safety in construction

2. INTRODUCTION
 Quality control and safety represent increasingly important
concerns for project managers.
 Defects or failures in constructed facilities can result in
very large costs.
 Even with minor defects, re-construction may be required
and facility operations impaired.
 Increased costs and delays are the result. In the worst case,
failures may cause personal injuries or fatalities.
 Accidents during the construction process can similarly
result in personal injuries and large costs.
 Indirect costs of insurance, inspection and regulation are
increasing rapidly due to these increased direct costs.
 Good project managers try to ensure that the job is done
right the first time and that no major accidents occur on
the project.

3. Organizing for Quality and Safety
 A variety of different organizations are possible for quality
and safety control during construction.
 One common model is to have a group responsible for
quality assurance and another group primarily responsible
for safety within an organization.
 In large organizations, departments dedicated to quality
assurance and to safety might assign specific individuals to
assume responsibility for these functions on particular
projects.
 For smaller projects, the project manager or an assistant
might assume these and other responsibilities.
 In either case, insuring safe and quality construction is a
concern of the project manager in overall charge of the
project in addition to the concerns of personnel, cost, time
and other management issues.

4. Work and Material Specifications
 Specifications of work quality are an important feature of
facility designs.
 Specifications of required quality and components
represent part of the necessary documentation to describe
a facility.
 Typically, this documentation includes any special
provisions of the facility design as well as references to
generally accepted specifications to be used during
construction.

5. Cont..,
 General specifications of work quality are available in
numerous fields and are issued in publications of
organizations such as the American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM), the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI), or the Construction Specifications
Institute (CSI).
 Distinct specifications are formalized for particular types of
construction activities, such as welding standards issued by
the American Welding Society, or for particular facility
types, such as the Standard Specifications for Highway
Bridges issued by the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials.
 These general specifications must be modified to reflect
local conditions, policies, available materials, local
regulations and other special circumstances.

6. SAFETY STATISTICS
 Construction was the industry with the highest total
injury and illness rates per 100 FTE workers.
 Each day, approximately 345 Minnesotans are hurt at
 work or become ill from job-related causes
 In 2001, 76 Minnesotans were fatally injured on the job
 Twenty-seven percent of injured workers had been
with their employers for less than one year.

7. OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
 December 29, 1970
 President Richard M. Nixon signed the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970.
 OSHA is charged with making sure that, “No contractor (or
employee) shall require any laborer or mechanic employed
in the performance of the contract to work in surroundings
or under working conditions which are unsanitary,
hazardous, or dangerous to his/her health or safety.”
 Part 1910 - Occupational Safety and Health Standards
 Part 1926 - Safety and Health Regulations for Construction

8. EXCAVATIONS, TRENCHING AND
SHORING
 Workers in trenches >5’ deep protected
 Shoring designed to meet accepted engineering
 standards
 Excavated material placed at least 2’ from edge
 Trench supports installed during excavation
 Trench supports removed from bottom up
 Ladders provided no more than 25’ apart
 Refer to 1926.650 Subpart P - Excavations and
Appendices

9. Ladders, Scaffolding, Safety Belts &
Lifelines
 Ladders are not to be used as work platforms
 Scaffolding used for all work which cannot be done safely
from the ground:-
Guardrails on platforms <45” wide required above 4’
height and all above 10’ height ladders provided for access.
Safety belts, lifelines, or lanyards used for:
 work in hoppers, bins, etc.
 hazardous slopes, structural steel, poles, tying re-bar,
boatswain’s chairs, etc.
 other unguarded locations at elevations > 6’

10. The Construction Industry
Cause of Deaths:
 Falling through fragile roofs and roof lights.
 Falling from ladders, scaffolds and other work places.
 Being struck by excavators, lift trucks or dumpers.
 Being struck by falling loads and equipment.
 Being crushed by collapsing structures.

