Construction Safety Implication Costs and Risk Management System

This research paper evaluates the impact of health, safety and work within the construction industry, at the same time applying the safety and cost implementations. It focuses on the advantages and disadvantages, financial burdens, short term and long term benefits and implications on the project timelines.

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MAJOR PROJECTS IN CONSTRUCTIONS
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
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Date

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‘‘Construction safety implication costs and risk management system’’
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 Executive Summary..................................................................................................4
2.0 Objective...................................................................................................................5
3.0 Specific objective of the study..................................................................................5
4.0 Introduction...............................................................................................................6
5.0The Importance of safety within the construction industry.......................................9
5.1 Importance of safety in construction today.........................................................9
5.2 Implementing Safety in Construction................................................................12
5.21. Implementing safety managers and safety committees..........................13
5.22. Point out success...................................................................................13
5.23. Planning safety......................................................................................13
5.24. Subcontractors qualifications................................................................13
5.25. Safety education & Training.................................................................14
5.26. Follow on fall management...................................................................14
5.27. Review near misses and accidents.........................................................14
5.28. Evaluate each project phase for safety..................................................14

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5.3Merits & Demerits of safety in construction today..................................................15
6.0 Economic effects on construction costs while managing safety.............................17
6.1 Economic benefits and constrains.....................................................................17
6.2 Large businesses VS small businesses regarding safety costs..........................21
6.3 Reasons for investing health and safety............................................................22
7. Conclusion................................................................................................................24
8. References.................................................................................................................26

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1.0 Executive Summary
Construction safety is one of the major elements in safe building construction,
efficiency and the most complex aspect in the efficient buildings. The continuous
demand on the construction sector shows its recognition as a strong force in the
economics and business. However the boom supplies business which have more work
creating more job opportunities and also earning a lot of incoming. In the construction
industry injuries are common occurrences which results to a suffering for the quality
of the work, time, and morale of the environment which results to the overall increase
in the cost of the entire project. Health and safety are the main defying factors when
creating legislation, nevertheless they are in most case not managed on site.
Healthy, safety and work should be given the first priority for the managing beam.
This is because the prevention of injuries at the construction sites could save the
money at the same time reduce the burden for both the individual and the business.
Inadequate safety and health precautions at the construction sites can lead to
permanent damage or even death. Most of the construction companies are forced to
neglect health and safety precautions due to the amount of pressure they meet while
trying to meet the set deadlines of the projects. The negligence which most of the
companies do leads to the set timelines being prolonged.
The main objective of writing this paper is to evaluate the impact of health, safety and
work within the construction industry, at the same time applying the safety and cost
implementations. This research focuses specifically focuses on the advantages and
disadvantages, financial burdens, short term and long term benefits and implications
on the project timelines.
Proper onsite training is very essential for the managing team as they may put in place
safety related procedures targeting the workers who can therefore exploit and

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demonstrate safety characters. There are workplace, health and safety precautions and
restrictions on all worksite, nevertheless tougher workplace, health and safety
implementations on the construction sites are very significant trait which companies
should take with a lot of seriousness. Enhanced safety on the construction sites can be
instigated by the managing team which will thus have an influence on the safety of
the workers
2.0 Objective
The main aim of his thesis is to examine many aspects relating to the risk
management and construction safety. These include the project timelines and project
cost when incorporating high safety standards on the projects with tight timelines and
budgets. The topic of research was chosen mainly because the construction industry is
growing at a very high rate, which calls for implementation of safety precautions in
the day to day construction activities in order to avoid fatalities, injuries and reduce
the time and the cost of the fatalities aftermath effects.
3.0 Specific objective of the study
There were specific aims of the study and they include.
 Training site staff safety
 Safety standard comparison between tier 1 & 3.
 Managing construction safety system.
 Safety induction process.
 Avoiding hazards/risks on the construction sites.
 Implementation of safety and health precautions.
 Cost effect on the project timelines.
 Managing WHS Management Plans.
 Reasons why the construction sites are shutdown.

