Safe Storage and Waste Management in Construction

This report discusses the role of safe storage and waste management techniques in construction, including the procedure for safe storage of construction waste and materials on site, handling materials with weight issues or health risk vulnerabilities, risk assessment, and health and safety regulations. It also explores the advantages of environmental certification and product declaration, waste management plans, and sustainable construction practices and material choices. The report emphasizes the importance of workplace safety, operational cost reduction, and environmental sustainability in construction activities.

Science & Materials

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
A. Procedure in safe storage of construction waste and material on site ....................................1
B. Handling materials with weight issues or health risk vulnerabilities .....................................1
C. Risk assessment.......................................................................................................................2
D. Health and safety regulations..................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
A. Life cycle assessment and material environment profiling ....................................................3
B. Advantages of environmental certification and product declaration .....................................5
C. Waste management plan .........................................................................................................5
D. Sustainable construction practices and material choice .........................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Health and safety (H&S) regulations at construction site ensures that safety of workers at
site is protected and ensured during all construction activities. Work place safety regulations not
only ensures employee safety but are also critical for minimising the operational cost and
environmental consequences of construction activities (Almahmoud and Doloi, 2015). The report
will discuss the role of safe storage and waste management techniques. It will also analyse the
various risk assessment and life cycle assessment involved in construction processes.
TASK 1
A. Procedure in safe storage of construction waste and material on site
Improper storage at construction site can cause slips or trips affecting safety of
individuals as well as material damage. Thus a suitable planning for material and waste storage is
necessary. For safe storage procedure all stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, contractors
and traders must be included. The necessary arrangements for storing material, their amount
must be discussed and confirmed between project client and contractors (Li, 2016). In addition to
the storage plan safety considerations must also be taken into account. There must be separated
designated storage space for waste material, plan, flammable and hazardous substances.
Storage procedures also form optimised routes for pedestrians so that storage is not
spread uncontrollably on walkways. For the materials which are stored at height additional safety
measures such as guard rails must be placed so that fall risks during collection or stacking of
waste products or construction material can be avoided (Sousa, Almeida and Dias, 2015). The
final step in storage procedure is to ensure that all storage areas are dry and tidy so that stored
material remain safe. Employees must be trained to assure that material loading and handling of
stored material safety of workers is not compromised.
B. Handling materials with weight issues or health risk vulnerabilities
The weight and properties of material affect the handling procedures as it can influence
the safety. For instance if employees are handling a material containing dust then they must wear
mask and gloves so that dust does not cause any skin allergies or breathing issues. Suitable
coverings for eyes and face must also be wear by employees. Along with the safety equipments
necessary precautions must also be employed at construction site (Ahmad and Thaheem, 2017).
For instance local dust extraction machines or wet method of machines can be installed. In
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addition to the protective coverings for employees, the containers having hazardous materials
must be labelled properly so that accidents and handling errors can be addressed.
The weight of material can also impose challenge for storing and handling. For instance
lifting of heavy materials in seated position or from floor can cause jerks or back pain or can
even cause severe injuries. Thus heavy materials must be lifted by using handling aids and in
areas with adequate lighting, footing and space (Spence and Kultermann, 2016). Construction
sites must also have slides or conveyors so that push and pull of such bulky materials can be
avoided and they can be handled without any injury to workers or damage to material.
C. Risk assessment
Risk assessment on excavation of service trench and scaffolding can be determined by
identifying the potential risks and the extent up to which they can affect the workplace safety and
health. The reasons and impact of risks are evaluated and appropriate precautions are also found
and implemented to enhance the safety. The assessment process also includes the identification
of workers at risk, control measures and their effectiveness (Almahmoud and Doloi, 2015). The
risk assessment of trenching and excavation is almost similar as it includes analysis of local site
conditions, depth of excavation or trench which is used at site, fractures, soil properties, weather
conditions and duration up to which trench or excavation is kept opened.
The risk assessment for cutting concrete paving slab is as follows:
Identification of hazard: Cutting of paving slab has risk such as breathing issues due to high
level of silica containing dust and accident risks due to use of cut off saws on paving.
Control: For preventing the risks numbers of cuts can be limited and low energy equipment
like block splitter must be used. Material can also be cut off site for the delivery purpose. For
additional controlling cut off saw can also be used with water suppression or respiratory
protective equipment and on tool extraction can also be used to further minimize the extent of
risk.
Review: It must be ensured that control measures are properly used and water containers and
jets are well maintained. Worn cutting discs must be replaced immediately and extraction
equipment must be free of blockages (Rutešić and et.al., 2015). The exposure limit to silica
dust must also be reviewed and monitored regularly to determine the safety of employees and
necessity of health surveillance program.
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D. Health and safety regulations
A wide range of regulations are applied to site activity for ensuring the safe use and
handling of materials. Some of the key important regulations are as follows:
Risk management on manual handling: The manual handling or material also consist of various
health and injury risks. Thus regular risk assessment must be conduced to determine the risk
extent, load and other information of personal traits which eliminate such injuries. These
facilities at work site minimise the accidents or fall risk of construction workers or material.
Construction Design Management regulation: It states that construction activities and material
handling must be planned sensibly so that associated risks are managed (Ma, 2017). There
must be cooperation and effective communication among workers so that they are well aware of
the risk and mitigation strategies.
Workplace regulation: As per this regulation there must be provisions of adequate ventilation,
washing facilities, heating, lighting, safe pass ways and refreshment facilities.
Use of work equipment and provision regulation: This regulation state that all equipments must
be properly maintained and safe so that they does not cause any harm to users. Their relevant
information, training needs and instructions must be available on machines so that employee
safety can be assured by preventing any equipment based or originated injury.
TASK 2
A. Life cycle assessment and material environment profiling
Life cycle assessment (LCA) provides an evaluation of multiple environmental impacts
of a material throughout its life cycle ranging from its raw material origin to final material used
in building and to its disposal. The assessment is helpful in choosing a sustainable material
which minimises the environmental impact and leads to minimum resource utilisation across the
entire life cycle of product. Similarly the environment profiling of building material assisting in
evaluating the trade off between material benefits and its environmental impact (Teizer, 2016).
This kind of profiling makes material selection more comparable and transparent so that
environmental performance can be improved and suitable decision for sustainable construction
can be taken. For instance in an residential building out of total waste, 15% waste is generated by
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concrete only. Thus builders can adopt ways to reduce its consumption or to recycle this waste.
These types of profiling are used as valuable indicative to select a material which best meets the
performance as well as sustainable criteria for the buildings.
(Source: Ignacio Zabalza, Antonio Valero and Alfonso Aranda, 2010 )
(Source: Ignacio Zabalza, Antonio Valero and Alfonso Aranda, 2010 )
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Illustration 1: LCA results for different types of tiles
and bricks
Illustration 2: LCA results for wood material
Illustration 3: LCA results for concrete and cement

