Safety and Risk Management in Construction Works

The study deals with the management of risk and safety in construction works. The description of workplace and hazards associated with it has been discussed in the study elaborately. Moreover, it provides an insight into the possible effects if the work and safety law is breached.

Running head: Safety And Risk Management
SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Safety And Risk Management 1
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Assessing the workplace situation...................................................................................................2
Safety aspects to overcome the hazards and safety breach..............................................................2
Emergency process:.....................................................................................................................3
Risk assessment:..........................................................................................................................3
Complete training:........................................................................................................................4
Actual incident and impact of safe work.........................................................................................4
Different approaches........................................................................................................................4
Review of safety statements issued by the company...................................................................4
Reviewing the policy of risk management and how it was monitored........................................5
Outlining the potential consequences..........................................................................................5
Immediate action taken by the management................................................................................5
Addressing the issue as a self reflective way...................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Reference list...................................................................................................................................7

Safety And Risk Management 2
Introduction
Safety and risk management at workplace is the system which helps in effectively
avoiding risks and hazards. It is a key element which helps in identifying different hazards and
risk associated with the work or workplace. The study deals with the management of risk and
safety in construction works. The description of workplace and hazards associated with it has
been discussed in the study elaborately. Moreover, it provides an insight into the possible effects
if the work and safety law is breached. The study has discussed the whole issue in context of
Kenoss Contractors Pty Ltd. Case examples have been assessed and different approaches to face
the issue of safety breaches has been evaluated. The issue has been addressed in a reflective way.
The problem statement of the study is to analyse the importance of safety and risk management
in construction work with the help of case examples.
Assessing the workplace situation
In defining the workplace of Canberra Construction Company it can be said that the
venture had an improper safety provision at the time of accidents. After an investigation, it can
be pointed out that the business house has several improper safety practices that are the reasons
behind commencement of fatal accident (abc.net.au, 2018). As defined by the OHS term, every
workplace should have an instructor who is skilled enough to deal with the safety and security of
each worker. In contrary to this, the Kenos Constructors had appointed a safety observer who
had no proper education or authorization to deal with safety issues. According to ACT Work
Safe commissioner, the event can stand as an example in front of other ventures. As the company
has to pay a record amount of fine in order to compensate for the death of worker Michael
Booth, it is a strong warning for other ventures to be serious about employer responsibility. The
message to be aware of health and safety provisions is clear enough to reach a proper safety
standard. On the other hand, the Turner Worksite had no specific symbols and signs though
there is overhead power line electricity.
Safety aspects to overcome the hazards and safety breach
Electrocuting of Michael Booth is not a single event that took place in the Australian
construction company. There are number of different events that can be found to take place

Safety And Risk Management 3
equally in this country. As suggested by Ellen et al. (2016), low opportunities to access a
complete understanding of safety principles may affect on work process. There are several
processes to ensure safety in workplaces. In conveying the working principles are helpful to
overcome safety breach and hazards.
Emergency process:
At the time of working under overhead lines such as road, pipeline, and electricity
structure controlling it is necessary to take proper controlling measures. As in the sectors of
construction, manufacturing, workers have to deal with several pieces of equipment, it is
necessary to provide strong observation on those parts. Additionally, emergency control must be
kept within reach and it should be used in an emergency situation (Ammendolia et al. 2016).
As in the case scenario, an accident took place at the time of electrocuting it is also
another major area to deal with. Unless committing transitory or ground level work, there are
high chances of fall, slips and electrocuting. Upward movement of cranes, trailers should be
handled carefully within strong vigilance (Kvorning, Hasle & Christensen, 2015).
Risk assessment:
Risk assessment must be taken into account in such a situation that leads danger from
overhead wires. For instance, if workers need to stand on the top of a machine or a scaffold
platform to lift up a long item on the overhead, there should a safe clearance of passage. As in
the case of Michael Booth, there was no specific instructor or safety coordinator though there
were overpower electricity lines when the truck was lifting its trailer for offloading. Unless
proper instruction of safety measurement it should not be permitted to conduct such work
process (Aven, 2016). Risk assessment is an important criterion to avoid safety breach and
overcome the hazards.
It is the duty of a venture to conduct monitoring, observation on the working areas in
order to check the safety standard. As suggested by Hale, Borys & Adams (2015) unless
effective checking workers should not be allowed in construction and manufacturing sites. If
safety observation can point out a single source that may cause harm to workers, it needs to be
rectified on an urgent basis. Risk assessment is helpful to overcome the flaw.

