Issues in Health and Safety Regulations - Coursework Example

HEALTHY AND SAFETY REGULATIONS Name Institution Course Tutor Date   Health and safety regulations The site of the redevelopment and façade retention process is bound by two streets: Ebenezer Street and Mariner Street and located on A4118. The construction process will involve the demolition of existing offices and the construction of new ones. This process involves rigorous technicalities that necessitate that the client hires the services of qualified professionals to undertake the activity. In addition, the construction process must meet all relevant construction standards. Surrounding the construction site are other buildings assumed to house offices and other people’s businesses. In addition, the parking space found on the façade is assumed to have other people’s vehicles and property that must be protected from destruction from the redevelopment process. In addition, the streets bordering the site are assumed to have activity as well as people who need protection from any harm arising from the construction process. As such, the process must be designed and carried out in such a way that it does not cause harm to lives of both the employees and third parties. Moreso, care must be taken to see to it that it does not lead to unnecessary destruction of property or diverse disruption of normal activity especially for third parties. To achieve the above-mentioned goals, any construction process must be undertaken within the confines of some setout standards. These standards are enshrined in legislation that make provisions for the consideration of the health and safety of individuals involved in the process. This legislation spells out the requirement for employers, self-employed and contractors to ensure and guarantee the safety of employees and the public. These provisions in the law have helped to bring down lawsuits related to construction especially by third parties, as well as employees (Harris & McCaffer, 2013). These health and safety legislation from HSE that the employer of Façade, contractors and employees need to adhere to include: 1. Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. This regulation is aimed at addressing, controlling, and preventing workers from the risk of injury or death arising from the equipment they use or interact with as they carry out their jobs. This only pertains to the parties involved in the use of the equipment that include employers or self-employed. For this reason, it doesn't apply to the equipment used by the public. It covers all the equipment used in the office ranging from furniture to complex machinery and even company cars. The regulation also applies to cases where the company allows worker to use their equipment while in the workplace. It therefore, requires the company hired for the façade retention and construction of new offices project at Swansea High Street to make sure that all the equipment used in the construction process is suitable for the purpose it is used for. It also requires constant maintenance of the equipment to ensure that it is safe and does not risk health and safety of employees. In addition, the equipment must be inspected by a competent worker or user and who is required to record the results of the inspection(Lingard & Rowlinson, 2005). 2. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulation 2007. The main objective of design and management regulation is to improve the overall coordination and management of health, safety, and welfare of all parties involved in every phase of the construction process. It seeks to reduce the many occurrences of serious and fatal accidents and numerous cases of ill health experienced in the construction industry. The regulation bestows duties on clients, designers, and contractors to ensure that health and safety are of utmost importance in the construction project. Designers are enforced to eliminate hazards and reduce risks as far as they practically do. The designer of the façade retention and building of new offices project on Swansea High Street will have to ensure that the workplace complies with the Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The client of the Swansea High Street façade project will have to bear all their legal duties and criminal liabilities, as the regulation does not allow the client to appoint an agent for these functions (Hughes & Ferrett, 2011). The regulation also requires the contractor for the project to plan and manage their work as opposed to outsourcing the planning and management to third parties or appointing agents to represent them. This provision ensures that the contractor assumes responsibility for any instances that circumvent the safety, health, and welfare of parties involved in the construction process including the public(Ridley & Channing, 2008). 3. Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002. This regulation outlines the requirements on employers to safeguard employees and other persons from the hazards of substances used at work. This protection should be done through risk assessment, health surveillance, controlling exposure and incident planning. It also places a requirement on the employer to ensure that they take care of their exposure to hazardous substances. It also prohibits the importation of certain substances into the European Economic Area (Langford, Rowlinson, & Sawacha, 2000). The employer for the façade retention and construction of new offices project on Swansea High Street is required by the regulation not to carry out any work that can expose employees and the public to hazardous substances without assessing the risks and implementing the steps necessary to conform to the regulations. The