Fire Safety Management & Legislation in Constructing - Term Paper Example

Safety Management and Legislation in Constructing a Multi Storey Car Park facility 0.Introduction Safety becomes the priority in any work environment. Today’s latest technological inventions pave way for more sophisticated high rise constructions within lesser time. These new methodologies ease the construction work as well as they have inherent disadvantages with respect to the safety. The construction industry has the highest ‘rate of injuries and fatalities’ compared to any other industry says Rivara and Alexander ( 1994 ). Under such circumstances, it is necessary that careful planning, organising and detailed study should be carried out before building a four storey car park with all modern amenities and conveniences, including the paramount need for safety and security of human lives as well as properties. This report analyses the various safety requirements in the construction of a four storey car park facility. The car park is proposed to be constructed at the University of Central Lancashire , which has experienced a shortage in car park space during the recent past. The university has proposed to construct a new multi storey car park before the Foster building. During the construction work, the entrance to Foster Building will be via Maudland Building. The construction company chosen has nearly one hundred and fifty personnel including labourers and crane operators. Being the health and safety advisor of such a construction company, I wish to discuss the different factors that are concerned with the safety aspects of such an operation. 2.0. Statutory Requirements : In a construction site, there may be many possible hazards, among them hazards due to fire accidents and operational accidents related to lifting equipment like crane and elevators can be disastrous. Thus there are many statutory requirements that are to be considered with respect to fire safety and crane operation safety. The UK government has prescribed some statutory British standard regulations with respect to fire safety , which come under the role of the Fire Precautions Act, the Workplace Regulations, Health & Safety at Work Act and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. These regulations provide instructions regarding various steps that have to be adopted to prevent fire accidents in construction site. Also the UK government has published some statutory standard regulations for the crane safety which are regulated by the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipments Regulation ( LOLER ) , with effect from 1998. The Statutory Instruments No. 2307 ( LOLER , 1998 ) states some guidelines to avoid accidents in construction sites due to lifting equipments like crane. These guidelines cover aspects like strength and stability, positioning and installation , organizing the lifting operation , etc. 3.0.Suitable Safe Systems : The majority of the hazards in construction sites are due to crane operations compared to fire accidents. Being a safety advisor I wish to highlight some safe systems of work in construction site where a luffing tower crane has been proposed to be used. To have a safe system of crane operation, the ninth regulation of LOLER requires that the crane or other lifting equipment needs to be examined thoroughly by some competent authority at frequent intervals. 3.1.Luffing Tower : The luffing tower crane gives good lifting capacity and it can reach out to more heights compared to other cranes. These cranes can operate within lesser space and hence are frequently used in high rise residential buildings. These cranes must be subjected to regular inspections for safe operations. There must be an initial supervision of the crane before installation. This inspection becomes mandatory if the crane has never been used before. The crane must be inspected after installation and before usage , for proper stability and strength. Some of the prominent safety checks for luffing tower crane include checking for all load bearing parts for good design and construction. Tower crane’s ‘foundation is properly barricaded to prevent from being knocked by moving objects’. Tower cranes foundation is not installed in water or rubbish. Checking the vertical position of the crane, checking other parts like limit switches , brakes , electrical cables, etc. Maintaining a schedule of inspection by competent person for every 12 months , according to the instructions given by the manufacturer. A competent person is expected to have good operating and design knowledge about the tower crane. To have a complete through inspection , it is better to have more than one person to conduct the inspection on a prescribed schedule. 3.2 Workers Condition ( Labourers ) : Most of the injuries and fatalities due to crane operation affects mainly the workers as compared to the crane operators states OSHA ( 1996 ). The major incidents quoted include death due to electrocution , collapse of the boom , failure of proper rigging , workers being struck down by moving crane with load , etc . To prevent such causalities the following safety measures have to be adopted Provide a proper layout plan for the crane operation. This is done by a crane manager. All workers are made known about the operating zone of the crane, so that they do not approach this areas frequently. Proper care has to be taken during the assembling and dismantling processes to avoid accidents. Suruda et al ( 1997 ) says that 93% of crane related deaths occur only during this assembling and dismantling stage Another factor that needs attention is the proper care for electrical safety. Electrocution involves transmission of current from different parts of the crane says Sorock et al ( 1993 ) , so workers must not be exposed to electrical parts of the crane. 3.3 Risk Assessment : Risk assessment becomes a mandatory process in any work industry to have safe working environment. Risk assessment for a construction industry could take into consideration factors like fall protection requirements , scaffolding , crane lifting operations , etc. to ensure safety at work , the risk assessment procedure should include the following strategies Risk assessment has been done for each and every individual crane work process like installation , maintenance , dismantling , lifting operation. Safe work procedures are devised and implemented before beginning any work. All equipment have to be checked whether they are operated in their safe working limits ( SWL ). Safety work procedure are made known to all people involved in the crane usage like rigger, crane operator, signalman, lifting supervisor and others. The risk assessment ream has to involve personnel from all related departments like equipment supplier, equipment operator ,the crane contractor and the occupants . for this multi storey car park construction the risk assessment team has to comprise personnel from the construction contractor, crane contractor and the university management. 