The Health and Safety Codes Governing Construction Work in Britain - Case Study Example

Health and Safety Management (Student Name) (Course No.) (Lecturer) (University) (Date) Introduction Health and safety involve identification and elimination of the risks to prevent them from causing the accidents and occupational ill health. Currently, much focus is on the safety within the construction industry. Besides, most companies are documenting their safety a measures and wellbeing of their employees citing that they deserve the highest priority, which is the main leap in the modern constructions works. With consideration of the approaches used to execute early projects such as the Great Chinese Wall, most people died owing to poor safety measures and scope of operation. Statistics from the UK Health and Safety Executives indicate that either one or two people die weekly due to the effects of construction activities (Patterson, 2013, 105). However, it is important to note that the negative effects might result from human activities such as poor engineering designs and materials used in the construction. Most constructors currently focus on the economic sides of their projects without consideration of negative effects from such project. As a result, they purchase materials of poor quality that increase the susceptibility of people to the risks. Consequently, if no adequate measures are in place, then occupational ill health could build up overtime accounting for more loss of lives (Datta, & Institute for Steel Development & Growth, 2013, 173). The fact sheet often provides a way forward of ensuring the best practices that might improve occupational health and safety within the construction industry, professionals, and advisors. Currently, Britain’s construction industry is the largest industry with approximately 2.2 million workers. In the last 25 years, construction activities have claimed the lives of 2,800 people. Moreover, in every five-construction works one failed to comply with health and safety regulations in the last national inspection conducted by the Healthy and Safety Executive (HSE). Legal Framework Regulating Construction Activities Structures used in facilitating construction works like framework and scaffolding are not given priorities they deserve with the constructors considering their monetary nature and their associated costs is unrecoverable from a single construction as a line item. Consequently, within most states, accidents and failure rates for the temporary structures are higher than permanent structures. Every accident that usually occur within the industry contributes to tragedies like injuries and death to the workers, damage to both the environment and property which all links to the direct and indirect costs and efforts. Economically and professionally, accidents associated with poor designs and construction materials contribute to the delaying of the project. As a result, unwanted repercussions usually occur on the workers and concerned institutions, construction industry, and community. Most accidents and failures within the momentary are traceable to the minor mistakes in fabrication, to cheap materials or equipment, and to the negligence of the regulatory bodies with regard to the application of the codes and standards. Statistics show that the number of casualties and permanent disablement cases occur from UK’s construction sites is one of the uppermost with regard to other sectors. Although the numbers of engineering accidents have been on the decline, the benefits paid to the victims have been on the rise. Therefore, there is need to mitigate the prevailing problems. To improve safety and health conditions, the three significant steps worth consideration are hazard identification, risk assessment, and risk domineering to establish better-working conditions. Most countries insist on implementation of the effective hazard control measures. However, the constructors often fail to consider various approaches especially with the changing working environments within the construction sites (Binggeli, 2011, 131). The latest technology used within the construction sites wiped out the old methods and consequently bringing new types of risks within the industry. Moreover, the states are compelling the employees within the construction sites to ensure their safety and health and in agreement with the instructions and preparations they acquired, the employees have to make correct uses of the safety devices and make clear observations of the safety rules. Such obligations also extents to the application of the machinery, equipment, tools, and risky products as a measure of ensuring appropriate uses, which do not jeopardize the health and safety of the workers and other people not directly related to the project. The health and safety codes governing construction works in Britain’s are contained in Health and Safety at Work Act, which sets the general rules that the workers are to adhere to, and the roles of the public, and that of the employers. The management of health and safety at Work Regulations Act make clearer the requirements of the practitioners to manage health and safety issues related to their projects. The injuries and death rates on the construction sites within London make construction activities within the place risky in the capital. What makes the injuries even more appealing is that the accidents currently occurring are the least rates yet recorded (Mo Gal et al., 2009, 124). The country spends almost £5 billion annually on the new building. From the analysis, it is clear that the country is not doing much to mitigate the ever-increasing accidents at the sites. The industry itself has several recommended strategies for reducing the impacts, but it has failed to implement properly them, which also contribute to the rising accidental activities. It is the responsibility of each person involved in commissioning, delivering, and working within the construction sites to ensure compliance with requires safety and health measures. Safety and Health Issues Associated with Organizational Processes The safety issues from the organization include the nature of the employees, materials, equipment, and various risk management measures within the construction site. Accidents might occur due to the materials used on the site depending on the quality and the knowledge of the employees with regard to their expertise. The potential hazards associated with the materials include application of the hazardous materials within the work site, storage of such materials, handling of the materials, and removal of the existing materials, oil spillages associated with mechanical breakdown, fire, and dust materials (Hudson, 2003, 822). The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is usually integrated into the Occupational Safety and Health Act to act as a comprehensive and legislative programme that ensures that the employees within the construction sites understand the nature of hazardous materials around their workplaces. Furthermore, with reference to WHMIS, there are different hazard materials categorized into groups based on the type of material used. Every category has defined hazard symbol that the employees should be aware of. Class A of the materials involves compressed gasses, which at normal temperature and pressure, the gas is usually packaged in cylinders and containers. The hazards from such materials usually arise from their chemical nature and unexpected loss of integrity of the container. A compressed gas cylinder is usually heavy; therefore, upon rupturing, they might become projectile with the potential to result in significant damages. The major example is the oxy-acetylene commonly used for welding within the construction sites. Class B of construction materials used with construction sites are flammable and combustible materials while Class C are the oxidizing materials which might release oxygen or other substances likely to cause to combustion of other materials. Class D of the materials are poisonous and infectious