Introduction
Risks can come in many forms in a construction site. Fire, floods, pollution, and environmental elements are some forms. Assessment of risks has to be done during project planning. Experienced and skilled project managers can do it according to the site location, exposure to risks, frequency of risks, and their intensity and impact on the men, machine, material, and methods. The first aspect to be considered is the analytical part of risk assessment.
Risk Analysis - Start from the Basics
Health and safety of personnel is the basic factor of risk analysis. Exposure of personnel to chemicals, asbestos, fire, and pollution have to be given top priority. Exposure to silica can cause skin diseases and lung cancer. It is present in construction materials like sand. Using safety gears like masks, uniforms, and gloves wit safety shoes can reduce the risk of health hazard significantly.
The same safety gears can provide protection from exposure to asbestos and formaldehyde. Usage of flame retardants has to be done according to British Standards. It can protect the personnel from accidental exposure to its ingredients.
Slip and fall is the most common accident in construction sites. It may happen due to unorganized methods of using tools and equipment. For example, an unattended ladder can result in critical fall from a height and cause disability or death. Liquids on the floor can cause slip and fall, resulting in personal injuries. These are some of the things that have to be organized.
Markings in Sites – Practical Safety Practices
Coloured lines for safety can ensure awareness among personnel regarding safety measures. The red line indicates the danger zone. They can be drawn along the zones in which the chemicals, tools and utilities are stored. All the machines and equipment should have safety usage and risk factors.
Fall protection can happen by organizing the materials and tools in a marked place. The workers have to follow 5-S principles for ensuring personnel safety and health protection standards. All the risky equipment like a ladder, hammer, electric saws, and tools has to be marked and stored in safe zones. The workers have to ensure they keep them back at the marked zones when they are not in use. It is one way of ensuring safety.
Separate space has to be allocated for the chemicals, paints, and other hazardous elements. It is recommended that a sealed storage room be allocated for such materials. Only authorized personnel should handle the receiving, storage, and issues to the workers during construction activities. The workers should return the unused materials immediately after the day’s work is complete.
Roles and Responsibilities – Critical Safety Factors
All the related personnel like the workers, engineers, contractors, designers and project managers should be assigned the task of identifying the significant hazards individually. They can document all their findings and share with the others. These types of occupational health assessments can reduce the risks considerably during the project implementation. The analysis of fire risk assessments is the most critical factor in ensuring the overall site and personnel safety.
Conclusion
The most complex parts of risk assessment can become simple and straightforward once the personnel follow the British Standards of occupational health assessment.
