Introduction to Oran Park Development
Oran Park Development is the first phase of the development in the South West growth corridor. Oran Park Town will become the geographical centre of the Camden Local Authority. On completion Oran Park will have the following; a 50,000 square metre town centre and two neighbourhood centres; 36 kilometres of walking and cycling routes and 148 hectares of open space.
In this report, the Work Health Safety (WHS) issues that could be encountered during the construction site have been identified, analysed and a proposal on how to control them has been given. That was achieved through the analysis of the WHS that can be encountered in Excavation of the Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes in the same site where the development of Oran Park will take place.
Excavation works generally involve the removal of rocks or soil from a given site to create an open face, cavity or hole, by use of machinery or explosives. Excavation can occur anywhere may it be a construction site, a public area or a business premises.
An Olympic swimming pool refers to the swimming pools that are usually used for the Olympic Games, whereby the race is usually 50 metres. The excavation of this kind of a swimming pool in Oran Park will require special tools and machines to ensure that the excavation process runs smoothly. With the excavation of the swimming pool, there is need to observe health and safety precautions to ensure that the safety and health of those who are involved in the excavation process are catered for. Without proper measures, in place, there will be a lot of hazards and risks to the people in evolved
The Work, health and safety issues that can be experienced in the exaction of the Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes is a is evidence that there are many WHS issues in the development of Oran Park. Some of the WHS Issues associated with the excavation include;
- People are falling from one level to another.
This is a common occurrence in the excavation works. There are many cases that have been a witnessed when a person who was passing by the excavation works slips and falls into the excavations. The workers who are involved in the excavation some time they fall into the excavation due to the errors or accidentally (Ferrett, 2016, p. 267).
- The risk of workers being trapped in the excavation
Considering that the Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes, is wide and it has to have a depth of roughly 2metres there is a risk that the workers who will be involved in the excavation can be trapped inside in case the excavation caves-in.
- Availability of hazardous chemicals in the soil or rocks
Work Health Safety Issues Associated with Excavation
The hazardous chemicals that can be present in soil or rocks can pose a big risk to the health of those who are involved in the excavation of the swimming pool. Availability of such hazardous chemicals in soil has in the past contributed to health complication of those who are involved directly in the excavation.
- Vibrations and noise pollution
The loud noise and vibrations that will be produced by the machines or explosives that will use in the excavation of the swimming area of great threat to the health and safety of those who are involved in the excavation. Prolonged stay in such environments can result in some of the workers losing their hearing ability temporary or permanently (Hughes, 2012, p. 46).
- Risk of being struck by the falling objects.
It is a common occurrence in the excavation works that of objects can fall into the excavation and thus threatening the health and safety of those inside. Some of the objects fall accidentally from the surface but others it is due to the human error of those who are involved. In the excavation of the Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes this will be one the risks which the people who will be involved will face.
- The presence of inrush of water or any other liquid
There are many channels of water, sewage or other substances that are connected in Oran Park and with the excavation of the swimming pool by accident or human error it is possible to heat/break one of the pipes which can be a big threat to the health and safety of those who are involved in the excavation works (Perry, 2018, p. 117).
Managing/Controlling the work, Health and Safety issues in the excavation of Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes
The process of managing WHS issues in the excavation involves the following:
- Identifying the hazards
- Assessing the health and safety risks associated with the hazards
- Putting in place a control measure
- Reviewing and maintain the effectiveness of the control measures.
- Identifying the hazards that are likely to occur ring excavation
The first step in the control or managing of the risks is to identify the hazards that are associated with the excavation of Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes. Some of the hazards that are likely to be associated with the excavation include;
- Underground important services such as telecommunications, water, electricity, and sewage among other.
- Falling objects
- Inappropriate dumping of excavated materials
- Hazardous manual activities
- Hazardous chemicals(Poirier, 2014, p. 368)
- Assessing the hazards
Under the Work, Health and Safety regulations, carry out the assessment of the hazard requires specific situations such as the excavation of Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes. The assessment of the risk will help one too;
- To know which kind of control measures should be put in place
- Know which kind of workers are at risk of the given hazard
- Determine the sources and the process that is creating the risk
- Identify what kind of the control measures that should be put in place to control or manage the hazard.
- Check the effectiveness the existing control measures(Preene, 2015, p. 302)
In the process of assessing the work, health and safety issues related to an Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes the following will be considered;
- The condition of Oran Park in terms of the slope, adjacent structures, and buildings, water resources among others
- The depth of an Olympic sized swimming pool
- Any specialised machines or plant that can be used to reduce
- The techniques that will be used to transport the excavated materials and to dispose them
- The number of workers who will be involved in the excavation of the swimming pool
- The local weather conditions in Oran Park
Implementing control measures for the Work, Health Issues related to the excavation of the swimming pool. Not all the control measures will have the same strength in controlling the Work, Health and Safety issues .the control measures that will be put in place will be ranked from the highest level of reliability and protection to the lowest. The main aim of this is to eliminate the hazard completely. It is possible to minimise the work, health and safety issues in the excavation of the swimming pool by following combinations;
- Substitutions; for instance using an excavator with a rock breaker rather than using the manual method of excavation.
- Isolation; for instance using the concrete barriers to separate the pedestrians and the site machines to avoid the collision
- Engineering control; for example, shoring, battering or benching the sides of the excavation in order to reduce the risk of collapse.
In the process of selecting a suitable control measure the following should be considered.
- Excavating plant; it will be better to use various types of plants to excavate because the excavation of Olympic sized swimming pool, with eight lanes
- Is a large swimming pool that will require large quantities of materials to be excavated(Puller, 2015, p. 168).
- The stockpiling arrangements. It will be appropriate to find a temporary or permanent place to stock all the excavated materials
- Transport of the excavated materials from the site of excavation to the placement point(Sims, 2010, p. 182).
Reviewing the control measure
There will be need to regularly reviewing the control measures that were put in place to ensure that they are effective. Some of the ways through which they can be reviewed include; inspection, testing and consulting the workers who will be working on the excavation of the swimming pool.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Excavation works generally involves the removal of rocks or soil from a given site to create an open face, cavity or hole, by use of machinery or explosives. There are many Work, Health and Safety issues related to the excavation of the Olympic Size swimming pool such as Vibration and Hazardous noise, Workers falling from one level to another, the presence of inrush of water or any other liquid among other challenges.
The process of managing WHS issues in the excavation involves the following: Identifying the hazards .Assessing the health and safety risks associated with the hazards Putting in place a control measure. Reviewing and maintain the effectiveness of the control measures.
References
Ferrett, E., 2016. International Health and Safety at Work: The Handbook for the NEBOSH International General Certificate. 4th ed. London: Routledge,
Hughes, P., 2012. Introduction to Health and Safety in Construction. 2nd ed. Chicago: Routledge.
Perry, P., 2018. CDM 2007: Questions & Answers. 1st ed. Texas: Routledge,
Poirier, D. A., 2014. Dangerous Places: Health, Safety, and Archaeology. 4th ed. London: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Greene, M., 2015. Groundwater Lowering in Construction: A Practical Guide to Dewatering, Second Edition. 2nd ed. Auckland: CRC Press.
Puller, M., 2015. Deep Excavations: A Practical Manual. 3rd ed. London: Thomas Telford,
Sims, I., 2010. Introduction to International Health and Safety at Work. 7th ed. London: Routledge.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
