Safety and Risk Management Analysis: Canberra Construction Incident

This essay provides a detailed analysis of a safety breach at Canberra Construction Company, focusing on the hazards present at the workplace and how the incident could have been avoided. It examines the company's failure to adhere to safety regulations, leading to a tragic accident and subsequent legal repercussions. The essay also explores SAFEWORK's resolution of the issue, identifies areas for improvement in the company's safety protocols, and suggests measures to prevent future incidents. Recommendations include enhanced training programs, improved risk assessment practices, and the implementation of stricter safety policies to ensure a safer working environment for all employees. The reflection emphasizes the importance of understanding and adhering to occupational safety policies and advocating for stricter enforcement and accountability.

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Running Head: Safety and Risk Management
Safety and Risk Management

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Executive Summary
Safety is one of the vital aspect not only in human context but also from the industrial point of
view. Risk Management refers to a process which is applied in every industry in order to
minimize or eliminate the occupational risks. Over the years, it has been observed that the use of
risk management tool vary from sector to sector depending on the nature of work carried out.
Occupational safety at a workplace is necessary to avoid workers' physical injuries and any other
sufferings. From the analysis of the report, it has been found that Canberra Construction
Company implements proper risk management tools in order to ensure the sustainability and
success of the business along with the workers' good health. However, there were found some
issues in the health and safety policies of the company in the report, such as hazardous working
conditions, and breaching of rules and regulations regarding occupational safety issued by the
Australian Authority. In addition to this, the Canberra Construction company was also found at
fault of posting no warning signs of hazardous situations for workers, due to which Mr Booth
had lost his life. Therefore, the organisation was recommended to establish suitable and safe
work platforms at the construction sites to ensure safety of workers and employees. Also, in
order to minimize and manage these risks, it is essential for the management to introduce more
effective safety policies that can properly assess the potential risks and allow the managers to
deal with these in a proper manner.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
About Canberra Construction Company.........................................................................................5
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
In this report, the discussion will be carried on the Canberra Construction Company. The report
is focusing on hazard and safety regulations that are avoided by the Canberra Construction
Company, while operating the business operations. An organisation establishes a safe and risk-
free environment to avoid dangerous incidents and protect the lives of the workers at the
workplace. In this concern, the report is outlining safety and risk management issues in an
organisation and the role of Head In-charge of Safety and Risk Management Department in
managing the issues of safety and risks at the workplace.

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About Canberra Construction Company
Canberra Construction Company is the leading construction company in Australia. The company
is engaged in commercial construction projects compressively and focuses on delivering the
Quality mechanical, civil, piping, structural and electrical solutions at all its construction sites.
The team of the company includes engineers, architects, project managers, scientists, design
professional and landscapers. Human resource team of Canberra Construction is dedicated to
work with the aim of rendering efficient and the cost-effective services to their clients. In order
to achieve the goals and objectives, the company has emphasizes on maintaining the standards in
occupational health, environmental safety and quality management.
Issue in the company:
It is essential for an organisation to adopt the different standards related to risks and hazards at
the workplace in order to avoid the unnecessary accidents and dangerous hazards at the
workplace. It is the responsibility of the head in-charge of Safety and risk management
department to protect the health of its workers and provide the safe working environment. From
the case study, it is analyzed that workers in Canberra Construction Company are working in a
risky environment as the company is not following the risk and safety regulations at the
workplace to protect the workers from unwanted risks at the workplace (Guo, Yiu, & González,
2018). In order to establish a safe and risk-free environment, it is essential for an organisation to
appoint skilled and experienced employees who have better knowledge about the risk
assessments at the workplace. However, the company was found guilty of breaching safety rules
and not posting warning signs of the power lines or attached flags to the lines themselves, which
became the reason of Mr Booth's death. It is also analyzed that the company has appointed safety

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officer who is not qualified for the job. In this concern, the company is not following the safety
measures in a proper manner. In order to resolve this issue, the head in charge of Safety and Risk
management department can adopt the following ways:
Provide training to the workers:
It is essential for Safety and Risk management department to have proper training programs for
workers before they start their work on-site. The induction of specific training to the site is
compulsory for the workers to establish a safe and risk-free environment (The Perecman firm,
2014).
Identify the possible risks at the workplace:
The issues related to safety at the workplace can be resolved by identifying the level of possible
risks that can harm the workers. Therefore, the management of the company should identify the
possible risks at the workplace to resolve these risks in the future.
Minimizing and managing the risk:
It is impossible for the company to eliminate the safety risks, due to the extensive construction
work but the head of Safety and Risk management department can control these risks in a better
manner. (United Rentals, 2018).
Method of Safe Work Assessment:
The head of Safety and Risk management department can use this method for their entire
construction project that involves high risk. This method is used before the construction work
commences. This method outlines what type of work required, safety issues and how the risk
involved in the work can be prevented and managed (Synergy Resource, 2018).
Points of exit and entry:

