Safety in Trenches and Need for Safe Practices - Essay Example

Workplace safety is now a significant feature in the construction industry. The threat of caving in of trenches during excavation because of various reasons persists even with the employment of techniques like shoring, shielding, and sloping. A prototype robotic excavation and pipe installation system called Pipeman has recently been developed for use in trench excavation and pipe installation in order to prevent accidents.  The Pipeman is consists of a three-dimensional spatial positioning system interfaced with an excavator and a beam laser and helps in keeping the operator in a safe area with work efficiency.

Need for Safe Practices       
Accidents in the workplace negatively affect the output and morale of workers. Due to the potential hazards involved in the construction industry for workers and the general public the safe practices prominence at the worksite is a non-controversial issue for all. The number of accidents has reduced over a period of time but they are still large in number as compared to other industries. The contractor should ensure to provide a safe working environment to workers and the general public and consider all factors like humanitarian concern, economic cost and benefit, and legal and regulatory consideration which motivate safe practices at the worksite.

Humanitarian Concern       
Because of the accident risks involved at the job site all safe practices including safe environment, tools, selection of workers, dissemination of safety instruction, and enforcement of safety rules are the responsibility of the employer as directed by the court. Employer liability in case of injury or death due to an accident at the worksite is established for a long.

Economic Cost and Benefits            
The cost incurred by the contractor on account of safety is divided into different categories, which include the direct cost of previous and current accidents and indirect cost. The safety cost can be managed and reduced by using different insurance methods while adhering to safety concerns.

Federal Legislation and Regulations         
In order to ensure implementation of safety rules at job site there exist a federal legislation and construction safety act, which makes the employer responsible to provide site free of the recognized potential hazard to prevent injuries and harm to workers and the general public. OSHA (Occupational health and safety administration) ensures that all requirements for safety are being met.

Occupational Health and Safety Administration Requirement             
Proper documentation and reporting procedure are adopted in case of an accident and records are maintained for a specified duration as per the requirement of OSHA. The regional offices of OSHA inspect and implement regulations with the help of inspectors who report any breach or unsafe practice in writing on prescribed forms. General safety briefing to workers and monthly meetings on safety by safety engineers to review the situation is beneficial as per OSHA regulation on the subject.

Safety Record Keeping       
It is the responsibility of the employer to keep a record of all accidents, injuries, and treatment given to injured persons. In case of a fatal accident involving more than three workers, it must be reported within 8 hours. Six reporting levels at the job site including first aid log, first report of injury log, supervisor accident investigation report, project accident report, OSHA required injury report, and Fatality or major accident report exists.

Safety Programs      
A comprehensive safety program comprising safety training, inspections, and briefing along with proper documentation is implemented to ensure good safety. The negligence by workers must not go unnoticed. Working rules and regulations including employment, identification, hours of work, checking in and out, issuance and care of tools, etc must be adhered to to maintain work discipline. A suitable housekeeping program including storage of material and removal of scrap from the site should be established and implemented.  Employers are responsible to ensure that workers observe established safety rules and regulations and provisions of enforced codes are met. The accidents happen because of unsafe activities and conditions. The control of unsafe activities by health and safety management minimizes accidents. Unsafe activities involve working without authority, failure to warn of danger, leaving equipment in a dangerous condition, using defective equipment, unaccounted for potential hazards of slip, trip, and fall, etc. An accident prevention program is aimed to reduce the number of accidents and thereby the cost of construction. From the observation and analysis, it has been seen that 85 to 95% of accidents are preventable. The measure to be taken to ensure that there is organized co-operation between employers and workers to promote safety and health at construction sites.

Conclusions  
The primary objectives of Safety management are to reduce the chances of loss of human life, reduce temporary and permanent injuries, avoid the adoption of unsafe practices and prevent loss of material and machinery. These could only be achieved by abiding by the laws and rules spelled out in the construction safety act and OSHA regulations. Those concerned with the design and planning of a construction project should receive training in safety and health and should integrate the safety and health of the construction workers into the design and planning process in accordance with national laws, regulations, and practices. They can only ensure this if they have a good understanding of constructional techniques and experience in the particular type of project being designed.