CN7010 Project Safety Management

CN7010 PROJECT SAFETY MANAGEMENT
UNIT I CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS
Accidents and their Causes – Human Factors in Construction Safety – Costs of Construction
Injuries – Occupational and Safety Hazard Assessment – Legal Implications.
UNIT II SAFETY PROGRAMMES
Problem Areas in Construction Safety – Elements of an Effective Safety Programme – Job-

Site Safety Assessment – Safety Meetings – Safety Incentives.
UNIT III CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
Safety in Construction Contracts – Substance Abuse – Safety Record Keeping.
UNIT IV DESIGNING FOR SAFETY
Safety Culture – Safe Workers – Safety and First Line Supervisors – Safety and Middle
Managers – Top Management Practices, Company Activities and Safety – Safety Personnel –
Sub contractual Obligation – Project Coordination and Safety Procedures – Workers
Compensation.
UNIT V OWNERS’ AND DESIGNERS’ OUTLOOK
Owner’s responsibility for safely – Owner preparedness – Role of designer in ensuring safety
– Safety clause in design document.
REFERENCES:
1. Jimmy W. Hinze, Construction Safety, Prentice Hall Inc., 1997.

2. Richard J. Coble, Jimmie Hinze and Theo C. Haupt, Construction Safety and Health
Management, Prentice Hall Inc., 2001.
3. Tamilnadu Factory Act, Department of Inspectorate of factories, Tamil Nadu. Health
Management, Prentice Hall Inc., 2001.
J.J College of Engineering & Technology

Department of Civil Engineering
UNIT I CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS
Accidents and their Causes – Human Factors in Construction Safety – Costs of Construction
Injuries – Occupational and Safety Hazard Assessment – Legal Implications.
SAFETY IN CONSTRUCTION SITES

Introduction:
Construction sites are dangerous places where injury or death or illness can cause to workers.
These can happen due to electrocution, falling from height, injuries from tools, equipment and
machines; being hit by moving construction vehicles, injuries from manual handling
operations, illness due to hazardous substance such as dust, chemicals, .etc. Even a nail
standing up from a discarded piece of wood can cause serious injury if trodden on in unsuitable
shoes.
Indian Regulations:
 There are a number of Indian regulations dealing with the working conditions of
construction workers. The main Indian regulations are:
 Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions
of Services) Act, 1996.
 Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions
of Services) Central Rules, 1998.
 Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996.
These rules came into force on 19-11-1998. These rules apply to all buildings and other
construction work relating to any establishment in which appropriate government is the Central
Government. Some of the other statutory provisions/codes in force to take care of the working
conditions of the construction workers are:
 The Fatal Accidents Act, 1885,
 The Factories Act, 1948,
 The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923,
 The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948,
 The Central Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970,
 The National Building Code of India, 2005
Site Preparations:
Preparation of a construction site is an important aspect which should focus on a good site
layout, easy access to the site and easy movement of vehicles in the site.
Site Operations:
The type of operations/activities carried out in a construction site are many and they vary from
site to site. However, all of them should be carried out only with due regard to safe operations.
Some of the routine work/operations carried out in construction sites are listed below:
 Excavation Work
 Scaffolding Work
 Crane Operations
 Hoisting Operations
 Forklift Operation
 Ladder Safety
 Electrical Safety
Excavation Work:
 All excavation works deeper than 1.25 meters must be shored or battered.
 Excavation deeper than 2 meters must be guarded by rails or barriers.
 Vehicles working, too close to the side of the trench or rubble piled on the sides may
cause collapse and therefore at most care should be taken.
 Vehicles tipping into the excavation work must use stop blocks, so as to avoid the
collapse of the trench.
 Make sure that the excavation work is inspected daily.
 Make sure that you know where the position of underground pipes and electric cables
are laid in the site, so that you will not hit them during the excavation work.
Crane Operations:
 The weight of the load intended to be lifted by the crane must be carefully estimated.
 The crane must be fitted with an automatic safe load indicator.
 The crane must always work on a hard, level base.
 The load must be properly fixed and secured.
 The signal man must be trained to give clear signals.
 The ropes, hooks, chains, slings, etc. used in the lifting operations, must be inspected
regularly for their worn out.
 When mobile cranes are used, care must be taken to prevent overturning of cranes.
 Wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
Hoisting Operations:
Fig 05 – Parts of a hoist – Courtesy: disabilityworktools

When using hoists, some basic safety rules should be observed, which are given below:
 Never walk, stand or work beneath a hoist.
 Isolate hoisting area with barriers, guards and signs as appropriate.
 Never exceed the capacity limits of your hoist.

 Wear gloves, helmets and other personal protective equipment as appropriate, when
working with hoists and cables.
 Ensure that hoists are inspected regularly.
 When the work is completed, always rig the hoist down and secure it.
 When the load block or hoist is at floor level or its lowest point of travel, ensure that at
least two turns of rope remain on the drum.
 Be prepared to stop operations immediately of signalled by the safety watch or another
person.
 Ensure that the hoist is directly above a load before picking up. This keeps hoist from
becoming stressed.
 Picking up loads at odd angles may result in injury to people or damage to the hoist.
 Do not pick up loads by running the cable through, over or around obstructions. These
obstructions can find the cable or catch on the load and cause an accident.
 Do not hoist load when any portions of the hoisting equipment within 6 feet of high-
voltage electrical lines or equipment.
 If you need to hoist near – voltage electrical lines or equipment, obtain clearance from
your electrical supervisor first.
Fork Lift Operations:
Fork Lifts are very commonly used in construction sites for movement of many construction
materials and stacking them at heights. While operating the Fork Lifts, the following general
safety guidelines should be observed:
 Do not walk, stand or work under the elevated portion of a fork lift even if it is not
loaded.
 Ensure that the fork lift has an overhead barrier to protect the operator from falling
objects.
 Do not allow riders on the fork lift.
 Do not raise people on a fork lift.
 Always work within the capacity limits of your fork lift.
 Before modifying the operation or capacity limits of a fork lift, consult with the
manufacturer.
 Do not operate a fork lift in an area with hazardous concentrations of acetylene,
butadiene, hydrogen, ethylene or diethyl ether, or other explosive environment.
 Never lift a load while moving a fork lift. Wait until you are completely stopped before
raising the mast
 Be sure, the top load sits squarely on the stack. Remember uneven load could topple
the fork lift.
 When you want to travel with loads, slightly lift the loads back to provide stability.
 Make sure that you travel with loads at the proper height. A stable clearance height is
usually 4 to 6 inches at the tips and 2 inches at the heels of the fork blades.
When preparing to leave the fork lift unattended, lower the mast, neutralise the controls,
shut the power off, and set the brakes.
Ladder Safety:
 The following safe methods should be adopted while operating ladders:
 Always have a firm grip on the ladder and keep a good balance.
 Never allow more than one person on a ladder.
 Use tool belts or hand line to carry objects when you are climbing the ladder.
 Do not lean out from the ladder in any direction.
 If you have a fear of heights – don’t climb a ladder.
 Do not allow others to work under a ladder in use.
 Do not use a defective ladder.’
Fig 07 – Wrong way of using a ladder – Courtesy: eavestroughkits.com
Fig 08 – Right way of using a ladder – Courtesy: eavestroughkits.com

Electrical Safety:
Electricity can cause great damage to both people working in the construction sites and
property. Contact with the electric current can trigger other accidents, like falls from ladders or
scaffolding. Electrical shocks or flashes can cause serious injuries such as burns. Electric shock
may also cause the victim to stop breathing and nerve centres may be temporarily paralysed.
ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSES

1. Falls from height

The most common accident is when workers fall from ladders or scaffolding which can cause
injuries such as broken bones, fractures, back injuries and also head injuries.
Your rights as a worker

An employer has a duty to all its employees on their construction sites to keep them safe and
to ensure that all walkways are appropriately guarded and where scaffolding is in place to
ensure that there is a safe access/egress route from the site.
However, accidents do from time to time occur and maybe a ladder which is incorrectly secured
or has come loose causes a fall and an injury. If this happens to you it may initially be the case
that the last thing you are thinking of is making a claim for your injuries but when the reality
of your injury becomes apparent and you are aware that you may need to take time off from
work without receiving any pay to recover from your injuries, you may well reconsider
making a personal injury claim.
2. Falling objects
In a similar scenario you may be working on a construction site when an object is dropped onto
you from above without any warning or the ability on your part to move out of the way
causing an injury to you which makes it impossible for you to continue working. Injuries could
vary from minor cuts and bruises to more serious crush injuries and head and brain injuries.
Your safety rights

Again, your employer is responsible for your health and safety whilst you are on the
construction site whether they are the main contractor or not and they are required by law to
keep you reasonably safe whilst you are in their employment.
3. Tripping hazards
In the construction industry hazards in the workplace are numerous, a further hazard to consider
is the hazard of tripping over cables or falling into holes in the ground that have been created
as part of the construction/building process.
4.Defective equipment
If your employer provides you with power tools to allow you to complete your job then they
are responsible for keeping that work equipment in a good working order and for carrying
out repairs to the equipment should it become defective. In the event that the work equipment
becomes defective and as a result of that defect you are injured your employer would be liable
for the defective equipment and responsible to compensate you for your injuries.
5. Vehicle accidents
Whilst working in the construction industry provision must be made for vehicles and
pedestrians so that they can circulate in a safe manner if pedestrians and vehicles come into
conflict then no doubt injury to one or both parties would occur and in this scenario again there
would no doubt be fault on the part of the employer.
6. Excessive noise/vibrating tool hazards
Noise and vibrating tools are also a cause for concern whilst working in the construction
industry as excessive noise from power tools can cause hearing loss or problems such as
tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Your employer has a duty to check for excessive noise and where
possible to reduce the level of noise or the length of time you are exposed to excessive noise
whilst on site.
Safety/protective equipment
Whilst working in construction your employer has a duty to keep you safe and to provide you
with personal protective equipment. This may vary from site to site but would generally
consist of high visibility clothing, steel toe capped boots and hard hats, dependant on the nature
of your work knee pads ear defenders, face masks and back supports are also commonly
provided protective equipment.
7. Exposure to irritants
The final thing to consider whilst looking at common accidents in construction is to consider
contact with irritants either through inhaling gasses or substances such as carbon monoxide
or asbestos dust. Some of these irritants can have devastating consequences on your health and
life.
ACCIDENTS
Falls from high heights or scaffolding – Construction workers are often required to work at
very high heights, on scaffolding and ladders, in windows and on roofs. According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, these accidents account for 34 percent of all on-the-job deaths of
construction workers.
Slips and falls – From stray tools and materials to uneven ground or holes, there are many
hazards on a construction site that could lead to a dangerous slip, trip, or fall.
Electrocutions – Due to the fact that construction sites are a work in progress, there is often
exposed wiring, power lines, and unfinished electrical systems around. Coming in contact with
these could lead to electrocution or shock.
Falling debris, materials or objects – On projects with multiple levels, it is common for
falling tools, building materials, or beams to strike workers below.
Getting caught in-between objects or materials – Construction sites are filled with heavy
machinery, tools, and materials. Often, workers find themselves stuck in between immovable
objects, machinery, or fallen debris.
Fires and explosions – Because of unfinished piping, leaking gases, and incomplete electrical
systems, fires and explosions are a common occurrence on construction sites.
Overexertion – Hours of hard labor, often in extremely hot or humid conditions, can cause
workers to overexert themselves and even fall victim to heat stroke.
Machinery accidents – Construction workers use a lot of heavy machinery in their work. From
cranes and bulldozers to jackhammers and nail guns, an error or accident with these tools can
be very dangerous.
Getting hit by a vehicle – Construction sites are often located near or adjacent to roads or
highways. At times, drivers can be distracted by the work, and if a driver is not looking or it is
dark out, it is possible for a worker to get hit by a passing vehicle or truck.

Trench collapses – Trenches are often a necessity on construction sites. If a trench collapses
while a worker is inside, it could cause them to be hit with tools, machinery, or materials or
bury them in the surrounding dirt.
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1) Slip and falls, often caused by unsafe working conditions.
2) Falling on stairwells, when stairs are installed incorrectly or there are not handrails.
3) Stepladders, which can tip over or even collapse.
4) Falls from roofs, when no fall protection or lifelines are provided.
5) Failure to follow state safety regulations for scaffolding, which can collapse.
6) Trenches and excavation walls collapsing when not installed correctly.
7) Power tool accidents, esp. when eye and ear protection are not worn.
8) Lifting improperly, with back muscles instead of legs.
9) Dump trucks, forklifts, and other vehicles.
HUMAN FACTORS IN CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

"Safety would be simple if we just didn’t put people in there.” This was actually said to me by
a manager with a strong engineering background. While shocking, it did get me thinking about
how simple it would be if all we had to do was create really good equipment and facilities and
not have to worry about the human aspect of safety.
The reality is that we need engineering, management systems and people all working together
in harmony to create a safe workplace — and this becomes the definition of “human factors”
in safety.
Human factors are the application of scientific knowledge about facilities and equipment,
management systems and people to improve their interaction in the workplace. The emphasis
in this definition of human factors is on the interaction. Managing each of these aspects of
safety independently or in isolation leads to erroneous and misleading statements, such as:
“Safety is simple. You put a procedure in place and make people follow it.” (Yet another
comment made to me by a manager.) We cannot be successful in safety unless we understand
the science of each of these components and fully appreciate how they interact in our
workplaces.
Facilities and equipment refer to the physical workplace. The expertise in this area usually
resides with the engineering and technical community. They are the ones that understand this
science.
Management systems represent all the policies, procedures and guidance on how things are to
be done. This includes training and regulations, processes for investigations, change, staffing
and maintenance. This is usually the domain of management and, in some cases, safety
professionals.
The expertise on the people component resides with those who understand the physical and
cognitive aspects of people, usually the medical community and those who understand why
people do what they do, especially as it applies to motivation and risk tolerance (usually the
domain of safety professionals).
With this consideration for the interaction as our focus, there are eight fundamental components
of an effective human factors approach:
Workplace design deals with the workplace setup and the design of the equipment with the
consideration for how the people will interact with the equipment. This is our opportunity to
engage engineers in incident prevention.
Equipment design assesses the effectiveness of the tools, control panels and displays. Do they
make logical sense and are they intuitive and aligned with how the human brain processes
information?
Work environment explores how humans are impacted by noise, lighting, vibration,
temperature and exposures. We can make the workplace safer when we understand how
people’s behaviours change depending on these conditions.
Physical activities deal with the capabilities of the human body. How much force can it safely
exert? What are the impacts of repetitive activities? How is the body most likely to be strained
or harmed? Our ergonomists are key to addressing this element.
Job design helps us understand the impacts of work schedules, fatigue and workload. Are the
management systems set up with an understanding of how humans respond to these factors?
Information transfer explicitly demonstrates the need for workers to understand how they are
to interact with the equipment and how we want them to respond to instructions, signs,
procedures, labels and other guidance provided in the management systems.
Personal factors deal with the individual capabilities of people as it relates to stress, fitness
and other factors unique to the individual. The human ability, or lack thereof, to stay focused
and not get distracted is a part of this component. This is where psychological safety fits into
our human factors model.
Human error helps us understand why we make mistakes and why we may interpret
information incorrectly as we interact with the equipment and attempt to follow the procedures
provided. When we understand this, we can ensure that equipment and the management
systems are aligned with how the human brain works.
Safety professionals need to step up and take the lead in human factors. You don’t need to be
an expert in every aspect of the human factors. You only need to know where the expertise and
scientific knowledge resides, so you can tap into it when needed. You must be the facilitators,
co-ordinators and coaches that pull the expertise together, so that the interaction between the
facilities and equipment, the management systems and the people is successful and leads to
improved safety.
COSTS OF CONSTRUCTION INJURIES

Workplace Injury Costs
When workplace injuries occur, it’s easy to see the immediate and direct costs, but there are a
multitude of ongoing and indirect costs that should also be taken into account. Indirect costs
can be three to 10 times higher than direct costs, depending on the business and the various
circumstances following the accident. Preventing workplace injuries not only keeps your
employees safe, it also prevents these potentially significant costs.
Direct Costs
For a self-insured employer, direct injury costs include:
 Claim Cost – 80%
 Administrative Cost -10%
 Excess Premium -8%
 Other – 2%
These direct costs can be broken down into the following categories:
 Medical
 Hospital
 Physicians
 Pharmacy
 Physical Therapy
 Indemnity Payments
 Disability Compensation
 Dependent Benefits
 Death Benefits
 Settlements
 Legal Expenses
 Investigations
 Program Costs
 Excess Premium
 Claims Administration Expenses
 Other (Surety, Assessments, Taxes, etc.)
Indirect Costs
In addition to these direct costs, there are many indirect costs that should also be
considered. Indirect injury costs include, but are not limited to:
 Loss of Productivity or Service Standards
 Additional Supervision Time and Administrative Costs
 Temporary Labor and Overtime Costs
 OSHA Fines
 Building and/or Vehicle Damage
 Equipment Damage
 Product/Material Damage
 Emergency Supplies
 Interim Equipment Rentals
 Accident Investigation Costs
 Accommodations/Modifications Made for Injured or Potentially Disabled Worker
 Recruiting, Hiring and Training Replacement Workers
 Loss of Business and Goodwill
These indirect costs may vary from case to case, making the total cost of a workplace injury
difficult to fully assess.
Emotional Costs
Another significant indirect cost of workplace injuries is the emotional toll that perceived safety
risks can have on employees. Employees want to work at a place of business that is safe and
well-managed, and where management cares about their safety. Employers can reinforce the
confidence in the safety of their workplace by creating programs that integrate with the normal

course of business, recognizing employees for working safely, and maintaining a positive
message of safety as a priority.
The indirect costs of accidents are usually greater than the direct costs. A conservative
estimate of losses for every $1 of direct accident costs, there is $3 of indirect costs. Some
studies indicate the hidden costs can be 4 to 10 times the insured costs. Indirect costs to
consider include:
 Time lost from work by injured employee(s).
 Loss in earning power.
 Economic loss to injured worker’s family.
 Lost time by fellow employees.
 Loss of efficiency due to break-up of crew.
 Lost time by supervision.
 Cost of training a new worker.
 Damage to tools, equipment, and other property.
 Time lost for replacing damaged equipment.
 Spoiled work.
 Loss of production.
 Spoilage - fire, water, chemical, explosives, etc.
 Failure to fill orders.
 Overhead cost (while work was disrupted).
Like an iceberg, the hidden costs of accidents are not visible on the surface, but are still
present. Examples of such hidden costs:
 Production loss/worker distraction
 Training costs/replacement worker
 Loss of skill/efficiency - slowed production
 Paperwork
 Administrative time
 Loss of morale
 Legal issues
 Medical expenses
 Wages
 Equipment
 Workers compensation premium
Costs of accidents
Many employers believe that the insurer will pick up the costs of an accident, and that's why
they pay their insurance. However, the costs of an accident can be broken down into the direct
costs and indirect (uninsured) costs.
Direct costs of an accident
Direct costs are those costs that are accrued directly from the accident. They are quite easy to
calculate, and include the medical costs incurred and the compensation payments made to the
injured workers. Direct costs are usually insurable by businesses.
Indirect costs of an accident

Indirect costs are the less obvious consequences of an accident that can be costed. While the
indirect costs created by accidents are hidden, they too must be paid from profits from the sale
of products. They are more difficult to calculate and tend not to be insured. Indirect costs
include:
Time away from the job not covered by workers' compensation insurance;
Payment of other workers who are not injured, for example those who stopped work to look
after or help the injured worker and those who require output from the injured in order to
complete their tasks;
The cost of damage to materials or equipment involved in the accident;
The cost of overtime imposed by the accident (lost production, additional supervision, and
additional heat, light, etc.);
The cost of wages paid to the supervisor for time spent on activities related to the accident.
This includes caring for the injured, investigating the accident, and supervising the activities
necessary to resume the operation of business. All of these activities will disrupt the
supervisor's productivity;
Costs associated with instructing, training, and repositioning employees in order to resume
production. In some cases, it might even be necessary to hire a replacement with all the
associated hiring costs;
Medical costs paid by the employer that are not covered by the insurance. This may include
treatment facilities, personnel, equipment and supplies;
Cost of managers and clerical personnel investigating and processing claim forms and related
paperwork, telephone calls, interviews, etc.
Wage costs due to decreased productivity once the injured employee returns to work. This is
due to restricted movement or nervousness/cautiousness on the part of the injured employee
and time spent discussing the accident with other employees etc.
Costs brought about from any enforcement action following the accident such as prosecution
fines and costs of imposed remedial works.
OCCUPATIONAL AND SAFETY HAZARD ASSESSMENT

Occupational Assessment:
5 steps to occupational risk assessment
Occupational risk assessment can be straightforward - five steps are enough to do it properly!
Occupational risk can be assessed in the following five steps:
 Step 1: Identify the threat.