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The Company should focus on creating a separate exit and entry points for the access of heavy
vehicle and machinery on the construction site, to ensure the safety of the construction workers
and pedestrian in the high traffic areas.
Use of Compliant storage of chemicals:
It is essential for a construction company to be careful about the storage of chemicals to
minimize explosions, fires, chemical injury, asphyxiation and worksites pollution. The company
should use premium quality of compliant storage solutions like storage cabinets that are
explosive (Latham, 2018).
First aid facility:
The Company should appoint one officer of first aid per 30 workers. It is necessary for the
organisation to place equipment and the first aid box on the construction area that is easily
accessible (Johnson, 2012). As well as, it is essential for the company to appoint qualified
officers to manage the risks in an effective manner.
The safety of the construction does not end when the project is finished. It is the responsibility of
all the parties involved in the construction process to ensure that the right quality of the materials
and the equipment are used in the Construction work of the company so that the risk of safety
can be avoided in the future. In 2012, the company had faced serious safety issues, when the
truck driver Michael Booth, who has died, as the truck he was driving had touched the power
lines on the work site of Canberra Company Andersen, (Nørdam, Joensson, Kines, & Nielsen,
2018). As per the law, the Canberra Company was found guilty of the safety breaches that
caused the death of the truck driver of the company, as the company has not posted the signs of
warning and not attached flags on the power lines to prevent this type of accidents on their
construction site. The court was founded by the officer of the construction company altering the

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attendance record of Mr Booth’s to prove him guilty. According to the Worksafe Commissioner,
the penalty of $1.1 million that is charged from the Canberra Construction company is
appropriate, as this penalty will set a strong warning on the company and its directors, that such
type of incidents are the most serious accidents in Australia and are not acceptable (Hess, 2007).
Safe work by the company and their workers is essential to resolve this type of safety breaches.
The company should reduce the use of airborne toxins and fibers, as these fibers resulted in the
problem of breathing and respiratory diseases among the construction workers. In Canberra
Construction Company the driver of the company had died because the power lines are not
properly placed. It is also due to the lack of training of the construction workers by the company.
The Company should provide proper training to their workers about the electrical work so that
they avoid accidents related to electricity. The Company should focus on reducing the
unintended collapse, as the lives of the workers working around the excavations are at danger.
The construction work involves material handling activities like holding, lifting, lowering,
carrying, pulling and pushing of the material loads, which results in injuries among the workers
like broken bones, bruises and punctures (Holt, 2008).
The damage of soft tissue is the most common body injury among the workers such as damage to
tendons, ligaments, nerves, muscles and discs. The company should provide proper medical
facility to the workers in case of such injuries. The workers are trained to use the material
handling equipment and machinery for the loading and unloading of the heavy materials. The
proper management of the work areas is necessary to protect the workers from the safety
hazards. The Company should focus on the tidy work areas. The organisation should put warning
lights on the moving objects and vehicles. The noise pollution on the construction site is one of
the major problems that the workers are facing. The company should provide their workers with

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proper hearing protectors to protect them for the hazardous levels of noise. The company should
make sure that the right type of hearing instruments should be used, that should not result in the
additional hazards. The daily survey of the construction site should be carried out by the
managing department of the company to identify the potential risks so that the company takes the
pre-emptive action (NBS, 2018).
The alternative measures that must be adopted by the Safety and Risk department of the
company to protect their goodwill and to prevent the hazardous accident on their construction
site are:
The head in-charge should ensure that the guardrails are installed in the open areas. The
company should place the yellow stickers with the safety notes on the dangerous areas. There
must be proper uniform for the workers while working on construction sites. The hand protection
gloves are supplied to each and every worker to protect them against the wounds and cuts while
material handling, cleaning operations and handling of equipment. The safety glasses should be
provided to the workers on the construction site, to protect them from the harmful toxins and
chemicals (Atlantic, 2108). The material handling equipment of the company needs to be
updated, as the workers are suffering serious injuries, due to the handling of such equipment The
company should provide the facility of health insurance to their employees, so that in case of
accident or the death of the worker their family will not suffer.
Reflection:
If a person has to work in the Canberra Construction company, he/she would read out all the
occupational safety policies of the company, due to which the truck driver had died. Moreover, a
request should be made to the court to charge additional penalty from them and instruct them to
provide the reimbursement to the truck driver’s family. The company should schedule regular

