CONSTRUCTION WORK AND SAFETY
Executive summary
The construction industry is one that is encumbered in multiple high safety risk factors due to the nature of its operational mechanism. Many processes that concern the movement of heavy material makes the construction industry to stand out from the other industries which greatly impact the economy. Various areas of interest arise in the construction industry where safety standards have to be enforced, which would otherwise pose adverse safety risks to individuals working in construction sites. The most common safety hazards within the construction industry are falling from great heights, collapsing of tranches and scaffolds, repeated injuries from moving parts, electric shock, scaffolding, head protection and hazard communications. Various regulations standards have been adopted and legislated in the various construction regulation authorities such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the British Building Standards. The Building Code of Australia governs construction projects in Australia. Safety concerns are however still rampant in the industry at large, and evaluating the relationship between the frequent accidents and the regulatory code would enable us to identify whether the policies require to be updated, or whether the enforcement of the policies has been challenging and how we can mitigate the challenges.
Introduction
The construction industry in Australia is significantly vibrant and competes favourably alongside other industries like manufacturing, healthcare and the service industry. This is an indicator of the continuous activity within the Australian borders. The number of construction workers is also high, and many of them are exposed to safety risks such as cuts and wounds, strains and sprains, and muscle conditions and chronic joint problems. These injuries are caused by being hit by a project or hitting a hard surface or object. Pushing, lifting and pulling of objects also exposes workers to safety hazards such as bruising and wounding. Falls also cause breakage and fracturing of bones. The occurrence of these accidents is regular, and a significant percentage of the cases often lead to fatalities. This research will focus on achieving on providing pragmatic solutions to mitigating the exposure of construction workers to health hazards. Most procedures that have been enforced by the Workplace Health and Safety have been able to contain most health hazards that construction workers are exposed to on a daily basis. Most of the fatalities from building works are avoidable, and hence the issue of personal discipline and the level of compliance by construction managers also arises. It is worth noting that most construction sites do provide their workers with protective gear, and many safety incidences arise from the negligence of safety measures by the workers. Analyzing a case where fatalities occurring from construction work are identified will enable us to undertake a first-hand experience of the situation surrounding the occurrences of work-related fatalities. By methodically probing the circumstances of such workplaces, we can propose frameworks that have worked for instances where similar challenges were experienced. Improvements should be in the areas of hazard identification, management of risks, personal safety awareness and individual responsibility. Rules that also ensure that the laws governing a person conducting a business or undertaking
Sydney scaffold collapse
Back in 1st April 2019, a scaffold in Sydney collapsed an incident that caused critical injuries to one site worker and another one fatality. The scaffolding was about 17 metres high, and when the scaffold collapsed, two men who were analyzing some charts at the bottom of the building were trapped in the scaffolds and rubble. This incident received widespread attention from the press, and various safety organizations delved deeply into that occurrence. Several irregularities were identified with how the scaffolding was put together, where key safety features were missing. The number of accidents relating to scaffolding had been typical in Australia. When this Synergy incident was happening, five months earlier there had been five incidences relating to the collapse of scaffolds. The victims of the accidents were mostly construction workers, although one instance involved a passer-by being hit by a piece of a scaffold.
Although it was difficult cutting through the rubble and collapsed scaffold, the emergency response at the scene was pretty amicable. There were grinders to cut a way through the collapsed scaffold, and other site workers were busy trying to clear the rubble, which was quite immense. Seven fire rescue teams arrived promptly at the scene, including personnel that focuses on structural failures. The colleagues were desperate to save their co-workers from the debris, but nothing much was achieved before the emergency response teams arrived at the scene.
SafeWork NSW reveals that concerns regarding the safety of the scaffolds had been raised earlier by Synergy company to the project manager of the site where the accident was happening. The company accused the builder of not adopting safety measures when erecting the scaffolds. The email read, in part “One raker tie on Building M has been removed. This seems to be a recurring theme, and this is starting to get ridiculous. I have never had these issues on any site. This is putting lives at risk.” A follow up second email said, “Please see attached photos of the scaffold that has been removed. They have removed boards from hop-ups to install props. Once again, they should not be touching the scaffold, especially the ties. This has been an ongoing issue.” Labour union spokesperson, Dave Noonan retorted a statement alluding to human negligence of safety measures as the cause of the collapse and a consequent loss of life. He added saying that scaffolds that are appropriately assembled do not collapse. However, the labour union accused Synergy of negligence when handling such a delicate element. All workers claim that Synergy supervises them and they also report to the same company. Fierce court battles followed
The Health and Safety oversight body SafeWork NSW contains detailed compliance regulations on the handling of a scaffold and even limits the handling of the structure to experts. The modification of scaffolds is also illegal, and inspections to ensure compliance to the safety standards are a routine for SafeWork, and the operation intensified after the Macquarie Park incident.
Literature review
Matters on safety compliance usually tend to attract attention to the matter when an accident happens. As a matter of fact, all industries have in their possession detailed manuals on the preferred code of conduct, which aims at creating environments that are suitable for all sorts of actors. In instances where a new worker sets foot in a new workplace, an institution or enterprise that complies to safety guidelines is guaranteed to promote the overall wellness of all the departments. Negligence of the safety policies, on the other hand, is an indicator of the neglect of other executive elements of an organization.
