NHBC Health & Safety News. Site waste management. Then and Now...site safety. May 2007 Issue 47

Transcription

1 NHBC Health & Safety News Site waste management Then and Now...site safety May 2007 Issue 47

2 Simon Says... Simon Mantle, Manager NHBC Health & Safety Services A few weeks ago I travelled over to Northern Ireland to spend some time with one of our health and safety advisors. It was a very interesting visit and I was fascinated to see the sheer volume of re-development that is happening, particularly in Belfast. The city exuded a feeling of excitement and vitality which I haven t felt on the mainland for a long time. In many ways Belfast gives the impression of a city making up for lost time and what interested me most was observing practices on the city s building sites. Northern Ireland acts as a good benchmark to show the improvements the industry has made in the last decade. The All Builder Average site inspection score for Great Britain is about 5.8, in Northern Ireland it is 23.8 about the level the rest of the country was in the year As you will see later on in this edition of SAFE, data collected from NHBC s Site Inspection Service can demonstrate a marked improvement in health and safety performance since it began. That said more work is needed. Early indications from the HSE suggest that there was nearly a 25% increase in the number of fatalities in the construction industry last year over the record low numbers from the year before. More worrying is that, of the 80 or so deaths last year, 20% of them were in the new build housing sector. Only refurbishment killed more. The question I ask then is this: How does the low risk end of the industry kill more of its workers than the high risk civil and commercial sectors? Maybe its time we started looking for some answers. Ask the experts Is the use of trestles allowed on site? If so, how can they be used safely? Thank you for your question. To submit your question hsnews@nhbc.co.uk The short answer is yes. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 defines trestles as working platforms. As with all activities the task needs to be assessed and carried out safely. Three steps need to be considered: Avoid Does the work have to be carried out at height? Prevent Stop the person/s from falling by using an existing safe place of work or by using work equipment such as trestles that are fitted with guardrails, toeboards and that have a suitable access point. Mitigate If the precautions needed are disproportionate to the risks involved. Safe erection of trestles Must be erected only by someone who has been trained and is competent. Must be erected on a firm, level, and stable base. If used by trades and for the storage of materials, the platform must be at least 800 mm wide and if using 32 mm thick boards the trestles must be spaced no more than 1.2 metres apart. Guardrails must be at least 950 mm high, with a mid rail and toeboards fitted. If guardrails cannot be used then the height of the trestles must be limited (normally 1.2m) and other precautions should be taken to reduce the risk of a fall such as using bean bags under and around the trestles. When using guardrails only on one side of trestles then the stability of the platform will need to be assessed to prevent any overturning. Provide a safe means of access, i.e. a suitable and secure ladder. Must be inspected regularly. 1

3 Site waste management - Are you ready for the change? With environmental issues on the top of many people s agendas the impact the construction industry is having on the environment is increasingly coming under the spotlight. From spring 2008 it is anticipated that a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) will be a legal requirement. Many sites are currently employing good waste management procedures but this new anticipated legislation will make the plan a formal, legal requirement on all sites. So what is a SWMP? It is intended to be a structure for the delivery and disposal of waste during the whole life of a project and is intended to identify the following criteria: Who will be responsible for the management of the plan? What types of waste will be generated? How will the waste be managed? Which contractor will be responsible for the recycling/disposal? How will the amount of waste be measured? Who will it affect? SWMPs are likely to be required for all projects over 250,000 and the scale of the plan will obviously depend on the size of the project. As with all matters concerning health, safety and the environment early planning will be essential to successful waste management. One of the key decisions will be in appointing someone to take responsibility for the plan throughout the life of the project. Although the site management team may have the day-to-day duty of implementing the plan, the person with overall responsibility should have enough authority to ensure that it s carried out. 2