 Step 2: Determine who could be injured or fall sick.
 Step 3: Estimate the occupational risk arising from the threats and evaluate
whether the measures used are appropriate or should further action be taken to
reduce this risk further.
 Step 4: Document the results.
 Step 5: Periodically assess the occupational risk and verify it, if necessary.
Step 1- Identify the threat
If you assess the occupational risk yourself, look closely at your work place and determine
what could cause an accident or what could negatively affect the health of the people staying
or working there.
Concentrate firstly on the threats that could cause serious injuries or threaten several people.
Ask the workers or their representatives for their opinion.
They could have noticed things that appear obvious at first glance.
Manufacturers' instructions, as well as registers of accidents and occupational diseases or
events that almost ended in accidents could be useful in identifying threats (Dudka).
Step 2 - Determine who could be injured or fall sick
Remember that the occupational risk assessment refers to all workers.

During the assessment, pay particular attention to those workers for whom the consequences
of the threats that are present could be particularly serious, e.g. pregnant women, young
workers and the disabled.
Don't forget about those, whose work posts do not have a fixed location (e.g. cleaners,
maintenance workers).
Also, consider the people who visit the company, and subcontractors, as well as third parties,
if they could be under threat.
Step 3 - Estimate the occupational risk arising from the threats and evaluate whether the
measures used are appropriate or should further action be taken to reduce this risk
further.
Consider the probability of the appearance of the negative consequences of each of the threats
that are present and how serious these consequences could be. Assess whether the occupational
risk related to each of the identified threats is large, medium or small. Take into account the
protective measures used with respect to the threats, but remember that they do not completely
eliminate the occupational risk.
When is occupational risk large and unacceptable?
Primarily when action has not been taken as required by law to assure safety of workers, for
instance the legal requirements on access to dangerous parts of machinery have not been
satisfied.
If it is necessary to take additional action to reduce occupational risk, the following questions
should be asked:
Can the threat be completely eliminated? (in reality, the complete elimination of threats is
generally not possible, but it should be reduced using the best possible technologies).
If not, how can occupational risk be reduced, so that an accident or disease has a low probability
of occurring?
Consider the following when planning actions to reduce risk:

 Is it possible to use other technologies and work methods, with which the related
occupational risk is lower?
 Is it possible to use technical measures (e.g. covers for moving parts of machines,
ventilation etc.)?
 Is it possible to organise work in such a way as to reduce worker exposure?

 Is it necessary to use personal protective equipment?

An improvement in the state of occupational safety and health does not need to be related to
large financial outlays.
An inexpensive preventive measure that reduces risk, for instance, could be marking
transportation routes or the introduction of the prohibition to enter danger zones without
personal protective equipment.
Sometimes risk can be reduced by changing work organisation.
Personal protective equipment is used only when occupational risk cannot be reduced in any
other way.
Step 4 - Document the results
The results of the occupational risk assessment must be documented. This means that it is
necessary to:
 Register the identified threats
 Record the most important conclusions
The assessment of occupational risk must be conducted properly, not necessarily perfectly!
It is important to demonstrate that the assessment of occupational risk was conducted properly,
namely that:
 All people who could be exposed were considered
 All significant threats were considered
 The remedial action taken is appropriate, and the risk following their implementation
can be assessed as acceptable (medium or small).
Step 5 - Assess the occupational risk occasionally and verify it, if necessary
Sooner or later, you will buy new machines, substances or technologies, which could become
the source of new threats.
 If significant changes are introduced, assess the occupational risk related to the new
threats.
 It is occasionally necessary to review the assessment of the occupational risk.
 It is not necessary to repeat the assessment because of minor changes.
 If, however, new threats appear after introducing changes it is in your interest to assess
the related occupational risk and to do everything to keep it at a low level.
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Many different hazards may be encountered or created by construction activity. An effective

system:
 Monitors the workplace for hazards or potential hazards

 Requires all employees to report hazards
 Implements appropriate controls
 Ensures corrective action is taken
Many different hazards may be encountered or created by construction activity. Typical major
risks that should be addressed include:
 Falls
 Reversing vehicles and equipment
 Working around mobile equipment

 Overhead powerline contact
 Trench collapse
 Electrical hazards
 Working in confined spaces
 Working with toxic materials (eg. asbestos, lead)
 Manual material handling
 Housekeeping
 Use of power tools
When developing a hazard analysis program, remember that workers are a valuable source of
information about hazards in the workplace. Encourage timely reporting, document hazards
and monitor controls for effectiveness.
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The main OSH hazards/risks in the construction industry
OSHA - Occupational and Safety Hazard Assessment
The most frequent hazards/risks in the construction industry fall into two main categories
(Figure 20):
a) hazards/risks that may cause occupational accidents, sometimes fatal, immediately or

soonafter they occur;
b) hazards/risks that may cause occupational illness, sometimes also fatal, in the medium or
long term (from a few hours to many years later).
The leading accident hazards/risks in the construction industry in most countries are:
 Falls from height (from unguarded floors, platforms, scaffoldings, roofs, etc.);
 Caught in/between (malfunction of machinery, etc.);
 Cave in (malfunction of the shoring system, sloping missing in excavations, etc.);
 Electrocution (by contact with power lines, power tools, etc.); and
 Struck by (falling objects, etc.).
The leading occupational illnesses hazards/risks in the construction industry in most countries
are:
 Back injuries (from carrying heavy loads, working in inappropriate positions, etc.);
 Respiratory diseases (from inhaling dust, fumes, etc.);
 Musculoskeletal disorders (from sprains and strains of the muscles, injuries affecting
the hand and wrist, the shoulders, neck and upper back, the knees, etc.);
 Hearing losses (from long time exposure to noise); and
 Skin diseases (manipulation of dangerous materials, exposure to the ultraviolet rays).

Figure 20 – Most frequent hazards/risks in the construction industry
Many other potential hazards/risks in the construction industry depend on the type of
construction works (buildings, bridges, etc.). Table 9 gives a non-exhaustive list of
hazards/risks in the construction industry. It can be used to identify and record the main
hazards/risks that may occur in a specific construction project by checking “yes”, “no” or “NA”
(not applicable). It may also be used to record the risk level (RL) by estimating a probability
(P) of occurrence and a severity (S).
*************************************
WORKER SAFETY SERIES
Construction
Nearly 6.5 million people work at approximately 252,000 construction sites across the nation
on any given day. The fatal injury rate for the construction industry is higher than the national
average in this category for all industries.
Potential hazards for workers in construction include:
 Falls (from heights);

 Trench collapse;
 Scaffold collapse;
 Electric shock and arc flash/arc blast;
 Failure to use proper personal protective equipment; and
 Repetitive motion injuries.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration - Hazards & Solutions
1. Scaffolding
2. Fall protection (scope, application, definitions)
3. Excavations (general requirements)
4. Ladders
5. Head protection
6. Excavations (requirements for protective systems)
7. Hazard communication
8. Fall protection (training requirements)
9. Construction (general safety and health provisions)
10. Electrical (wiring methods, design and protection)
Scaffolding
Hazard: When scaffolds are not erected or used properly, fall hazards can occur. About 2.3
million construction workers frequently work on scaffolds. Protecting these workers from
scaffold-related accidents would prevent an estimated 4,500 injuries and 50 fatalities each year.
Solutions:
 Scaffold must be sound, rigid and sufficient to carry its own weight plus four times the
maximum intended load without settling or displacement. It must be erected on solid
footing.
 Unstable objects, such as barrels, boxes, loose bricks or concrete blocks must not be
used to support scaffolds or planks.
 Scaffold must not be erected, moved, dismantled or altered except under the supervision
of a competent person.
 Scaffold must be equipped with guardrails, mid rails and toe boards.
 Scaffold accessories such as braces, brackets, trusses, screw legs or ladders that are
damaged or weakened from any cause must be immediately repaired or replaced.
 Scaffold platforms must be tightly planked with scaffold plank grade material or
equivalent.
 A "competent person" must inspect the scaffolding and, at designated intervals,
reinspect it.
 Rigging on suspension scaffolds must be inspected by a competent person before each
shift and after any occurrence that could affect structural integrity to ensure that all
connections are tight and that no damage to the rigging has occurred since its last use.
 Synthetic and natural rope used in suspension scaffolding must be protected from heat-
producing sources.
 Employees must be instructed about the hazards of using diagonal braces as fall
protection.
 Scaffold can be accessed by using ladders and stairwells.
 Scaffolds must be at least 10 feet from electric power lines at all times.
Fall Protection
Hazard: Each year, falls consistently account for the greatest number of fatalities in the
construction industry. A number of factors are often involved in falls, including unstable
working surfaces, misuse or failure to use fall protection equipment and human error. Studies
have shown that using guardrails, fall arrest systems, safety nets, covers and restraint systems
can prevent many deaths and injuries from falls.
Solutions:
 Consider using aerial lifts or elevated platforms to provide safer elevated working
surfaces;
 Erect guardrail systems with toe boards and warning lines or install control line systems
to protect workers near the edges of floors and roofs;
 Cover floor holes; and/or
 Use safety net systems or personal fall arrest systems (body harnesses).
Ladders
Hazard: Ladders and stairways are another source of injuries and fatalities among construction
workers. OSHA estimates that there are 24,882 injuries and as many as 36 fatalities per year
due to falls on stairways and ladders used in construction. Nearly half of these injuries were
serious enough to require time off the job.
Solutions:
 Use the correct ladder for the task.

 Have a competent person visually inspect a ladder before use for any defects such as:
o Structural damage, split/bent side rails, broken or missing rungs/steps/cleats and
missing or damaged safety devices;
o Grease, dirt or other contaminants that could cause slips or falls;
o Paint or stickers (except warning labels) that could hide possible defects
 Make sure that ladders are long enough to safely reach the work area.
 Mark or tag ("Do Not Use") damaged or defective ladders for repair or replacement, or
destroy them immediately.
 Never load ladders beyond the maximum intended load or beyond the manufacturer's
rated capacity.
 Be sure the load rating can support the weight of the user, including materials and tools.
 Avoid using ladders with metallic components near electrical work and overhead power
lines.
Stairways
Hazard: Slips, trips and falls on stairways are a major source of injuries and fatalities among
construction workers.
Solutions:
 Stairway treads and walkways must be free of dangerous objects, debris and materials.
 Slippery conditions on stairways and walkways must be corrected immediately.
 Make sure that treads cover the entire step and landing.
 Stairways having four or more risers or rising more than 30 inches must have at least
one handrail.
Trenching
Hazard: Trench collapses cause dozens of fatalities and hundreds of injuries each year.
Trenching deaths rose in 2003.
Solutions:
 Never enter an unprotected trench.

 Always use a protective system for trenches feet deep or greater.
 Employ a registered professional engineer to design a protective system for trenches 20
feet deep or greater.
 Protective Systems:
o Sloping to protect workers by cutting back the trench wall at an angle inclined
away from the excavation not steeper than a height/depth ratio of 11 2 :1,
according to the sloping requirements for the type of soil.
o Shoring to protect workers by installing supports to prevent soil movement for
trenches that do not exceed 20 feet in depth.
o Shielding to protect workers by using trench boxes or other types of supports to
prevent soil cave-ins.
 Always provide a way to exit a trench--such as a ladder, stairway or ramp--no more
than 25 feet of lateral travel for employees in the trench.
 Keep spoils at least two feet back from the edge of a trench.
 Make sure that trenches are inspected by a competent person prior to entry and after
any hazard-increasing event such as a rainstorm, vibrations or excessive surcharge
loads.
SLOPING. Maximum allowable slopes for excavations less than 20 ft. (6.09 m) based on soil
type and angle to the horizontal are as follows:
Cranes
Hazard: Significant and serious injuries may occur if cranes are not inspected before use and
if they are not used properly. Often these injuries occur when a worker is struck by an overhead
load or caught within the crane's swing radius. Many crane fatalities occur when the boom of
a crane or its load line contact an overhead power line.
Solutions:
 Check all crane controls to insure proper operation before use.

 Inspect wire rope, chains and hook for any damage.
 Know the weight of the load that the crane is to lift.
 Ensure that the load does not exceed the crane's rated capacity.
 Raise the load a few inches to verify balance and the effectiveness of the brake system.
 Check all rigging prior to use; do not wrap hoist ropes or chains around the load.
 Fully extend outriggers.
 Do not move a load over workers.
 Barricade accessible areas within the crane's swing radius.
 Watch for overhead electrical distribution and transmission lines and maintain a safe
working clearance of at least 10 feet from energized electrical lines.
Hazard Communication
Hazard: Failure to recognize the hazards associated with chemicals can cause chemical burns,
respiratory problems, fires and explosions.
Solutions:
 Maintain a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for each chemical in the facility.
 Make this information accessible to employees at all times in a language or formats that
are clearly understood by all affected personnel.
 Train employees on how to read and use the MSDS.
 Follow manufacturer's MSDS instructions for handling hazardous chemicals.
 Train employees about the risks of each hazardous chemical being used.
 Provide spill clean-up kits in areas where chemicals are stored.
 Have a written spill control plan.
 Train employees to clean up spills, protect themselves and properly dispose of used
materials.
 Provide proper personal protective equipment and enforce its use.
 Store chemicals safely and securely.
Forklifts
Hazard: Approximately 100 employees are fatally injured and approximately 95,000
employees are injured every year while operating powered industrial trucks. Forklift turnover
accounts for a significant number of these fatalities.
Solutions:
 Train and certify all operators to ensure that they operate forklifts safely.
 Do not allow any employee under 18 years old to operate a forklift.
 Properly maintain haulage equipment, including tires.
 Do not modify or make attachments that affect the capacity and safe operation of the
forklift without written approval from the forklift's manufacturer.
 Examine forklift truck for defects before using.
 Follow safe operating procedures for picking up, moving, putting down and stacking
loads.
 Drive safely--never exceed 5 mph and slow down in congested or slippery surface
areas.
 Prohibit stunt driving and horseplay.
 Do not handle loads that are heavier than the capacity of the industrial truck.
 Remove unsafe or defective forklift trucks from service.
 Operators shall always wear seatbelts.
 Avoid traveling with elevated loads.
 Assure that rollover protective structure is in place.
 Make certain that the reverse signal alarm is operational and audible above the
surrounding noise level.
Head Protection
Hazard: Serious head injuries can result from blows to the head.
Solution:
 Be sure that workers wear hard hats where there is a potential for objects falling from
above, bumps to their heads from fixed objects, or accidental head contact with
electrical hazards.
Safety Checklists
The following checklists may help you take steps to avoid hazards that cause injuries, illnesses
and fatalities. As always, be cautious and seek help if you are concerned about a potential
hazard.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Eye and Face Protection
 Safety glasses or face shields are worn anytime work operations can cause foreign
objects getting into the eye such as during welding, cutting, grinding, nailing (or when
working with concrete and/or harmful chemicals or when exposed to flying particles).
 Eye and face protectors are selected based on anticipated hazards.
 Safety glasses or face shields are worn when exposed to any electrical hazards including
work on energized electrical systems.
Hand Protection
 Gloves should fit snugly.

 Workers wear the right gloves for the job (for example, heavy-duty rubber gloves for
concrete work, welding gloves for welding, insulated gloves and sleeves when exposed
to electrical hazards).
Head Protection
 Workers shall wear hard hats where there is a potential for objects falling from above,
bumps to their heads from fixed objects, or of accidental head contact with electrical
hazards.
 Hard hats are routinely inspected for dents, cracks or deterioration.
 Hard hats are replaced after a heavy blow or electrical shock.
 Hard hats are maintained in good condition.
Scaffolding
 Scaffolds should be set on sound footing.

 Damaged parts that affect the strength of the scaffold are taken out of service.
 Scaffolds are not altered.
 All scaffolds should be fully planked.
 Scaffolds are not moved horizontally while workers are on them unless they are
designed to be mobile and workers have been trained in the proper procedures.
 Employees are not permitted to work on scaffolds when covered with snow, ice, or
other slippery materials.
 Scaffolds are not erected or moved within 10 feet of power lines.
Electrical Safety
 Work on new and existing energized (hot) electrical circuits is prohibited until all power
is shut off and grounds are attached.
 An effective Lockout/Tagout system is in place.
 Frayed, damaged or worn electrical cords or cables are promptly replaced.
 All extension cords have grounding prongs.
 Protect flexible cords and cables from damage. Sharp corners and projections should
be avoided.

