Building Industry: Workplace Safety and Health Practice Report

This report comprehensively analyzes workplace safety and health practices within the building industry. It addresses scaffold safety, risk control hierarchies, hazard scenarios, and incident response. The report also examines safety activities in tunneling projects, core principles of the Workplace Safety and Health Act, and the concept of reasonably practicable safety measures. It references Singaporean projects and regulations, providing a detailed overview of safety management in construction and related fields. Desklib offers this and many similar documents for students.

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 1
WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH PRACTICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY
Name
Course
Instructor
University
City and State
Date

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 2
Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry
Question 1
Primarily, scaffolds are defined as temporary structures used to support materials and
workers to aid in the construction, repair and maintenance of bridges, buildings, and other
manmade structures. To this end, they are extensively utilized in workplaces such as shipyards
and construction sites. Their use, however, can pose safety risks to personnel with reports
indicating that 13 percent of the accidents which occurred in construction sites from 2002 to
2005 are attributed to scaffolds. Likewise, 21 percent of accidents occurring in shipyards were
attributed to scaffolding (Chok, 2009). Such accidents, nevertheless, can be averted with the
compliance to the Factories (Scaffolding) regulations and requirements as well as the relevant
work safety procedures on site.
The Factories Regulations provides several types of scaffold use as stated below. First,
timber scaffolds should not be used in shipyards and when in use in construction sites they
should not exceed 15 meters in height. When in use in construction sites, metal and timber
scaffolds must be enveloped in a screening net or overlay with the exception of tower scaffold. A
tower scaffold should only be used on a firm ground with locking devices safely attached to
castors in order to hold it in position. Modular or frame scaffolds should not be used as a means
of egress or access by any individual in the workplace (Chan, Wong, Chan, Yam, Kwok, Lam,
and Cheung, 2008). Lastly, hanging scaffolds are suitable for use in shipyards. For safe use, the
hanging scaffold must be securely anchored to the relevant part of the ship to prevent sway or
any other lateral movement. In my opinion, the regulation on scaffold use is good and effective
in the prevention of accidents in workplaces. This is because the regulation clearly outlines best

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 3
practices in regards to the use of scaffolds. Therefore, employers and employees should adhere to
these regulations.
Question 2
A hierarchy or risk controls
The diagram above illustrates the hierarchy of controls for personnel working with scaffolds in
the workplace. The inverted pyramid denotes the order of controls from the most effective that is
elimination, to the least effective which is personal protective equipment (Berg, 2010).
 Elimination encourages employers to eliminate the need to work at heights that pose
safety risks to workers.
 Substitution refers to the use of fall prevention systems in the workplace such as
scaffolds, aerial work platforms, and mast work climbing platform. These systems
should be installed with the aid of a professional (Berg, 2010).
 Engineering controls refers to structural aids such as guardrails and barriers while
working at heights as prevention against falls.

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 4
 Administrative controls are used in eliminating risk by compliance to safety and
workplace instructions and procedures.
 Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the last option in the prevention of accidents in a
workplace. PPE should be used in conjunction with other control measures as they are
not effective in fall prevention if used alone.
Question 3
There are several scenarios in a workplace that can be hazardous to health of personnel. For
instance, an employee can fall through an uncovered gap in a scaffold while attempting to erect
the formwork in a second storey building. In this case, several issues might arise pertaining to the
death of the employee including insufficient anchorage, neglect by the safety officer or
supervisor at the site, and lack of administrative controls. As follows, several measures can be
implemented by the employer to ensure that the site and use of scaffolds is in compliance with
the workplace safety and health act. First, proper administration controls should be in place to
ensure that work procedures and instructions are followed (Feng, 2013). In this case, personnel
are not to use fall prevention systems prior to inspection by approved scaffold contractors. This
is applicable in conjunction with the risk assessment procedure that will include identification or
risk, evaluation, and control. Second, there should be clearly outlined safe work procedures that
all employees should adhere to. These include the use of personal protective equipment and
working under suitable working hours and environmental conditions to avoid slips due to poor
vision of wet surfaces respectively (Lin, and Wen, 2005).
Question 4
Safety risk in workplace varies depending on the nature of the job and tasks performed by
personnel on a daily basis. The construction industry is considered a high risk workplace and