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 Finding out the significance of safety management on site.
 Find out the Construction delays due to safety
 Control Measures in place.
 Reporting and recording safety issues/Risks.
 Safety Document Control.
 Safety Certificates & License
4.0 Introduction
This thesis will try to evaluate into details whether the safety management system
affects the overall project timelines and the overall cost of the project. This thesis will
mainly be based on the Tier one builder as they put in place a lot of efforts to manage
the construction risks and safety.
The injuries which occurs at the construction sites are due to the lack of training or
supervision. Workplace, Health and safety legislation have been put in place to
protect the business from potential accidents. These regulations must be observed by
all the traders, specifically those from the construction industry as it is one of the
industries which are faced with the high risks. Lot of emphasis should be put on the
workplace, health and safety in order to minimize the industries cost. The construction
industry is rising at a very high speed. Lack of proper safety precautions being put in
place it introduces a greater risk to the people who are working in different
construction sites as the industry made up 5% of the workforce but was the reason for
11% of workplace fatalities in Victoria alone. For the last 11 years the number of
workers has increased with approximately 33%.
The number of fatalities can be reduced by implementing safety and health
precautions but in most cases they are ignored because a lot of focus is focused on the

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timeline program and the economic aspect of the site. The operators and the
management should effectively apply safety and health precautions which will result
to the safer environment and system according to Vdais (1996) in the construction
handbook. It is very debatable that the project timelines are the most important factor
to be discussed before the implementation of the project starts. Nevertheless the site
safety in most cases is not given a lot of weight and it lies at the bottom of the
hierarchy of the priorities. Holmes (1999) proposes that the economic merits and
demerits and the project timelines are seen to be the topic of convention and thus it
appears to greatly impact the way one sees the risks. The risk factors at the
construction sites are also neglected.
Health, safety and productivity enhances the quality of the project (Levitt 1995)
nevertheless, the pressure which the contractors receive regarding to the completion
of the project are also very demanding. Hinze proposed in 1988 that most of the
people in the construction industry does not feel that the health and safety are very
important in regarding to the success of the project. According to Hinze (1997)the
projects which are ahead of the timelines or running according to the timeline
programs and are within the budget in such projects the safety and health precautions
and measures are outstanding and they might have contributed to the success of the
project.
The beliefs which most of the parties in the construction industry are that there safety
and health measures comes with cost5 of which it is not true, and it has resulted to
most of the operators ignoring the implementation of the measures. Most of the
managers believe that the implementation the safety precautions and measures will
increase the cost of the project and thus reducing the profit margins. From the
research and studies which have been carried out it is very clear that for the

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construction companies which implement the safety and health precautions they
increase their profit margins through the increase in product, morale of the workers,
reduction of the leaves and decrease in attrition. (Mohammed 2003).
This research outlines the results in time and cost when putting in place effective
safety and health procedures and at the same time to determine whether focusing
more resources and time on the safety measures can reduce the fatalities and injuries
which are witnessed at the construction sites. With the safety and health being a
humanitarian and economic concern they require a lot of attention (Grace Muiruri,
2014).This research paper explains the effects of putting in place safety and health
from the economic perspective, short term and long term benefit s and the similarity
and prioritization of these factors in the process of developing the site timelines
programs.
5.0 significance of safety in construction industry.
The benefits of implementing safety and health precautions in the construction sites
are discussed in details in this section. The current and future benefits and limitations
are also discussed in details in this section.
5.1 Importance of safety in construction today
The number of workers and developments in the construction industry are increasing
at a very high rate which has motivated the manufactures and engineers to develop
technological advancement which facilitate faster construction of buildings and other
structures. Due to the technological advancements which are being made in the
construction industry it is very important to implement safety and health precautions.
The research which was conducted by. Marianne Törner (2009) to test the safety of
the construction sites from the experienced workers. The participants who took part in