 Use extension cord sets used with portable electric tools and appliances that are the
three-wire type and designed for hard or extra-hard service. (Look for some of the
following letters imprinted on the casing: S, ST, SO, STO.)
 All electrical tools and equipment are maintained in safe condition and checked
regularly for defects and taken out of service if a defect is found.
Elevated Surfaces
 Signs are posted, when appropriate, showing the elevated surface load capacity.
 Surfaces elevated more than 48 inches above the floor or ground have standard
guardrails.
 All elevated surfaces (beneath which people or machinery could be exposed to falling
objects) have standard 4-inch toeboards.
 A permanent means of entry and exit with handrails is provided to elevated storage and
work surfaces.
 Material is piled, stacked or racked in a way that prevents it from tipping, falling,
collapsing, rolling or spreading.
Hazard Communication
 A list of hazardous substances used in the workplace is maintained and readily available
at the worksite.
 There is a written hazard communication program addressing Material Safety Data
Sheets (MSDS), labeling and employee training.
 Each container of a hazardous substance (vats, bottles, storage tanks) is labeled with
product identity and a hazard warning(s) (communicating the specific health hazards
and physical hazards).
 Material Safety Data Sheets are readily available at all times for each hazardous
substance used.
 There is an effective employee training program for hazardous substances.
Crane Safety
 Cranes and derricks are restricted from operating within 10 feet of any electrical power
line.
 The upper rotating structure supporting the boom and materials being handled is
provided with an electrical ground while working near energized transmitter towers.
 Rated load capacities, operating speed and instructions are posted and visible to the
operator.
 Cranes are equipped with a load chart.
 The operator understands and uses the load chart.
 The operator can determine the angle and length of the crane boom at all times.
 Crane machinery and other rigging equipment is inspected daily prior to use to make
sure that it is in good condition.
Forklifts
 Forklift truck operators are competent to operate these vehicles safely as demonstrated
by their successful completion of training and evaluation.
 No employee under 18 years old is allowed to operate a forklift.
 Forklifts are inspected daily for proper condition of brakes, horns, steering, forks and
tires.
 Powered industrial trucks (forklifts) meet the design and construction requirements
established in American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for Powered Industrial
Trucks, Part II ANSI B56.1-1969.
 Written approval from the truck manufacturer is obtained for any modification or
additions which affect capacity and safe operation of the vehicle.
UNIT II SAFETY PROGRAMMES
Problem Areas in Construction Safety – Elements of an Effective Safety Programme – Job-

Site Safety Assessment – Safety Meetings – Safety Incentives.
PROBLEM AREAS IN CONSTRUCTION SAFETY
1 Scaffolding
Workers assigned to scaffolding jobs should be properly trained and continually aware of their
environment as falling debris, electrocution from power lines, and falls related to unstable
platforms can result in serious injuries. Supported and suspended scaffolds should be properly
outfitted with guardrails to prevent workers from falling from an open side, and workers should
be secured in appropriate fall protection. According to the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), scaffolds and scaffold components must be capable of supporting
at least four times the maximum intended load.
2 Fall protection
All employees whose work conditions include the danger of falling should undergo fall
protection training regularly. Company training courses should identify specific hazards and
familiarize employees with all fall protection equipment used in the workplace. A review of
the written prevention and rescue plan will assure employees that help is never far away.
Fall protection equipment should be inspected each time it is used and by a qualified person
once every year â€” and that inspection should be documented. The equipment should be
inspected according to manufacturer’s recommendation and OSHA requirements. A thorough
visual inspection for signs of stress and wear should be performed every time a harness is used.
3 Ladder safety
The misuse of portable ladders can lead to injuries such as sprains and broken bones, but in
extreme cases also head and neck trauma â€” or even death. Ladders should be secured and
safely positioned at appropriate angles and prior to use be visually inspected for damaged
components including hinges, rungs/steps, side rails and feet. Side rails should extend at least
3 feet above the landing and be secured at the top to a sturdy support. Portable ladders should
be used in compliance with the weight standard they are designed to hold and should also
comply with OSHA standards as specified in 29 CFR 1926.1053(a)(1).
4 Respiratory safety

OSHA has established a respiratory protection standard covering detailed procedures for
reducing and eliminating respiratory hazards. The specifications of these standards can be
found in OSHA regulations 29 CFR 1910.134. All measures for respiratory protection are
required to adhere to these standards, so it is important that employers understand them before
determining the best course of action for upgrading workplace respiratory safety.
5 PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is worn to reduce employees’ exposures to occupational
hazards and is required to be available on-site by OSHA. In fact, new OSHA regulations dictate
that where PPE is required, employers are now responsible for providing it. Otherwise,
employers are ultimately responsible for determining the level of PPE their employees use for
optimum protection. Hard hats, eye, ear and hand protection, earplugs and other protective
equipment provide protection from falling objects, head injuries, sparks, dust/fragments and
burns.
6 First aid and fire safety

It is common sense that first aid and fire safety are key programs on any given job site.
However, many sites lack enough first aid stations, kits and materials such as gauze, bandages,
ice packs, burn ointment and eyewash stations. Similarly, fire extinguishers should be kept in
ample supply, regularly inspected and used for the type of fire they are effective on. Workers
should be adequately trained about fire hazards on the construction site and what to do in an
emergency. Fire emergency plans should outline the assignments of key personnel, provide
evacuation routes and be reviewed regularly.
7 Confined spaces
Working in confined spaces can be an inconspicuous risk, as fatalities most often occur due to
invisible circumstances such as oxygen-deficient, toxic or combustible atmospheres. Also
known as permit-required confined spaces, they should be tested prior to entry and
continuously monitored using a properly configured and calibrated monitor. The monitors,
once connected to a docking station, also help maintain a proper calibration record for these
confined spaces.
8 Recordkeeping
Maintaining up-to-date records of equipment inspections and injury logs is not only required
by OSHA, but is also the best way to protect employers from legal ramifications in the event
of injury and death.
9 Welding safety
Welding injuries, from minor flash burns to eye injuries, can be painful and cause
disfigurement or career-ending disabilities. Wearing the proper PPE is an easy way welders
can protect themselves against these risks and preserve their livelihood.
Unfortunately, overconfidence leads welders to think they are immune to such injury, or they
may choose not to use PPE because it is too expensive or the job is too small. Some welders
under-protect themselves because they feel the PPE is too warm or restrictive to wear.
Fortunately, workers now can find new PPE garments made of lightweight materials that wick
away sweat to stay comfortable. Welders now have many options in materials, flame-retardant
traits, fabric weight and accessories to suit up for the job.
10 Training
The key to preventing many workplace accidents and injuries is frequent and effective
employee training programs. These programs exist for virtually all construction safety
components including fall protection, fire safety and welding safety among others.
Safety and Welfare
Responsible contractors make every effort to ensure the highest levels of safety for everyone
who works on the site. This includes direct contractor employees and those who service the
site as subcontractors. All workers should be required to wear hard hats, safety goggles, safety
shoes and reinforced clothing. Semi-permanent and mobile scaffolding should be checked
regularly for compliance with safety standards. In areas where overhead work is being
performed, the site should be checked for any loose material or tools that might fall and injure
those below.
Dust Control
Uncontrolled dust on a construction site poses problems for areas surrounding the site. Most
construction jurisdictions are proactive in the area of dust control. Effective dust control
measures are required for each site. Failure to adhere to dust control requirements often causes
construction sites to be closed down until dust is controlled. Failure to control dust may result
in fines for the general contractor. However, over-watering to control dust often results in major
areas of erosion on the construction site; erosion may require costly correction.
Sediment Control
Poor dust control techniques may result in a related problem. Dirt and mud may be tracked
from the construction site onto surrounding streets by vehicles servicing the construction site.
In turn, the mud and dirt is tracked by other vehicle traffic around the site to other streets in the
area. Cleanup of tracked material is the responsibility of the general contractor.
Stockpile Management, Burglary and Theft
Stockpiles of construction material around a construction site are an attractive target for
thieves. Poor, or non-existent, security for the site is an open invitation to theft. Material
stockpiles should be stored in secure areas and monitored regularly by security patrols or
closed-circuit cameras. Stolen materials increase job costs through replacement expenses as
well as lost time.
Sanitary Facility
Placement and cleanliness of toilet facilities can be a major problem on a construction site.
Poorly located toilets result in lost job time for workers. Toilets that are not cleaned and
supplied regularly may result in workers relieving themselves in areas within the construction
site.

ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE SAFETY PROGRAMME
Effective Construction Safety Program
An effective construction safety program goes beyond compliance to address overall loss
control, which includes employee protection, property damage, and liability claims. The
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has created a model safety program for
builders. It’s built on a solid foundation of safety principles that will resonate with safety
professionals in the building industry and beyond.
Here’s what NAHB recommends:
State goals in writing. Determine what you want to achieve, such as employee protection,
prevention of injury and illness, and prevention of fires, vehicle accidents, or property damage.
Write an action plan. The plan should reflect your commitment to run every project safely
and comply fully with relevant laws, provide necessary safety equipment, and conduct ongoing
training and education.
Establish a budget. In addition to equipment and PPE, factor in insurance costs, personnel to
oversee the program, and time for safety meetings and program development.
Designate a safety champion. This could be an employee who is passionate about safety and
has the full support of management.
Define specific responsibilities for key individuals, including the company president/owner,
site superintendents, field employees, contractors and subcontractors, and others.
Develop and implement jobsite safe work practices. These should address federal and state
regulatory requirements, as well as specific hazards and conditions applicable to the worksite.
Establish accountability procedures. Make sure employees know that safety is a part of their
job and they will be held accountable for it.
Develop and deliver a comprehensive training program that includes supervisors and
employees. Make sure to include emergency preparedness procedures in your training and have
supervisors deliver regular toolbox talks to reinforce more in-depth training.
Conduct regular jobsite inspections and hazard analyses.
Develop recordkeeping procedures. Make sure to include required documentation for

workers’ compensation, OSHA injury and illness records, and additional company records
pertaining to safety.
Establish accident reporting and investigation requirements. Focus on information

gathering and preventing future incidents, not on finding fault. Include near misses.
Develop and enforce a contractor safety policy.
Evaluate your program’s effectiveness.
Encourage feedback and recognize excellence. Get your employees engaged in your program
and appropriately reward their involvement.
********************************************
Five Components of Successful Construction Safety Programs
There are some great consulting companies out there, but contractors that are solely relying on
third-party efforts to administer and execute safety programs may be missing an opportunity to
achieve that next level of safety performance. Lean on the consultants as a valuable resource,
but not as the sole tool in the safety toolbox.
All successful safety programs have five common traits.
1. Leadership Commitment
The company’s top executive and other leaders must be fully committed to safety. This means
an unwavering approach to supporting safety efforts, both financially and with adequate
resource deployment. Top executives can’t support safety only when “there’s money for it in
the bid” or when it’s convenient or easy. They must continually serve as safety champions and
demonstrate positive safety culture principles on a daily basis. If safety is important to company
leadership, it will inherently be important to middle management and hourly field employees.
Leadership by example is a must!
2. Employee Engagement
Safety must be looked at as a team effort, involving all levels of personnel equally. Historically,
company safety actions usually involved management dictating safety rules and then forcing
employee compliance. This may sound good in principle, but the truth is employees are much
more likely to follow the rules when no one is looking when they are given a proactive voice
and some ownership of the safety program components.
3. Exposure Assessment
It is critical for a company to know the source of its exposure. An effective safety program is
designed by integrating related safety and health precautions into the work processes and tasks
commonly assigned to employees. Potentially unsafe acts and conditions must be considered
in the planning stages, as well as any equipment used. A common tool for this purpose is use
of Job Safety Analysis (JSA) forms that break down regular processes into individual steps.
4. Hazard Prevention and Control
It is not enough to simply identify the hazards in the workplace. Control measures must be
introduced based on careful consideration and research. Preferably, this means engineering out
the hazard. The next choice would be using administrative controls to minimize the exposure,
followed by adopting work practice controls to lessen the hazard, or, least effective, relying on
personal protective equipment to serve as a barrier to the hazard. Regular inspections must be
conducted to ensure hazards are being adequately controlled. Accountability measures for all
levels of personnel must be implemented and systematically followed as a means of checks
and balances.
5. Extra Safety Training
In order to prevent losses, employees must be trained on anticipated hazards and their controls
within the work environment. OSHA standards mandate much of this training and much can
be accomplished by sending employees to OSHA 10-Hour training. But the best safety
programs prescribe training above and beyond what OSHA requires, so additional company-
lead safety training on ensuring a safety culture, safety management, continuous improvement
processes, accident investigation and communication skills is invaluable.
********************************
What are the program elements?
While organizations will have different needs and scope for specific elements required in their
health and safety program, the following basic items should be considered in each case:
 Individual responsibility.
 Joint occupational health and safety committee.
 Health and safety rules.
 Correct work procedures.
 Employee orientation.
 Training.
 Workplace inspections.
 Reporting and investigating accidents/incidents.
 Emergency procedures.
 Medical and first aid.
 Health and safety promotion.
What is a Safety Management System?
 A systematic, explicit and comprehensive process for managing safety risks that
provides for goal setting, planning and measurement of performance against defined
criteria
 A formal method of measuring and evaluating individual and organizational safety
performance with an emphasis on continuous improvement
The National Safety Council encourages all organizations to adopt a safety management system
on their Journey to Safety Excellence.
An Effective Safety Management System:
 Reduces the risk of workplace incidents, injuries and fatalities through data-driven
measurements and improvements
 Involves engaging people and working in partnership to make safety a shared
responsibility, recognizing the value of cross-level teamwork
 Is organized and structured to ensure organizations are able to achieve and maintain
high standards of safety performance
 Is proactive, preventive and integrated into the culture of your organization
Essential Elements for Safety Success
Management Leadership
 Top management demonstrates its commitment to continuous improvement in safety

and health, communicates that commitment to workers, and sets up program
expectations and responsibilities.
 Managers at all levels make safety and health a core organizational value, establish
safety and health goals and objectives, provide adequate resources and support for the
program, and set a good example.
Worker Participation
 Workers and their representatives are involved in all aspects of the program—including
setting goals, identifying and reporting hazards, investigating incidents, and tracking
progress.
 All workers, including contractors and temporary workers, understand their roles and
responsibilities under the program and what they need to do to effectively carry them
out.
 Workers are encouraged and have means to communicate openly with management and
to report safety and health concerns without fear of retaliation.
 Any potential barriers or obstacles to worker participation in the program (for example,
language, lack of information, or disincentives) are removed or addressed.
Hazard Identification and Assessment
 Procedures are put in place to continually identify workplace hazards and evaluate risks.
Safety and health hazards from routine, non-routine, and emergency situations are
identified and assessed.
 An initial assessment of existing hazards, exposures, and control measures is followed
by periodic inspections and reassessments to identify new hazards.
 Any incidents are investigated with the goal of identifying the root causes.
 Identified hazards are prioritized for control.
Hazard Prevention and Control
 Employers and workers cooperate to identify and select methods for eliminating,
preventing, or controlling workplace hazards.
 Controls are selected according to a hierarchy that uses engineering solutions first,
followed by safe work practices, administrative controls, and finally, personal
protective equipment (PPE).
 A plan is developed to ensure that controls are implemented, interim protection is
provided, progress is tracked, and the effectiveness of controls is verified.
Education and Training
 All workers are trained to understand how the program works and how to carry out the
responsibilities assigned to them under the program.
 Employers, managers, and supervisors receive training on safety concepts and their
responsibility for protecting workers’ rights and responding to workers’ reports and
concerns.
 All workers are trained to recognize workplace hazards and to understand the control
measures that have been implemented.
Program Evaluation and Improvement
 Control measures are periodically evaluated for effectiveness.

 Processes are established to monitor program performance, verify program
implementation, and identify program shortcomings and opportunities for
improvement.
 Necessary actions are taken to improve the program and overall safety and health
performance.
Communication and Coordination for Employers on Multiemployer Worksites
 Host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies commit to providing the same level
of safety and health protection to all employees.
 Host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies communicate the hazards present at
the worksite and the hazards that the work of contract workers may create on site.
 Host employers establish specifications and qualifications for contractors and staffing
agencies.
 Before beginning work, host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies coordinate
on work planning and scheduling to identify and resolve any conflicts that could affect
safety or health.
JOB SITE HAZARD ASSESSMENT
Every year, over 4 million workers are the victim of a serious injury or illness on the job. Daily,
more than 12 of these injuries result in death. The majority of these injuries and deaths can be
prevented if the hazards that caused them had been properly identified and controlled ahead of
time.
The importance of conducting a worksite hazard assessment is immense; if the tragedies caused
to an employee and their family by serious injury or death isn’t reason enough, company losses
as a result each year are in the billions of dollars.
A thorough hazard assessment will allow you to identify and then eliminate or control physical
hazards and unsafe employee work practices before they occur. Review these five basic steps
to get you started on your hazard assessment.
1. Preparation
Before you can begin the actual assessment, you’ll need to create a system of job prioritization
and a ranking system for the severity of each hazard. In general, it’s most effective to begin
with jobs with the highest risks, such as:
 Documented to have frequently resulted in injury or illness

 Present severe and life-threatening hazards even if there is no documented instances of
prior occurrences
 Undergone significant changes in procedure or equipment or are altogether new to your
company
 Procedures of a nature complicated enough to require written instructions
 Involve serious and life-threatening hazards that could be triggered by a single worker
error

After you have determined a priority system, the next step in preparation is to develop a method
of ranking hazards by their potential severity considering both probability and severity. To give
you an example:
The highest ranking of probability would include employee contact with a hazardous material
or atmosphere, because an injury is nearly guaranteed. The lowest ranking would be that it is
virtually impossible for injury to occur.
2. Job Step
Next you create your job hazard analysis. For best organization and record keeping, you should
create a separate document for each individual job on the worksite. Each document should
consist of three columns: Job Step, Possible Hazards, and Preventative Measures.
In the Job Step column, describe each basic step of a task, from first to last. For example, if the
task involves an employee receiving a shipment at the warehouse, the first step may be
described:
Employee guides delivery truck to the loading dock.
Cover each individual step of the job process, including both the person involved (employee,
manager, maintenance crew, etc.) as well as the action (guiding the truck, loading shipment
onto pallets, etc.).
3. Possible Hazards
In the center column, describe any imaginable safety hazards associated with the job step
indicated in the first column. Be thorough — where safety is concerned, leave no stone
unturned.
When identifying and documenting hazards, be complete enough in your description to answer
the following questions:
1. What could possibly go wrong?

2. What would the result be should a worker come into contact with the hazard?
3. How could the worker come into contact with the hazard?
4. What other factors may contribute to the hazard?
5. What is the likelihood of the hazard arising?
Example:
“If the employee is standing too close to an unprotected edge of the loading dock(1) or they
are knocked over by the moving delivery truck(4), there is a high risk(5) that they may fall to
the lower level(3) resulting in bodily impact injuries or death(2).”
4. Preventative Measures
In the final column, describe any possible preventative measures that could be implemented to
either control or altogether eliminate the safety hazard. When considering prevention, take the
three control methods into account:
Engineering Controls:
Engineering controls involve physically altering equipment or environments to prevent
employees from coming into contact with a hazard. In the example we’ve been using, one
possibility may be to install guardrails along the leading edges of the dock where an employee
would be stationed. Another idea would be to implement visual or audial indicators such as
flashing lights or warning sounds to assist delivery truck drivers in backing up without the
necessity of an employee being within close physical proximity.
Engineering controls are considered to be the most desirable and effective form of hazard
prevention because they eliminate the hazard altogether. Engineering should always be the first
step when possible.
Administrative Controls
If it is impossible to engineer a hazard out of existence or displace employees from a hazard’s

exposure, the next best step would be administrative controls.
These controls involve monitoring, adjusting, or training safe work practices into employees’
job routines. An example may be that the employee uses pre-established hand signals for
guiding a delivery truck driver while remaining in a designated and visible safe area.
Safety training is included as an administrative control.
Administrative controls are often thought of as only moderately effective since they rely on
human behavior.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
PPE should be required whenever possible, but never considered the primary defense against
a safety hazard. This can include safety goggles, gloves, hard hats, back braces, face shields,
chemical protection aprons, respirators, etc. For example, if the employee is exposed to exhaust
fumes while guiding delivery trucks to the loading docks, requiring respirators or face masks
may be desirable.
Job hazard assessments need to be thought of as a living document; they should undergo
constant maintenance and upgrades as new hazards and hazard control methods are identified.
Also update the assessment whenever there is a change to the work process.
Remember to be as thorough as possible — it’s much better to go overboard in describing the

layout of a hazard than to overlook a crucial element.
 Safety glasses or face shields are worn anytime work operations can cause foreign
objects getting into the eye such as during welding, cutting, grinding, nailing (or when
working with concrete and/or harmful chemicals or when exposed to flying particles).
 Eye and face protectors are selected based on anticipated hazards.
 Safety glasses or face shields are worn when exposed to any electrical hazards including
work on energized electrical systems.
Foot Protection

 Construction workers should wear work shoes or boots with slip-resistant and puncture-
resistant soles.
 Safety-toed footwear is worn to prevent crushed toes when working around heavy
equipment or falling objects.
Hand Protection

 Workers wear the right gloves for the job (for example, heavy-duty rubber gloves for
concrete work, welding gloves for welding, insulated gloves and sleeves when exposed
to electrical hazards).
Head Protection
 Workers shall wear hard hats where there is a potential for objects falling from above,
bumps to their heads from fixed objects, or of accidental head contact with electrical
hazards.
 Hard hats are routinely inspected for dents, cracks or deterioration.
 Hard hats are replaced after a heavy blow or electrical shock.
 Hard hats are maintained in good condition.
SAFETY MEETINGS
Why Ongoing Safety meeting or safety education?
Safety training and education should be ongoing because, like everything else in life, things
change. Safety legislation and safety best practices evolve over time, as do the work
environment, equipment, materials, and products.
Without constant reminders about safety, tend to forget, get sloppy, take risks, and have
accidents. Safety meetings are a great refresher, and keep your abreast of changes in the
regulations, safety procedures, equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), and job
assignments and responsibilities. Refresher training is also sometimes required by law, and
having a pre-planned weekly meeting is a convenient way to go over required training.
Perhaps the biggest reason training must be ongoing is because of your employees. They're
human. They may be tired or thinking about personal issues while on the job. Perhaps they’re
anxious to complete an assignment, finish up a project, or even meet a production goal. Then
there's always employee turnover.
Consistent Safety Meetings
Safety procedures, responsibilities, and duties will not be adhered to unless you remind your
employees and supervisors on a consistent basis. A lot of hazardous industries schedule once
a week safety meetings, which is strongly recommended. Any less frequent and you run the
risk of your workers forgetting or neglecting safety procedures. Remember that a majority of
job sites have hazards and threats that are specific to that particular site. So use your weekly
safety meetings to address these issues. Also note that you do not have to wait for a safety
meeting to address a safety concern.

