Safety Measures to be Adopted and Taken Care of During Construction Work

Constructions Works refer to the set of activities performed for the build out of site which normally includes Excavation for foundations, Structural steel fixing, concreting of foundations, Construction of boundary wall equipment room/equipment shelter, erection of tower and power supply works at site.  Some of the activities are extremely risky such as excavation (which involves risk to settlement of nearby foundations such as a house just adjacent to the site, due to removal of lateral support for its foundation, and tower erection works). Following is a generalized list of safety measures to adopted for construction works. However, project and case specific measures also needs to be identified and adopted by the concerned Project manager and Site Engineer.

1.       Construction works should be essentially performed in the daytime. When work at night is necessary or compulsory, however, the working area and any accesses to the work area will be light up to a sufficient extent, and measures to guarantee the during work safety.

2.       All scaffolds (i.e. formwork), platforms, passages, railings, staircase handrails, safety ropes, safety nets, chains, cables and all other protective equipment as well as safety belts issued to workers should be of a sufficient strength to bear the weight associated with the work performed, and workers situated in areas where there is danger of tools, debris and work materials falling will be provided with and made to wear protective hardhats.

3.       Dangerous spots within the work area should be clearly marked and bordered using an appropriate method.

4.       During the course of construction work, materials and wastes with pointed ends or sharp edges should not be disposed carelessly or left in the work area, and materials should not be piled or left lying in a manner that will cause workers any danger.

5.       Any holes or openings on roofs has to be fitted with screens or covered suitably for the duration of the work.

6.       In cases where collective safety of workers cannot be ensured, workers should be given personal protective equipment suited to the nature of the work they perform and to the physical attributes of individual workers.

7.       Scaffolds used on rooftops or inclined surfaces has to be fitted with suitable guardrails, which should be strong enough to prevent a worker losing his balance from falling from the scaffold.

8.       In work areas exposed to strong winds, workers without appropriate safety measures being implemented, needs to be strongly discouraged by all possible means very strictly.