Safety in High-rise Building Construction

natural rubber in High- come Building braidChapter 1 Introduction1.1 BackgroundIn previous decades since mildewers balanced themselves at dizzying heights above ground with little to prevent them from falling, multistoried verbal expression has been overlying in pencil eraser regulations and equipment. mental synthesis tush be referred as a relatively hazardous undertaking. There be significantly more than injuries and addled workdays due to injuries or illnesses in social organisation as comp atomic twist 18d to any(prenominal) separate(a) industry. In contrast to most industrial cerebrovascular fortuitys, innocent bystanders overly astonish injured due to braid mishaps. Several crane collapses from advanceder(prenominal) rise buildings under construction be in possession of resulted in injuries to passersby. galosh during a high-rise construction find out is affected in life-sized part by stopping points made during the planning and design stage. Som e designs or construction plans be inherently difficult and dangerous to put into exercise, whereas different, similar plans whitethorn salubrious curve the possibility of dangerous disasters. Beyond these design decisions, preventative likewise depends vauntinglyly upon education, alertness and cooperation during the construction dish. Workers should be always alert to the possibilities of accidents and repeal taken unnecessary risks.1.2 Related ProblemsThe causes of injuries in high-rise construction atomic number 18 plentiful. The largest single category for both injuries and fatalities is individual falls. Handling of goods and transportation atomic number 18 in like manner a major cause of injuries. An individual fall may be ca employ by a series of coincidences inattentive professional personle or an insecure railing or slippery footing etc. Removing any one of these causes might serve to s tiptop any particular accident, just again each casualty may keep bac k multiple causes. numerous another(prenominal) measures ar available to improve excogitatesite precaution in construction. These include design, select of refuge device equipment, education and vigilance. By altering facility designs, particular structures can be nextr or more hazardous to construct. Choice of different sanctuary equipments plays an important manipulation in overall rubber of project. Educating workers and managers in appropriate procedures and hazards also has a calculate impact on jobsite sentry go. During the construction process itself, the most important safeguard link up measures are to insure ripe vigilance and cooperation on the part of managers, inspectors and workers. Vigilance involves bearing in brainpower the risks of different functional practices. In also involves maintaining temporary physical safeguards.1.3 learnTo study and evaluate the Safety in High Rise gimmick with excess focus on safety at construction in roof of Kuw ait departures, problems, procedures, and recommendations1.4 ObjectivesTo study and find the various(a) risks involved, and the safety issues related to construction and analysis the previous work done in this field.To evaluate the live safety procedures, policies, regulations and accident prevention methods with respect to construction industry in Kuwait.Development of questionnaire and conducting survey and audiences with the contractors and the consultants and safety engineersTo identify the root of safety problems related to construction in Kuwait and recommend potential safety programs and solutions and estimating the presumable effect on project progress and accident reductionSuggesting virtually recommendations for safety at construction based on the study at Kuwait1.5 Expected outcomesAt the end of project, a reader impart be able to understand the various risks involved in high rise construction and the various measures followed to reduce that risk. The practices fol lowed and measures developed to make high-rise construction a safer job ordain be listed in report.1.6 Resources usedThe resources that volition be used for this study will include various international papers and books regarding safety in high-rise construction. The papers and books will be generally taken from the university library and somewhat of them will be taken from the internet, while the use of internet resources will be kept to a minimum.1.7 Gantt ChartGantt Chart Project on Safety in High Rise ConstructionTASKSOctNovDecJanFebSelection of the Topic unveiling of the Project ProposalLiterature survey on the Topic calmness of the Interim ReportMain seek on the Topic finishing and RecommendationsFinal Report SubmissionCHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 look fores make at external LevelIn most countries, the building and construction industry has a high set of occupational accidents. In the EU15, the rate of construction injuries leading to over three days absence from wor k exceeded 6,000 per 100,000 employees in 2005 (Arbetsmiljverket, 2008). Although this is approximately three clock times the rate in the Swedish construction industry, Swedens rate still places building and construction among the top 10 occupational sectors for occupational accidents in the country. Much effort has been made to reduce the rate of industrial accidents, mainly through technical solutions, rules, and regulation. In an interview study of the Australian construction industry, Holmes, Lingard, Yesilyurt, and De Munk (1999) found that risk was largely attributed to the personality of the work, poor individual work practices, ignorance, andwork pressure due to budgetary and time constraints. To successfully approach these sources of risk there is a need to understand not only underlying structural and organisational conditions, but also psychological and social agents. Such a broadened and deepened perspective on safety should supplement rather than replace the enginee ring approach. The concepts of safety culture and safety climate are important contributions from the behavioral and social sciences to our understanding of occupational safety. Denison (1996) declared that the concepts of organizational culture and climate both suggest the cosmos of a shared, holistic, and collectively defined social context that emerges over