 Management Leadership and Employee Participation
 Workplace Analysis
 Hazard Prevention and Control
 Safety and Health Training and Education
 Program Evaluation
Hazard Prevention and Control
After hazards are identified, it is important that employees follow safe working procedures.
Regular safety meetings should be held on topics such as:
1. How to regularly and thoroughly maintain equipment

2. Review of the hazard reporting procedure
3. Reminders of the hazard correction procedures
4. PPE requirements and proper PPE wear, use and maintenance
5. Safe work procedures for the current work performed
6. Health safety like cold stress, heat stress, asbestos, lead, etc.
Safety Program Meeting Components:
1. Safe work environment: It seems obvious but employee working areas must be safe from all
potential hazards (both naturally occurring and man-made).
2. Safe work equipment: Again, this seems obvious, but it can be overlooked.
3. Invest in your safety department: Equip your safety team with adequate resources from
experienced, knowledgeable safety professionals.
4. Hire "safe" people: Consistent attention should be paid in the hiring process to seek and hire
individuals who exhibit high levels of responsible behavior.
5. Effective training: Comprehensive and continuous employee safety training is critical for
best results. Training is not a one-time seminar. It should be ever-present and ongoing.
SAFETY INCENTIVES:
What are safety incentive programs?
An incentive program provides rewards to reinforce desired behaviour; therefore, a safety

incentive program is supposed to reinforce good safety habits and practices positively.
SIPs come in two main categories:
 Rewards for a reduction in number of injuries and illnesses reported

 Rewards for improved safe work practices
Safety incentive programs also take on two different forms.
Injury and illness based program

An injury/illness based program that rewards on the basis of the number of injuries or illnesses
is reported. When numbers go down, rewards are given. This form of SIP operates under the
premise that:
 All facilities and equipment are inherently safe and do not cause accidents
 All workers have been provided with appropriate training to use the equipment
 Therefore, accidents are really the result of worker negligence or worker-compromised
safety
This form of program aims for a reduction in the number of injuries and illnesses reported; it
only looks at reported numbers. You can probably already see where the weakness is in that.
This type of SIP directly equates awards with the number of injuries reported. If injuries are
down, a reward is given. It can work in the short-term, maybe to help get a particular safety
practice started.
Over time, however, injuries are underreported. The wrong behavior is rewarded. It’s a big
temptation to everyone not to report injuries, especially if peer pressure is involved.
Underreporting tends to provide false feedback and cause a mistrust between the workers and
management.
In the long term, these programs are difficult to discontinue, even though they have become
trivial because they are viewed as an entitlement.
Behavior based program
A behavior-based program relies on observing workers to determine when a reward should be

given. Such observations take the form of monitoring participation in safety meetings and
training, offering suggestions for jobsite safety, and showing safe behavior.
Behavior-based programs resolve the problem of false feedback because the incentive rewards
different behaviors. Instead of reporting injuries, awards are determined by observation of safe
practices. You will likely see:
 Increased attendance at safety meetings and training

 Elimination of the temptation to hide injuries
 Better data about equipment and facilities that put workers at risk
Behavior-based programs remove the direct link between rewards and the number of accidents
reports.
Administration of this type of SIP can become complicated. It gets difficult to measure and
monitor behavior, especially since employee behavior can change for a variety of external
factors. Regular testing and two-way feedback can mitigate the measurement problem,
somewhat, but places another regulatory burden on the company.
In both types of programs, motivation is the critical factor. Each needs to provide:
 Positive reinforcement
 Feedback
 Recognition
 Reward
Of these, positive reinforcement is the weakest link because it is the least understood. Which
is better, a small gift or simple praise? Will the same reinforcement work with each individual
worker? Preferences tend to change over time, making this question more difficult to address.
Positive reinforcement works best when it immediately follows the desired behavior, so saving
awards for another time eliminates the reinforcement. Rewards would need to occur daily. This
means peers are probably in the best position to provide the reinforcement, encouraging gaming
of the system.
Forms of incentive
Incentives can come in many forms, but the most effective have more personal value than
monetary. In fact, money does not need to be a choice as long as the incentive is meaningful
and positive to your workers.
To minimize comparing the incentive's value to a dollar amount, it should be awarded

separately from normal compensation.
Here are some incentives that are low in cost but high in perceived value:
 Time off
 Special assignments
 Increased autonomy
 Recognition
 Advancement
 Social gatherings
 Prizes
If the incentive is awarded after a celebration, you can give workers an opportunity to relive
the event and further reinforce the behavior.
Incentives must be specified when the SIP is launched, and they must be achievable. If the bar
is set too high, nobody will bother to try earning it. Plus, since you want long-lasting change,
be sure the awards are based on long-term progress rather than short term achievement.
Above all, don’t make the incentive competitive as this may negatively impact morale and
worker relations. Base them on absolute criteria; once an individual or group reaches that goal,
the incentive is earned.
Who should be awarded?
Everybody who meets the criteria. Remember, we said no competition. If everyone receives
the same incentive for meeting the same goals, a sense of belonging results. It provides each
employee with a sense of being part of the safety initiative.
In fact, it’s better to reward multiple participants rather than a single individual. Conversely,
groups should not be penalized for the actions of an individual. You want to lay the foundation
of safety as a team effort. Individuals do not cause accidents; accidents are a collective failure
of the group.
Effectiveness of safety incentive programs

Research from the ASSE Foundation has found that companies with safety incentive programs
have lower lot time incidence rates and EMRs (Experience Modification Rates) and that these
same companies showed greater improvement between assessment periods.
They also found that using both tangible and intangible rewards had slightly better
effectiveness over tangible awards alone. Workers understand that these types of programs do
have their downsides but no real drawbacks and provide a positive path to a safe workplace.
Management was a little less favorable.
The research did not find any difference in effectiveness between group and individual rewards,
a SIP based on illness and injury vs. behavior-based programs, or what the time was period
between the improvement and award.
Some are understandably skeptical about the true effectiveness of SIPs because they feel:
 The program does not obligate any change in existing process or procedures
 Incentives deflect attention away from the real problem
 Incentives are based on the assumption that accidents are only caused by unsafe acts
and do not take into consideration faulty equipment or other outside factors
Setting up a Safety Incentive Program may be beneficial for short-term reinforcement of new
practices, but they haven't been shown to change long-term behavior. If implemented poorly,
a SIP can cause more problems than it solves. Implemented well and it can improve morale
and reduce workers compensation costs.
A SIP does best when implemented as part of a complete and comprehensive safety program
that includes training, culture change, drug testing, and other critical elements.
Designing a safety incentive program
Category I: Safe work
Examples would include, but are not limited to, participation in a safety meeting, supervision-
recognized safe act, zero incidents for the month, perfect attendance, etc.
Category II: Proactive safety
Examples would include, but are not limited to, reporting a near miss, reporting unsafe
conditions, participating in stretch exercises, participating in a safety audit, good housekeeping,
and completing safety training.
Category III: Safety leadership
Examples would include, but are not limited to, leading a safety meeting, participating in a root
cause investigation, leading stretch exercises, and recognizing a peer for a safe act.
Category IV: Safety engagement
Examples would include, but are not limited to, on-the-spot safe act, above and beyond safe
behaviour, being a safety team player, and off-the-job safety ideas.

In the end, a balanced safety incentive program will measure and recognize your people for
safety engagement on and off the job and will, if properly structured, raise safety awareness,
reduce incidents and increase the bottom line – all without encouraging non-reporting of
incidents.
PREVENTING ACCIDENTS AND IMPROVING SAFETY

A video describing how a construction framer implemented a safety program to prevent falls
on construction sites
Site preparation aids in preventing injury and death on construction sites. Site preparation
includes removing debris, leveling the ground, filling holes, cutting tree roots, and marking
gas, water, and electric pipelines. Another prevention method on the construction site is to
provide a scaffold that is rigid and sufficient to carry its own weight plus four times the
maximum intended load without settling or displacement.
Ways to prevent injuries and improve safety include:
 Management safety
 Integrate safety as a part of the job
 Create accountability at all levels
 Take safety into account during the project planning process
 Make sure the contractors are pre-qualified for safety
 Make sure the workers are properly trained in appropriate areas
 Have a fall protection system?
 Prevent and address substance abuse to employees
 Make safety a part of everyday conversation
 Review accidents and near misses, as well as regular inspections
 Innovative safety training, e.g. adoption of virtual reality in training
 Replace some of the works by robots (many workers may worry that this will decrease
their employment rate)
 Adoption of BIM with three dimensional printing to make the building model first
before put into real practice
The employees or employers are responsible for providing fall protection systems and to ensure
the use of systems. Fall protection can be provided by guardrail systems, safety net systems,
personal fall arrest systems, positioning device systems, and warning line systems. Making
sure that ladders are long enough to safely reach the work area to prevent injury. Stairway,
treads, and walkways must be free of dangerous objects, debris and materials.
Operational Excellence Model to improve safety for construction organizations
There are 13 safety drivers associated with this model to improve safety for construction
organizations:
1. Recognition & Reward

2. Employee Engagement
3. Subcontractor Management
4. Training & Competence
5. Risk Awareness, Management & Tolerance
6. Learning Organization
7. Human Performance
8. Transformational Leadership
9. Shared Values, Beliefs, and Assumptions
10. Strategic Safety Communication
11. Just & Fair Practices and Procedures
12. Worksite Organization
13. Owner's Role
UNIT III CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

Safety in Construction Contracts – Substance Abuse – Safety Record Keeping.
Implied Obligations in Construction Contracts
The two types of warranties are implied and express. The former is created by the courts,
legislation or the law while the latter comes in contracts or could even be a verbal contract.
Construction contracts are meticulously created so that all the specifications are clearly defined.
It is vital for contractors, owners, and designers to carefully consider these implied obligations.
The Plans and Specifications
This is one of the most prominent warranties and relates to the adequacy of the specification
and plans. It is also known as the Spearin Doctrine and states that if the contractor finishes the
work according to the owner’s plan and specification, but there is a failure or deficiency of any
kind, the owner is responsible and not the contractor. Some other responsibility might be shared
by the engineer too.
Implied Duty Not to Hinder or Delay
It is implied by contracts that parties who sign the contract should cooperate with each other.
They should not delay or interfere with the work of others and should facilitate each other’s
performance. The typical obligations that fall under this law relate to the design, construction,
and also the materials involved.
Access to the Site
This duty could be a result of specific clauses in the contract or could just be independent. The
contractor’s work could be hindered by the owner’s visit to the site. So this clause helps evade
that situation.
Implied Duty to Coordinate Multiple Prime Contractors Or Subcontractors
Normally, owners sign contracts with a contractor who then signs contracts with several trade
subcontractors. The general contractor is required by law to coordinate with all the
subcontractors. But in contracts that are of the multiple prime nature, the owner directly deals
with all the contractors and traders on the project as opposed to a general contractor.
Implied duty to provide adequate supervision

A contract could imply duties to offer substantial supervision in terms of personnel on a project.
But excessive supervision could be in breach of the contract.
Implied Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
All construction contracts have an implied duty related to fair dealing and good faith.
According to this clause the parties involved will not do anything that deprives the other parties
of benefits linked to the contract.
Any act that would make the contract’s performance hard or impossible should be refrained
from and it is the duty of the parties to do all that is presupposed according to the contract so
that all parties will accomplish their purpose.
Implied Duty to Ensure a Safe Workplace
The duty to ensure the workplace is a safe one may vary from one project to the next.
Sometimes this duty will be the responsibility of the contractor, subcontractor, or even the
developer or owner. It may even belong to several people sometimes.
Commonly, an employer who is in a contract with an independent contractor is generally not

responsible for any injuries that are sustained by the employees of the independent contractor.
SAFETY IN CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

Introduction:
Site safety is normally referred to in construction contracts as a general obligation placed upon
the Contractor by a combination of a reference in the General Conditions of Contract to the
requirements of the law and by some all-embracing preliminaries/preamble wording that
expressly transfers as many of the contractual obligations to the Contractor as the law will
allow. The Contractor is deemed to have allowed in the tender for the cost of meeting the
obligations, but there is no separate, clearly identifiable sum(s) in the tender rates and prices.
The result of this situation is that the sum(s) payable for carrying out safety measures cannot
be identified, and any failure on the part of the Contractor to perform according to the legal or
contractual requirements cannot be valued and the tender price appropriately adjusted to reflect
the failure. When money is tight, the Contractor may try, to some extent, to “cut corners” on
site safety.
The aim to remove site safety from the realm of competitive tendering has obtained much
support by the construction industry.
This document provides guidance to Employers, real estate developers, contractors and their
subcontractors, suppliers and consultants to a scheme where specified safety-related items are
paid for through the construction contract, subject to the Contractor meeting certain standards
of safety performance, payment criteria and audit requirements.
This scheme is called the “Pay for Safety Scheme”.
These contract safety responsibilities will include but not be limited to the following;
1) Ensure that all persons that the contractor brings to the work site have received the
proper level of workplace safety generic training to complete their task.
2) Carry out periodic hazard assessments to ensure the safety of persons at the site through
all the phases of the work.
3) Identify the safety controls, implement and enforce them throughout the project.
4) Carry out a brief safety orientation with all persons at the work site every day to identify
and ensure that everyone is aware of the hazards.
5) Have a proper first aid kit at the work site at all times and that everyone at the work site
knows where it is.
6) Identify the person who has received first aid training for all to know at the work site.
7) It is the responsibility of the contractor to share with the owner of the work site the
hazards that will be present throughout the project.
8) It is the responsibility of the contractor to share with the owner of the work site the
safety controls that will be put in place to eliminate or reduce a possible work place
accident.
9) The contractor will upon request from the owner of the work site show the generic
safety training certificates of persons at the workplace. e.g. Fall Protection, Hazard
Identification & Control and Fall Protection Rescue
10) The contractor will identify the hazards that will be brought to the owners property in
writing and give it to the owner. This would be an attachment to this agreement.
11) The contractor will identify the safety controls necessary to control the hazards and the
cost of putting these controls in place in writing to the owner. e.g. Fall Arrest, Railings,
Plate Forms, House Keeping, safety glasses, hard hats and safety boots. This would be
an attachment to this agreement.
12) The owner of the work site may if so deemed by the owner have an independent
building inspector review any and all construction work without notice to the
contractor. The building inspector would then report back to the owner in writing.
13) The owner of the work site may if so deemed by the owner have an independent safety
officer to inspect all safety practices and controls without notice to the contractor. The
safety officer would then report back to the owner in writing.
14) The contractor must prove that they carry liability insurance and if there is more than
three workers show that the contractor is in good standing with the W.C.B.
15) Both #10 and #11 must be completed and included with the company contract. This
Construction Work Site Safety 15 Point Contract is a binding part of the agreed upon
company contract between the owner and the contractor.
Too many ambiguities
When a construction contract has too many ambiguities, its language can be subject to
interpretation of what the parties agreed to during early negotiations. The most common
contract aspects of contract disputes are cost, quality, schedule and safety.

Safety professionals employ several strategies recommended in the article to help eliminate
contract issues. These include:
 compiling a checklist of safety issues to help contract managers and safety professionals
remember to include appropriate items in the final contract
 becoming involved with a client’s marketing department early in the process to avoid
commitment of unrealistic or unnecessary safety resource levels in attempt to win a
project
 having the owner clearly communicate safety expectations for the project for proper
resource allocation, and
 active participation in the request for proposal (RFP) process as well as all pre-bid, pre-
award, contract mobilization and craft orientation meetings.
Contract safety requirements:
1. Contractor recognizes the importance of performing the Work in a safe and responsible
manner so as to prevent damage, injury, or loss to individuals, the environment, and the Work,
including materials and equipment incorporated into the Work or stored on-site or off-site.
Contractor assumes responsibility for implementing and monitoring all Environment, Health
& Safety (EHS) precautions andprograms related to the performance of the Work.
2. Contractor and Subcontractors shall comply with all legal and Owner-specific reporting
requirements relating to EHS set forth in the Contract Documents. Contractor will immediately
report orally, and in writing within two (2) days, any EHS related injury, loss, damage, or
accident arising from the Work to Owner’s Representative and, to the extent mandated by legal
requirements, to all government or quasi-government authorities having jurisdiction over
safety-related matters involving the Project or the Work.
3. Contractor’s responsibility for EHS under this Article is not intended in any way to relieve
Subcontractors and Sub-subcontractors of their own contractual and legal obligations and
responsibilities.
EHS Requirements and Coordination
4. Safety and protection of the environment are of the utmost concern on this Contract. Safety
in this context refers to the health and safety of people and the protection of the environment.
5. The Contractor will address the safety requirements defined herein and in the Owner’s
Contractor Safety Policy. Contractor costs associated with the implementation of the
requirements will be borne by the Contractor. Safety deficiencies discovered after the award
will be remedied at no cost to the Owner and may at the Owner’s discretion be deducted from
the Contract amount.
6. The Contractor shall have an EHS Representative (also known as Safety Officer or SO),
approved by the Owner, present on the Project at all times when Work is physically being
performed. The SO may have other minor duties, but the position’s primary role is to oversee

safety of the worksite and Work being performed by the Contractor, as well as that of its
Subcontractors. If shift work will be utilized, the Contractor must have a SO for each shift. In
the case of shift work, the Contractor will designate one SO as the lead for the project. The
training requirements for the second SO are the same as the lead and are as follows:
• The SO shall have the authority to stop work.

• The SO will be certified in CPR and First Aid.
• The SO is responsible for administering the Contractor’s EHS program.
• In addition to routine daily inspections, the SO will conduct a documented weekly EHS
inspection of the work site.
• The SO will escort the Owner’s EHS staff on a monthly EHS inspection, conducted by
• the Owner’s EHS staff.
• The Contractor will supply a weekly EHS report to the Owner, detailing any EHS
related items, including OSHA recordable injuries, first aid cases, environmental
releases, near misses, and a copy of the weekly EHS inspection.
7. The Contractor shall have on site at all times when work is being performed at least one
individual certified in CPR and First Aid in addition to the SO.
8. The Contractor must have a documented Site Specific Contractor Environment, Health and
Safety Program (CEHSP) in place and accepted by the Owner before work will be authorized
to start. This program must be consistent with the requirements in the Owner’s Contractor
Safety Policy. This plan shall:
• Incorporate the requirements identified in the Contractor Safety Policy.

