Safety and Risk Management in Construction Industry

This article discusses the importance of safety and risk management in the construction industry, with a focus on a case study of an electrocution accident at Canberra Construction Company. It also highlights the role of Worksafe in promoting safety culture and enforcing regulations.

Running Head: SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT 1
Safety and risk management
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SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Safety and risk management
What happened in Canberra Construction Company where Michael Booth was
electrocuted when his truck touched powerlines at Canberra Company Kenos Contractors, is
just one of the many safety cases that are being reported daily. Australia is always working
to reduce accidents related to the hazardous construction environment (Better Regulation
Task Force, 2003). However, this continues to be a major challenge especially in Western
Australia given the fact that most companies in those areas carry out their activities in some
isolated locations while still trying to put up with national harmonization of OHS regulation
(Better Regulation Office, 2008). Work safe made it mandatory that employees need to be
trained and certified on safety awareness in their working environments.
The construction industry has the highest fatality rate. Many of these deaths occur
because of illness, and accidents (Industrial Relations Victoria, 2016). This has made
compensation claims to, rise (Johnstone, R. and C. Parker, 2010). It is also very important to
note that in this period the rate of employment has also increased in this industry (Better
Regulation Task Force, 2003). What happened in Canberra Construction Company could
have been caused by the ignorance, and it could have been easily avoided. Reducing such
accidents usually depends upon changing workplace behavior both collectively and
individually (Johnstone, R. and C. Parker, 2016). These include being aware of what
individuals do in the workplace and what is the accepted practice based on the law. These
actions usually depend on the safety culture that surround people in workplaces and which
must be greatly emphasized by the management (Gunningham,2015). Thus, these company
would have avoided such kind of accident by coming up with organization behavior
initiatives and models (Department of Treasury and Finance, 2008). The company would
have come up with a training initiative to try and improve safety measures in the construction
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site. This would have made sure that the workers in the construction site gain the important
safety measures. They would have informed their workers on some safety issues present in
the construction site that are a risk to their health (Better Regulation Office, 2008). A lot of
research has been done on safety culture and how it reduces injuries in the organization.
Safety culture greatly depends on communication, leadership commitment and the ability of
the management which is also greatly supported by attitudes, training, participation, and
competency of the individual employees (Maxwell, 2004). The administration that greatly
values safety will always train its employees on safety measures. For there to be an
improvement in the organization safety culture, management needs to come up with
initiatives which have universal coverage. Safety training interventions easily led to
reductions in hazards and improvement in safety behaviors (Maxwell, 2004). However, one
major challenge facing the construction industry is that there are no specific details of who
should play which task. Some nonskilled people enter the construction industry without being
well informed of the laws or safety measures (Australian Law Reform Commission 2002). In
my opinion may Michael Booth may not have been well trained in dealing with trucks. This
might be the reason that he could not considered the power lines as a threat to his life
(Ombudsman Victoria (2007). Thus, more regulations need to be put in the construction
industry indicating how tasks need to be carried out and which qualifications are needed for
those carrying out the task. At the moment people in the construction industry are also not
well aware of the definition of safety management and occupational health (Johnstone, R. and
King, M., 2008). Without this definition being put in place people are still uncertain of what
to do and what not to do. However, most of the safety issues that arise in the organizations
arise from training relevant or training related.
Moreover, this issue could have been easily avoided by the management by ensuring
that the construction site was located in a safe environment. From the case study, it is clear
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that the construction site was located near power lines. This would not have been the case if
the management was extra careful (Gunningham,2015). The management ought to have
looked for a better place where there was no powerline for the safety of the employees. It
seems there was a lot of ignorance. The management was well aware that they were dealing
with heavy trucks and confiscated materials thus they should have looked for a safer place.
Otherwise, the management would have put some warning signs to the place near the power
line for employees to be aware of the place not being a safe zone (Johnstone, R. and King, M,
2015).
The management seems it was not aware of some safety measures that are required
in construction sites (Ombudsman Victoria (2007). The management seem to be ineffective
in their work some of them being thought to be unqualified (Environment Protection
Authority Victoria, 2011). The management team should be made up of qualified individuals
who can make proper and sound decisions on behave of junior employees. They also need to
consider the lives of their junior employees, and they should be responsible for their actions.
In this case, the management was very much irresponsible when it came to the welfare of
their employees.
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Kenos entered a contract with the ACT government for resurfacing roadworks. Kenos
went ahead to subcontract David O'Meley truck hire to deliver some materials to the
construction site. Michael Booth happened to be the truck driver for the company. Booth
made many deliveries to the site. Days before he met his death, he had made thirteen trips
delivering some material to the site (Australian Government 2014). According to the
magistrate, the truck to Mr Booth either touched a power line or came into close contact with
the power line. The power line went ahead to form an electric arch thus leaving some burn
arch on the tires of the truck. Mr. Booth was electrocuted thus losing his life. According to
this situation, the magistrate noted some safety breach which would have led to this situation.