4 What it involves? Waste identification will need to be carried out by conducting a review of all stages of a project and calculating the materials to be used and the amount of waste likely to be generated. This could involve discussions with suppliers on the type and amount of packaging used or the possible off-site prefabrication of construction elements to reduce off cuts and wastage on site. Inevitably waste will be generated and it is the actions to be taken with that waste that will need to be included in the plan. A hierarchy of controls has been produced in controlling waste: Eliminate the waste items prefabricated off-site to specification. Reduce the amount of waste produced contact suppliers for their buy in to the plan especially with regard to packaging. Reuse as many items as possible over ordered materials to be distributed to other sites. Recycle what is left over if possible. Dispose of any waste left in a responsible manner. Special consideration may need to be given to any hazardous waste. Early planning will assist in allowing room on site for waste and recycling areas and storage areas for reusable materials. Once all other options have been exhausted and waste has to be removed from site then the choice of contractor to carry out this task must be made, ensuring they are competent and if necessary licensed to remove that waste. Waste transfer notes should be issued and retained as proof of correct disposal. Measuring the quantity of waste from a project can be undertaken in a variety of ways. e.g. Cost of removal, weight, number of skips etc. and over a period of time may highlight trends and lead to cost savings in reducing the waste generated during certain processes. As with all systems or plans information, instruction and training will need to be given to all parties involved from the buyers and suppliers to those trades carrying out the on-site work. SWMPs may develop into an essential part of any tender document, purchase order or site induction. As well as the obvious impact this will have on our environment there is the potential for cost savings on a project. Consultation of the proposed regulations for Site Waste Management Plans is ongoing until 9 July Further information can be obtained at 3

5 Remember the four C s Establishing responsibilities and relationships within the workplace is a very important part of securing safe working practices, and promoting a culture of safety. To secure and maintain a safe workplace, employers need to ensure that everyone from senior management to individual employees is aware of their responsibilities for safety, and acts accordingly. Remember the 4 C s: 1 - Control 2 - Communication 3 - Co-operation 4 - Competence Cut out and keep Control Employers need to take responsibility for safety, and demonstrate their commitment. Hold regular safety meetings with employees or their safety representatives. Make regular and visible tours of offices and building sites. Ensure formal or informal discussions about work with employees and always include references to safety. Ensure an accident reporting system is in place to enable employees to meet their legal obligations to report accidents. An effective reporting procedure will be valuable in monitoring how effective your safety measures are. It is important that managers do not use the accident reporting system to apportion blame as this may discourage employees from using it. A clear allocation of responsibilities is needed so that everyone understands their health and safety responsibilities. Management needs to ensure that everyone at work is held accountable for his or her actions (primarily through supervision), and that there is some form of penalty if they fail to comply. Communication It is important to have strong lines of communication, so that everyone is clear about their responsibilities, and so that any changes spread quickly across the whole organisation. Information that needs to be communicated includes: The organisation's safety policy, and what it means in practical terms. The allocation of safety responsibilities. Safe working practices and procedures. Where people can get more information. Feedback to employees on how well they have complied with the safety policy. Co-operation Employees have a legal duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by what they do at work. Employees also have a legal duty to co-operate with their employers, to enable the employer to comply with their health and safety responsibilities. Competence Employers need to be sure that everyone is capable of doing their work in a proper way (i.e. one that ensures their own safety and that of other people). In a large organisation, senior management needs to be satisfied that subordinate managers and supervisors are capable of organising a safe workplace. They need to be able to: establish control over risks communicate effectively to maintain a flow of information about safety, in both directions obtain co-operation from those for whom they are responsible allocate and organise activity in a safe way. Employers need to ensure wherever possible that people are working in a safe and responsible way. 4

6 Case Study: A lesson to us all The National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC) best practice scaffolding guidance, TG20:05, insists that all scaffold loading towers are specifically designed. The following court case gives a good illustration of why this is important. In December 2006, two companies in Scotland were fined following an incident in which scaffolding collapsed. The case In May 2005, a subcontracted labourer worked on the third floor of a loading bay tower of a scaffold at a residential development in Edinburgh. A one tonne pallet of building blocks was loaded onto the bay, which was too heavy for the structure. The tower collapsed and the labourer fell 5m into a pile of debris suffering a fractured rib, wrist and severe head lacerations. The errors Workers on site were not aware of the maximum load weights that could be placed on the tower. Due to access restrictions, the scaffolding contractor had erected three towers, which extended out in a line away from the main scaffold. The scaffolding contractor failed to calculate safe weight limits for deliveries to the tower and they and the principal contractor, failed to produce a safe system of work for deliveries. The scaffolders also failed to check the structure was safe before handing it over to the principal contractor. The result The scaffolding contractor now has an improved system for checking structures are safe. These are now in place before they are handed over to the principal contractors. The scaffolders and the principal contractor were fined a total of 132,000 for breach for s.3.1 of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA). TIP Once the scaffolding structure went beyond its original design, a competent engineer should have been consulted, or additional expertise brought in to develop a safe design, a safe loading limit and a suitable system of work. 5