• Include an Area Hazards Analysis.
The CEHSP will be based on the hazards inherent to the Means and Methods adopted by the
Contractor and its associated work environment. The scope of work will dictate the required
program elements for this Contract. The following are examples of program elements that the
Contractor may include in its CEHSP:
 Electrical Safety
 Fall Protection
 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
 Control of Hazardous Energy (Lock Out/ Tag Out)
 Confined Space
 Hot work (Grinding and Burning
 Hoisting and Rigging
 Hearing Conservation (Includes Industrial Hygiene Monitoring and Medical Baselines,
if appropriate)
 Respiratory Protection (Includes Industrial Hygiene Monitoring and Medical Baselines,
if appropriate)
 Emergency Response
 Fire Protection and Prevention (Contractor must provide its own extinguishers) • Blood
Borne Pathogens

 Hazardous Communications
 Machine Safeguarding
 Powered Industrial Trucks
 Industrial Hygiene
 Material Handling
 Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (Contractor to provide all associated
equipment)
 Storm Water Management
 Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
 Air Pollution Control
 Scaffolding
If the Contractor chooses to adopt one or more specific elements of the Owner’s EHS program,
it must adopt that element in its entirety.
9. The Contractor is expected to follow a work planning process that is acceptable to the Owner.
The work planning process must be conducted and documented prior to the start of work. The
work planning process follows these steps and is documented in the form of a Job Hazards
Analysis (JHA):
 Define the scope of the work

 Analyze hazards in a step by step fashion.
 Develop and implement hazard controls and regulatory compliance.
 Perform the work and monitor the effectiveness of the hazard controls.
 Provide feedback to improve the process (e.g. routine workplace inspections, auditing
compliance during work performance, job briefing postings, lessons learned, etc).
10. The Contractor will conduct a crew work planning meeting (tailgate/toolbox talk),
including, when necessary, Subcontractor employees, prior to the beginning of each shift. This
talk will include the plan of work for the day, a review of hazards and potential regulatory
issues, and the review of applicable JHAs.
11. The Contractor is responsible for identifying the need for Qualified and/or Competent
Persons for specific tasks as defined in 29 CFR 1926.
12. Contractor shall provide all common Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required for the
Work (hard hats, safety toe boots, safety glasses) unless otherwise stated in the Scope of Work.
During the bid process, bidder shall include as a separate line item any PPE unique to the scope.
13. The Contractor is responsible for screening all Subcontractors with respect to safety and to
adopt a safety selection process consistent with requirements defined herein. In addition,
Contractor is responsible for flowing down all EHS requirements of the Contract to its
Subcontractors, including monitoring and enforcing compliance.

14. The Contractor is responsible for assuring that all Contractor employee safety training is
completed in compliance with Owner guidelines, policies and 29 CFR 1926. The following
training is required for all Contractor personnel before they start work:
 For Contractors who will be on site 40 hours or more in a calendar year: OSHA 10-
hour
 Construction course (29 CFR 1926) (Up-to-date Certificates must be made available
upon request). Note that current MSHA training certification is also acceptable.
 Site Specific EHS Orientation and Training (plan for an 8-hour on-site training course
conducted by Owner’s representatives).
 Any other training requirements identified by the Contractor in its CEHSP or by the
Owner and communicated to the Contractor, during the bid process and Site Specific EHS
Program review.
15. If the Owner perceives the Contractor has created or is exposed to an imminent danger or
a non-compliance situation, the Owner will suspend work until safe conditions are re-
established. Such work stoppages will be at the expense of the Contractor and will not add time
to the completion date of the Contract.
16. In the event of an incident, Contractor will conduct an incident investigation in accordance
with the Owner’s policies. The investigation will include preparing a written report
summarizing the results of the investigation, corrective actions taken to prevent a reoccurrence,
and any lessons learned. The Owner may at its discretion participate in and facilitate the
incident investigation. Time and expense incurred by Contractor performing an incident
investigation will be at the Contractor’s expense.
17. The Contractor shall regularly inspect, test, and calibrate as necessary all equipment,
machinery, tools, or other items furnished by the Owner that are employed in Contractor’s
Work.
18. The Contractor shall manage all waste in performance of the Work in compliance with
Owner’s Policies and Procedures and state and federal law. Further, the Contractor shall
minimize the generation of all wastes and hazardous substances. All disposal and clean-up cost
of spills of hazardous substances and non-hazardous debris/waste generated by the Contractor
in the performance of the Work will be at the expense of the Contractor.
19. Flammables are not allowed underground. Special consideration may be negotiated with
the Owner if Work cannot be completed without flammable materials. This special
consideration must be would have been negotiated during the bidding process. Flammables
used on the surface are to be stored in engineered flammable cabinets or in containers with a
minimum 1-hour fire resistance.
20. All chemicals to be used at the Owner’s facility must be approved by the Owner and
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) must be maintained by the Contractor.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
The substance abuse problem for the construction industry is magnified due to the nature of
construction work. The construction industry involves more potential hazards for its workers
than any other occupation in the United States. Due to the wide range of activities performed
on a construction site by employees from a variety of firms, there is significant exposure to
harm from the actions of others as well as from the worker's own unsafe behaviour.
The average construction worker must place great faith in the level of skill, competence, and
fitness for duty of those working on the site. Workers rely on each other to do their jobs in a
safe manner and to protect both themselves and their fellow workers. Not only does substance
abuse cause accidents, it certainly reduces the effectiveness of the individual worker. Thus, the
use of illegal substances or the abuse of prescribed medications, which might impair the ability
of a worker to perform normally, poses a significant risk for the site management and workers.
Unfortunately, there is a large problem with substance abuse in the construction workplace.
According to a 1988 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) survey, 28.1 percent of
construction workers admitted to using illegal drugs. This figure is probably low since, even in
a confidential survey, some people would be reluctant to admit to the use of illegal drugs. This
was the highest percentage of drug use found in any industry surveyed--a dubious achievement.
Detection
Substance abuse in the workplace is a difficult problem from both the high risk potential for
accidents that it causes as well as reduced worker productivity. Detection is a crucial element
in any loss prevention program. This requires additional vigilance on the part of site
supervision, since drug testing only indicates past usage and does not actually measure
impairment.
Impairment is the operative term in dealing with substance abuse, since this can be the
proximate cause of accidents. In fact, in those cases where there was post-accident testing for
the presence of illegal substances, 50 percent of the accidents involved one or more parties
testing positive for illegal substances.
In addition, it must be recognized that substance abuse extends beyond the use of illegal
substances. Misuse of prescription medication and alcohol are often overlooked when
attempting to detect substance abuse and in structuring a prevention program. While the
construction culture has changed a great deal in the past decade, alcohol use is still a widely
condoned activity among construction workers. The physical impairment problems brought on
by the misuse of legal substances can be just as detrimental as those resulting from illegal
substances. This reality must be considered in detecting problems and developing prevention
programs. Additionally, there is a large portion of "travellers" in the construction workforce on
many projects. Since the normal behaviours of these folks, who have come into a new region
for work, are not known to their fellow workers or supervisors, impairment is more difficult to
detect.
Testing and Prevention
Drug testing is part of the solution, but until recently, testing has not been very pervasive in the
construction industry. As of 1990, less than 25 percent of the construction industry workforce
was subject to testing of any sort. However, recognition of the extent of usage of illegal
substances in the workplace and the impact on profitability has led to more widespread testing.
By 1993, the level of testing of construction workers had risen to 57 percent of the workforce,
with increases in each subsequent year.
There are several key elements for consideration in crafting a substance abuse prevention
program. The first is to determine the components of testing. These included pre-employment,
post-accident, for-cause, and random testing. While research has shown that the presence of
the random test component increases the effectiveness of the program, many object to this
aspect.
The substances to be tested for are normally based on the Department of Transportation (DOT)
10 panel program. This is a widely recognized test panel, and most labs are equipped to
administer it. The next element is selection of a lab and implementation of the testing protocol.
This protects the privacy of the individual while preserving the integrity of the sampling. A
medical review officer must be chosen to validate the test result. Two final elements round-out
a complete program: training and employee assistance.
Training, of both workers and supervisors, in detecting impairment is an often overlooked

aspect of a prevention program, but can be most critical. The absence of people who can detect
impaired workers on the job site leaves a gaping hole in the program. As a part of the training
program, workers and supervisors must be taught how to approach and confront a suspected
impaired worker, since most people are neither skilled in nor comfortable performing this
function.
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are a controversial aspect of substance abuse

prevention. Some employers reject any type of EAP. These employers object to retaining any
workers who have a problem on the basis that their behaviour has marked them as dangerous,
and it is a waste to invest additional resources on them. Other employers believe that good
workers can make mistakes, and the EAP is an effective means to rehabilitate and return good
craftsmen to the job site.
Substance Abuse Prevention and Safety
Substance abuse prevention programs must be a part on any comprehensive safety program.
This notion has permeated the construction industry as well, including those who have long
resisted the imposition of such programs as violations of privacy. The American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) A10 Construction and Demolition Standards committee recently
incorporated substance abuse prevention programs as an element in the A10.38 standard, Key
Elements of Safety and Health Programs.
Studies have revealed some disturbing implications for companies that do not take any
preventive actions to eradicate substance abuse from its workforce. More than 70 percent of all
substance abusers are actively employed. In confidential questioning, more than 66 percent of
new workers indicate that they have used illegal substances in the past. Given the transient
nature and mobility of the construction workforce, this represents a high risk factor. What is
more, 60 percent of all drug users sell drugs to help support their own use, and more than 25
percent of users steal to support their drug use. Thus, not only does the illegal substance usage
affect the human aspects of an enterprise, the physical assets and workplace security are also
at risk.

Substance Use in the Workplace
Why should a workplace look at problematic substance use issues?
The fact that some people use substances such as alcohol or illicit drugs, or that some people
misuse prescription drugs is not new. The awareness that the use and abuse of substances may
affect the workplace just as the workplace may affect how a person uses substances is, however,
increasing in acceptance. Many aspects of the workplace require alertness, and accurate and
quick reflexes. An impairment to these qualities can cause incidents, and interfere with the
accuracy and efficiency of work.
Ways that problematic substance use may cause issues at work include:
 Any impact on a person’s judgment, alertness, perception, motor coordination or

emotional state that also impacts working safely or safety sensitive decisions
 After-effects of substance use (hangover, withdrawal) affecting job performance
 Absenteeism, illness, and/or reduced productivity
 Preoccupation with obtaining and using substances while at work, interfering with
attention and concentration
 Illegal activities at work including selling illicit drugs to other employees,
 Psychological or stress-related effects due to substance use by a family member, friend
or co-worker that affects another person's job performance.
Note that substance use is often thought of as an addiction or dependence, but use can be
anywhere on the spectrum or scale from recreational to frequent to problematic. As a result,
there are varying impacts on lives and work. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health use
the following “4 C’s” to describe addiction:
 Craving
 Loss of control of amount or frequency of use
 Compulsion to use
 Use despite consequences
What are the costs to a business?
The economic impacts of substance use in Canada to businesses or industry have been
traditionally difficult to measure. Many costs are hidden by general absenteeism or illnesses,
"unnoticed" lack of productivity, or inability or reluctance to link substance use directly with
causes of incidents.
Costs to a business may be both direct and indirect. The impact of substance use that have been
reported include:
 Safety (fatalities, incidents, etc.)

 Absenteeism/sick leave/turnover or presentisms
 Loss of production, and
 Workplace violence and harassment.
Additional costs can include:
 Tardiness/sleeping on the job

 Theft
 Poor decision making
 Loss of efficiency
 Lower morale and physical well-being of worker and co-workers
 Increased likelihood of having trouble with co-workers/supervisors
 Training of new employees
 Disciplinary procedures
 Drug testing programs
 Medical/rehabilitation/employee assistance programs
RECORD KEEPING – CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Did you know that you must document your efforts to comply with OSHA regulations? Various
regulations specify requirements for collecting, keeping, and providing certain types of
occupational health and safety information and records.
Documentation of your safety compliance efforts should include (but is not limited to):
 Safety orientations/training records

 Safety meetings minutes
 Written safety policies and procedures
 Hazard identification and corrective
 Equipment maintenance and inspection records
 Employee medical and exposure records
 Incident report
 Injury and illness records
 Accident/Incident investigations reports
 OSHA citations and abatement actions
RECORD KEEPING
Introduction
Appropriate records should be compiled and maintained throughout the duration of

construction projects. This creates a contemporaneous history of what happened at what point
during the course of the project that can be referred to if necessary.
This not only establishes a ‘memory’ or ‘paper trail’ for the project through which activities
and decisions can be reviewed, it allows for the reconstruction, review and analysis of events
and timelines should a dispute arise. Disputes are often determined by the available records,
rather than by the facts, and so it is commercially very important to the parties involved that
good records are kept.
There are a number of reasons for record keeping:
 Legal requirements.
 Contractual requirements.
 To control work.
 To provide data for future work.

The extent of the record keeping required will depend on the type of project. A balance must
be maintained between keeping adequate records in preparation for a dispute arising, and
attempting to record everything, which is can be difficult, time consuming and costly.
Some record-keeping requirements, such as recording the minutes of meetings for example,
may be carried out at the discretion of the individual organisation, with different frequency
rates, levels of detail, and time for which records must be kept, appropriate for different
situations. Other records may be a legal or contractual requirement, following prescribed rules.
For example, under the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), contractors must keep a record
of the gross amount of each payment invoiced by subcontractors, excluding VAT and any
deductions made from subcontractor payments. These details must be kept for at least 3 years
after the end of the tax year they relate to.
Ultimately, when the completed building is handed over to the client, a set of record
information should be passed to them so they are able to operate the building.
It is important that the standard of records kept is high, or they may not provide the expected
information when they are actually required. In particular, records should be dated (including
incoming records) and where appropriate, signed, and a document management system should
be in place to allow efficient storage and retrieval.
Information is now generally managed using specialist software, and apps that make the
preparation of records easier and more reliable are also available. This can, for example allow
records to be made on site using a mobile phone, which are then automatically uploaded to a
project document management system.
Increasingly, project information is prepared in the form of a Building Information Model

(BIM), and this may include project records as well as design and specification information.
An as-built or as-constructed building information model might be prepared on completion of
construction works, consisting of documentation, non- graphical information and graphical
information defining the delivered project.
During operation, this might be described as an Asset Information Model (AIM), that is, a
model that provides all the data and information related to, or required for the operation of the
completed built asset.
List of records
A range of records that might be kept on construction projects is presented below. Please add
to this list:
Tenders and contracts:
 Original contract tender documents.

 Tender negotiations and revisions.
 Sub-contractor tenders, contracts, purchase orders and correspondence.
Contract administration:

 Instructions.
 Variations and estimates.
 Contractual certificates.
 Contract notices.
 Requests for information.
Resources:
 Daily time records.

 Daily equipment use.
 Daily production logs.
 Material delivery and use.
 Labour use.
 Inventories of tools, plant and equipment.
Project management:
 Cost reports.
 Forecast-to-complete estimate updates.
 Productivity reports.
 Accounting records (e.g. pay-roll, accounts payable and receivable).
 Correspondence.
 Minutes of meetings.
 Progress reports.
Site management:
 Site diary.
 Progress reports.
 Progress photographs.
 Weather conditions.
 Site visitors.
 Accidents, injuries and health.
Assessment:
 Surveys.
 Commissioning.
 Testing.
 Inspection.
 Defects.
Operation:
 Asset register.
 Health and safety file.
 Building owner's manual.
 Building log book.
 Building user's guide.
 Testing and commissioning data.
 Certificates and warranties.
 As-built drawings or an as-constructed building information model.

Basic records
To meet basic legal requirements, you must keep the following:
 A cash book or financial accounting program - that records cash receipts and cash
payments
 Bank accounts - cheque books, deposit books and bank statements
 Employment records - hours of work, overtime, remuneration or other benefits,
leave, superannuation benefits, termination of employment, type of employment,
personal details of workers, employee personal contact and employment details
 Occupational training records - for both you and employees to comply with work,
health and safety laws including evacuation and emergency training attendance.
 Sales records - invoice books, receipt books, cash register tapes, credit card
documentation, credit notes for goods returned and a record of goods used by the
business owner personally
 Proof of purchases - cheque butts (larger purchases), petty cash system (smaller cash
purchases), receipts, credit card statements, invoices, any other documents relating to
purchases including copies of agreements or leases
 Work, health and safety (whs) records - workplace incidents, risk register and
management plan, names of key whs people (e.g. Whs representative, trained safety
advisor (tsa), first aid attendant), chemical storage records, first aid incident register,
workplace assessments, material safety data sheets (msds).
End of financial year records
To meet legal requirements, maximise your tax return or minimise your tax bill at the end of
the financial year, keep the following records:
 Details of stock on hand - at the beginning and end of the financial year
 A list of debtors and creditors - for the entire financial year
 Capital gains details - records of asset purchase dates and agreements, records of
sale, disposal and proceeds received, details of commissions paid or legal expenses,
improvements made to an asset and any other records relevant to how you calculate
your capital gain or capital loss
 Depreciation details - original purchase agreements or tax invoices, a depreciation
schedule, the cost of transporting the items to your business (if applicable),
installation costs (if applicable)
 Expense records - cheque butts, receipts, cash register tapes, copies of statements
and invoices, credit card documentation, details of payments by cash and log books
 Staff and wages details - full details of wages, employment contracts, tax deducted,
fringe benefits, superannuation, sick pay, holiday pay
 Basic accounting records - stock records, accounts receivable, accounts payable,
other records
 Agreements - sales and purchase contracts, loan agreements, rental agreements, lease
agreements, franchise agreements, sale and lease back agreements, trading agreements
with suppliers, legal documentation
 Other documents - deposits with utilities, contracts with telephone companies, your
business name registration certificate, capital gains records.
UNIT IV DESIGNING FOR SAFETY

Safety Culture – Safe Workers – Safety and First Line Supervisors – Safety and Middle
Managers – Top Management Practices, Company Activities and Safety – Safety Personnel –
Sub contractual Obligation – Project Coordination and Safety Procedures – Workers
Compensation.
DEFINITIONS OF SAFETY CULTURE

1. Safety culture incorporates the values and norms and beliefs of a particular company.
2. Safety culture is a group’s initiatives, actions, exercises, processes, habits, training and
education and relationships, etc., that pool to establish the core principles and values of the
group.
3. Safety culture is the overall mindset of what folks think about safety on the job site, that yes,
we want to be a safe company.
4. Safety culture is how people act when nobody’s watching.
5. Safety culture is a subset of the culture of the organization. It represents not necessarily well
articulated expressions of how and why things are done within the organization.
6. The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group values, attitudes,
perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to, and the
style and proficiency of an organization’s health and safety management. Organizations with a
positive safety culture are characterized by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared
perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive
measures.
7. Shared values (what is important) and beliefs (how things work) that interact with a
company’s people, organizational structures and control systems to produce behavioral norms
(the way we do things around here).
8. Safety cultures reflect the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and values that employees share in
relation to safety.
9. Safety culture is the set of beliefs, norms, attitudes, roles, and social and technical practices
that are concerned with minimizing the exposure of employees, managers, customers and
members of the public to conditions considered dangerous or injurious.
10. Safety culture is the concept that the organization’s beliefs and attitudes, manifested in
actions, policies, and procedures, affect its safety performance
Steps to Improving Safety Culture in the Construction Industry
1) Start with upper management.

From the CEO on down, safety needs to be a core value of your company and
management should lead by example by participating in safety meetings and trainings.
2) Make safety an integral part of the job.

The use of safety committees, which include both managers and rank and file workers,
can be an effective way to improve safety. But if the job is large enough to justify it,
the budget should also include an on-site safety manager.

3) Create accountability at all levels.
All employees need to be held accountable for safety and safety rules should be
consistently enforced.
4) Take safety into account during the project planning process.

Your project planning process should include conducting a Job Safety Analysis of each
component of the project so that proper controls are implemented before work begins.
5) Make sure your contractors are pre-qualified for safety.

You should review the safety performance of your potential sub-contractors as part of
your procurement process. This could include reviewing OSHA recordable rates and
conducting an audit of their safety management systems.
6) Make sure your workers are properly trained.

Train your workers on use of safety equipment, safety expectations, and any safety risks
and precautions relevant to their job duties.
7) Focus on fall protection.

Falls are one of the leading causes of injuries and deaths, so make sure your fall
protection program is effective. You should have a specific fall management plan for
each project where the risk of falls is present.
8) Prevent substance abuse.

Make sure you have drug and alcohol policies to prevent impaired personnel from
working on your site.
9) Make safety part of everyday conversation.

Make sure safety is addressed at shift changes, weekly meetings, and anytime there is
a job change.
10) Review accidents and near misses.

Investigate all accidents and near misses to determine their root causes and use that
information to improve safety procedures and prevent future incidents.
11) Conduct regular field safety inspections.