Some of the factors that the magistrate noted were that there were no safety signs to warn of
some live power line. The magistrate also noted that the construction site was not well
managed. The smaller storage room was also accessible to everyone as there were no locks
(Krpan, 2011). Another reason that could have led to this situation was that the power line
was switched on when the work in the construction site was going on. There was no spotter in
the construction site (Gunningham, 2007). The management could have also advised its
employees not to use large machines in the construction site (Australian Law Reform
Commission 2002). The project manager also tried to deter investigation and entry to the site.
According to the magistrate, the company could have avoided this accident by not using the
site at all. They could have also limited the access to the site through fencing it all around.
They also would have turned the electricity power line off if they knew of any delivery to the
site. The management would also have made it mandatory that a spotter accompanies the
deliveries. They would also have given proper signage signs from the entrance of the
construction suite. They would also have placed some flags and tiger tails to make the lines
more visible. They would have told all the employees of the potential risks associated with
the power line (Krpan, 2011). From this situation, the company was found guilty of Mr.
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Michel Booth death. This was What led 1to the company being fined a lot of money. The
company failed to ensure safety and health for its employees. The company could not ensure
that the employees were not exposed to injury, illness, and death. The fined of $1.5 million
imposed to the company is a warning to all other companies to ensure safety in their
workplaces.
Work safe came up with different ways of addressing and ensuring safety culture by
coming up with a mandatory safety awareness induction meant for all construction workers in
Australia (Australian Government 2014). The main agenda of the value blue card was to
make sure that all construction workers had training on safety blue the construction site. This
included workers working in confined places, hazardous materials, and general lifting. This
company was never meant to replace the site of a company it was only to be an addition to
these established practices. Come 2009 the blue card was divided into smaller training
programmes known as the construction induction training (Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry,
2016). The main reason why the government took this move was that the previous blue card
did not cater for the universal mobile workforce. Thus, Canberra construction company did
not adhere to this laws since the death of Mr booth could have been easily avoidable.
Worksafe has also come up with minimum safety standards for all workers working in the
construction sites. Work safe required that every company should be at a position to train its
workers on safe handling of machinery.
According to the ACT Work safe commissioner, the decision to fine Canberra the
amount of money sent a lot of shock waves in the industry. It was a disappointing decision
because one person was already dead. On the other hand, this situation sent a warning to all
companies exposing their workers to injuries, illness, and death. It was impossible to bring
Michel Booth back to life, but work safe was working very hard to make sure that such would
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never be experienced. It is therefore very important for an organization to have a Safety
culture within the construction environment. Companies must ensure that they have a
qualified OHS practitioner, well-defined systems, and contractor management that ensure
safety for those who are unfamiliar with the site. Victoria occupational safety and health
(OHS) legislation gives enforcement options, corrective processes which include prohibition
and improvement notice. Improvement notice comprise of those given by health and safety
representatives and on the spot fines given by work safe Victoria inspectors and prosecution
that result to penalty and heavy fines. An HSR can give a pin to person if he believes that
OHS act is being breached . The pin requires that the person should correct the breach. Where
there is enough evidence of breach of OHS law prosecution is based on the public interest,
work safe Victoria usually undertakes the prosecution. According to OHS Act maximum
penalties on corporations are $3 million while for individuals are $285,426.
It was necessary for work safe to solve these issues in such a manner to ensure that
other organizations ensure safety for their employees. It is necessary for top executives of
construction companies to ensure that the management of every construction site is well
qualified and aware of safety health and measures. Besides they should be very keen on very
activities being carried out in the construction site to make sure that workers are not exposed
to risk (Bluff, 2004). Heavy material; and trucks should be handled with care in construction
sites since they can easily cause accidents (Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission (2016). The management also needs to ensure that construction sites are located
in safe places that do not expose the workers to injuries, illness, and death. The company
needs to make sure that employees get enough skills when training on safety before
beginning work in their construction site (Coglianese, 2015). Complicated and sophisticated
work should also be handled by those people who are qualified and certified to handle such
kind of work. Health Experts should also be stationed in construction sites in case of
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emergency accidents, and This is necessary to help reduce the number of people dying in the
construction sites. It will also help to identify protentional health risks present in the
construction sites. Canberra construction company seemed to be very ignorant of this issue.
This was what might have led the company to face such a case. They also need to take human
lives serious; thus, they would not have tried to deter investigations (Bluff, 2004). We are not
trying to validate the fine they are required pay, or what occurred the company, we are simply
saying that this accident would have been avoided if the company was a little more careful.
In conclusion in recent years accidents in the construction sites have greatly
increased. However, t work safe has worked very hard to reduce these cases. Canberra,
construction company case, acted as a warning to all other organizations. Thus, we hope
these cases will reduce
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