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 5
poses several dangers to personnel. An example of an incident that could occur in a construction
site might involve the resident contractor whereby the individual might suffer a fatal fall while
inspecting construction of a tank with the aid of ladder. The initial step would be to call for the
emergency aid and report to the necessary authorities that is safety commissioner of the region
(Ling, Liu, and Woo, 2009). Afterwards, I would compile a report to detail the incident. In this
case, the report will feature the time of the incident, witnesses present when the fall occurred,
presence or lack thereof of safe procedures, risk control measures present or absent, observance
or fail to adhere to safe work procedures by the victim. These details will enable the authorities
to determine the party liable for injury or death of the resident contractor.
Question 5
Over the years, Singapore has witnessed the start and completion of several projects that
involved tunneling and excavation works. One such project is the construction of underground
MRT structures under the Marina bay station, NSL, and CCL tunnels. Specifically, the project
entails the expansion of rail networks, which involves the construction of interchange stations to
facilitate enhanced connectivity of the MRT system (Chua, Hiromitsu, Takeda, Ramesh
Sreedharan, and Quintas, 2016). Since the interchange stations will be adjacent to existing
stations, deep excavation will be performed to facilitate construction. Several safety activities
can, therefore, be utilized in this and other tunneling and excavation projects. One, in the case of
over excavation, builder should identify potential void and grouting of the void. Two, contractor
should design and implement protection measures for buildings including building strengthening,
ground enhancement, and recharge well (Gong, and Zhao, 2007). Other safety activities include;
risk assessment matrix that will involve analysis of ground conditions and proximity to adjacent
buildings, constant supervision of site by resident engineer, compliance to the building control

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 6
regulations, submit schedule for tunneling, identification of target face pressure and safe
location, and establishment of allowed limit of excavation (Zhao, Gong, and Eisensten, 2007).
Question 6
The Workplace Safety and Health Act is founded on three core principles. First is the reduction
of risk and exposure of personnel to hazardous situations or substances. In this regard,
stakeholders are required to design and implement several control measures that will mitigate
risks. To achieve such, they are required to first conduct a risk assessment to determine the level
of risk involved and suitable controls. Second, industries are encouraged to adopt safe and
healthy outcomes. This implies that companies are required to establish best practices that
involve minimal risk while achieving safe and healthy outcomes. Third, higher penalties should
be imposed for poor safety management and outcomes. Undoubtedly, this principle will ensure
that employers are keen on the implementation of safety measures, thus, ensuring the safety of
personnel and evading avoidable penalties.
Question 7
Reasonably practicable refers to sound measures or procedures that can be undertaken at a
particular time to ensure health and safety. Several factors must be taken into account including
degree of harm, likelihood of a hazard, knowledge of the involved person on the risk involved,
availability of mitigation measures, and cost associated with eliminating risk (Smith, Merna, and
Jobling, 2009). For instance, metal products manufacturing company uses different dyes for
different items. However, the dyes must be changed manually prior to a product run. The dyes
are difficult to reach and heavy therefore posing health risk to personnel. On consideration of
factors that will constitute a reasonable solution, the reasonably practicable action would be to
purchase a computerized machine that does not require workers to manually change dyes.

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 7
References
Berg, H.P., 2010. Risk management: procedures, methods and experiences. Reliability: Theory &
Applications, 5(2 (17)).
Chan, A.P., Wong, F.K., Chan, D.W., Yam, M.C., Kwok, A.W., Lam, E.W. and Cheung, E.,
2008. Work at height fatalities in the repair, maintenance, alteration, and addition works. Journal
of construction engineering and management, 134(7), pp.527-535.
Chok, S., 2009. Risky business: death & injury on Singapore’s construction sites. J Proj
Manage, 27(7), pp.717-26.
Feng, Y., 2013. Effect of safety investments on safety performance of building projects. Safety
science, 59, pp.28-45.
Gong, Q.M. and Zhao, J., 2007. Influence of rock brittleness on TBM penetration rate in
Singapore granite. Tunnelling and underground space technology, 22(3), pp.317-324.
Lin, E.T.A. and Wen, K.P.T., 2005. Singapore's Contractors' attitudes Towards Safety Culture.
Journal of Construction Research, 6(01), pp.157-178.
Ling, F.Y.Y., Liu, M. and Woo, Y.C., 2009. Construction fatalities in Singapore. International
Journal of Project Management, 27(7), pp.717-726.
Smith, N.J., Merna, T. and Jobling, P., 2009. Managing risk: in construction projects. John
Wiley & Sons.
TS Chua, M.L., Hiromitsu, T.A.D.A., Takeda, S., Ramesh Sreedharan, N.A.I.R. and Quintas,
C.A., 2016. Design and Construction of Underground MRT Structures underneath Marina Bay
Station, CCL and NSL Tunnels.

Workplace Safety and Health Practice in Building Industry 8
Zhao, J., Gong, Q.M. and Eisensten, Z., 2007. Tunnelling through a frequently changing and
mixed ground: a case history in Singapore. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology,
22(4), pp.388-400.