Abstract
This paper attempts to highlight the prevailing hazards and subsequent safety measures in construction activities. The main elements of accidents in the construction industry are known as fatal four that include falls, caught between objects, electrocution and struck by objects. These elements contribute massive fatalities in the construction industry and "falls" are considered as the frequent cause of fatalities. Moreover, fatal injuries have declined during last one decade. Pre-planning is integral in construction activities, and so safety management and planning should be made an important part of the pre-planning step. All possible hazards at the construction site need to be evaluated before execution of the project to mitigate the construction hazards. It is essential to involve both top managers and the workers to develop an adequate safety culture. The workers need to wear all possible personal protective equipment at workplace or site to avoid the hazards. Hence, the top executives and managers need to go through the training to equip with necessary strategic measures for safety, and it will motivate the workers to obey the safety culture.
Introduction
The construction industry is known as highly hazardous industry and involves activities such as alteration, repairs, construction. In fact, hazards are never unexpected in any construction activity, especially when it would involve heavy or mechanized equipment. Moreover, these hazards can be a huge risk as most can result to deep – rooted injuries or certain deaths. (Choudhry, Fang, and Ahmed; Smith). The main elements of accidents in the construction industry also referred as the fatal four that include falls, caught between objects, electrocution and struck by objects. In other words, these accidents and injuries are associated to repetitive motion, caught – in or stuck – by falling objects, electric shock and arc flash / arc blast, collapsing trench and scaffold and so forth.
Overview of Construction Activities and Potential Accidents
The incidences of either worker caught – in or struck by falling objects at the common place during construction activities. A lot of fall incidences happen as a consequence to bad working surfaces or negligence of safety rules on the part of the workers. It is recommended by OSHA to bring into concern the need of utilizing aerial lifts or elevated platforms in order to encourage more secure working ground. In addition, there is a need to seal up the holes on the floor as well as set up guardrail systems with toeboards which should be accompanied by warning lines or control line system (Osha.gov). The scaffolding can cause quite a disaster situation if not handled well. Many construction workers keep getting injuries from these scaffolds. Trenches are not left behind as workers are also exposed to prevalent hazards resulting from this activity. However, OSHA's regulatory measures offer that scaffolding should be built strong and stable enough to uphold itself and the anticipated load that it is designed to carry. It is also advocated that objects that have lost stability or balance such as loose concrete blocks or bricks, boxes, barrels, should not be allowed to stand as support to the scaffold. Proper inspection by someone with professional experience is encouraged to be conducted before embarking on the use of the scaffold. For safety around the trench, the worker should avoid entering an unprotected trench (OSHA).The shock is another major challenge in construction activity by an unprotected wire or unguarded surge of voltage. In the course of work, the electric voltage may not be considered normal that can cause the electrocution of workers. OSHA advice the construction firms to ensure consistently that their power supply units are shut down before handling electrical circuits.
Ambiguity in the OSHA’s Regulations
As per OSHA's regulations, it can easily be observed that ambiguity hardly exists in the context of the recent guide in respect of employee personal protective equipment and training violations. Unlikely, the issue of ambiguity came up for the 1926.1101 (f) section of the OSHA's regulation because of the term "appropriate" used for respiratory equipment. However, OSHA has maintained that the word "appropriate" was intentionally used in order to encourage employers to provide effective respiratory equipment for employees (osha.gov- Clarification ). As a result of the questions of ambiguity or clarifications on OSHA’s regulations, a few letters have been published by the organization in order to address them. For instance, OSHA stresses that goods that are shipped from abroad into the US should be labeled as Category 3 or 4 flammable liquids, irrespective of whether they are so or not
Fatality Rate and OSHA’s Flair for Construction Activities
In the history of construction activity, there have been several incidences of injuries and resulting to death or fatalities. According to Smith, the reported deaths in the US in the construction activities were about 1000 in the year 2002 with peak number in 2007 by 1500 but it came down to about 600 in 2012. Moreover, four fatal activities contributed in 57% of the total fatalities and among these, "falls" are reported as the frequent cause of fatalities contributing up to 36% out of the 57% fatalities. This is followed by struck by objects, electrocution and caught between objects that contributed 10%. 9% and 2% respectively (Smith). OSHA has a great passion for construction activity. This is because the organization has clearly emphasized on the safety of construction workers by their obvious regulations for handling hazards. Protective Systems and Planning for Safety in Construction Activities
The construction industries are clearly faced with so many hazards as mentioned above, but protective systems have been developed in order to reduce risks. These protective systems involve the personal protective equipment (PPE) such as eye and face protection using safety glasses or face shield, foot protection using slip or puncture resistant shoes or boots, hand protection using gloves, head protection using hard hats, and so forth (osha.gov).
Moreover, pre-planning is essential in the construction projects, and it is imperative to include the issue of safety in pre-planning phase by evaluating all potential hazards during the entire construction. This can facilitate to mitigate the potential hazards during the execution phase. In this context, executives, managers, and workers should be trained for safety culture. Moreover, safety culture demands the involvement of the top executives and managers. Therefore, it should be compulsory that the top executives go through the OSHA 30 hour certification training and other training.The seniors need to set the example for the workers for their effective involvement in the development of safety culture (Cesarini, Hall, and Kupiec).
Conclusion and Personal Lesson
A major lesson from this assignment is observing safety rules and practices in my selected career. I also acquired awareness regarding concerns that bother on ambiguity or clarifications in order to comprehend fully what is meant by any stated regulations or rules. Hence, words should make true meaning to one. The professional approach should be accorded in one’s career. Subsequently, this work has also brought to terms the issue of the employer to employee rights and safety responsibilities.
Work Cited
Cesarini, George, Geoffrey Hall, and Matthew Kupiec. Building: A Proactive Safety Culture in the Construction Industry. . ACE USA, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.< http://www.acegroup.com/us-en/assets/progress-report-proactive-safety-culture-in-construction.pdf>
Choudhry, Rafiq M., Dongping Fang, and Syed M. Ahmed. "Safety Management in Construction: Best Practices in Hong Kong". J. Prof. Issues Eng. Educ. Pract. 134.1 (2008): 20-32. Print.
OSHA, A Guide to Scaffold Use in the Construction Industry. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2002. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.
< https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3150.pdf>
Osha.gov. "Clarification Of Employer Duty To Provide Personal Protective Equipment And Train Each Employee - 73:75568-75589". N.p., 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.< https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=21370>
Osha.gov. "Worker Safety Series - Construction". Web. 12 Feb. 2016.< https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3252/3252.html>
Smith, Sandy. "Fatal Four: Safety in the Construction Industry [Infographic]". Ehstoday.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.< http://ehstoday.com/construction/fatal-four-safety-construction-industry-infographic>
