Occupational Health and Safety in Construction: Strategies and Engineering Control for Working Platform

This document discusses the strategies and engineering control for working platform in construction to ensure occupational health and safety. It covers the causes of accidents, applications of legislative provisions in factories and industrial undertakings, and provides recommendations for implementing safety measures.

Project Management

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Cause and contributing factors of accidents...............................................................................2
Applications of Legislative provisions in factories and industrial undertaking.........................3
Identification of different strategies and engineering control for working platform.................6
Conclusion and Recommendation:............................................................................................8
References:.................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
The suspended working platform is reliable equipment used for the installation at height
during the construction program. The labour force is equipped with the occurrence of
accident while working at height. The engineers and workers make use of suspended working
platform during the installation of windows, cleaning of window, external renovation
program, decoration, chimneys, and others. The practical guidance and awareness can be
bring in the working employees by implementing the Factories and industrial undertaking
regulations. These regulatory compliance helps in providng the information regarding the
safety legislation and the statuary responsibilities.
Project Scope and Objectives:
The scope of the project is to identify the rules and regulations which comes under the
Factories and industrial undertaking during the implementation of the suspended working
platform. It helps in identifying the common causes of factors which are responsible for the
occurrence of accidents during the working program of construction. The strategies and
engineering control should be identified which are helpful for optimising the working and
operational capabilities of the labour staff members so that quality of work can be provided
by securing their lives. It helps in establishing the good health and safety environment within
the organization by brining awareness in the employees about the legislation laws which are
designed for the occupational health and safety standards.
Cause and contributing factors of accidents
The accident which occurs during the construction program is occurred due to the ineffective
placement of suspended platform which is not according to the job requirement (Passenheim,
2015). The main causes of accident occurrence are listed below:
 Safety regulation, installation, and maintenance program is not according to the
requirement of work. The focus is not given no the job requirement
 Erection and inspection of the equipment used in the construction program is not
adequately done
 Individual worker are not provided with the fall arrest system while working on the
highest point of the building. The necessary training and development program is not

arranged to make sure that the working team has the knowledge about using the fall
arrest system if any casualty occurs during the construction program (Wilson, 2012).
 The security of the roof beam of the suspended working platform is not inspected
 The roofs are not prepared to handle the out-triggering of the hooks for support of the
labour
 The damaged ropes are used for handling the body weight of the labour which may
cause a severe accident during the working process.
 The inspection of the safety equipment such as helmets, shoes, brakes, electrical
switches, ropes, and trolleys is not done to identify the gaps in the working
construction program.
 No control policies are developed for preventing the contact between the welding
equipment and suspension ropes (Monnappa, 2017).
 There were no security hand tools used for providing safety to the employees.
 The electrical switches are not grounded securely
 Railings are not developed for security purpose
 The extensions to the suspended ropes are not handled properly.
 The loading capacity of the Suspended working platform is highly extended which
cause the occurrence of accidents (Mansfield community, 2013)
 The platform should not be leaved under the ground
 The electrical cables should not be left in the water supply or gutter
 Construction working is performed near the electrical switches may cause a hazard
These situations which can cause accidents should be handled carefully. The employees
working at the site location do not have knowledge about the safety parameters for handling
the suspended working platform to carry out the construction work which may cause accident
to occur (Tan, Steel, Toleman, 2009).
Applications of Legislative provisions in factories and industrial undertaking
The training and development program should be arranged for the employees so that they
become aware about the handling tactics of the suspended working platform which helps in
minimizing the occurrence of accident (Kharaiweish, 2013). The manual training program
should be arranged for the labour so that they can prepare themselves to work on the SWP.
The factories and industrial undertaking regulations should be clearly understood before

using the SWP working system. The legislative provision should be defined for using the
SWP.
The labour should read the manual of SWP before using it on the construction site. It helps in
fostering the legal provisions. The factories and industrial undertaking regulations focuses on
the following:
Designing of safety policies: The safety policies should be constructed for the employees so
that they can safely complete their work of the SWP. The inspection and monitoring of the
equipment should be regularly done so that no chance of equipment failure can occur (Razuri,
Alarcon, and Diethlem, 2014). The proper control on the ropes used for managing the weight
of the labour at the highest point of the construction site
Organization structure: A well-developed hierarchy system should be organized for
implementing the safety parameters for the working employees. The inspection policies and
schedule should be organized for the top level management so that they can give their time
for managing the labour safety within the working curriculum of their organization.
Arrangement of safety training program: The necessary training and development program is
arranged to make sure that the working team has the knowledge about using the fall arrest
system if any casualty occurs during the construction program (Katsuro, Gadzirayi, and
Mupararano, 2010).
In-house safety rules: The organization should developed in-house safety rules for the labour
working at their organization. The labour who does not have the knowledge and experience
of working on the SWP should not work on it. The manuals and the training program is
arranged for bringing awareness about handling the SWP working architecture. The
inspection and monitoring program should be scheduled for proper and periodic checking of
the electrical fittings, and others.
Inspection and monitoring program: The inspection and monitoring program should be
scheduled for proper and periodic checking of the electrical fittings, and others.
Investigation of the root cause analysis of accident occurrence: The organization should
undertake the root cause analysis of identifying the reason for the occurrence of the accident
during the working hours of the enterprise.