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the study included 119 managers from grand development within Sweden. From the
findings of the study it was very clear that individual and managerial attitudes greatly
influences the safety performance of the construction sites. Nevertheless Holmes’
(1999)
Proposed that in Australia the risks within the construction industry are high because
of pressure which is mounted on the contractor regarding to timelines and the project
cost.
In the industry of computing the benefits of safety in the construction industry can be
easily recognized. The simulators have been developed to improve the education and
training with the main aim of increasing the safety of workers on the construction
sites. The application simulators has greatly increased initially the simulators were
used mainly for leisure and for military purposes. However their application has
extended to the construction industry (J Lorenzo et.al. 2001).
The workers who train who to apply the simulators expand improve their knowledge
and skills which gives them a lot of confidence to use the modern technology in
construction. The VAR simulators which are available for training include: Wheeled
excavator, mast platform, good lift and dumper (Alvaro Segura et.al. 2007).The
introduction of the simulators in the construction industry are aimed at enhancing the
safety of the workers at the construction sites
According to Moreanne Törner (2009) one cannot act in a safer way unless they have
the competence and ability to act so. Thus, the significance of the competence and the
knowledge that is the sufficient training- is an important factor in minimising the risk.
He conducted his study and came to a conclusion that the health and safety were both
very significant as shown in fig 1 below.

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It was found out that 92.8% of the participants agreed that safety at the construction
sites is greatly impacted by the factors which the company see as competitive tenders.
The significance of safety in the construction sites varies from one business to
another. Some of the business classifies the significance of safety and health higher in
their management plans. Safety is very essential for all aspects of planning a
development as the failure to reduce injuries, this may cause fiscal issues later. The
companies may be affected by saving the money which was to be used in
implementing safety procedures.
5.2 Implementing safety in the construction industry.
Putting in place construction safety on site is all creating a proactive culture in the
construction industry. Even though the risk control mechanism have been put in
place ,the construction sites still remains to be very dangerous .The safety and health

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mechanisms needs to be to implemented to ensure that the construction sites are very
safe.
In order to achieve safer industry and workplace, safety needs regular efforts to be put
in place. Jaselskies (1996) suggests that the management of the construction sites
should focus more in the safety and health programs as much as possible. The
outcome of the programs will be worth the money, time and resources to help in
managing safety of the project. Through the retention of large portions of the risk via
deductibles, the project will be expected to incur significant costs for the accidents
which occur at the site .Delays in project implementation plays a very significant role
in the projects it could lead to the project failing to meet the set timelines which will
not be appealing to the client.
The current construction culture taking risks is part of the construction process and
there is no need of putting the safety precautions. The workers on the construction
sites are put at high risks due to the machines and the power tools which they use
while constructing large buildings.
For the purpose of achieving safety at the construction, keeping the projects according
to the set timelines and reducing the cost the following steps are taken:
5.21. Implementing safety managers and safety committees
A safety committee is need to be formed by the safety managers in the construction
companies. The major aim of forming the committee is to discuss and review safety
performance on the specific site.

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5.22 Pointing out success
It is very beneficial to ensure that all the subcontractors who take part in the
implementation of the project are aware of the rules and regulation which they have
bleached. At the same time the hazards which they have created at the site. When the
cases of fatalities and accidents at the sites have gone down it is very important to
recognize the success of managing safety at the site.
5.23. Planning for safety
It is very important to develop a safety plan prior to the implementation of the project
so as to identify the potential hazards and risks.
5.24. The qualifications of the subcontractors
In the process of implementing any project different subcontractors are involved. It is
very important to ensure that the subcontractors submit their, safety history including
the accident cases which they have ever been involved in.
5.25 Safety training and education
The workers who are to take part in the implementation of the project require
adequate training regarding to their safety at the construction sites. This can include
the training of how to use safety equipment and how they can be able to identify risks.
It is very essential for the Contractors to take new employees through induction
process.
5.26 Follow on fall management
Fall is one of the main issues in the construction sites and should be treated a issues
with very high risks and due to that they should be handled with a lot of seriousness.