time. The both concepts share many features, though organizational culture places greater wildness on creating the social environs whereas organizational climate corresponds to how this social environs is experienced by the actors and consequently is more external (Denison). Zohar (1980) defined organizational climate as a summary of molar perceptions that employees share rough their work environments.Neal and Griffin(2006) defined perceived safety climate. as individual perceptions of policies, procedures and practices relating to safety in the workplace and suggested that group safety climate refers to perceptions sha red inside the group. According to organizational climate theory (Schneider, 1975), such shared perceptions will result in normative conclusions as to the correct way to comport in relation to safety in the organization. Climate serves to guide ones accept behavior and contributes to the predictability of the behavior of others (Guldenmund, 2000). Pidgeon (1991) suggested that organizational culture represents a shared heart and soul system (i.e., a system of symbols, ideas, rules, and cognitions, with certain observable behavioral consequences) furthermore, he defined safety culture as the set of beliefs, norms, attitudes, roles, and social and technical practices which are concerned with minimizing the exposure of employees, managers, customers, and members of the public to conditions take awayed dangerous or injurious. Pidgeon stated that such construed meaning systems specifywhat is important and legitimate to the group, and that this culture is created and recreated asmembe rs of the group repeatedly be withstand in a way that tickms natural and unquestionable to them, thus constructing a particular version of risk and safety. Pidgeon also suggested that it is misleading to consider only organizational or corporate culture, as the cultures of workgroups, departments, divisions, and organizations, as well as cultures at an even broader macro level (e.g., nations) are nested deep down one another as well as overlapping. Both safety climate and safety culture are socially construed phenomena and the importance of these concepts to occupational safety is generally accepted (e.g., Zohar 1980 Zohar, 2002 Donald Canter, 1994 Pidgeon, 1998 Guldenmund, 2000 Lee Harrison, 2000 Cooper Phillips, 2004 Mearns, Whitaker, Flin, 2003 Neal Griffin, 2006 Clarke, 2006b Pousette, Larsson, Trner, 2008). shoot (1993) investigated contractors safety mathematical operations at 98 di.erent con struction sites over 2 years. It was reason out that management training an d good management practices are most potential to prevent injuries which are associated with the violation of regulations. Hinze and Raboud (1988) studied safety on large construction projects the study discussed the relationships between company size, level safety policy, project level safety policy, project coordination, and economic pressure on worker safety. It was found that higher frequencies of construction accidents occurred on projects that were over budget and those that were fight tively bid.According to a Business Round Table report (Construction fabrication Institute, 1988), the cost of an effective construction safety and health program in the USA is approximately 2.5% of direct intentness cost. Successful safety programs have been developed by many construction companies and have shown remarkable results. Duponts safety training and observation program achieved good results in reducing work-place accidents (Peyton and Rubio, 1991). Bechtel inform that 83% of their projects are meeting the cryptograph goal after applying the null Accident Program this program reduced lost-time injuries in 1993 to little than half when compared with 1992 (Center to Protect Workers Rights, 1993).Hakkinen (1995), developed a training program called one minute of arc for safety management to provide safety education and training for top management. The program was applied in 100 companies and showed success in attracting managements direction to safety issues. Ringdahl (1990) designed a simple model for cost welfare evaluation of improving safety measures at companies. Jaselskis et al. (1996) presented strategies for improving safety performance on both a company and a project level.2.2 Safety problems in ConstructionConstruction sites tend to have several employers working on them simultaneously, making safety coordination in such a slashing environment a very complex process. Temporary duration of work, unneurotic with the rapidly changing character of the site are in eject contrast to regular factory production and form a in force(p) hazard to safety. These special features and problems arise from the following2.2.1. Competitive tenderingContractors often touch sensation that their bids will be considered even if they do not make right(a) provisions for safety be. In the graphic symbol of hard-pressed local authorities, attempt with government-imposed spending cuts, and tenuouser rms on the brink of survival in a business recession, this problem is usually more acute and seldom comes to the surface. These problems a.ected Kuwait after the liberation, due to expenditure cuts and a large number of low-pitched construction rms. The extent of cost cuts by government and the low number of governmental projects have increased the competitive tendering between companies in the break 5 years. As a result, contractors have been forced to reduce their prots and costs to stay in the market and allow projects to sell to other compa nies or subcontractors to secure a prot margin. As shown originally in the questionnaire distributed to construction rms, most contractors do not consider safety costs in their tenders unless it is fill outd by the contract documents. Statistics show that lost-time accident frequency rates, which ranged from 2.5 to 6 per 100,000 man-hours worked on contracts where no provision for safety costs been made in tenders, could be reduced to a range of 0.2 to 1 per 100,000 man-hours worked on projects where proper safety planning and costing had been done and the costs accepted by the client (King and Hudson, 1985).2.2.2. Lack of safety regulationsThe absence of a unied set of safety regulations adversely a.ects the enforcement of safety