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breaks for their workers and encourage the workers to look after one another; it results in the
creation of the safe working environment. The wearing of the safety equipment like ear
protection, hard hats and eye protection should be made compulsory by the company for all their
workers. As well as, the company is suggested to improve the leadership skills at the workplace
as effective leadership will be helpful in managing and improving a safe culture at the workplace
(Lyu, Hon, Chan, Wong, & Javed, 2018).

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Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the safety guidelines are essential for a
construction company to provide a safe and protected environment for the employees. The
discussion was carried on the safety measures that must be adopted by Head In-charge of Safety
and Risk department of the organisation to provide a safe working environment to their workers.
The safety measures like providing proper training to the workers, construction site security,
minimizing and maximizing the risk, points of entry and exit and first aid facility were discussed
in this report. The discussion was also carried on the safe work measures that the company must
adopt to prevent the hazardous accidents on the construction site.

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Recommendations
In order to improve the conditions of occupational safety processes and application of risk
management tools in Canberra Construction Company, the managers should first of all create
awareness about the potential hazards at the construction sites among the workers as their minor
carelessness can put their and others' lives at stake (Nayani, Nielsen, Daniels, Donaldson-Feilder,
& Lewis, 2018). The company should also impart training to the construction workers who
mainly work with hazardous equipment and tools. The training should be given on how they can
handle the worse situation and save their lives intelligently. For this purpose, on-site training
programs can also be held. Furthermore, the organization is required to abide to all the standards
issued by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) so as to defend itself
from any legal issues. In addition to this, Canberra Construction Company should also keep in
touch with the labours operating on different construction sites through devices like headsets in
order to get the details of every minute on the site (Gokpinar, and Balas, 2018). This effective
communication would be useful in helping the workers if the situations goes out of control.

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References
Atlantic (2018). Construction Safety tips A Comprehensive Resource. Retrieved from:
https://www.atlantictraining.com/safety-tips/construction-safety-tips.php.
Canberra parklands (2018). Canberra parklands Central Apartment Hotel. Retrieved from:
https://www.canberraparklandscentral.com.au/?
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9aGjjOQzc1zaPMEwD-TRoCesAQAvD_BwE.
Hess, A.S. (2007). Design Professional and Construction Manager law. USA: American Bar
Association.
Holt, J. (2008). Principles of Construction Safety. USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Johnson. (2012). DEWALT Construction Safety & OSHA Handbook. USA: Cengage Learning.
Latham (2018). 11 Safety Measures every Construction Site should have in place. Retrieved
from: https://www.latham-australia.com/blog/safety-measures-construction-site .
NBS (2018). 12 of the biggest health and safety risks in construction. Retrieved from:
https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/12-of-the-biggest-health-and-safety-risks-in-
construction.
Synergy Resource (2018). Construction. Retrieved from:
https://synergyresource.com/services/construction?
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PRY4tVe5OkkWEBqocdRoCe3QQAvD_BwE.

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The Perecman firm (2014). How to prevent an accident at Construction Site. Retrieved from:
https://www.perecman.com/blog/2014/may/how-to-prevent-an-accident-at-construction-
site/.
United Rentals (2018). Contractors: 10 Construction Site Safety Precautions You Might Be
Skipping .Retrieved from:
https://www.unitedrentals.com/project-uptime/safety/construction-safety-practices#/.
Nayani, R. J., Nielsen, K., Daniels, K., Donaldson-Feilder, E. J., & Lewis, R. C. (2018). Out of
sight and out of mind? A literature review of occupational safety and health leadership
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Identification of Ways for Reducing These: Case Study in Oil and Gas Fields. European
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Andersen, L. P., Nørdam, L., Joensson, T., Kines, P., & Nielsen, K. J. (2018). Social identity,
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Guo, B. H., Yiu, T. W., & González, V. A. (2018). Does company size matter? Validation of an
integrative model of safety behavior across small and large construction
companies. Journal of safety research, 64, 73-81.
Lyu, S., Hon, C. K., Chan, A. P., Wong, F. K., & Javed, A. A. (2018). Relationships among
safety climate, safety behavior, and safety outcomes for ethnic minority construction
workers. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(3), 484.s