3.4 Construction Stability and Height Control : Safety aspects for constructional stability in construction sites could involve choosing proper materials for construction. When the construction involves luffing tower cranes , the new constructed structure should have the strength and stability to withstand the load delivery from the crane. The torque and loading pressure offered by the luffing tower crane would be enormous, to withstand this the building under construction must have proper safety standards. Luffing tower cranes have support structures that allow gain in height with a movable structure called boom. The tower cranes can have heights over 200 feet with boom lengths varying from 50 feet to more than 250 feet. The load carrying capacity and size of the crane vary according to the tower height. The height control mechanism comes under the control of the crane operator who has to be well trained in operating the crane. 4.0 Hazards Associated with Luffing Tower Crane : There are many hazards associated with a luffing tower crane. These are related to the basic structural design of the crane, strength and stability of the crane and other operational hazards. Some of the possible hazards while using luffing tower cranes are as below. 4.1 Base Stability : For proper stability of a tower crane , the sum of moment torques with respect to the base must be null – zero. Practically, the allowable rated load for a crane must be always a lesser value than the load for which the crane would start tipping. The crane would tend to fail when the stress in the base area happens to be the less than the yield stress. Generally using outriggers increases the stability on solid ground . 4.2 Ropes and structural design : The tower cranes occupy lesser space and have good manoeuvrability . They have large beams onto which the vertical portion is mounted. The jib or boom or luffing are placed on a turntable which houses the slewing bearing and slewing machinery. While the boom suspends the weight from a trolley, the counterweight is of concrete blocks. There is a climbing section in tower cranes along their support section, this enables the crane to attain increase in elevation as the building rises high. Tower cranes have a boom which is horizontal and is mounted on a trolley or they have a movable luffing which can vary in different angles. The structure of a tower crane may have heights up to and over 200 feet. Generally they can load carrying capacity varies from 0.5 tons to around 20 tons. 4.3 Operational Hazards : These cranes are generally operated by an engineer. He works in synchronism with a rigger who is responsible for rigging operations and a signalman who responsibility is to guide the loads. The possible operational hazards could include the factors mentioned below Overload and load impact : According to David Mac Collumin ( 1980 ) one of the major factor for crane failure is overloading . This overloading leads to unexpected collapse of the boom or other structural damage of the crane which could injure the workers working in that area. Unexpected heavy winds may also add up to the load, called as wind loading. Electrocution : Electric shock from crane parts can be dangerous to the life of the operator and workers , comments Hinze and Bren ( 1996 ). The major sources for electrocution can be contact of the tower crane with the nearby power lines, short circuit in crane power supply unit or contact or short circuit in the cables. Assembly and dismantling : The assembling of the tower cranes is by jacking and insertion which is done at the ground level. During dismantling small cranes have to be placed on the completed building to dismantle the top portion step by step in the tower crane. Carelessness during these processes could be more fatal and injurious to the workers involved in the construction. Being struck down Unintentionally : Due to lack of proper communication between the operator and the signalman or operator and the rigger, there may be situations where the workers are struck down with a fully loaded crane. Some of the other hazards that are involved in operating the tower crane include , boom overturn , turntable overturn , killer hooks , confusion in the control , rigging failure. 5.0 Mitigation of the Hazard : There are some precaution that need to be followed to avoid the hazards related to crane operations. They are discussed as below. 5.1 Luffing Tower Stability : The stability of the luffing tower crane can be ensured by installing the crane at proper ground level. The ground should be free of water stagnation and other rubbish. According to Richard et al ( 2001 ) when the crane is installed in a lesser stable ground additional ‘heavy reinforcing material like timber’ should be used to ensure stability . Proper load calculation must be done while loading the crane, overloading may lead to boom collapse which would be fatal. 5.2 Ropes and Structural Design of the Luffing Tower : The tower cranes must be provided with proper support systems to add strength to the existing ropes and other structures. According to David using tag lines ensure that the load does not swing into the boom says MacCollum, D.V. (1995 ). OSHA and ANSI standards have to be followed for the rope designs. Rope diameter and deformation regulations must be inspected regularly. 5.3 Operations Hazards Mitigation : Operational hazards need to be addressed by proper training of the operator, rigger, signalman. Using current sensing devices can help avoiding fatality due to electrocution. Using wind sensors and electronic sensors to assess load can assist in load calculations during windy weather. Other upset devices like angle indicators, load charts, Load Moment Indicators ( LMI ) are useful in avoiding accidents says Dickie, D. ( 1975 ). Thus proper safety precautions can lead to less accidents during the construction work. 6.0 Conclusion : Health and safety are aspects are to be taken seriously in any type of work. In construction industry the safety measures include fire safety and crane operations safety. In this report I have detailed the safety factors for a multi storey car park facility for the University of central Lanchasire. Being the safety advisor for the construction company involved in this construction I have discussed the statutory requirements, safe systems of work, operational hazards and the proper mitigations for them. References : 1. Dickie, D. (ed.): Crane Handbook.Construction Safety Association of Ontario. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. October 1975. 2. Hinze, J.; Bren, D.: Analysis of Fatalities and Injuries Due to Powerline Contacts. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 122(2):177–182, June (1996). 3. Statutory Instruments No. 2307 , Lifting Equipments and Lifting Operations Regulation , LOLER ,1998.< www.loler.gov.uk > 4. MacCollum, D.V.: Critical Hazard Analysis of Crane Design. Professional Safety 24:31–36 (1980). 5. MacCollum, D.V.: Construction Safety Planning. Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York (1995). 6. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Strategic Plan FY1997–FY2000, Crane and Hoist Safety, 1996. 7. Richard L. Neitzel, Noah S. Seixas, and Kyle K. Ren, A Review of Crane Safety in the Construction Industry, Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene Volume 16(12): 1106–1117, 2001, Copyright Applied Industrial Hygiene 1047-322X, 2001. 8. Rivara, F.P.; Alexander, B.H.: Occupational Injuries in Clinical, Occupational, and Environmental Medicine. Saunders, Philadelphia (1994). 9. Sorock, G.S.; Hagen Smith, E.; Goldoft,M.: Fatal Occupational Injuries in the New Jersey Construction Industry, J OccMed 35:916– 921 (1993). 10. Suruda, A.; Egger, M.; Liu, D.: Crane-Related Deaths in the U.S. Construction Industry 1984–94. The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights (Report No. D2-97) (1997). Read More