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5.27 Review near misses and accidents
It is very important to review all the accidents which occurs in the construction sites
so as to determine the root cause and to ensure that they don’t happen again.
5.28. Evaluate each project phase for safety
It should be ensured that each phase of the project is reviewed so that you can avoid
any particular issues that have risen.
5.3Merits & Demerits of safety in construction today
Putting in place safety in the construction industry today exhibits many benefits for
both short term and long term. Nevertheless, most of the construction managers
perceive the safety at the construction sites as burden.
In Australia most of the construction firms are small business approximately 97 %
( Lingard 2002).The small business have witnessed high fatality rates, to be more
precise the construction industry. There are more cases of ergonomics, physical and
chemical hazards. Most of this small businesses they employ younger, less educated
and less experienced staff. Also some of this small construction firms they don’t have
sufficient funding to buy modern equipment which are safer than the standard ones.
Figure 2 below outlines the merits and demerits of implementing the health and safety
measures in the construction sites.

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6.0 Economic effects on construction costs while managing safety
In this section the effects of implementing safety precautions on site will be
investigated into details.
6.1 Economic benefits and constrains
It would be very challenging to justify that the construction safety and health does not
affect the overall cost of the project. Safety is considered as the key element of
managing a construction site or the company it allows the project implementation to
run smoothly and efficiently without any hazard developing.
Cost, time and quality are the limits of planning where the project has reached.
Nevertheless, time, cost and quality are products which are indirect of lack of work,
safety and health and they directly influence the occurrence of accidents. Factors such
as inorganic materials, oil and concreate spillage, uncontrolled sanitation and fire also
greatly increases the health risks at the construction sites

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Health, safety and productivity enhances the quality of the project (Levitt 1995)
nevertheless, the pressure which the contractors receive regarding to the completion
of the project are also very demanding. Hinze proposed in 1988 that most of the
people in the construction industry does not feel that the health and safety are very
important in regarding to the success of the project. According to Hinze (1997)the
projects which are ahead of the timelines or running according to the timeline
programs and are within the budget in such projects the safety and health precautions
and measures are outstanding and they might have contributed to the success of the
project.
Indirect costs are all non-insurable costs incurred when one is injured. Heinrich’s
indirect costs include:
 Lost supervision time
 Cost of work stoppage (from
other employees)
 Lost time of the injured
employee
 Cost of damage to machinery
 Cost of time spent by the
emergency services.
According to Heinrich (1959) the manufactures indirect are similar to the construction
cost and thus they are related.
Comparing Heinrich’s (1959) list with Hinze’s list the indirect cost include:
 Costs for Clean up

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 Payments which the injured worker receivers while not working.
 Replacement costs
 Cost of over time
 Administration costs
 Costs which are incurred in the process of n rescheduling.
 Transportation costs.
Direct costs
Direct costs are the payouts which are set and they include:
 Liability
 Property loss
 Property loss
 Medical costs
A greater number of injuries that were assessed and it was concluded that indirect
injury costs incurred companies approximately four times more than direct costs
(Hinze 1992).
Society
Insurance
Customer
Employer
Worker
Accident Costs
Figure 3: Five entities affected by Accident costs

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According to Hinze (1997). Most of the projects which are outstanding are either on
schedule or a head of the schedule.
Nature of Improvement Response %
Reduced accident costs 52.1
Increased productivity 34.8
Improved human relations 17.3
Raise firm image 14.9
Others 11.3
6.2 Large businesses VS small businesses regarding safety costs
Ensuring safety and health precautions for small companies can be a challenge as the
small company have limited resource and meeting local regulatory requirements and
cost concerns that are associated with facets, including workers compensation, as they
are all current problems. Due to that higher rates of injuries and deaths are witnessed
in small companies.
Regulatory costs for small and large construction found out that small companies have
a higher regulatory compliance than the larger firms according to the 2012 SBA
Report. Small companies could take more time to get setup with all of the equipment
needed to be compliant.
6.3 Reasons for investing health and safety
Figure 3: benefits of work safety health improvements (Esshassi 2009)