on the job site. The MPW has a safety chapter in its construction practices manual, KOC has its own manual, and no safety standard manual exists in KM. Projects constructed by American companies are govern by OSHA and/or the US Army Corps of Engineers sa fety manual. International standards are not necessarily applicable to the Kuwaiti work environment since methods of practice in advanced and industrial countries di.er from those used in Kuwait. separate national standards have not been updated to comply with the stark naked technology and constructability methods for example, the ban against using wooden sca.olding is not included in such standards.2.2.3. venial size of most construction rmsThe open trade and commercial pick out given to its citizens by the Kuwaiti government encourages many citizens to set up minuscular businesses, which are oddly concentrated in construction. Small construction rms with less than 10 employees account for about 60% of construction rms in Kuwait. This high proportion of small undertakings is a handicap to the spread and adoption of safe working practices. After the liberation, private housing businesses ourished, attracting many small rms and nonsymbiotic contractors with limited experienc e in building construction. These rms cannot a.ord the services of safety specialists or instructors, resulting in little opportunity for organized safety instructions all o.- or on-site. Compared to large rms, the small rms are usually short of capital and under great pressure to cut costs at the disbursal of safety. Construction at this level is a competitive arena, where the saving of a few dinars means the di.erence between success and failure. In addition, most small rms use temporary labor and may not assure continuity of work, so investing money in training and equipment for them is considered an unnecessary cost. Also, it is more dicult for government safety inspectors to inspect the work and practices of a large number of small rms than a smaller number of medium-sized and large ones.2.2.4. gigantic use of subcontractorsThe specialization of activities on building sites has been a main factor leading to the extensive employment of subcontractors. Many companies in Kuwai t determine for safe and fast prot, selling their projects to subcontractors for a certain percent of the prot. This causes many problems in coordination, safety planning, allocating safety function, and communication. In practice the e.ective control of site-safety practices is dicult to enforce when a number of small subcontractors, especially those with fewer than ve employees, are engaged on one site. The main responsibility is taken by the general contractor, who should insist that all necessary safety measures are written into the subcontractors agreement. Unless proper provision is allowed for the subcontractors to consider safety in their bid, it is doubtful whether they will take safety seriously.2.2.5. Lack of relevant accident dataIf you cannot measure safety, then you certainly cannot manage it. The lack of ocial safety data and records of construction accidents at sites makes safety the last issue to be concerned by the contractor and owner. The people on-site and at management level are not aware of safety problems, since they are not informed by the statistics or gs. of serious and fatal accidents that have occurred at sites, and the number of disabilities that resulted from such accidents.2.2.6. Extensive use of foreign laborKuwait as a rich developing country attracts many investments and working labor. The employment of migrant labor has always been a special characteristic of construction sites in Kuwait. Different labor cultures and traditions reflect on human relations, different work habits, and communication problems. Most construction workers in Kuwait are unskilled, untrained, and inexperienced, especially after the liberation. They come from poor communities of other countries and are ready to work in any job to establish a reasonable life for their families many do not see their families for 23 years in order to save some money for the future. The workers are emotionally vulnerable and preoccupied with their problems since most of them are working in unsecured conditions and not on their sponsors bail. All of these above conditions can a.ect the concentration and attention of the worker and may contribute to mistakes.2.3 Research methodology for Study in KuwaitDifferent research activities have been used to collect the necessary information and data related to this research. Among these are eld visits, questionnaires, and interviews.2.3.1. Contractors questionnaireTo understand the problems associated with the implementation of safety pro- grams in construction companies, questionnaires were mail-clad to technical managers, safety directors, and in some cases chief engineers. Key persons in companies were identied either by business contacts or by direct phone calls to the companies. Thirty-two questionnaires were mailed to various large, medium, and small-sized construction companies in Kuwait. The questionnaire cover a range of subjects related to safety, namely (1) companys profile (2) safety records (3) accident statistics (4) training and (e) safety policy.2.3.2. Consultants questionnaireAnother study was conducted to determine the extent to which designers recognize the need to address the safety of construction workers in project plans, contractors woof criteria, contract clauses concerning safety, and procedures followed at job site supervision. Addresses of key consultants were identified from a bulletin distributed by the Kuwait Engineering Society.2.3.3. InterviewsA number of interviews were conducted with safety engineers, heads of safety departments in government ministries, and company superintendents. The interviews stressed the diculties in implementing safety at job sites, government procedures and policies, safety standards, cause of most construction accidents, and methods of prevention. Interviews with contractors superintendents covered safety programs, labor behavior and companys investment in safety. Visits were also made to two major insurance policy companie s dealing with construction insurance in Kuwait. 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