This is one of the best management tools out there to improve safety. Inspections can
uncover safety risks caused by worn equipment, unsafe behaviours, or misplaced tools
and give you a chance to correct them before they can cause an accident.
Safety and First Line Supervisors

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISOR
1) Operational Responsibilities
2) Managerial Responsibilities
Operational Responsibilities - It includes the following responsibilities:
Quality Control: Site supervisor is responsible for maintaining overall quality of a

construction project. He will ensure the work is done as per standard construction
procedures.
Implementing policies: Construction supervisor is responsible to implement company

policies, government policies and other policies related to construction.
Maintaining construction schedule: Construction supervisor is responsible for timely-

finish task according to schedule. He will distribute duties among stuffs. Review the
schedule weekly or monthly and take necessary steps if target isn’t acheived.
Managerial Responsibilities - It includes the following responsibilities:
Managing staff members: Supervisor will evaluate staff members, train up them and
ensure more output from them.
Reporting: He has to report timely to project manager about project progress.
Client handling: A supervisor will briefly describe about the project to client when he
visits the project. He’ll fulfill client’s query.
Sub-contractor handling: By evaluating sub-contractors, a supervisor will select sub-

contractor and assign tasks. He will continually monitor sub-contractors performance
and make them understand company policy and operating procedure.
Cost controlling: Identifying variances and reducing wastage by effective

management, a supervisor will controll the cost of a project and thus meet the project
budget.
Maintaining work environment: By following and enforcing standard procedures and

regulations, he’ll keep the work environment secure, safe and healthy.

Construction Supervisor Job Duties:
 Accomplishes construction human resource objectives by selecting, orienting, training,

assigning, scheduling, coaching, counselling, and disciplining employees;
communicating job expectations; planning, monitoring, appraising job contributions;
recommending compensation actions; adhering to policies and procedures.
 Manages sub-contractors by locating, evaluating, and selecting sub-contractors;
monitoring and controlling performance.
 Meets operational standards by contributing construction information to strategic plans
and reviews; implementing production, productivity, quality, and customer-service
standards; resolving problems; identifying construction management system
improvements.
 Meets construction budget by monitoring project expenditures; identifying variances;
implementing corrective actions; providing non-project annual operating and capital
budget information.
 Accomplishes construction project results by defining project purpose and scope;
calculating resources required; establishing standards and protocols; allocating
resources; scheduling and coordinating staff and sub-contractors; evaluating milestone
assumptions and conclusions; resolving design problems; evaluating and implementing
change orders.
 Approves construction projects by conducting inspections at critical phases; obtaining
approvals from buyers.
 Prevents fines and interruptions by complying with, and enforcing, codes.
 Maintains safe, secure, and healthy work environment by following and enforcing
standards and procedures; complying with legal regulations.
 Updates job knowledge by tracking and understanding emerging construction practices
and standards; participating in educational opportunities; reading professional
publications; maintaining personal networks; participating in professional
organizations.
 Enhances organization reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and
different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to job accomplishments.
Knowledge
 Production and Processing — Knowledge of raw materials, production processes,

quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture
and distribution of goods.
 Building and Construction — Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools

involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as
highways and roads.
 Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for

providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment,
meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management

principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources
modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and
resources.

 Mechanical — Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair,
and maintenance.
Skills
 Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time
to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not
interrupting at inappropriate times.
 Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
 Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses
of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
 Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
 Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people
as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
TOP MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR COMPANY ACTIVITIES AND SAFETY
Safety Trends in Construction
In recent years there is a trend for builders and contractors to pay more attention to safety-
related matters than ever before.
Policy and Regulation Maintenance
Safety officers develop, implement and enforce policies that reduce the risk of accidents. The
safety officer determines what policies are needed and how to enforce them.
The safety officer is responsible for keeping policies up to date, meeting the latest standards
and establishing new ones from time to time as more and newer risks are discovered. Facts
demonstrate that a safety officer working for your company or on a project can reduce by 37%
the worker's compensation EMR and bring almost 79% reduction in employee turnover rate.
Site Safety Inspection
The safety officer is in charge of inspecting site conditions to determine if hazards are present
and to establish procedures and policies to overcome those hazardous situations. The safety
officer looks for broken equipment, defective tools, and other potential hazards, focusing on
worker safety. The safety officer determines what type of personal protective equipment (PPE)
is needed and makes sure that workers know how to operate and use tools and equipment.
Accident Investigation
The safety officer's main responsibility is to diminish or eliminate work-related accidents.

However, if an accident occurs, the safety officer will conduct a safety investigation to
determine root causes, what procedures may have gone wrong, and to gather the evidence
necessary to identify the cause of the accident. Based on investigation results, the safety officer
will document findings and recommendations that should be followed to prevent the accident
from happening again. Some of the most common incidents avoided at the workplace by safety
offices are related to:
 Usage of faulty equipment and electrical cord extensions
 Reduction of fatality during trenching and excavating
 Reduction of accidents and increase protection of workers when using formwork
 Safety procedures enhance when working on roofs and elevated surfaces
Construction Safety Officer Training
A construction safety officer needs to be proactive, staying a step ahead of the group on safety
and environmental hazards. In doing so, the officer trains all employees and identifies special
requirements for employees. The safety officer provides training to employees on safety topics
required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These include fire
prevention plans, machine guarding and hazardous materials handling.
Record Keeping
 The safety officer is also responsible for reviewing and meeting

and federal safety standard requirements for record-keeping.
 The safety officer also submits the OSHA form 300, which is a summary of all injuries
that resulted in lost work time, restricted duties or job transfers.
 They also ensure that the poster entitled "Job Safety and Health: It's the Law" and other
documents are displayed in readily visible and accessible location in the workplace, as
required by OSHA.
Responsibilities Summary
A construction safety officer can be responsible for the following duties:
 Inspects the site to ensure it is a hazard-free environment.

 Conducts toolbox meetings
 Is part of the project safety council and leads all efforts to enhance safety
 The safety officer reviews and approves all subcontractor’s safety plans
 Verifies that injury logs and reports are completed and submitted to related government
agencies
 Verifies that all tools and equipment are adequate and safe for use.
 Promotes safe practices at the job site.
 Enforces safety guidelines.
 Trains and carries out drills and exercises on how to manage emergency situations.
 Conducts investigations of all accidents and near-misses.
 Reports to concerned authorities as requested or mandated by regulations.
 Conducts job hazard analyses.
 Establishes safety standards and policies as needed.
 Performs emergency response drills.
 Watches out for the safety of all workers and works to protect them from entering
hazardous situations.
 Responds to employees’ safety concerns.
 Coordinates registration and removal of hazardous waste.
 Serves as the link between state and local agencies and contractors.
 Receives reports from and responds to orders issued by Department of Labor
inspectors.
 Arranges for OSHA mandated testing and/or evaluations of the workplace by external
agencies/consultants.

The Role
 A Project Manager is a key figure of any Service Team. They will be primarily
responsible for the overall successfulness of delivering a project, reaching set targets
both safely and correctly.
 They must be able to perform effectively within tight time-scales, keep within strict
budgets and create a positive client environment such that clients become/remain in a
good relationship throughout the contract.
 They will manage a set of service deliveries, which must be achieved on time to ensure
all activities in the schedule are completed in time. To overcome certain task, project
managers must show initiative and be able to find ways to best adapt a situation to
provide a successful overall critical path analysis.
 A PM will be expected to support the development of the leadership, both on-site and
back in the offices. They will need to organise the best team possible to complete the
project, whilst training and teaching the employees towards the companies core values.
Encouragement of excellence and quality in work will lead to a great reputation
amongst clients.
Responsibilities

 Plan the delivery of the project at hand.
 Manage the day-to-day working, utilisation, implementation and technical consultants
engaged on client assignments. From ensuring the correct material turns up before a
job, to explaining the work ethics and activities to colleagues.
 Report progress on projects by suitable media to sector management, maintain and
update project reporting, checkpoints and financial reporting to a high standard.
 Plan and arrange visits to existing and new potential clients, ensuring every client
receives sufficient support to enhance their relationships.
 Develop contacts with senior staff, directors, and other influential staff within each
account during the implementation phase.
 Co-ordinate required support levels and training.
 Produce reports on each project at agreed intervals, and whenever substantive actions
are required.
Practices to Improve Construction Site Safety
ʘ Awareness
ʘ Training
ʘ Communication
ʘ Documentation
ʘ Proper Equipment
ʘ Supervision
ʘ Innovation
ʘ Transparency
SAFETY PERSONNEL
 Safety glasses or face shields are worn any time work operations can cause foreign
objects to get in the eye. For example, during welding, cutting, grinding, nailing (or
when working with concrete and/or harmful chemicals or when exposed to flying
particles). Wear when exposed to any electrical hazards, including working on
energized electrical systems.
 Eye and face protectors – select based on anticipated hazards.
Foot Protection
 Construction workers should wear work shoes or boots with slip-resistant and puncture-
resistant soles.
 Safety-toed footwear is worn to prevent crushed toes when working around heavy
equipment or falling objects.

Hand Protection

 Workers should wear the right gloves for the job (examples: heavy-duty rubber gloves
for concrete work; welding gloves for welding; insulated gloves and sleeves when
exposed to electrical hazards).
Head Protection
 Wear hard hats where there is a potential for objects falling from above, bumps to the
head from fixed objects, or of accidental head contact with electrical hazards.
 Hard hats – routinely inspect them for dents, cracks or deterioration; replace after a
heavy blow or electrical shock; maintain in good condition.
Hearing Protection
 Use earplugs/earmuffs in high noise work areas where chainsaws or heavy equipment
are used; clean or replace earplugs regularly.
SUB CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION IN CONSTRUCTION

Rights
Subcontractor rights are governed by the contract. The general contractor and employer are
bound by the terms of the agreement they sign. The subcontractor takes responsibility for
seeing that his portion of the contract is completed according to the agreement. If a
subcontractor feels that the contractor or employer has violated the contract, he is entitled to
sue for damages. The subcontractor can file a mechanic's lien against the property for unpaid
wages and expenses. He also has the right to work in a safe and healthy environment.
Obligations and Duties
Subcontractors have to comply with the terms of the contract as well. They are held accountable
for their work by the contractor and the customer. Punctuality and minimal time off is essential.
Frequent communication between the subcontractor, general contractor and the customer helps
to avoid problems down the road. They should be flexible and willing to adjust to policy and
procedure changes. They must complete projects by their due dates and stay within a
predetermined budget. High quality work is important because it reflects on them as well as
the general contractor.
Obligations in Construction Contracts
The two types of warranties are implied and express. The former are created by the courts,
legislation or the law while the latter comes in contracts or could even be a verbal contract.
Construction contracts are meticulously created so that all the specifications are clearly defined.
It is vital for contractors, owners, and designers to carefully consider these implied obligations.
The Plans and Specifications
This is one of the most prominent warranties and relates to the adequacy of the specification
and plans. It is also known as the Spearin Doctrine and states that if the contractor finishes the
work according to the owner’s plan and specification, but there is a failure or deficiency of any
kind, the owner is responsible and not the contractor. Some other responsibility might be shared
by the engineer too.
Implied Duty Not To Hinder or Delay
It is implied by contracts that parties who sign the contract should cooperate with each other.
They should not delay or interfere with the work of others and should facilitate each other’s
performance. The typical obligations that fall under this law relate to the design, construction,
and also the materials involved.
Access to the Site
This duty could be a result of specific clauses in the contract or could just be independent. The
contractor’s work could be hindered by the owner’s visit to the site. So this clause helps evade
that situation.
Implied Duty to Coordinate Multiple Prime Contractors Or Subcontractors
Normally, owners sign contracts with a contractor who then signs contracts with several trade
subcontractors. The general contractor is required by law to coordinate with all the
subcontractors. But in contracts that are of the multiple prime nature, the owner directly deals
with all the contractors and traders on the project as opposed to a general contractor.
Implied duty to provide adequate supervision
A contract could imply duties to offer substantial supervision in terms of personnel on a project.
But excessive supervision could be in breach of the contract.
Implied Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing
All construction contracts have an implied duty related to fair dealing and good faith.
According to this clause the parties involved will not do anything that deprives the other parties
of benefits linked to the contract.
Any act that would make the contract’s performance hard or impossible should be refrained
from and it is the duty of the parties to do all that is presupposed according to the contract so
that all parties will accomplish their purpose.
Implied Duty to Ensure a Safe Workplace
The duty to ensure the workplace is a safe one may vary from one project to the next.
Sometimes this duty will be the responsibility of the contractor, subcontractor, or even the
developer or owner. It may even belong to several people sometimes.
Commonly, an employer who is in a contract with an independent contractor is generally not

responsible for any injuries that are sustained by the employees of the independent contractor.
Sub-contracting
This guide was last updated in October 2012.

 Construction contracts
 International construction
 Construction standard form contracts
 Projects procurement and contracts
 Projects
 Construction procurement
 Projects and procurement
 Major projects
 International projects
 Construction Advisory & Disputes
 Community infrastructure
 International construction
 Banks
 Public sector
 Infrastructure
This guide outlines what sub-contracting in construction contracts involves, and the main issues
to consider.
What is sub-contracting?
A sub-contractor is a party which agrees to perform part or all of the obligations of another
party (main contractor) under a separate contract (master contract) with the ultimate employer
(employer).
The sub-contractor will usually be engaged by a main contractor to perform a specific task as
part of the master contract.
Why sub-contract?
Main contractors usually sub-contract obligations because they:
 require additional resources: for instance, if they undertake a particularly big job, such
as a multi-site construction project;
 are responsible for making the professional appointments: for instance the architect,
structural engineer, mechanical & electrical engineer and project manager;
 require additional specialist advice or expertise: more specialised consultants include
archaeological consultants, traffic management consultants and surveyors;
 are required by law to appoint them: for instance, a CDM co-ordinator in relation to
health and safety.
Drafting the sub-contract
The main contractor will be responsible to the employer for its obligations under the master
contract, regardless of whether any breach is caused by the sub-contractor failing to perform
its obligations under the sub-contract.
The sub-contractor has to understand its obligations and must deliver in a timeframe and
manner which will enable the main contractor to perform its obligations under the main
contract.

From the main contractor's perspective, it will be important that the terms of the main contract
are reflected in, or stepped down to, the sub-contract. This avoids 'gaps' in the main contractor's
obligations under the master contract and the sub-contractor's obligations under the sub-
contract. Any gaps are likely to mean liability sitting with the main contractor:
There is no fixed approach to sub-contracting, and different approaches have their advantages
and disadvantages:
 standard form sub-contract:

o there are many different standard forms of sub-contract which are recognised in
the construction industry. These seek to provide an "off the shelf" contract for
the parties to use;
o the main advantage of using this method is avoiding the need to draft the sub-
contract from scratch and hopefully saving time negotiating it. Standard forms
can also be useful if the same parties are involved on repeat projects;
o the main disadvantages are:
 they will not reflect project-specific risks or unusual provisions in the
master contract;
 they will usually be drafted to benefit one party more than the other. It
is important to remember that it will still be necessary to review the sub-
contract and it is possible that amendments will be needed;
 some obligations cannot be stepped down to the sub-contract;
 the same standard form will not suit all sub-contractors on all projects,
and should be reviewed regularly to ensure that changes in the law and
lessons learned on previous projects can be taken into account;
 incorporating the terms of the main master contract by reference into a framework
contract;
o this is commonly a short sub-contract obliging the sub-contractor to identify and
comply with the relevant terms of the master contract;
o advantages of using this method are:
o there is no need to amend or redraft the sub-contract if changes are made to the
master contract, as these changes will simply be incorporated by reference;
o any issues caused by having to cross-reference between the two documents will
be reduced or eliminated;
o this method also encourages the sub-contractor to focus on and carry out a
proper review of the provisions of the actual master contract;
o the main disadvantages are:
o the risk that the sub-contractor will not identify everything and creating 'gaps'
between the master contract and sub-contract (see above);
o having to determine the contractual effect of master contract terms if these are
not clearly drafted - it is not always clear how certain terms would have been
stepped down to the sub-contract;
o some terms are only relevant to the master contract and should not be stepped
down to the sub-contract. This could lead to ambiguities and disputes about
whether or not the sub-contractor should or should not have done something;
o certain clauses which are unique to the sub-contract will still need to be drafted;
 bespoke sub-contract:
 this is the most common approach, particularly on complex
projects;
 each master contract clause will be reviewed to consider whether
the obligations in that clause should be stepped down to the sub-

contractor. Amendments and additional drafting will be required
to ensure that the clauses work correctly in the sub-contract;
 the main advantage of using this method is that it allows the
parties to address any unique issues
 the main disadvantages are:
 they will take longer to complete;
 sub-contract redrafts are generally necessary each time
the master contract is amended.
The employer's involvement in sub-contracts
The employer, while negotiating the master contract with the main contractor, will want to
make sure the main contractor will meet the performance requirements set out in the master
contract and that the sub-contract costings match up. It will therefore want to review the main
contractor's sub-contracting arrangements.
The main contractor should be allowed to manage the delivery of the construction project, but
best practice is for the employer not to sign the master contract until the sub-contract(s) are
agreed and ready for execution.
Examples of the issues which the employer should look out for are:
 sub-contracting assignment and novation:

 the employer will want control over the sub-contractor further sub-contracting its work.
For instance, it will want any future sub-contractor to have the technical expertise and
financial strength to perform its obligations;
 for more detail on assignment and novation please see our guide;
 liquidated damages:
 if the master contract requires the main contractor to pay liquidated damages to the
employer for late completion of the works, the employer should ensure that the main
contractor will be able to recover enough under its sub-contract to pay the employer.
This will avoid the main contractor not having sufficient funds to pay the employer;
 for more detail on liquidated damages please see our guide;
 collateral warranties:
 collateral warranties create a direct contractual link, which would not otherwise exist,
between the employer and the sub-contractor. This allows the employer to make a
contractual claim against sub-contractors, should sub-contractors fail to perform their
obligations under the sub-contract;
 should the employer have to step-in and replace the main contractor in the sub-contract,
it will have to ensure that it is happy with the sub-contract as a whole and the obligations
it might assume;
 for more detail on collateral warranties please see our guide
 breakage costs: the employer should ensure that it is comfortable with any breakage
costs payable if the sub-contract is terminated early, since it will be potentially liable
for various termination scenarios under the main contract.
The main contractor's principal concerns in sub-contracts
Examples of the issues which the main contractor should look out for are:
 headroom: the main contractor should give itself enough time under the sub-contract to
enable it to perform its obligations under the master contract, bearing in mind that the

sub-contractor may be 'on the ground' and in possession of the relevant information.
Examples are:
 notifications and time limits: if the main contractor is obliged to notify the employer
within for instance 20 days of an event which might cause delays and therefore give
rise to an entitlement to an extension of time, it will need to ensure that the
corresponding period in the sub-contract is less than 20 days, to give it time to pass
information up the contractual chain to the employer;
 exercising rights: if the employer has 20 days to exercise a right under the master
contract which has been stepped down to the sub-contract, the main contractor will want
more than 20 days to exercise the right under the sub-contract;
 information: the same principle applies to information which the sub-contractor will
need to give to the employer under the master contract. The sub-contractor should be
obliged to provide the same information under the sub-contract;
 extensions of time and other reliefs: the main contractor will want to ensure that it is
entitled to the same remedies and reliefs under the main contract as the sub-contractor
is entitled to under the sub-contract. This avoids the situation where the sub-contractor
may be entitled to for instance an extension of time under the sub-contract, to which
the main contractor is not entitled under the main contract;
 certification of completion: again, the main contractor will want to ensure that
certificates issued by third parties confirming completion of the works apply to both
the sub-contract and master contract, to avoid inconsistency and potentially achieving
completion under one, but not both, of the contracts;
 payment: the main contractor will want to ensure that it is not obliged to pay its sub-
contractors before it has been paid by the employer. Recent changes to the Construction
Act are aimed among other things at the abolition of conditional payment clauses and
introducing a 'fairer' payment regime, and improving rights for contractors to suspend
their work in non-payment circumstances;
 dispute resolution: the main contractor will not want to be bound by a decision under
the dispute resolution procedure (DRP) in the master contract while it is still involved
in the sub-contract DRP. Recent changes to the Construction Act are aimed among
other things at to encouraging the use of adjudication for the resolution of disputes;
 is there more than one sub-contractor? The main contractor will wish to ensure that
each sub-contractor is obliged not to do anything which would harm the project by
preventing other sub-contractor from performing its obligations. For an example of how
this is dealt with in PPP projects, see our guide to interface agreements;
 caps on liability: are they lower in the sub-contract than in the master contract, and does
the main contractor want to take the risk of the gap? What about small, specialist sub-
contractors who are unable to accept the same level of liability under the master
contract?
SAFETY COORDINATION IN CONSTRUCTION
At construction sites, a coordinated safety policy is needed that covers everybody: multiple
contractors, workers with different skills, understanding and knowledge; everyone from site
manager to labourer. Our health and safety coordinators can help you formulate a safety
strategy that protects every member of the workforce. More than that, with a coordinated safety
plan in place, the construction project will be streamlined because workers at every level will
be aware of the risks, what to do in the event of an accident and how to operate their equipment
and tools – as well as how to behave safely on site. Construction site standards vary from
country to country, location to location. Thanks to our locally based expert teams, we will assist
you in drawing up site regulations, coordinating work safety measures and, ongoing, ensure
your project runs as smoothly as possible in many locations around the world.
Coordinated Work Safety Measures on Construction Sites
Hazards on construction sites can be down to lots of different causes. Weather conditions,
working with crash hazards, time pressure, and lack of agreements all increase the risk of injury
to your employees. Our safety and health coordinators can keep track of everything - even on
large construction sites with employees from several companies. From issuing notice of the
construction site, to drawing up a safety and health plan, right up to laying down site regulations
and coordinating work safety measures and various employers on the construction site.
Benefits at a Glance
 Increase safety on the construction site and prevent work accidents