Corruption and the selective enforcement of rules is a major cause of accidents across all industries, and a suitable exemplification of such an instance is how vehicles operate. Studies and statistics indicate how unroadworthy vehicles are the leading cause of road carnages, followed closely by careless driving practices. As such, whenever regular checkpoints are erected by the police and unroadworthy road users and their vehicles are ejected from the road, the chances of grisly road accidents occurring are significantly undermined. However, when the law enforcement procedures are lax, many gaps are created where unsuitable actors pose a danger to other compliant actors. The issue of upbeat leadership has arisen severally during this research, and other cases of negligence of construction sites globally have always placed blame on the form of leadership and supervisory channels adopted by organizations.
Laws that regulate the usage of scaffolds are up to date, and they represent the highest levels of safety in the usage of the structures. The backlash from the media of the company involved in the management of scaffolds experienced only exposed the inefficiency in the levels of management and cooperation between the construction company as well as the company that had been subcontracted to provide the scaffolds. Trends of negligence of safety measures are quite common across all activities, and the urge to fix any misdemeanour in the enforcement of safety concerns quickly arises when a tragic accident occurs. Therefore the efforts by SafeWork and other labour organizations to fix the gaps in policing as exposed by accident will gradually wither until another accident occurs to prompt for action by oversight authorities.
The discipline of personnel goes a long way in keeping a construction environment safe, as the site workers do the most movement and also interact with the essential elements that propel the advancement of the project. Response awareness amongst construction workers is significantly more agile compared to factory workers and individuals whose most of their activity involves handling administrative duties from an office. Construction workers are likely to be more alert due to their constant movement and carrying of items which increases their alertness. This concept can be evident when some of the workers flexibly reacted to the indication that the scaffold was just about to fall, and was able to run into safety.
Case analysis and recommendations
The circumstances surrounding the Macquarie Park scaffold incident sparked a heated debate, and also uncovered critical elements of the management of construction sites. The incident also prompted for the calling for more stringent policies surrounding the enforcement of safety rules. There has been constant criticism on safety compliance issues in the construction industry, and this one incident was only a highlight of over ten more accidents relating to scaffolds in Sydney through the year 2019.
The Synergy company, which is central to the handling of scaffolds in our situation, has been on the spotlight overexposing the lives of construction workers to danger. Reports by SafeWork NSW revealed the shoddy manner in which scaffolds were being erected and using, and many incidences of non-compliance to standard safety measures were identified. 44% of all scaffolds were reported to be having missing parts, unauthorized parts, non-conventional parts as fittings and the handling of scaffolds by unqualified persons. The action undertaken by the authoritative bodies has been termed by many as hypocritical especially the press claiming that such disasters are implications of the notoriety of the corruption mired in the engagement of property managers and law enforcement agencies. The high number of non-compliant scaffold fittings that were uncovered during the safety blitz initiated by SafeWork NSW when they visited over 1000 construction sites. 50% of these sites had erected scaffolds that negated the national demands for safety compliance.
An enterprise that adheres to the guidelines stipulated by their oversight authorities is unlikely to encounter extreme challenges during its operation. Every industry in the modern era has developed intricate systems which encompass every encounters an enterprise is likely to have during its operation. For instance, most findings following the numerous cases of scaffold failure worldwide indicate negligence either in absconding the use of ties or the withholding of blocks. A significant number of cases also point at the usage of scaffolds that are too rickety to offer any consistent and reliable services. Scaffolding services are limited to a few numbers of established firms. The authority that such firms command in the industry could lead to their negation of basic routines that could pose an adverse danger to users of the structure. The failing of a scaffold has adverse implications which will have a ripple effect on other sectors that are dependent on the construction project. Court battles ensue, where time and other resources get wasted. Construction projects are likely to discontinue their operations whenever a fatality takes place in a particular site. Fines and jail time are probable outcomes from disregard of operational regulations.
In order to curb the re-occurrence of such phenomena calls for the cooperation between construction companies, compliance and oversight authorities and the individual construction workers. The most significant number of all kinds of accidents within a construction site is attributable to the negligence of necessary safety procedures that have been put in place to guarantee the safe operation in the industry. The guy responsible for the handling of the scaffold that collapsed at Macquarie was identified as to having graduated from university two years before the accident had happened. Considering that the rules governing the erection of scaffolds were realized from years of experience by professionals in the industry, it becomes wise following such guidelines by rote. As the labour spokesperson and Secretary General Dave Noonan quipped, ”Scaffolds that are fitted accordingly not to collapse, and how human negligence in the execution of safety measures has been the single cause of accidents relating to scaffold failure.” He further highlighted the standard errors associated with the handling of scaffolds that increases the chances of the accidents happening. The constant inspection, as indicated in the construction management act by SafeWork NSW, indicates that compliance to safety measures for the construction industry through constant inspection of sites and the issuance of compliance certificates. Such measures have been identified as to playing a central role in the mitigation of construction risks such as the incident in Sydney that claimed one life while critically injuring another.
Conclusion
Besides the creation of policies that regulate the practices of any industry, enforcement procedures that ensure close supervision of the high-risk elements of an enterprise is an essential component of the law-creation process. Accidents of the nature of our case study do not occur as a result of lack of laws dictating the safe interactions with other elements of production. Rather the lack of sobriety when dealing with potentially life-threatening circumstances is the leading cause of tragedy in various workplaces. When non-compliance to necessary regulations ina work environment becomes a norm, the workplace is ripped of an essential element of its well-being which is the code of conduct that governs all enterprises and organizations. The leadership of the construction site where the scaffold collapsed and the metal bars and rubble covered two site workers was under scrutiny by authorities and working partners. The process of the erection of the scaffolds on that site was unmonitored and just by enforcing the already existing policy of the usage of scaffolds where only experts have to be engaged in such a high-risk duty.
References