Arrangement of Emergency Program: The employees should be given proper training to
handle the situation of emergency. The effective communication program should be arranged
so that they can make aware about the control measures which they take for handling the
emergency situation.
Application of Legislation provision:
The contractor is the responsible authority for identifying the reason of accident occurrence at
site location. The checklist should be prepared by the contractor for inspecting the good and
healthy working condition for the workers at site location. The periodic checking program
should be organized for identifying the effectiveness of the rope structure used in the SWP,
condition of pulleys used, electrical switches used, brakes and levers used for controlling the
position of SWP, and others (Ahmad, Sattar, and Nawaz, 2016). The erection of the SWP is
given after providing relevant training program to the employees for handling the working on
it. The inspection and testing of the SWP condition should be done by competent person who
is having the knowledge about the safety parameters which are required before starting work
on the SWP. The overloading of the SWP should be avoided at top priority. The system
should not be used in adverse weather conditions. The wear and tear equipment and
machinery should be replaced periodically. The proprietor should take care of working
condition at the site location. The provision should be developed for arranging the training
and development program for the working employees so that they can take necessary action
in emergency situation.
 The notification shold be sent to the commissioner of labour before the
commencement of the SWP at site location for completing the construction program
 Changes done in the site location for promoting the occupational health and safety
standards should be highlighted so that efficiency of the work place can be measured
by the commissioner of labour with respect to the safety provision (Zubar, Visagavel,
Raja, and Mohan, 2017)
 The notification should be sent to the commissioner of labour within the 7 days after
the commencement of work at site location
 Professional engineer should be appointed for testing the working of the SWP
 The erection and execution of the construction process should be done under direct
control
 Investigation should be done before the using the SWP platform to work at height

 Work load on the SWP should be clearly defined to the labour by providing the
manual and oral and practical training before using it. The value of the workload
should be clearly defined so that overloading of weight at SWP can be omitted
 Safety belts and shoes should be provided to the labour
 Functioning of machinery and equipment should be checked before the
commencement of the work
 Wear and tear machinery should be replaced with the new machines so that labour can
be compatible and managed quality of work at site location
Identification of different strategies and engineering control for working platform
The sustainability in the construction activities can be achieved by implementing the
engineering control policies for completing the work without any occurrence of accidents.
The defensive and safety system is comprised of three layers of safety parameters. The first
layer focuses on providing the personal protection to the employees by providing them safety
uniform,, safety shoes, gloves, helmets, and other equipment. The second layer focuses on
taking the proactive action plan for minimizing accident by deploying the administration and
work control policies. It helps in identifying the gaps in the machinery provided to complete
the given task (Jilcha and Kitaw, 2012). The investigation of the construction site should be
performed by the committed engineer for testing the functionality of the equipment. The third
layers focuses on implementing the engineering control policies for isolating the workers
with the safety cover by designing legislation policies in the welfare of occupational health
and safety standards. The diagram below shows the diagram for three layers safety
parameters used for providing safety cover to the working employees.

(Source: Zubar, Visagavel, Raja, and Mohan, (2017). Occupational health and safety in
manufacturing industries. Journal of scientific and industrial research, 73(6))
The engineering control helps in aligning the work performance with the physical
environment at site location. The noise control policies at the construction site should be
checked so that healthy working condition should be provided to the labour at work place.
The safety management plan should be developed by implementing the functional and
industrial undertaking regulations. The parameters which are identified for developing the
strategic plan to provide health and safety standards to the labour while working at SWP are
highlighted in the table below:
Strategies Description
Assessment of project policies and strategic
plan
The organization goal and mission should be
clearly defined for completing the given tasks
Human Resource management The allocation of the tasks to the resources
should be done according to their capabilities
Configuration management The configuration management is designed

for setting down the obligations of the
labours and employees
Selection and allocation of tools Tools should be provided to the employees
according to the work given
Requirement tracing Monitoring of the requirement
Verification and validation Testing of the equipment used should be
done for the verification and validation of the
equipment
Documentation management The documentation of the rules and
regulations should be properly done
Quality management The quality of the functional and operational
capability of the labour can be optimized by
implementing the training and development
program
Security Security and safety program for the
employees should be designed
Safety audit Plan The safety of the employees should be
audited regularly so that the functionality of
the equipment and machinery should be
checked
Conclusion and Recommendation:
It is recommended that the occupational health and safety standards for the working on
Suspended working platform should be designed after implementing the Factories and
industrial undertaking regulation because it helps in minimizing the occurrence of accidents
at site location and the project can be completed smoothly without any hindrance and
complexity. It is recommended that the testing and monitoring of the equipment should be
done by the professional engineer before the commencement of the project work. The
manuals should be provided to the labour before working on the SWP. The experienced and
trained employees should be appointed for completing the construction program on SWP.
The strategies and engineering control should be identified which are helpful for optimising
the working and operational capabilities of the labour staff members so that quality of work

can be provided by securing their lives. The inspection of the safety equipment such as
helmets, shoes, brakes, electrical switches, ropes, and trolleys should be done to identify the
gaps in the working construction program.
It can be concluded that the implementation of the factories and industrial undertaking
regulations helps in developing long term sustainable program by providing occupational
health and safety standards to the labour and employees. The training and development
program should be arranged for the employees so that they become aware about the handling
tactics of the suspended working platform which helps in minimizing the occurrence of
accident. The inspection policies and schedule should be organized for the top level
management so that they can give their time for managing the labour safety within the
working curriculum of their organization. The periodic checking program should be
organized for identifying the effectiveness of the rope structure used in the SWP, condition of
pulleys used, electrical switches used, brakes and levers used for controlling the position of
SWP, and others. The occupational health and safety program is organized for promoting the
good and healthy practices for the smooth functioning of the undertaken project.
References:
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health practice and accident severity. International journal of quality research, 10(2),
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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267198411_Impact_of_occupational_health
_and_safety_on_worker_productivity_A_case_of_Zimbabwe_food_industry

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