 Gain legal peace of mind vis-à-vis occupational safety authorities and trade associations
 Reduce your risk of liability
 Reduce construction costs, by eliminating problems in the construction schedule and
later costs through paying attention to work that may still be required for the physical
structure
 Save time, because with our network of offices, our construction site experts are always
close by
Services in the Planning Phase
 Participation in tenders, quote checks, and supply procurement

 Advance notice of construction works
 Drafting the necessary occupational safety tasks
 Safety and health planning
 Drafting site regulations
 Compilation of documents for subsequent work on the physical structure
Services in the Execution Phase
 Monitoring of the measures stipulated in the safety and health protection plan
 Organizing inspections, site supervision and safety meetings
 Briefing on-site managers from various companies
 Coordination of health and safety measures and of different employers
************************************
SAFETY PROCEDURES AT CONSTRUCTION SITE
Any construction site is a dangerous occupation for all personnel, especially for labors working
on site and so one must be prepared every day for safety. For this purpose, various safety
measures have to be taken.
Safety Procedures at Construction Site
Personal protective equipment (PPE) are supplied to all the personnel’s working on site and
even for the personal who are temporary visiting to the site
Personal protective equipment (PPE) can be classified as:

 Minimum Personal protective equipment (PPE)
 Additional Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Minimum PPE Requirements for Safety at Construction Site
Hard Hat or Helmet
Hard hat or helmet is issued to each and every personnel working on site. It has to be worn all
times at job site.
Safety Glasses
Safety glasses are required at construction site every time debris is filled in air due to activities
on site.
Hand Protection Gloves
Hand gloves are supplied to all personals to protect against cuts when handling material or
equipment’s, during cleaning operations, cutting metal studs or similar works.
Safety Vests
Safety vests also called as high visibility shirts. Purpose of safety vest is to keep the person
always clear in view, even in the dark and he should be visible to everyone.
Safety vests are of different bright colors like red, green, yellow so it’s easy for workers to see
and locate each other
Proper Clothing
Shirts, long pants and hard soul shoes, a 6-inch-high boot is recommended.
Additional PPE Equipments for Safety at Construction Site
Hearing Protection
It is compulsory to wear hearing protection equipment near any equipment, tool or machinery
which makes loud noises. As per standard practice if you are 2 foot away from somebody and
you need to shout to talk, putting hearing protection is necessary.
Respiratory Protection
Sometimes as voluntary respiration policy dust mask is supplied, any employee looking for
additional comfort or safety while working with fiber glass, fire proofing, cleaning the floors
or handling debris.
Face shields
A full face shield should be worn along with safety glasses when working in a high debris,
operating grinder or any spark producing activity or similar activities or when done on site. An
approved welding shield is compulsory to wear during all welding operations.

Safety Harness
The safety harness is an attachment between a fixed and mobile object and is usually fabricated
from rope, cable and locking hardware.
Full body safety harness to be used as a procedure for fall protecting system, ignorance can
result in severe physical harm. Safety harnesses keep workers safe and are helpful in freeing
their hands for work even while hanging on the side of a building.
Material Storage
Material on the job site should be stored properly when not in use to prevent injury and wastage
of materials. Ensure proper storage and good housekeeping.
Proper storage can prevent the falls of the materials leading to material damage and accidents.
Weight of the material stored should be within safe loading limits of the building floor.
Keep the passageway always clear for walking of personal and prevent injuries. Always store
the material away from traffic.
Store material at least 6 feet away from the openings in the floor and 10 feet from the edge of
the floor if the wall is not built on edge of floor.
Manual Material Handling
The personnel should be aware of his weight lifting capacity and if required take the help of
another person if required instead of taking all load himself and use proper lifting techniques.
Always need to wear the safety equipment’s while working on construction site.
Mechanical Material Handling
Mechanical material handling also requires same amount of safety as in case of manual material
handling. Equipment Operator needs to take care of the weight lifting capacity of the equipment
like forklifts, cranes and other similar to avoid accidents.
Ground personnel should be in machine operator’s vision always and should be aware of the
safety procedures while working around the heavy mechanical equipments.
Basic Safety Precautions at Construction Site
In any construction project for basic safety precautions to be implemented are:
 Guard rails to be installed at open scaffold areas, all openings in the building floor, in
the excavated areas, at mobile elevated platforms.
 Yellow stickers with safety notes to be pasted where necessary
 All the working platforms should be stable, properly braced, should not be overloaded
and safe for the working personnel
 All the working areas and passageways should be free from waste or debris or any of
obstruction like stored material
 The site should be clean all the times and the material should be stored safely
 There should be proper arrangement of collection and disposal of waste materials
 First aid should be available at all times on site for cuts burns or any mishaps
 Fire extinguishers to be placed on site on proper locations in case of any fire
 That should be proper lighting arrangements on the site especially when the work is
carried out during the night stand
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical

benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory
relinquishment of the employee's right to sue their employer for the tort of negligence. The
trade-off between assured, limited coverage and lack of recourse outside the worker
compensation system is known as "the compensation bargain". One of the problems that the
compensation bargain solved is the problem of employers becoming insolvent as a result of
high damage awards. The system of collective liability was created to prevent that, and thus to
ensure security of compensation to the workers. Individual immunity is the necessary corollary
to collective liability.
ʘ The workmen' s compensation act, 1923 act no. 8 of 1923 1 [ 5th march, 1923.]
ʘ An Act to provide for the payment by certain classes of employers to their workmen
of compensation for injury by accident.
Construction Accidents and Workers' Compensation
If you have been injured while working at a construction site, any resulting legal claim may be
affected by workers' compensation laws, depending on your employment situation and the
extent to which your employer is responsible for your injuries. Following is a brief examination
of the typical workers' compensation procedure for construction accidents, but remember that
your attorney will determine the extent of your employer's liability. Keep in mind that parties
other than your employer may be legally responsible for your injuries (such as third-party
contractors, property owners, or equipment manufacturers) and your recovery from those
parties will not be affected by workers' compensation laws.
What Is Workers' Compensation?
Worker's compensation is a system of laws outlining specific benefits to which an injured

employee is entitled, including lost wages and medical expenses. It is an important safety net
for employees when they are injured while on the job.
Under the law in most states, every business must have workers' compensation insurance to
cover its employees. Filing a workers' compensation claim is similar to filing any other
insurance claim. It isn't a lawsuit against an employer, rather a request for benefits.
Under most state workers' compensation programs, an injured employee is entitled to:
Medical Care
The injured party has the right to all reasonable necessary treatment to cure or relieve the effects
of the injury. Included under medical treatment compensation are all medical bills,
prescriptions and even roundtrip mileage to the hospital.

Under workers' compensation benefits, a patient might have to use the company doctor, but
only for a maximum of 30 days. After that time, a patient may choose a different doctor, but
may have to submit a written request.
Temporary Disability
If the injured party must take time away from work due to medical reasons related to the
construction accident, they might be entitled to temporary disability payments. That would
provide partial compensation for lost wages. There are specific maximum and minimum limits
to the pay rate, but this normally equals about two-thirds of average weekly gross pay and is
paid out every two weeks. After the doctor verifies an inability to work, the first temporary
disability check should arrive within a few weeks.
Permanent Disability
If a worker can't completely recover from the effects of the injury, they could be entitled to a
monetary award. Permanent disability means that the injured party has lost some ability to
compete in the open labour market of uninjured workers. The amount and rate at which it is
paid depends on how much limitation the injury places on activities. Other elements taken into
consideration are age, occupation and earnings at the time of injury.
Vocational Rehabilitation
If the injury prevents a return to the former job, assistance in getting another job might be
included in the benefits. During vocational rehabilitation, a partial income is distributed, similar
to temporary disability. The vocational rehabilitation benefit usually has a maximum monetary
limit and may be replaced by an offer of modified or different work from the employer.
What to Do If You Are Injured
1. Report the injury to the employer - If possible, report the injury in writing and keep a
copy of the report for personal records.
2. Complete a claim form - No matter how the employer learns of the construction
accident, they must offer the injured party a claim form immediately. Until this claim
form is completed, the employer has no obligation to provide benefits. Make sure it is
filled out completely and specifically. Keep a copy of the claim. It is then the employer's
responsibility to immediately notify the workers' compensation insurance company and
get medical help.
3. File the claim as soon as possible - Those seeking to claim workers' compensation
benefits should do so quickly. Any delay on the injured party's part could lead to
potential snags or delays. Immediately reporting injuries and filing a claim as soon as
it is decided to seek compensation increases the likelihood that benefits will begin
quickly. Delays in reporting could lead to delays in benefits.
Workers’ Compensation Overview
A workers’ compensation policy is a piece of insurance that covers injuries that occur in the
workplace or on the jobsite. The purpose or workers’ compensation law is to reduce lawsuits
against employers for work-related injuries and deaths. Workers’ compensation requirements
vary from state to state and throughout different industries. Workers’ compensation insurance
is one of the only state-mandated insurance requirements for businesses. In fact, the

construction industry, through state licensing boards, has made workers’ compensation a
prerequisite for obtaining and maintaining contractor licenses.
Course and Scope of Employment
In general, workers’ compensation insurance covers injuries to employees that occur in the
workplace, on the jobsite or anywhere else so long as the injury is sustained in the “course and
scope” of employment. The “course and scope” analysis is an important one to understand.
Assume that a contractor is asked to drive from the worksite to a warehouse to pick up parts or
pieces and is injured in a motor vehicle accident while on route. His injuries should be covered
under the workers’ compensation policy because the injuries occurred while he was in the
course and scope of his employment.
What is the Workers’ Compensation Bar?
In most states, an employer is barred from bringing a lawsuit for injuries or death against his
employer. This is because most state statutes make workers’ compensation the “exclusive
remedy” for injured workers. While the bar covers the vast majority of on-the-job injuries,
there are a few exclusions that allow an employee or the family of a deceased employee to sue
the employer directly.
Employers’ Obligations
Aside from having proper coverage, what else must an employer do to comply with workers’
compensation laws? One of the most important requirements is to quickly report all injuries or
claims to the insurance carrier and to the state’s workers’ compensation board. In fact, many
states have reporting deadlines. For example, in Colorado an employer must report an injury
to its carrier within 10 days, regardless of how small the injury is. OSHA also has implemented
strict reporting deadlines.
UNIT V OWNERS’ AND DESIGNERS’ OUTLOOK
Owner’s responsibility for safely – Owner preparedness – Role of designer in ensuring safety
– Safety clause in design document.
OWNER ROLES IN HEALTH & SAFETY
According to the act: Owner is defined as a trustee, receiver, mortgagee in possession, tenant,
lessee, or occupier of any lands or premises used or to be used as a workplace, and a person
who acts for or on behalf of an owner as an agent or delegate.
Contractor (Constructor/Employer) as defined, a constructor means a person who undertakes

a project for an owner and includes an owner who undertakes all or part of a project by himself
or by more than one employer and a means a person who employs one or more workers or
contracts for the services of one or more workers and includes a contractor or subcontractor

who undertakes with an owner, constructor, contractor or subcontractor to perform work or
supply services.
Contractor Roles:
 Before the project begins…

 During the project…
 After the project has been completed…
Before the Project Begins
Planning the project
 File Notice of Project

 Complete Form 1000 and post a copy of Health & Safety Policy
 Attain Building Permit
 Contact Subcontractors for Clearance Certificates/Form 1000 and signed safety
acknowledgement form
 Attain proof of training from subcontractors
 Set up Project Binder/Board with Health and Safety Forms, Utility Locates, Emergency
Numbers, MSDS etc.
 Engineered Drawings for shoring, roof anchors, etc.
 Pre- project site inspection with pictures, and check for environmental concerns
During the Project
Starting the project
 Based on the job, assess training requirements and make sure workers have proper
training (records up-to date).
 Mobilize Health & Safety Board /First Aid Kit/Eye Wash Station/Fire Extinguishers/
Emergency Air Horn.
 Make sure Site Binder contains Emergency Response Plan and the workers are trained.
Designate Common assembly area and outline on site map.
 Ensure all workers are properly oriented to the site as well as any sub-contractors
coming on site.
 Ensure the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is on site and readily available
to the workers.
 If more than 5 workers are on site, ensure that a health and safety representative is
appointed by the workers.
Typical Job Board Sample
 Ensure that only competent supervisors are in charge of job-site and workers are
properly trained
 Ensure that supervisors are carrying out and documenting weekly site inspections.
 New workers and sub-trades are oriented.
 Ensure that safety talks are done weekly.
Ensure workers are following safe work practices as outlined in the company health & safety
program. Ensure all necessary personal protective equipment is worn and maintained in good
condition. Implement company disciplinary policy for any worker or sub-trade who does not
comply with health an safety requirements. Ensure health & safety representative(s)’s
recommendations are presented to the Joint Health & Safety Committee.
After the project Ends
Analyze: All site inspections Accident/Incident Reports First Aid Reports Joint Health &
Safety Recommendations
Owner Roles:
Stress safety as part of the contract during the pre-job walk-around. This gives contractors the
opportunity to include all safety-related items in their bids and lets contractors know early that
the owner is serious about safety.
Conduct safety audits of the contractor prior to and during construction. The owner’s or
construction manager’s safety staff conducts these audits to ensure compliance with the
owner’s safety requirements and with all provincial and federal safety regulations.
 Conduct periodic third party safety inspections.

 Require safety training of all project employees.
 Include general safety guidelines in the body of the contract.
 Always include safety on the agenda at owner-contractor site meetings.
 Provide contractors with special safety guidelines they must follow.
 Require the contractor to assign safety coordination responsibility to someone on site
Duties of owners
• Ensuring that workplace facilities are provided and maintained in compliance with the
Act and regulations
• Ensuring that the workplace complies with the regulations
• Ensuring that no workplace is constructed, developed, reconstructed or altered, except in
compliance with the act and regulations
• Providing workplace drawings, plans or specifications to a director of the Ministry of
Labour, where required
• Complying with the act and regulations regarding designated substances
• Informing any employers who occupy their land or premises of any necessary health or
safety information
OWNER RESPONSIBILITY
The owner or operator who hired the contractor cannot completely avoid responsibility for
safety by hiring a contractor. ANSI A10.1 Pre-Project & Pre-Task Safety and Health
Planning outlines the project owner’s responsibilities. The owner’s responsibilities apply
during the planning and design phases, long before bidding or contractor selection. The
project specifications should make safety expectations clear, and prospective contractors
should be given sufficient time and information to analyze and incorporate safety
requirements into final pricing. Prospective contractors’ safety histories should be evaluated
by the owner through inspection of safety records, workers compensation modifier rates, and
the credentials of contractor personnel responsible for site safety. Specifications should
require site specific safety plans. Many projects have shared equipment like forklifts and
scaffolds. The specification should require a single party, whether the general contractor or
some other specified entity, to retain full responsibility for shared equipment. This
counteracts the tendency for “everyone’s job” to become no one’s job.
Safety responsibility during construction falls within two basic categories – within the project
site and adjacent to the project site.
OWNER RESPONSIBILITY ON-SITE
The project owner must disclose known hazards to the designers and contractor prior to the
start of work. The owner must produce a “Good Faith Letter” outlining where hazardous
materials are and whether they have been abated prior to the start of work on an older
building. The owner should require the contractor to produce and follow a site-specific safety
plan. Safety review has become a standard part of weekly owner-contractor progress
meetings. Owners should emphasize safety requirements and expectations during these
weekly meetings.
OWNER RESPONSIBILITY ADJACENT THE SITE
The owner’s responsibility for safety adjacent to a construction site is more complex. For
example, if an owner undertakes a remodel or expansion in an occupied facility, that owner
must ensure that the construction area is reliably barricaded, fenced, or otherwise made
inaccessible to people who don’t belong there. Sometimes security guards are necessary to
prevent unauthorized personnel finding ways to defeat fences and barricades. Ongoing work
in the facility but outside the construction fence, like alterations to mechanical or electrical
systems, can entail tools and equipment in areas also occupied by non-construction people.
The owner must coordinate safety efforts with the contractor in order to minimize the
likelihood that a curious person will enter a construction area or get injured by ongoing
construction in an area outside the construction enclosure.
Another owner / contractor safety coordination is scheduling potentially hazardous work at a

time that minimizes the number of non-construction people in the area when it is in progress.
As an example, if a facility is being expanded using tilt-up concrete walls, any areas that
could be affected in the event of a miscue should be vacated during the tilt-up. Once the
structure is safely erected and reliably stabilized, the owner may put those areas back into
normal operation.
The owner remains responsible for housekeeping around the construction site. Construction is
a noisy, dusty process that can cause vibrations and other disruptions. That noise, dust, and
vibration should be kept as contained as possible, but it’s not always possible to achieve
complete containment. The owner must consider the effect upon sensitive operations or
materials that could become unstable due to vibration and perform routine inspections to
prevent hazards.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING FOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Objective

The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that the constructor shall establish
Emergency Response Procedures for every project. This document provides a plan to assist
constructors in developing these procedures.
Emergency preparedness helps to minimize the human suffering and economic losses that can
result from emergencies. It should be understood that the size and complexity of projects, as
well as their access and location, have a bearing on the degree of planning necessary for
emergencies. It is therefore strongly recommended that the constructor ensure that a member
of staff on site assist in developing the emergency response plan.
How to develop a plan?
Planning shall begin before any work commences on the project. Although there may be little
time between the award of the contract and the start of the project, a good emergency response
plan can be generic and, with some minor changes, can be easily adapted to specific sites and
readily implemented. This is especially the case where a constructor specializes in similar types
of projects.
Development should include the following considerations:
1) Hazard identification/assessment
2) Emergency resources
3) Communication system
4) Administration of the plan
5) Emergency response procedure
6) Communication of the procedure
7) Debriefing and post-traumatic stress procedure.
Each of these points is explained in the following sections.
Hazard Identification/Assessment
The process of hazard identification and assessment involves a thorough review that should
include, but not be limited to, the following points:
 Transportation, materials handling, hoisting, equipment or product installation,

temporary structures, material storage, start-up, and commissioning activities
 Environmental concerns
 Consultation with the client regarding potential hazards when working in or adjacent to
operating facilities
 Resources such as material safety data sheets (msdss) to determine potential hazards
from on-site materials
 Proximity to traffic and public ways.
Because construction sites are frequently fast-changing, the process of hazard assessment must
be ongoing to accommodate the dynamic environment. Once hazards are identified, the next
task is to assess the potential or risk involved in each. For each hazard identified, ask:
 What can go wrong?

