Health Safety and Welfare - Report Example

Unit 6 Health Safety and Welfare. 4 Mechanical Hoisting of components on site is a procedure that is fraught with risk and possibilities of accidents and hazards. a) The essential principles and procedures of risk assessment that should govern all lifting and hoisting operations on a construction site are: Planning: A lift and hoist plan, including Hazard identification and assessment of risk, method, and resources, both material and human, required to successfully complete a lift. Control: A Person in Charge, heading the lift team, with a clear hierarchy of communication and responsibility. Competence: Involvement of trained and competence persons only. Equipment: shall be tested and shall have safety devices installed. Inspection and certification: All equipment shall be inspected and logs shall be maintained. Lifting of personnel: shall be as the last resort, to the lowest height reasonably possible as per provisions in the overall lift plan. b) Practices employed to minimise hazards: Preparation of a comprehensive safety, health and welfare file for the project. A total risk assessment programme prepared and vetted by the CDM coordinator, with a special section outlining best practices (as mentioned in the next section) and relevant legal references as a part of it. Training and indoctrination of all personnel involved in specialized jobs in the project, with a competency review before starting work. Only trained personnel shall operate the hoist mechanism. All changes and modifications to the equipment’s specifications shall be performed by the manufacturer’s representative only. All new hoisting equipment shall be inspected periodically and certified prior to use, as also after any modification or alteration, and the certifying authority shall sign off on the successful certification. Any unsafe situation revealed as a result of the inspection shall be rectified before equipment is used. Hoist operator shall necessarily inspect the equipment manually every time before using it. Isolation of all electrical cables and wires from worksite. c) Safety Practices related to hoisting plants are: Defining the load path (orientation and path of the items movement and location of setting down) Choosing correctly rated lift equipment. Carrying loads over people should be avoided. Identification of load characteristics to correctly foresee load behavior. Considerations including load dimensions, configurations and attachments. Ensure correct use of rope-clips and properly fitted pins. Minimise the swing of a hook, to reduce chance of accident. Load should be balanced and secured in the sling before lifting more than a few centimeters. Dynamometers should be used for weight indication only. All safety devices and procedures should be installed, including lights, guard rails, proximity warnings etc. The area around lift should be kept clear. Rope should be checked after every lift for wear and tear. Hardhats should be worn at all times. Hoisting of components should be avoided after dark, as the complete aerial path may not be sufficiently illuminated, causing injuries. All fall equipment should be inspected before use. Operating parameters for operating in winds should never be violated. Loads should be kept balanced while in a basket hitch so as to prevent slipping. Loads should never be left unattended. 4.2 Working in confined spaces requires conforming to requirements and legal provisions to reduce hazards specific to such working conditions. Confined spaces may include storage tanks, silos, reaction vessels, enclosed drains, sewers, ducts, poorly ventilated and dark rooms etc. The types of dangers in confined spaces are: Oxygen deprivation. Poisonous gases or fumes. Liquids and solids that can fill the space suddenly, like grain in a silo. Fire and/or explosions. Residue left in tanks that can give off vapours or poisonous gases. Asphyxiation due to suspended dust. Temperature extremes. The conditions outlined above may not originally be there, but may happen during work being carried out. These situations may include grinders giving off dust, welding causing fumes, or escape becoming difficult due to equipment already installed within the space, making escape in case of an emergency difficult. Risk assessment includes: The work. The working environment. Equipment and tools. Competence of workers. Availability of emergency backup if required. In case of confined spaces, steps to be taken towards hazard mitigation are: Avoiding entry into and working within confined spaces. Modify the space so as to make it less confined. Work can be carried out without entering the space. Use of remote-operated equipment. Following of best practices to achieve health and safety, including Appointing of a responsible person in charge of all work to be undertaken in the confined space. Checking of the competency and validity of the training of the people who are to work. Mechanical and electrical equipment should be isolated to prevent leakage. Cleaning and checking for any residue before commencing work. Check viability of exits in case of emergency. Ventilation. Provision of special non-sparking tools and lighting (below 25 V equipment). Providing breathing apparatus to workers in the space. Access to 24 hour emergency services. Rescue and safety harnesses to be deployed at all times. 2-way radio communicators that can function in water should be provided to all workers. Homing devices should be issued in rare cases, like mines. Some relevant laws that refer to and provide guidelines for working in confined spaces are: The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997; The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (as amended); The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended); The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998; Electricity at Work Regulations 1989; Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. (HSE leaflet INDG258) 4.3 a) Risk assessments that require specialist knowledge. In terms of a construction project, different levels of skill are required to carry out different complexities of tasks. This hierarchy of complexities extend to risk assessment as well as subsequent mitigation as well. In large and complex projects, the CDM coordinator himself has to have the relevant skills and experience to judge where professionals and experts with specialized knowledge would need to be called in to assess the possible vulnerabilities of a particular task, and to help in reducing risks associated with it. For example, electrical risks, mining risks, financial risks in large projects, all require experts in those fields to help the project steer through the potential problems caused by lapses. Specialist knowledge allows these experts to design the risk management procedures to specifically deal potential problems in tasks related to their fields. It also recommended to have these experts on board while these tasks are being carried out, to make sure of the best decision making capabilities in the field if required in times of emergency. b) Hazardous substances are dealt with methods of risk assessment and risk control, with training to workers who may be exposed to such hazardous substances. Risk Assessment: The nature and type of hazardous substances. Degree of possible exposure to thesw substances Resultant seriousness of impact on health and safety. Measures to control transport, storage and use of these substances, as also to control exposure to them. Overall surveillance to oversee compliance to best practices. Training to staff. Risk Control: Stopping use of the substance in current form in current way. Using of a substitute substance if possible. Engineering controls to as to mitigate occurance of conditions that may cause hazard. Adopting safe systems on project site to minimise risk. Use of protective equipment by all staff. Staff Training: Assessment of risk and information dissemination on these risks. Detailed study of project site. Competency checking of all involved. Training on use and maintenance of Personal Protective equipment. c) Management practices to minimise hazards give a holistic view regarding attitude towards risk management rather than micro-measures, as discussed in outcome 4.1. Hazards in Construction are of three basic types; Chemical, Physical and Ergonomic. Control measures at management level to mitigate risks and minimise hazards are: Hiring of a competent CDM coordinator. Preparation of a health and Safety file that is constantly updated. Comprehensive, honest and transparent risk assessment, with feedback from relevant authorities. Project Benchmarking. Intense and relevant training of involved personnel. Read More