11. Health & Safety In Construction
 Potential Causes
 Lack of planning / Poor management
 Tight deadlines
 Overlapping trades
 Sub-contract labour
 Foreign workers
 Understand site rules?
 Young operatives
 Risk takers
 Horseplay

12. Cont..,
Site Specific Issues:
 Working at Height
 Manual Handling
 PPE(Personnel Protective
Equipment)
 Training

13. PROTECTING EMPLOYEES FROM
WORKPLACE HAZARDS
Employers must protect employees from
hazards
 such as falling objects, harmful substances, and
 noise exposures that can cause injury
Employers must:
 Use all feasible engineering and work practice
 controls to eliminate and reduce hazards
 Use personal protective equipment (PPE) if the
 controls don’t eliminate the hazards.
 PPE is the last level of control!

14. ENGINEERING CONTROLS
If . . .
 The work environment can be physically
changed to prevent employee exposure to the
potential hazard,
Then . . .
 The hazard can be eliminated with an
 engineering control

15. ENGINEERING CONTROLS
EXAMPLES . . .
Initial design specifications
•Substitute less harmful material
•Change process
•Enclose process
•Isolate process

16. WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS
If . . .
 Employees can change the way they do their jobs and
the exposure to the potential hazard is removed,
Then . . .
 The hazard can be eliminated with a work
 practice control

17. WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS -- EXAMPLES

18. RESPONSIBILITIES
Employer
Assess workplace for hazards
Provide PPE
Determine when to use
Provide PPE training for employees and
Instruction in proper use
•Employee
 Use PPE in accordance with training
received and other instructions
 Inspect daily and maintain in a clean and
 reliable condition

19. Training
 If employees are required to use PPE, train them:
 Why it is necessary
 How it will protect them
 What are its limitations
 When and how to wear
 How to identify signs of wear
 How to clean and disinfect
 What is its useful life & how is it disposed

20. When must Eye Protection be Provided?
When any of these hazards are present:
 Dust and other flying particles, such as metal shavings
or sawdust
 Corrosive gases, vapors, and liquids
 Molten metal that may splash
 Potentially infectious materials such as blood or
hazardous liquid chemicals that may splash
 Intense light from welding and lasers

21. When Must Hearing Protection be Provided?
After implementing engineering and work practice
controls
When an employee’s noise exposure exceeds an 8-hour
time-weighted average (TWA) sound level of 90 dBA

22. When Must Foot Protection be Provided?
When any of these are present:
 Heavy objects such as barrels or tools that might roll
onto or fall on employees’ feet
 Sharp objects such as nails or spikes that might pierce
ordinary shoes
 Molten metal that might splash on feet
 Hot or wet surfaces
 Slippery surfaces

23. When Must Hand Protection be Provided?
 When any of these are present:
 Burns
 Bruises
 Abrasions
 Cuts
 Punctures
 Fractures
 Amputations
 Chemical Exposures

24. Examples of PPE
BODY PART PROTECTION
Eye Safety glasses, goggles
Face Face shields
Head hard hats
Feet Safety shoes
Hands &Arms Gloves
Bodies Vests
Hearing Ear plugs, earmuffs

25. Eye and Face Protection
 Thousands of people are blinded each year from
work-related eye injuries. According to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly three out of five
workers are injured while failing to wear eye and
face protection.

26. PPE PROGRAM
 Includes procedures for selecting,
 providing and using PPE
 First -- assess the workplace to determine
 If hazards are present, or likely to be present, which
necessitate the use of PPE.
 After selecting PPE, provide training to
 employees who are required to use it.

27. Summary
 Employers must implement a PPE program where
they:
 Assess the workplace for hazards
 Use engineering and work practice controls to
eliminate or reduce hazards before using PPE
 Select appropriate PPE to protect employees from
hazards that cannot be eliminated
 Inform employees why the PPE is necessary, how and
when it must be worn
 Train employees how to use and care for their PPE,
including how to recognize deterioration and failure
 Require employees to wear selected PPE

28.  When employees are trained to work safely
they should be able to anticipate and avoid
injury from job-related hazards.

29. THANK YOU