material, which pose the greatest potential hazard to the health of the workers. Besides, Class D materials are classified into Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 relating to materials causing immediate and serious toxic effects, materials causing other toxic effects, and the biohazard and infectious materials respectively. Class E of the materials are corrosive materials which might cause damages to the human tissues especially if there is contact (Said et al., 2010, 201). Contacts could contribute to burning, scare, and blindness besides rendering metal containers weak and associated accidents. Finally, Class F of the materials is dangerously reactive materials which might react violently under certain environmental conditions. Such activities could result in massive destruction and environmental contaminations leading to increased susceptibility of the employees. Machinery and Equipment With the rising technology, engineering firms and constructors are shifting to advanced machinery and equipment that pose serious threats to the employees. Although the advanced technology should improve health and safety issues within the workplace, there is need to ensure that the employees have adequate knowledge on the application of the equipment to prevent the probability of risk occurrences. Most of the hazards within the construction more or less relate to the movement plants and machinery. Therefore, it is important that construction sites involve infrastructural works and industry building. Within the construction sites, there are several machinery and equipment used in the construction, which the application depends on the scope of the project. Management teams need to consider potential hazards for any equipment while planning the safety and health. Within the construction sites, there are different potential causes of the hazards. These factors include inadequate maintenance for the machinery, little technical knowhow on the application of the machinery, and failure to secure the materials used in the constructions which increase the level of susceptibility due to corrosions and unauthorized uses. Other major potential causes of the risks are operating the machinery without approval from qualified personal and mechanical failure associated with corrosions. Lack of warning signs within the construction sites could also increase the level of susceptibility of the workers to various risks. Construction Designs and Layout While undertaking a construction activity, it is significant to carry out a feasibility study to determine the impacts that the project would have the environment and people living closer to the project. Most construction designs are the major causes of safety and health issues. As a result, most countries are enacting Construction (Designs and Management) Regulations to ensure the safety of the employees and people living in the proximity. Most people are usually unaware that it is partly their responsibility to ensure health and safety on the site during construction activities. The CDM Regulations clearly spells out the responsibilities of each party during construction works and their involvement in construction to protect them from risks (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2002, 56). Therefore, the application of the CDM aims to improve the health and safety of the building site, ensure effective planning to manage the risks from the conception of the project to the end, identification of qualified people at the right time to prevent the number of susceptible employees, and ensure reliable cooperation and coordination with every worker. Each person has the right to information and accessibility of the construction project to assist in contributing their views as a means to reducing the risk. Engineering designs need to focus on reducing the risks from the sources. To some extent, engineering designs often fail to account for the safety measures during construction activities and even the completion of the project. Every project need to have evacuation designs should fire, or anxiety conditions occur, power failures, and failure of the construction machinery. When constructors need to reduce the impact of the risks, they focus on the workers exposed to the risks. Moreover, the basic concept behind engineering control measures, to the feasible extent, is focusing on the environmental conditions and designing the jobs properly to eliminate the hazards or reduce the level of exposure to the hazards (Dunlap, 2011, 97). Engineering designs might be simple, however, if the constructors fail to adhere to the set guidelines and regulations, then there is likely that that impacts of the risks might be detrimental. There are different principles guiding the development of construction designs. If the project is feasible, then there is need to design the facility, equipment, and processes that might assist to remove the hazards. However, if the constructors realize that removing the hazards is not feasible, then the designs should enclose the hazards to prevent the levels of exposures to the normal levels of operations. In cases where there is no feasible enclosure, then the designs have to establish the barriers or local ventilations in a bid to reduce the level of exposure to the hazard within the normal operations. To determine if the proximal environment is safe for construction activities, the constructors should consider conducting environmental impact assessment (EIA). EIA is an important tool within the built environment that assists in early identification of the risks and recommends on the best possible methods of preventing the risks from occurring. Purity of the surrounding is crucial as some construction works might render an environment poor and unproductive for several activities (Whole Building Design Guide, 2015). An effective and efficient engineering design should accommodate traffic management for the people and available resources. Continuous accumulation of construction resources might increase susceptibility of the people to various risks. Therefore, it is significant to focus on designing traffic management plans to reduce material congestions during construction phase and congestion of the people during the operation phase of the project. Conclusion Occupation health and safety within the construction industry plays a significant role in ensuring compliance with the required legislations. It is the responsibility of every party involved in the construction including the employees to ensure their safety within the working environments. However, it is important to note that the effects might occur due to poor machinery and equipment used or ignorance and inadequate knowledge among the operators of the machines. Complete safety does not exist within any construction site, which is often quantified based on the acceptable risks. Through accepting that there is a risk involved within the construction works, then it becomes possible to reduce the risks. The major cause of health and safety issues within the sites are inadequate skills among the employees, complicated machinery and equipment currently used within the construction sites, and few legal set ups and institutions to enforce the required standards. References Binggeli, C. (2011). Building Systems for Interior Designers. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Datta, D., & Institute for Steel Development & Growth. (2013). INSDAG rural house: Cost effective & durable construction. Kolkata: Institute for Steel Development & Growth. Dunlap, E. S. (2011). Loss control auditing: A guide for conducting fire, safety, and security audits. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Hudson, R. (2003). Safety on construction sites. Safety At Work, 4(1), 819-849. Mo Gal, W., Nam Choi, J., & Sang Son, K. (2009). Improving assignment and qualification of safety manager at construction sites. Theory and Applications, 12(4), 122-127. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2002). 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