 What are the consequences?

For each potential hazard it is important to identify resources necessary for an appropriate
emergency response. For most events in construction, a simple analysis based on the experience
of the people involved on the project is likely sufficient.
Emergency Resources
It is important to identify which resources are available and have contingency plans in place to
make up for any deficiencies.
The most important resource on most projects will be a 911 system. It is essential to verify that
911 is in effect in the area. Most Ontario communities have a 911 system in place, but it is
important to know the facilities or limitations available in that location. Is a high-reach rescue
team available? What is the response time? What must site personnel do in the meantime?
Other on-site resources such as fire extinguishers, spills containment equipment, and first aid
kits must be maintained and clearly identified. Construction equipment may be included among
potential emergency resources. Personnel, especially on-site medical staff or workers trained
in first aid, should be included in the plan.
There may be situations where outside resources are so far away that an adequate response is
not possible. In these situations, resources may have to be obtained and kept on site. Examples
would include fire protection or ambulance/medical resources in remote areas.
Whatever the situation may be, people, equipment, facilities, and materials are needed for
emergency response. Where they will come from must be determined in advance. Moreover,
the people supplying these resources must be made aware of their role in the plan.
Communication Systems
An important key to effective emergency response is a communications system that can relay
accurate information quickly. To do this, reliable communications equipment must be used,
procedures developed, and personnel trained. It is a good idea to have a backup system in place,
in case the system is rendered useless by the emergency. For example, telephone lines may be
cut.
The type and location of emergency communication systems must be posted on the project.
This will include location of telephones, a list of site personnel with cellular phones or two-
way radios, and any other equipment available. Emergency phone numbers and the site
address/location should be posted beside all site phones. On large sites, the location of
emergency phones must be clearly marked. The poster Emergency Response (P103), available
from CSAO, can be used to record this and other information.
A communication system must be made up of strategically placed equipment and properly

defined responsibilities. The emergency response plan posted in a conspicuous place on the
project must identify the designated equipment and the people to operate it.
Administration of the Plan
The task of administering and organizing the plan is vital to its effectiveness. The person who
has this task will normally be the person in charge of the emergency response operation. It is
their task to ensure

 That everyone clearly understands their roles and responsibilities within the emergency
response plan (a chart may be helpful in this regard)
 That emergency resources, whether people or equipment, are kept at adequate levels in
step with the progress of the project.
It is very important to review the emergency plan on a regular basis and especially after an
emergency has occurred. Changes may be necessary where deficiencies became apparent as
the plan went into operation.
Emergency Response Procedure
An emergency can be reported from any source—a worker on site, an outside agency, or the
public. Remember that circumstances may change during the course of an emergency. Any
procedures you develop must be able to respond to the ongoing situation.
The following list covers basic actions to take in an emergency. These steps apply to almost
any emergency and should be followed in sequence.
 Stay calm
 Assess the situation.
 Take command
 Provide protection.
 Aid and manage.
 Maintain contacts.
 Guide emergency services.
Stay calm – Your example can influence others and thereby aid the emergency response.
Assess the situation – Determine what happened and what the emergency is. Look at the big
picture. What has happened to whom and what will continue to happen if no action is taken?
Try to identify the cause that must be controlled to eliminate immediate, ongoing, or further
danger.
Take command – The most senior person on the scene should take charge and call, or delegate
someone to call, emergency services—generally 911—and explain the situation. Assign tasks
for controlling the emergency. This action also helps to maintain order and prevent panic.
Provide protection – Eliminate further losses and safeguard the area. Control the energy source
causing the emergency. Protect victims, equipment, materials, environment, and accident scene
from continuing damage or further hazards. Divert traffic, suppress fire, prevent objects from
falling, shut down equipment or utilities, and take other necessary measures. Preserve the
accident scene; only disturb what is essential to maintain life or relieve human suffering and
prevent immediate or further losses.
Aid and manage – Provide first aid or help those already doing so. Manage personnel at the
scene. Organize the workforce for both a headcount and emergency assignments. Direct all
workers to a safe location or command post. This makes it easier to identify the missing, control
panic, and assign people to emergency duties. Dispatch personnel to guide emergency services
on arrival.
Maintain contact – Keep emergency services informed of situation. Contact utilities such as
gas and hydro where required. Alert management and keep them informed. Exercise increasing

control over the emergency until immediate hazards are controlled or eliminated and causes
can be identified.
Guide emergency services – Meet services on site. Lead them to emergency scene. Explain
ongoing and potential hazards and cause(s), if known.
Communication of the Procedure
To be effective, an Emergency Response Procedure must be clearly communicated to all site

personnel. The following activities should be considered:
 Review the procedure with new site subcontractors and new workers to ensure that it
covers their activities adequately.
 Review the procedure with suppliers to ensure that it covers any hazards that the storage
or delivery of their materials might create.
 Review new work areas in operating plants with owner/client to ensure that new hazards
are identified and covered in the procedure.
 Review the procedure with the Joint Health and Safety Committee or Health and Safety
 Representative on a regular basis to address new hazards or significant changes in site
conditions.
 Post the procedure in a conspicuous location.
The Emergency Response Procedure for a construction project must continually undergo
review and revision to meet changing conditions.
Debriefing and Post-Traumatic Stress Procedure
The recovery process, or what happens after the emergency response has been completed, is a
critical step in the plan. Many emergency tasks may be handled by people who are not
accustomed to dealing with emergencies. People may have seen their work partners and friends
badly injured and suffering great pain.
Once the emergency is over, the attitude should not be “Okay, let’s get back to work” or “Let’s
go home.” Some of the people involved may need assistance in order to recover. In some cases
professional counselling may be needed. As part of site emergency planning, construction
companies should have measures in place to deal with post-traumatic stress. For more
information, refer to the brochure Post-Traumatic Stress (F013), available from CSAO. Local
hospitals, ambulance services, and medical practitioners may also be able to help.
Debriefing is necessary to review how well the plan worked in the emergency and to correct
any deficiencies that were identified. Debriefing is critical to the success of future emergency
response planning.
DESIGNERS: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
A designer is an organisation or individual whose business involves preparing or modifying

designs for construction projects, or arranging for, or instructing, others to do this. Designs
include drawings, design details, specifications, bills of quantity and design calculations.

Designers can be architects, consulting engineers, quantity surveyors and interior designers,
or anyone who specifies and alters designs as part of their work. They can also be principal
contractors, specialist contractors, tradespeople or even commercial clients, if they get
actively involved in design work for their project.
A designer’s decisions can affect the health and safety of all those involved in constructing a
building and those who use, maintain, refurbish and eventually demolish it.
Designers must:
 Make sure the client is aware of the client duties under CDM 2015 before starting any
design work
 When preparing or modifying designs:
o Take account of any pre-construction information provided by the client (and
principal designer, if one is involved)
o Eliminate foreseeable health and safety risks to anyone affected by the project
(if possible)
o Take steps to reduce or control any risks that cannot be eliminated
 Provide design information to:
o The principal designer (if involved), for inclusion in the pre-construction
information and the health and safety file
o The client and principal contractor (or the contractor for single contractor
projects) to help them comply with their duties, such as ensuring a
construction phase plan is prepared
 Communicate, cooperate and coordinate with:
o Any other designers (including the principal designer) so that all designs are
compatible and ensure health and safety, both during the project and beyond
o All contractors (including the principal contractor), to take account of their
knowledge and experience of building designs
Working as a designer for a domestic client is no different to working for a commercial

client. However, the domestic client’s legal duties are normally taken on by the contractor (or
the principal contractor on projects involving more than one contractor) and the designer
must work to them as ‘client’ under CDM 2015. Alternatively, the domestic client can ask the
principal designer to take on the client duties, although this must be confirmed in a written
agreement. Where the project involves more than one contractor and the domestic client does
not appoint a principal designer, the role of the principal designer must be carried out by the
designer in control of the pre-construction phase.
Regulation 9 of the CDM2015 guidance states: -
1. A designer must not commence work in relation to a project unless satisfied that
the client is aware of the duties owed by the client under these Regulations.
2. When preparing or modifying a design the designer must take into account the
general principles of prevention and any pre-construction information to
eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to the health or
safety of any person-
a. carrying out or liable to be affected by construction work;
b. maintaining or cleaning a structure; or
c. using a structure designed as a workplace.
3. If it is not possible to eliminate these risks, the designer must, so far as is
reasonably practicable-

a. take steps to reduce or, if that is not possible, control the risks through
the subsequent design process;
b. provide information about those risks to the principal designer; and
c. ensure appropriate information is included in the health and safety file.
4. A designer must take all reasonable steps to provide, with the design, sufficient
information about the design, construction or maintenance of the structure, to
adequately assist the client, other designers and contractors to comply with their
duties under these Regulations.
Duties as a Designer
As a designer you must ensure that the project is capable of being constructed to be safe, can
be maintained safely and complies with all relevant safety and health legislation.
 Identify any hazards that my design may present during construction and subsequent
maintenance
 Where possible, eliminate the hazards or reduce risk
Where there are residual risks, you must
 Communicate necessary control measures

 Design assumptions or remaining risks to the Project Supervisor Design Process
(PSDP) so that they can be dealt with in the Safety and Health Plan
 Co-operate with other designers and the Project Supervisor Design Process (PSDP) or
Project Supervisor Construction Stage (PSCS)
 Take account of any existing safety and health plan or safety file
 Comply with directions issued by the PSDP or PSCS
 Where no PSDP has been appointed, inform the client that a PSDP must be appointed
Why Designers have a Key Role in Health & Safety
Designers have a key role to play in CDM2015 as they are in a unique position to reduce the
risks that arise during construction work. The earlier that decisions are made by them, the
greater will be the affect on construction health and safety and the influence of later design
choices. It is vital to consider health and safety in the design process from the outset.
Designers often consider health and safety in their designs by utilising the 'Hierarchy of Risk
Control' during the design process. This process allows them to eliminate or mitigate risks to
health and safety within their designs. Where it is not possible to eliminate particular risks,
information about them must be passed to the Principal Contractor for inclusion in the
Construction Phase Plan.
In arriving at design decisions concerning risk, the designer can take account of the costs of
eliminating, or including, a design feature. These costs can be counted not just in financial
terms but, for instance, in aesthetics, buildability, fitness for purpose, and environmental
impact.
Designers' responsibilities extend beyond the design phase. They need to consider the safety
of those people who maintain, clean, repair and eventually demolish their structures.
Duties of Designers - Checklist

The designers' duties on all construction projects are to:
 Ensure that the client is aware of the client's duties prior to commencing any design
work.
 Ensure that personnel allocated to their design team from internal resources are
competent and adequately resourced.
 Ensure that any designers or contractors that are engaged on the project are competent
and adequately resourced.
 Ensure that the design and the designers' duties are complied with by any designers
engaged by them, including any designers who are based outside Great Britain.
 Eliminate or reduce safety and health risks to constructors, users, maintainers, repairers,
commissioners, testers, cleaners, demolishers, etc. when preparing the design.
 Co-operate and communicate with other designers, including temporary works
designers, to ensure adequate co-ordination of the design.
 Provide information about the risks which cannot be satisfactorily addressed by their
designs to the client, other designers and contractors.
On notifiable projects the designers' additional duties are to:
 Verify that the project has been notified and that the Principal Designer has been
appointed as soon as possible after commencement of initial or preliminary design.
 Co-operate with the Principal Designer for the verification of design and designer
compliance and the co-ordination of the design.
 Provide any information requested by the Principal Designer for the health and safety
file.
Information provided by the designer should be brief, clear, precise, and in a form suitable for
the users. This can be achieved using:
a. Notes on drawings - this is preferred, since the notes will then be immediately available
to those carrying out the work. They can refer to other documents if more detail is
needed, and be annotated to keep them up to date;
b. Written information provided with the design - this should be project specific, and
should only contain information which will be useful to those constructing or
maintaining the structure;
c. Suggested construction sequences showing how the design could be erected safely,
where this is not obvious, for example suggested sequences for putting up pre-cast panel
concrete structures. Contractors may then adopt this method or develop their own
approach.
SAFETY CLAUSE IN DESIGN DOCUMENT
The health and safety file was introduced by the Construction (Design and Management)
Regulations 1994 (CDM) and continued in CDM 2007. CDM 2007 was revoked on 6 April
2015 when CDM 2015 came into force and these new requirements have retained the need for
a health and safety file.
The health and safety file is an often-misunderstood document but, when complied properly
and as intended by the regulations, it can provide a powerful management and information tool
to protect those working on both current and future construction projects.
So what are the legal requirements for the health and safety file and who is responsible for it?
What is its purpose? What should it contain and what should it not contain?
Legal requirements for the health and safety file
The duty to prepare a health and safety file falls to the principal designer and, bearing in mind
that a principal designer will only be appointed for those construction projects with more than
one contractor, this means that the health and safety file will only be formally required for those
projects which have more than one contractor. Regulation 12 of CDM 2015 requires in that
during the pre-construction phase of a construction project the principal designer must prepare
a health and safety file which is” appropriate to the characteristics of the project”. It should
contain information relating to the project which is likely to be needed to ensure the health and
safety of those involved in future projects.
The principal designer must also ensure that the file is appropriately reviewed, updated and
revised from time to time to take account of the work and any changes which may occur during
the project. The principal contractor is under a duty to provide the principal designer with any
relevant information for inclusion in the health and safety file. Designers will also need to
provide relevant information to the principal designer so that the file can be complied.
On those projects where the principal designer’s appointment finishes before the end of the
project, the duties relating to the health and safety file are passed onto the principal contractor.
At the end of the project the principal designer (or principal contractor) must pass the file onto
the client.
It is possible that a health and safety file already exists relevant to the current project being
undertaken. In these cases, the file must be included in the pre-construction information
provided by clients to ensure that contractors and designers preparing for the project can take
the information into account.
What is the health and safety file for?
The purpose of the health and safety file is very clear. It is a file of information complied to
protect people on construction projects which are undertaken in the future. As such, the health
and safety file is a vital source of information which should form part of any health and safety
management system in place for the construction project.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Regulation 4, requires
employers to have in place health and safety arrangements to ensure the effective planning,
organisation, control, monitoring and review of measures in place to protect people. The HSE’s
HSG65 Managing for Health and Safety describes a Plan–Do–Check–Act practical approach
to the management of health and safety, and the health and safety file will form part of such an
approach.
The clear purpose of the file is a distinct clue as to what should be included in the health and
safety file. It must only contain information which is relevant to the protection of people on
construction projects. All too often, the file is crammed (either physically or electronically)
with superfluous information which does not contribute to the defined brief for the health and
safety file.

What should the file contain?
According to HSE’s L153 Guidance to the Construction (Design and Management)

Regulations 2015, Appendix 4, the following information should be considered for information
in the health and safety file:
 a brief description of the work carried out

 any hazards that have not been eliminated through the design and construction
processes, and how they have been addressed (eg surveys or other information
concerning asbestos or contaminated land)
 key structural principles (eg bracing, sources of substantial stored energy — including
pre or post-tensioned members) and safe working loads for floors and roofs
 hazardous materials used (eg lead paints and special coatings)
 information regarding the removal or dismantling of installed plant and equipment (eg
any special arrangements for lifting such equipment)
 health and safety information about equipment provided for cleaning or maintaining the
structure
 the nature, location and markings of significant services, including underground cables,
gas supply equipment, fire-fighting services, etc
 information and as-built drawings of the building, its plant and equipment (eg the means
of safe access to and from service voids and fire doors).
The file should not include things that will be not help planning for health and safety on future
construction work such as:
 the pre-construction information or construction phase plan

 construction phase risk assessments, written systems of work and COSHH assessments
which were adopted during the project
 details about the normal operation of the completed structure
 construction phase accident statistics
 details of all of the contractors and designers involved in the project (though it may be
useful to include details of the principal contractor and principal designer)
 contractual documents;
 information about structures, or parts of structures, that have been demolished — unless
there are any implications for remaining or future structures, eg voids
 information contained in other documents.
Relevant cross-references should be included, however.
The file should be held in a convenient location and can be in paper form or electronic form.
Where the file is kept electronically, suitable back-up arrangements must be in place. The level
of detail of the file must be in proportion with the risks involved, and the degree of effort and
resources expended to compile the health and safety file must also be proportionate to the risks
in the project.
The file needs to be kept up to date and retained for as long as it is relevant — normally the
lifetime of a structure. Where clients dispose of their entire interest in a structure, they should
pass the file to the new owners and ensure that they are aware of the nature and purpose of the
file. Where they sell part of a structure, any relevant information in the file should be passed
or copied to the new owner.

If the client leases out all or part of the structure, arrangements need to be made for the health
and safety file to be made available to leaseholders. In some cases, the client might transfer the
file to the leaseholder during the lease period. In other cases, it may be appropriate for the client
to keep the file, but inform leaseholders that it is available.
If the leaseholder acts as a client for future construction projects, the leaseholder and the
original client will need to make arrangements for the file to be made available to the new
principal designer.


CN7010 Project Safety Management

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CN7010 PROJECT SAFETY MANAGEMENT

UNIT I CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS

UNIT II SAFETY PROGRAMMES

Problem Areas in Construction Safety – Elements of an Effective Safety Programme – Job-

UNIT III CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

Safety in Construction Contracts – Substance Abuse – Safety Record Keeping.

UNIT IV DESIGNING FOR SAFETY

UNIT V OWNERS’ AND DESIGNERS’ OUTLOOK

1. Jimmy W. Hinze, Construction Safety, Prentice Hall Inc., 1997.

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

SAFETY IN CONSTRUCTION SITES

Fig 05 – Parts of a hoist – Courtesy: disabilityworktools

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

Fig 07 – Wrong way of using a ladder – Courtesy: eavestroughkits.com

Fig 08 – Right way of using a ladder – Courtesy: eavestroughkits.com

ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSES

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

Your rights as a worker

Your safety rights

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

HUMAN FACTORS IN CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

COSTS OF CONSTRUCTION INJURIES

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

OCCUPATIONAL AND SAFETY HAZARD ASSESSMENT

Occupational risk can be assessed in the following five steps:

 Step 1: Identify the threat.

Step 1- Identify the threat

Step 2 - Determine who could be injured or fall sick

Remember that the occupational risk assessment refers to all workers.

When is occupational risk large and unacceptable?

Consider the following when planning actions to reduce risk:

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

Step 4 - Document the results

Many different hazards may be encountered or created by construction activity. An effective

 Monitors the workplace for hazards or potential hazards

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

The main OSH hazards/risks in the construction industry

OSHA - Occupational and Safety Hazard Assessment

a) hazards/risks that may cause occupational accidents, sometimes fatal, immediately or

J.J College of Engineering & Technology

WORKER SAFETY SERIES

Potential hazards for workers in construction include:

 Falls (from heights);

Occupational Safety and Health Administration - Hazards & Solutions

 Use the correct ladder for the task.

 Never enter an unprotected trench.

 Check all crane controls to insure proper operation before use.

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Eye and Face Protection

 Gloves should fit snugly.

 Scaffolds should be set on sound footing.

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UNIT II SAFETY PROGRAMMES

Problem Areas in Construction Safety – Elements of an Effective Safety Programme – Job-

PROBLEM AREAS IN CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

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6 First aid and fire safety

Safety and Welfare

Stockpile Management, Burglary and Theft

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Here’s what NAHB recommends: