INGENIEUR
4. Co-operating, communicating and co-
ordinating
Construction sites are unique workplaces, where
there is usually more than one employer (including
the client, the designers and the contractors) who
carry out their respective activities in the same
place. It is not uncommon that work activities of
one employer will affect the safety and health of
another employer as every employer is competing
to complete their respective undertaking. The
OSHA requires every employer to ensure that
these risks are managed effectively. Therefore,
it is essential that all employers working on a site
co-operate with each other, especially in managing
risk and co-ordinating their work to ensure safety
and health on site.
Any employer who has control of the site
(usually the main contractor) should ensure
other employers (such as the consultant and the
contractors appointed by the main contractor) who
start work at different stages on the construction
phase co-operate with each other. This co-
operation includes providing relevant information
and instruction for a new contractor to carry out
his work safely and communicating with each
other to make sure everyone understands the
risks and the measures to control those risks.
For example, regular dialogues or meetings
are conducted between the client, the designer
and the contractor to ensure they have the time
and resources to plan, manage, monitor and co-
ordinate the pre-construction and construction
phases. Likewise, the main contractor should also
conduct progress meetings at suitable intervals to
ensure his sub-contractors are complying with the
established construction phase plan. To facilitate
better communication and co-ordination, it is
important that a robust, safe, system of work is
established.
5. Consulting and engaging with workers
Consulting and engaging with workers on the
decisions about safety and health measures
can create safer and healthier workplaces. The
process helps in generating ideas and building
ownership and responsibility. Consultation on
safety and health is a two-way communication
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process. It involves giving information, instruction
and training to the workers, listening to them and
considering their opinion before decisions are
made by the employer. This exercise can be done
for example, over a meeting before work starts
to discuss the work planned for the day, identify
risks and discuss the agreed upon appropriate
control measures. Involving workers helps those
responsible for safety and health to manage it in a
practical way by:
(a) helping spot workplace risks and knowing
what to do about them;
(b) making sure safety and health controls are
appropriate;
(c) increasing the level of commitment to
working in a safe and healthy way.
Consultation is a legal requirement. Workers
should be consulted at the right time. The
Occupational Safety and Health (Safety and
Health Committee) Regulations and the Factories
and Machinery (Building Operations and Works
of Engineering Construction) (Safety) Regulations
require employers to consult their workforce
and sub-contractors about safety and health,
either directly with workers or through elected
representatives.
During pre-construction stage, people involved
at the design stage should communicate with each
other about the potential risks and work together
to find solutions so that a safe workplace can be
achieved and sustained. Even during the early
stages of the construction project, by drawing on
the knowledge and experience of other people,
including workers, more informed decisions can
be made about how the building or structure can
be designed to eliminate or minimise risks.
In summary, great opportunities can be gained
by learning from failures, with properly conducted
accident investigations, both by the DOSH and
employers. However, looking at the current trend
of accidents, much remains to be done to reduce
the number of workers killed while working in the
construction industry. The OSHCIM Guidelines
have been developed based on key elements to
ensure good OSH management of construction
projects. These key elements are very related to
the influencing factors in construction accidents,
and implementing the recommendations of these
guidelines will help the industry to manage OSH
risks on the construction site.