hospital where they were treated and discharged. Aside from these, the collapse also had an immense effect on the surrounding area due to the large debris left behind. This has made the area impossible to navigate through forcing the public and workers to find alternative ways of getting to their destinations. The presence of debris has also led to the destruction of what was once a beautiful and clean neighborhood. This is occasioned with the scattered debris all over the place making the place look messy. Therefore, the accident has led to enormous effects on the company, its employees and the surrounding environment, something the company is trying to remedy as soon as it can. At the close of the investigation, it also emerged that some workers also suffered injuries as a result of the building collapsing. However, unlike the casualties at the scene of the accident, these workers suffered internal injuries making it impossible to notice. This has led to complications leading to the need to offer compensation to the workers, something the company was not anticipating. This has led to the company conducting medical tests on every worker present at the construction site at the time of the accident. Such tests are enable the company to cover insurance claims in the future from workers which could be attributed to the accident. Additionally, this helps the company avoid workers who use the situation as a cover up to meet their medical needs which may not be affiliated to the accident. The accident has led to the company erecting a memorial at the site in honor of the casualties. This is has completely transformed the area as the area is now a park where individuals and the public at large can visit while at the same time commemorating the life the befallen worker and those that suffered injuries. Conclusion In conclusion, an engineering company is dependent on various factors, which enable it to meet its desired objectives. These factors work hand in hand meaning that neither of them could operate without the assistance of the other. For instance, the organization of the company ensures distribution of the objectives of the company to the various departments that exist in the company. This ensures that each objective is afforded ample time and resources thereby enabling the company to meet all its requirements. However, it is equally impossible to meet these objectives without considering the health of the workers to the company. This is attributed to the kind of activities involved in construction companies, which can sometimes lead to injuries. Therefore, it is up to the company to ensure that it has an elaborate health system set out to ensure the protection and safety of the health of the workers. This is achieved by formulating rules regarding health and ensuring that they are adhered to fully by all the employees. Additionally, the company provides proactive attire to its employees to ensure that their health is safeguarded. In addition to these, the quality of the company’s work is all that matters since it determines the continuity of the company. Therefore, the company has taken all the necessary steps to try and ensure that the quality of the company’s job is not compromised. This has been achieved by the formulation of quality policies and procedures which guide the company in maintaining high quality work. In relation to the accident it was an unfortunate thing that befell the company as it had not experienced an accident of such magnitude. However, the company has learnt a lot from the accidents and has taken it a stepping stone in ensuring that it does not faces such an incident in the future. References Atallah, P 2006, Building a Successful Construction Company, Kaplan Publishing, Berkshire. Bubshait, AB & Al-Atiq, TH 1999, ISO 9000 Quality standards in construction, Journal of Management in Engineering, pg. 41-46. Harris, F & McCaffer, R 2013, Modern Construction Management, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey. Tang, SL, Ahmed, SM, Aoieong, RT & Poon, SW 2005, Construction quality management, Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong. Read More