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Fatalities and accidents cost both the employee and the employer not only money but
also time. Nevertheless, paying for potential accidental costs such as workers
compensation and public liability saves the money in the long run. It was
approximated that the loss for the companies is about 8.5% of the tender price(Seok J
Yoon 2013).A research which was conducted in the united states has shown that the
construction industry makes 5-6% of the work force and it was consisted 15% of the
fatal injuries which occur. Over 9% of all work days were lost due the injuries.
Injuries (Ringen K., Seegal J., Englund A 1995).This suggests that investigating the
safety protocol is worth to be given attention as the high risk job can account for the
large number of accidents if there are no precautions being put in place.
Carrying out an investigation on the site in most cases is not seen as significant,
however a research by Huang (2007) which was carried out and the findings have
shown otherwise. A majority of the participants who took part concluded that the
indirect costs for the injuries at were much higher than the direct costs for the injuries
The participants from the large and medium companies were asked to estimate the
amount of dollars would be saved for each dollar spent on improving the safety of
workplaces in Yeung-Hsiang Huang’s (2009) study. Figure 4 is a table of the
summary of the study and it clearly show that the average mean value was $4.83 for
every dollar spent on safety protocols. For the large companies, the mean averages
was $ 4.29.That show the different opinions of the participants on the significance of
putting in place safety precautions.
Dollars returned for every dollar spent on safety
$1.00
spent
$’s
returned
Size of company
Medium - # of Large - # of people

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people ± frequency
(%)
± frequency (%)
0-0.99 17 ± 11.6% 15 ± 9.7%
1-1.99 40 ± 27.4% 18 ± 11.6%
2.00 38 ± 26% 43 ± 27.9%
3.00 19 ± 13% 31 ± 20.1%
4.00 4 ± 2.7% 15 ± 9.7%
5.00 12 ± 8.2% 22 ± 14.3%
8.00 0 ± 0% 1 ± 0.6%
10.00 9 ± 6.2% 8 ± 5.2%
# of participants 139 153
7. Conclusion
In conclusion, this report outlines the significance of the management of safety and
health at the workplace. The benefits of work safety and health will create important
benefits such as reduced accidents cost long term, improved project productivity,
enhanced human and client relationships and the entire company profile.
The number of workers and developments in the construction industry are increasing
at a very high rate which has motivated the manufactures and engineers to develop
technological advancement which facilitate faster construction of buildings and other
structures. Due to the technological advancements which are being made in the
construction industry it is very important to implement safety and health precautions.
While the construction industry is currently recognized as the major economic force,
it is at the same time the most dangerous industries. The accidents which occur at the
Figure 4: Extract from “A comparison of workplace safety perceptions among financial
decision-makers of medium- vs. large-size companies”

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construction sites are not only painful but they also affect the quality, productivity,
time and also impacts the environment negatively. Unfortunately work safety and
health are often neglected on the site and re given a low priority to the time and
budget.
Occurrence of accidents will results to the increase cost of projects and causes delays.
The enhancement of safety and health can minimize accidents which in general
reduces the cost of the accident costs. Education and training should be supplied to
the workers and management to enhance the safety of the site, It is highly
recommended that workers on site to receive enough training before entering the site.
The workers who train who to apply the simulators expand improve their knowledge
and skills which gives them a lot of confidence to use the modern technology in
construction. The VAR simulators which are available for training include: Wheeled
excavator, mast platform, good lift and dumper (Alvaro Segura et.al. 2007).The
introduction of the simulators in the construction industry are aimed at enhancing the
safety of the workers at the construction sites
It is advisable that the construction management team to implement safety on the
construction sites to ensure that workers are safe, doing that can greatly reduce the
less accidents occurring thus reducing the effects on the timelines and the cost of the
project.

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