NCC2: Construction health and safety practical application Part I

NCC2: Construction health and safety practical application Part II
NCC2: Construction health and safety practical application Part III

The aim of the post is to assist the reader in gaining the knowledge & ability to complete successfully two activities

• To carry out unaided a safety inspection of a construction workplace identifying the more common hazards, deciding whether they are adequately controlled and where necessary, suggesting appropriate and cost-effective remedial action
• To prepare a report that persuasively urges management to take appropriate action, explaining why such action is needed (including reference to possible breaches of legislation) and identifying, with due consideration of reasonable practicability, the remedial measures that should be implemented.

Guidance on carrying out the inspection and writing the report:

1.    The inspection

This will consist of you carrying out an inspection of one or more locations and listing your findings in a prescribed manner on a form given to you.

No work will be taking place in the location inspected so therefore the inspection will be carried out to identify standards of safety in the workplace and will not involve looking at work practices.

Workers at all levels generally create unsafe conditions. For example:

• Unsafe premises due to poor design or layout or lack of maintenance.
• Unsafe plant resulting from poor selection criteria, lack of maintenance, carelessness or abuse.
• Poor housekeeping standards due to lack of storage space, untidiness, laziness, and lack of management planning or poor supervision.
• Incorrect use of plant, machinery or tools.
• Environmental hazards due to ignorance, carelessness or not carrying out adequate risk assessments.
• Welfare facilities that are inadequate, poorly maintained or being misused.
• Lack of adequate emergency arrangements due to lack of foresight, planning, control, communications or training.

When carrying out the inspection of the workplace you should be able to spot deficiencies in such things as:

• Management systems.
• Diligence or competence of supervisors.
   
• Safety culture within the organisation's workforce.
• Obvious physical deficiencies.

    2.    Plan of action for the inspection

The time allocated to carry out the inspection of the work place is limited to between 30 to 45 minutes and it is therefore important that you have a simple plan of action in order to make the best use of the time available.

Planned inspections must be considered in three main areas:

• Physical
• Environmental
• Managerial

    3.    Memory check-list

As no work will be taking place in the area at the time of the inspection initial concentration must be on physical things. A memory checklist is useful when carrying out inspections. For example look

AT		FOR
Housekeeping Standards		Untidy areas
Waste receptacles		Overflowing or wrongly used
Storage		Tools and other items left lying around
Access and egress		Obstructed
Layout		Does it look planned with efficient use of space
Floors		Look for potential hazards of slipping, tripping or falls
Machinery safety		Are machines fit for purpose
Positioning		Are the space around them reasonable
Machinery		Are there defective parts or missing guards
Controls		Are they easily accessed, identified and in good order
Foundations		Are all machinery and plant foundations secure or adequate
Electrical installations/equipment		Are    installations    and    equipment    in    good condition and periodically tested
Switch gear		All clearly identified in an uncluttered area
Other utilities		Are all gas or hydraulic installations or supplies in good order
Gas bottles		Is the    storage satisfactory in well ventilated areas
Welding and cutting		Suitability of areas, protection from glare and fumes
Local exhaust ventilation		Is LEV adequate and properly installed
Environmental		Is lighting, temperature, humidity reasonable and atmosphere reasonably clean and free from undue noise, fumes or dusts or vibrations
Manual hand-tools		Are hand-tools in suitable and in good condition
Hazardous materials and processes		Are data sheets available for operators
Containers		Are all containers suitable and labelled
Transportation		Are arrangements suitable
Usage		Are substances fit for the purpose that they are used for
Disposal		Are arrangements adequate
Notices		Are all statutory and other notices displayed
Welfare facilities, including first aid		Available and adequate
Internal transport		Routes and vehicle parking satisfactory.
Mechanical handling equipment		Supplied where appropriate and in satisfactory condition
Personal protective equipment		Is it provided as required, in good order and well looked after
Emergency precautions		Are there any in place with notices posted
Alarm arrangements		Are these satisfactory
Emergency lighting		Is this provided, if required
Evacuation routes		Are these free from obstructions, protected from ingress of fire and smoke, well sign-posted with final exits easily opened and good access to a designated assembly point
Smoking		Is smoking restricted and is this being adhered to
Flammable materials/substances		Are these being stored and disposed of properly

Items highlighted are issues whist other items are items to be considered within the issue

NB: This list is indicative rather than a comprehensive list of what should be looked at and for during the inspection. Items highlighted can be considered as issues.

All deficiencies noted on the inspection sheets should be factual. Candidates can also note good points such as good housekeeping standards on the observation sheets or in the report to management.

From the list of factual deficiencies that are identified it will be possible to reach a conclusion about some work activities and consequential recommendations.

For example:

• Lack of LEV would lead to the conclusion that there will be environmental hazards when people are welding or burning.
• Because of the number of hazards you will identify it would be reasonable to assume the knowledge or skills of managers and supervisor will require to be improved through additional training.
• Broken or missing guards would imply a lack of care or maintenance.
• The amount and type of deficiencies noted would indicate a lack of or poor risk assessments and monitoring arrangements leading to a need for discipline and training.

These examples can be incorporated into the body of the report to management provided they are based on the physical conditions and facts gathered during the inspection