Safety And Risk Management 4
Complete training:
Conduct behavioral changes are essential in an employee with complete training can help
to reduce the challenges related to workplace safety and security. As suggested by Hofmann,
Burke & Zohar (2017), it is important to make the workers self-sufficient as they can access own
safety measurement. Additionally, a company can provide safety kits such as rubber gloves,
safety shoes, and head guard and body protection. Training in workplace safety should be
suggested and implemented according to the situation rather than memorizing rules and
regulations.
Actual incident and impact of safe work
In the case of Canberra Construction Company, an actual incident that had taken place was
completely against the rules of safety standard. While the worker Mr. Booth tipped his truck
trailer to offload gravel in the dumping station, trailer hit the overhead power line
(canberratimes.com.au, 2018). After commencement of an investigation, an objection raised due
to the improper conduct of working process. As for example, there was no sign of danger or flag
though it was a high voltage power line. Additionally, company had not turned off the electricity
supply though they were aware of the continual working process of dumping station. The
incident can be referred with another scenario that had reported in the publication of the Health
and Safety Authority Research Series in 2007.
John Duggan was a worker of a manufacturing company and capped 7 times for his
successful result in sports. When he was climbing up storage racking at work, he fell from a
height of 15 ft. he had undergone serious injury in knee, ligament damage. On that day of the
accident, the pallet of materials had not tasted properly. Due to overloading on the pallet, it
moved by a forklift truck and made an imbalance. In this case, an issue of breaching safety
principles can be seen that effect on the worker (hsa.ie. 2018).
Different approaches
Review of safety statements issued by the company
The safety statement that was earlier issued by the company could have been reviewed
after the incident took place. Risk assessment of the company could have been done by the

Safety And Risk Management 5
responsible authority. As per the view of Lord & Washington (2018), companies issue their
safety template and employers’ responsibilities along with employee responsibilities are
mentioned therein. This form an essential evidence for analysing the issue of safety breaches
because the responsibilities that should have been undertaken is matched with the actual
responsibilities undertaken at the time of and before such incidents.
Reviewing the policy of risk management and how it was monitored
The case of Canberra Construction could have been analysed with the help of policy
issued by the company before such construction started. In the opinion of Leveson (2015), the
policy of the company regarding safety and risk management at workplace reveals how effective
the management is in maintaining the safety standards at the workplace. It states the roles and
responsibilities of the management as well as defines the methodologies to be used in monitoring
the policy effectively. Hence the authorities could have assessed the methods of monitoring
safety and risk at the construction site. However in case of Kenoss Contractors case the person
authorised for taking care of management paid fewer visits to the construction site and did not
investigate the site properly (mondaq.com, 2018).
Outlining the potential consequences
The authority responsible to manage the safety measures at construction site could have
outlined the potential consequences. This would have made the company aware of the
possibilities and then they could have avoided it by undertaking important steps. Outlining of
potential consequences would bring effectiveness in the management of health and safety of
workers at work place and death of the worker could have been avoided (Li, Lu, Hsu, Gray &
Huang, 2015). This could have been done by proper inspection of the construction site, by
discussing the issues faced by workers there and by effective monitoring of the site.
Immediate action taken by the management
As opined by Neal (2017), immediate action accounts for the most in such health and
safety hazards situations. If the company's management would have taken immediate action as
soon as the hazard took place then the loss could have been minimised. This would have shown

Safety And Risk Management 6
that the company is accountable and accepts its fault moreover; the immediate action may have
saved the life of the truck driver.
Addressing the issue as a self reflective way
I would have addressed the issue in a more comprehensive and responsible way. The
issue related to the death of the truck driver at the construction site could have been avoided by
taking preventive measures like regular inspection of the construction site, and investigation of
resources utilised at the site. Proper inspection of the site could have been done on a regular
basis. Inspection would have helped in bringing out the problem of low electrical cables hanging
over the construction site of Kenos Contractors. I as a worker would have reported to the
management about less notices being sent out by the site inspector and would have
recommended the company to increase the number of regular visits to the site. After observing
any abnormality at the construction site I would have reported it to the person responsible for the
management of safety. I would have recommended to the company to incorporate proper
monitoring of safety and risk at the workplace. Monitoring of the management would have been
done by reviewing the safety policy and statements of the company. The methods used to
evaluate the risk associated at the construction site would have been analysed. As whistle blower
I would have informed the company about safety breaches conducted by some workers.
Conclusion
The study has dealt with the issue of safety and risk management at workplace. It has
evaluated the case of safety breach in context of Kenos Contractors. The study has analysed the
issue and the reasons behind it with proper evidences, the issue has been evaluated with the help
of different approaches that could have been taken to address the issue.
The case of unfortunate accident at Canberra Construction site defines how ineffectively the
safety management laws are followed and have been following this particular case. The death of
the truck driver due to electrocution at the construction site brought out in light many loopholes
in the monitoring process of the company. Thus it can be concluded that the health and safety
law should be followed judiciously in order to avoid such safety breaches.