(Source: Ignacio Zabalza, Antonio Valero and Alfonso Aranda, 2010 )
B. Advantages of environmental certification and product declaration
Environmental profile is known as the approach to identify and assess the impact of
building material and their life cycle on environment. The product declaration and environmental
certifications servers various benefits in improving environmental profile. Product declaration
helps in identifying the material and construction strategies which can reduce the cost. The
environmental certificates also assist in meeting the customer and legislative needs of sustainable
construction (Won and Cheng, 2017). When builders publish the product declarations then it also
assures that the environmental performance of their building is satisfactory and it can be used to
evaluate the design implications and recognition of the environmental rating tools for building.
Another significant virtue of product declaration and such certificates is that it gives
critical information of energy consumption and savings delivered by each material during its
usage. Thus the environmental foot print of building can also be evaluated. Such kind of
certifications are helpful for the customers as well as they can recognise the value of each
material which can lower the monthly expenditure of light and other energy resources (Udawatta
and et.al., 2015). Another benefits of using such declarations is that it can also be used to
develop some regulations and standards for reporting and collecting the necessary information.
C. Waste management plan
The waste management plan for given construction site is as follows:
Goal: To eliminate the generated waste by reusing or recycling it and to encourage products
which reduce the waste.
Estimated waste amount:
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Illustration 4: LCA results insulation material