employer is also required to prevent exposure to hazardous substances or control the exposure in cases where prevention is not reasonably practicable. To control exposure to members of the general public in Swansea High Street, the employer should totally enclose the hazardous processes using shot-blasting box and through use of partial enclosure equipment like spray painting booth. In addition, the employer should monitor the exposure of employees through personal air sampling pumps. Also, the employee must provide employees liable to exposure to sufficient and reliable information, training, and instruction such as relevant occupational exposure standards, occupational exposure limit, and maximum exposure limit. The employer of the Swansea High Street façade retention and construction of new offices project is required by the regulation to keep records of the risk assessment results since it is assumed that they will have five or more employees (Arbuckle, James, Miller, & Sullivan, 1976). 4. Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013. This regulation places an obligation to report injuries, deaths and diseases and near misses taking place at work or in connection with work and that require hospital treatment on the responsible persons. It also places a requirement on gas fitters to report any poor and dangerous gas installations. The employer and managers of the Swansea High Street façade retention and construction of new offices project are the responsible persons, in this case. The employees in the project have no obligation to report such incidences. However, the regulation recommends that they report such incidents to their employer. It also encourages them to voluntarily notify the relevant regulatory authority. (King, 2013) 5. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005. This regulation also places a duty on the employer of the Swansea High Street façade retention and construction of new offices project to reduce their employees’ health risk by ensuring that they control their exposure to noise while at work. This regulation requires the employer to reduce or eliminate noise levels. Noise levels can be eliminated through use of noise-free implements such as electronic equipment as opposed to manual equipment. In cases where it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate noise, the exposure levels can be reduced by providing protective gear to the employees while at work. The employer also has an obligation to control noise exposure for the public since it has an adverse effect on their normal operations(Harris & McCaffer, 2013). 6. Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. This regulation obliges the employer to reduce the risk on the health of their employees arising from exposure to vibration. This vibration may arise from hand-held or hand-guided power equipment or from the employees holding materials being produced by the machines, sitting, or standing on vehicles or other industrial machines(Nelson & Brereton, 2005). The employer at of the Swansea High Street façade retention and construction of new offices project must ensure that exposure level of employees to vibration at work is within the limits stipulated by this regulation. Further, the employer must undertake suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk for all employees amenable to exposure to vibration especially from demolishing equipment. 7. Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. The Swansea High Street façade retention and construction of new offices project will involve a lot of lifting operations and equipment. As such, the employer is required by this regulation to ensure that the lifting equipment is strong and stable enough for safe use. In addition, all lifting equipment must be indicated for safe working loads. The regulation also requires that the equipment be operated in a planned and organized manner and by qualified personnel to reduce the risk to safety. The equipment must also be appropriately examined, inspected, and maintained by competent people(Hughes & Ferrett, 2011). The magnitude and risk level of the Swansea High Street façade retention and construction of new offices project require that all parties involved keenly and strictly stick to the construction standards stipulated by the regulations discussed above. Failure to abide by these standards may and lead to lawsuits against the employer or contractor by employees and third parties arising from health and safety complications from the project. It is, therefore, incumbent on the employer to ensure that they hire the services of qualified contractors and employees and to ensure that the project is undertaken within the limits of the relevant regulations. REFERENCES Arbuckle, J. G., James, M. A., Miller, M. L., & Sullivan, T. F. (1976). Environmental law handbook. Harris, F., & McCaffer, R. (2013). Modern construction management. John Wiley & Sons. Hughes, P., & Ferrett, E. (2011). Introduction to health and safety in construction: the handbook for construction professionals and students on NEBOSH and other construction courses. Routledge. King, R. (2013). Safety in the process industries. Elsevier. Langford, D., Rowlinson, S., & Sawacha, E. (2000). Safety behavior and safety management: its influence on the attitudes of workers in the UK construction industry. Engineering Construction and Architectural Management, 7(2), 133–140. Lingard, H., & Rowlinson, S. M. (2005). Occupational health and safety in construction project management. Taylor & Francis. Nelson, C. M., & Brereton, P. F. (2005). The European vibration directive. Industrial Health, 43(3), 472–479. Ridley, J., & Channing, J. (2008). Safety at work. Routledge. Read More