Safety And Risk Management 7
Reference list
abc.net.au, (2018). ABC, Retrieved on 3rd October 2018 Retrieved from:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-19/construction-company-fined-1-million-over-
workplace-death/6708032
Ammendolia, C., Côté, P., Cancelliere, C., Cassidy, J. D., Hartvigsen, J., Boyle, E. & Amick, B.
(2016). Healthy and productive workers: using intervention mapping to design a
workplace health promotion and wellness program to improve presenteeism. BMC Public
Health [Online] 16(1), 1190. Retrieved on 3rd October 2018 Retrieved from:
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-016-3843-x
Aven, T. (2016). Risk assessment and risk management: Review of recent advances on their
foundation. European Journal of Operational Research, [Online] 253(1), 1-13. Retrieved
on 3rd October 2018 Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221715011479
canberratimes.com.au, (2018). CANBERRATIMES. Retrieved on 3rd October 2018 Retrieved
from: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/kenoss-contractors-fined-11-
million-for-workplace-death-20150819-gj2fra.html
Ellen, M., Kosny, A., Ståhl, C., OHagan, F., Redgrift, L., Sanford, S., ... & Mahood, Q. (2016).
Systematic review of qualitative literature on occupational health and safety legislation
and regulatory enforcement planning and implementation. Scandinavian journal of work,
environment and health, 42(1). Retrieved from:
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:903405/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Glendon, A. I., & Clarke, S. (2015). Human safety and risk management: A psychological
perspective. Ed 2 US: Crc Press.
Hale, A., Borys, D., & Adams, M. (2015). Safety regulation: the lessons of workplace safety rule
management for managing the regulatory burden. Safety science, 71, 112-122. Retrieved
from:
http://www.academia.edu/download/44037080/Safety_regulation_The_lessons_of_workp
la20160323-14952-15v5j24.pdf
Hofmann, D. A., Burke, M. J., & Zohar, D. (2017). 100 years of occupational safety research:
From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety and

Safety And Risk Management 8
risk. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 375. Retrieved from: https://goal-
lab.psych.umn.edu/orgpsych/readings/16.%20Occupational%20Health%20and
%20Safety/Hofmann,%20Burke,%20&%20Zohar%20(2017).pdf
hsa.ie, (2018). HSA.IE. Retrieved on 3rd October 2018 Retrieved from:
https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Publications_and_Forms/Publications/Research_Publications/
The_costs_and_effects_of_workplace_accidents__Twenty_case_studies_from_Ireland.pd
f
Kvorning, L. V., Hasle, P., & Christensen, U. (2015). Motivational factors influencing small
construction and auto repair enterprises to participate in occupational health and safety
programmes. Safety science [Online] 71, 253-263. Retrieved on 3rd October 2018
Retrieved from:
http://vbn.aau.dk/files/207218540/Motivational_factors_influencing_small_construction_
and_auto_repair.pdf
Leveson, N. (2015). A systems approach to risk management through leading safety
indicators. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 136, 17-34. Retrieved from:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0951832014002488
Li, H., Lu, M., Hsu, S. C., Gray, M., & Huang, T. (2015). Proactive behavior-based safety
management for construction safety improvement. Safety science, 75, 107-117. Retrieved
from: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/84137/1/84137.pdf
Lord, D., & Washington, S. (2018). Introduction. In Safe Mobility: Challenges, Methodology and
Solutions (pp. 1-10). Emerald Publishing Limited. Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen_Lord/publication/242236092_Falls_in_Old
er_People_Risk_Factors_and_Strategies_for_Prevention/links/
02e7e528d6738b45c3000000/Falls-in-Older-People-Risk-Factors-and-Strategies-for-
Prevention.pdf
mondaq.com, (2018). MONDAQ. Retrieved on 3rd October 2018 Retrieved from:
http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/593752/Building+Construction/Million+dollar+misd
eed+Construction+company+receives+record+NSW+fine+for+electric+shock
Neal, B. (2017). Health and safety at work act 2015: Intention, implementation and outcomes in
the hill country livestock farming industry. International Journals, 2(1), 56-89. Retrieved

Safety And Risk Management 9
from: http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10063/6364/
paper_access.pdf?sequence=1