7 Then and now... site safety For 11 years NHBC Health & Safety Services has been providing a site safety inspection service to the house-building and construction industry. Since commencement of this service, site inspection delivery has increased to over 20,000 during 2006, a significant sample size. Since 2000 NHBC has had the facility to provide benchmarking information to the industry based on the data collected during these site safety inspections. Where contracted, safety advisors monitor approximately 50 categories, such as scaffold, work at height, risk assessment etc. This gives customers the opportunity to monitor trends in performance, identify strengths and weaknesses and make a comparison with their peers via the All Builder Average. The All Builder Average is drawn from the pooled data from all site inspections, and is built up for each of the inspection categories using numerical weightings according to risk. Using the NHBC management report a client can then compare their own individual sites or functional region with the industry average for individual inspection categories and all categories combined. In 2000/1 the All Builder Average for the six months ending February 2001 was For the same six-month period ending Feb 2007 the average was 5.98, a significant reduction in observations and a strong indication of the improvement made in the management of risk over this period. The most striking improvement can be seen in the scaffold category where observations are a fraction of their 2001 level. However, work at height, although improved, does not appear to have reduced in line with the other categories. Problems persist on site with stairwell protection and work over stairwells, work on open joists, potential falls in to the superstructure, open edges, open balcony doors, voids and lift shafts. Whilst these problems are not typical of every site, they are recorded frequently enough to make work at height the most observed individual category. Where organisations have shown improvement on scaffold, it can generally be attributed to better scaffold specification, improved vetting of scaffold contractors, more competent scaffold operatives, training of site staff in scaffold inspection, the use of a written scaffold hand over, and regular inspections. Many of the falling objects observations related to a lack of brick guards, especially around loading bays, which have also improved with scaffold. Ladder safety improvements can also be partly linked to scaffold quality, however, better control of ladder movement and domestic grade steps by site staff has also made a significant contribution. PPE observations have roughly halved since 2000/1. The culture amongst trades has improved in recent years, however, failure to wear the appropriate PPE remains a stubborn problem. Many organisations have overhauled their management systems over this period with standard site set up and notice boards which has improved the presentation of safety, although statutory document issues persist and have remained in the top six. The management report data for the last seven years indicates that whilst the industry in general has improved there remains significant work to be done to reduce observations further through systematic management of risk. NHBC management reports provide a useful tool to identify trends in safety performance as part of an overall risk management strategy. Site Safety Observations Top Six comparison 2000/1 2006/7 Observation Period 6 months Period 6 months category to Feb 2001 to Feb 2007 Scaffold Work at Height Ladders Personal Protective Equipment Falling objects Statutory documents

8 Must haves Health & Safety Training courses To book on any of the courses below call or For SAFE news subscription enquiries please call: IOSH Directing Safely Nationwide September 2007 This course has been designed for senior executives and directors who have responsibility for ensuring sites are run efficiently, profitably and safely. This one-day course offers practical guidance for developing health and safety management systems. This course will enable delegates to learn how compliance applies to their own organisation, the importance of strategic health and safety management and its integration into other business management systems. Delegates will also learn how to identify accident causes and plan for prevention through assessing and controlling risk and the importance of performance monitoring. Site risk assessments and method statements, Nationwide May June 2007 Fire safety regulations Nationwide June July 2007 This course offers practical guidance in writing risk assessments and method statements for site-based activities. The course has been re-designed to help you comply with new legislation in the key areas of Fire Safety, Workload, Height and Noise and Vibration. This is a one-day course and is suitable for those with responsibility for carrying out risk assessments and who need to draft or review method statements. The new regulations require that all non-domestic premises (places of work) must have a responsible person' who will be accountable for ensuring that their organisation complies with the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO). This one-day course is suitable for all health and safety representatives, fire wardens, facilities managers or people with responsibility for facilities management, site managers, assistant site managers and persons in control of premises. NHBC Health & Safety Services NHBC House, Davy Avenue, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, Bucks MK5 8FP Tel: Fax: HB /07