Material Waste
percentage
Concrete 70.00%
Timber 30.00%
Reduction target:
The aim of waste management plan is to minimise each type of waste by 20%.
Recycling or reuse method:
Concrete can be recycled by employing industrial crushing equipment with large
impactors and jaws. After breaking into small pieces it is screened to eliminate dirt particles
so that small and large aggregate can be separated. Similarly timber waste can also be reused
to form timber floors and timber chips which can power buildings and power plants. For this
purpose timber is broken into wood chips.
Waste destination:
There are several concrete suppliers who accept the old or used concrete. Thus the
waste material will be dropped to such facility centres where it can be crusted and recycled
into new usable aggregate or concrete mix. Timber recycling or reuse can be performed at
construction site as well as special facility centres which provide such facilities.
Utilisation of recycled waste:
Recycled or old concrete can be used to develop asphalt pavings, permeable pavings
fro driveways, outdoor hard surfaces and other walkways (Bahr, 2018). It can also be used for
mixing with new concrete and for filling wire gabions and landscaping mulch. Timber waste
is used as energy source as well as for constructing the buildings or floors made up of wood
tiles.
Communication and training:
It is important to train and inform the workers regarding waste management process so
that they can assist in handling and managing waste properly.
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D. Sustainable construction practices and material choice
Environmental sustainability issues has also created need for adopting green construction
practices and smart choices for selecting building material. Builders must prefabricate the
materials in highly controlled environment so that waste is reduced and resources are utilised in
optimum way. In addition to waste management construction practices must also emphasis on
minimising waste and pollution or other environmental impact related to site (Bahr, 2018). The
approaches such as just in time and lean approach can reduce the wastage and adverse impacts.
In addition to these strategies material selection can also affect building cost and sustainability.
For choosing building material its risk assessment, life cycle assessment and environmental
product declaration must be taken into account. These considerations help to choose a material
which has lower adverse impact on environment and which makes construction activities more
sustainable.
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that for ensuring work place safety construction
organisations must develop and conduct risk assessment and waste management plan. The
sustainable practices are vital for the emerging environmental challenges and the role of
constructional activities. It has been also analysed from the report that heavy construction
materials or the materials with significant health risks must also be handled carefully. Thus it can
be concluded that material choice, handling, safety and storage procedure benefits in terms of
operational cost, employee safety as well as in terms of sustainability.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahmad, T. and Thaheem, M.J., 2017. Developing a residential building-related social
sustainability assessment framework and its implications for BIM. Sustainable cities and
society.28. pp.1-15.
Almahmoud, E. and Doloi, H.K., 2015. Assessment of social sustainability in construction
projects using social network analysis. Facilities. 33(3/4). pp.152-176.
Bahr, N.J., 2018. System safety engineering and risk assessment: a practical approach. CRC
press.
Li, R.Y.M., 2016. Construction safety and waste management. Springer International Pu.
Ma, U., 2017. No waste: managing sustainability in construction. Routledge.
Rutešić, S. and et.al., 2015. Analysis of the situation in montenegrin civil engineering sector
from the point of application of national regulations and the EU technical standards in
construction. Procedia Engineering. 117. pp.900-910.
Sousa, V., Almeida, N.M. and Dias, L.A., 2015. Risk-based management of occupational safety
and health in the construction industry–Part 2: Quantitative model. Safety Science. 74.
pp.184-194.
Spence, W.P. and Kultermann, E., 2016. Construction materials, methods and techniques.
Cengage Learning.
Teizer, J., 2016. Right-time vs real-time pro-active construction safety and health system
architecture. Construction Innovation. 16(3). pp.253-280.
Udawatta, N. and et.al., 2015. Improving waste management in construction projects: An
Australian study. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 101. pp.73-83.
Won, J. and Cheng, J.C., 2017. Identifying potential opportunities of building information
modeling for construction and demolition waste management and
minimization. Automation in Construction. 79. pp.3-18.
Online
Ignacio Zabalza, B., Antonio Valero, C and Alfonso Aranda, U., 2010. Life cycle assessment of
building materials: comparative analysis of energy and environment impacts and
evaluation of the eco- efficiency improvement potential. [Online]. Accessed through
<http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download
doi=10.1.1.458.156&rep=rep1&type=pdf>
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