Improving Workplace Safety And Health Management In JKL Constructions

Analysis of Workplace Safety Rates and Incidents at JKL constructions

Throughout the world, the construction is one of the most hazardous industries. The industry suffers from the basic inability towards the proper management of the health and safety at the workplace. The cost from the number of injuries, damage to the equipment, the financial loss from the schedule disruptions, hikes, the compensation of the workers and insurance affect the profit margin of the construction operation (Jitwasinkul, Hadikusumo and Memon 2016). In this assignment, the JKL constructions have been chosen for analyzing their workplace safety rates and the incidents in the last few years together with the need for their safety management plan for the improvement of their business profit margin. The construction industry in which JKL constructions operates has a very poor reputation for high rates of accident and hazard-related activities and fatal injuries on the sites. With the focus and the target of the production in an aspect of the cost and the time, the notion of safety usually conflicts with the work and the production (Boden, Spieler and Wagner 2016). The injuries on the construction sites of the construction business involve personal sufferings, productivity hampers and delay in the construction. The paper illustrates the need and the effectiveness of the safety management system in the construction industry where JKL constructions operate

During the last few years, the construction industry has been receiving high criticism regarding its performance, productivity and safety procedures in its work as compared to the other business. JKL constructions have been on the top list in case of the injury rates in the last few years. From electrocution, accidental falls, vehicular accidents and fatal injuries, overexertion, injuries resulting from equipment at the workplace, the rate of destruction and injury rates are on the higher run in the JKL constructions from the last few years.

                                                                                      Figure 1; Workplace Fatal Injury Rate

                                                                                           Source: (Pykhtin et al. 2017)

The figure above illustrates the rate of workplace fatal injury and destruction rates in the JKL constructions in the last few years. As depicted in the figure, the rate fell from 3.4 per 100,000 employed workers in the year 2016 to 0.4 per 100,000 workers employed in the year 2017. Though the figure highlights the decreasing rate of injuries in the recent years, the workplace health and safety at the construction site is still at stake.

One of the major rates of accidental injury in JKL construction is due to the falls at the workplace. Falls are the major cause behind the fatal injuries in the construction industry. Though according to the figure above, the rate of fatality has declined, still the current year recorded 265 deaths in the construction site of the company which accounts about one-third fatalities of that year.

The Need for Safety Management Plan at JKL Constructions

                                                                                   Figure 2; Fatal Falls in Construction

                                                                        Source: (Kvorning, Hasle and Christensen 2015)

The above figure describes the three common fatal falls in JKL constructions that caused the innumerous number of accidents and injury, some of which resulted in the death of the workers. The risk of the fatal falls varies among the category of job in the construction occupation of the industry (Mohammad and Hadikusumo 2015). The causes of fatalities from the falls in the JKL constructions are various in natures.

                                                                                Figure 3; Fatalities from Falls in JKL constructions

                                                                                        Source: (Guo, Yiu and González 2016)

The figure above illustrates the various types of fall including fall from the struct, grinder, and steel, fall from the roof, fall from the scaffold, staging, fall from ladder and fall from the floor or the dock. The total number of 891 deaths in the last 5 years in JKL construction has created an alarming call for the management of the company towards the implementation and the development of the workplace health and safety norms.

Occupational Health and Management System (OHSMS) is basically a set of plans, procedures, and actions that assist JKL constructions towards the systematic and procedural management of health and safety risks that are associated with the construction business. The main aim of the OHSMS plan in this context is to improve the performance of the organization with the help of effective management of construction accidents and risks in the construction site.

                                                                            Figure 4; OHSMS management system model

                                                                             Source: (Boden, Spieler and Wagner 2016).

Some of the basic steps for the implementation of the workplace safety and health management include the following.

1. Consultation and developing of the OHSMS procedures and policies
2. Tailoring of the policy for the construction business of JKL constructions
3. To define obligations on the clear and specific way in plain and simple English
4. Making and formation of realistic policies
5. Publicize the procedures and policies of OHSMS
6. Training of all the employees towards the workplace health and safety norms
7. Being consistent in the implementation of the policy
8. Reviewing all the procedures and the norms of the OHSMS policy on a regular basis (Schwatka, Hecker and Goldenhar 2016)
9. Enforce the updated policies and norms at the workplace

To summarize, OHSMS assist in the reduction of the rate and the number of severe injuries at the construction site and also minimizing the social and the financial cost associated with the illness and the injuries of the workers in the JKL construction.

The implementation of the plan for the improvement in the construction business of JKL constructions can include various measures. One of the major strategic moves that will be discussed in this assignment for the improvement plan is the Training initiatives and the effective process for the report of the hazards.

Safety is more than the compliance with the occupational safety and the administration of health. The norms of the OHSMS provide a healthy and safe workplace through the implementation of the safety and the health plans that are based on the practice of the safety norms. Some of the basic steps for the implementation of the policy are as follows.

• Defining and identification of the problem related to workplace hazards
• Analyzing the resources and the support
• Clarifying the workplace injuries and the goals and the objectives
• Researching the previous records of the construction site injuries and the fatal accidents leading to death
• Promotion of the workplace safety norms together with the proper explanation of the needs for safety at the workplace to the employees (Lingard et al. 2015)
• Promotion of the empowerment and team building
• Establishment of the improved organizational structure
• Undertaking the initial implementation and further development
• Promotion of the innovation
• Achievement of the sustainability and the proper integration in the standard procedure

Occupational Health and Management System (OHSMS)

OHSMS aim towards the elimination of the hazards or the usage of the key controls towards the protection of the employees or the workers from the identified fatal accidents at the construction sites.

Identification of the workplace hazards- With the annual inspection by the JKL constructions, various hazards such as the mulchers, tractors, slashers, pumps, the machinery of the harvest, vehicle for the construction site were identified as the main hazards towards hazards originating in the construction site of the company (Griffith and Howarth 2014).

Risk Assessment- This method is undertaken for the high to medium risk hazards in the workplace for the promotion of the health and the safety norms (Kunyk et al. 2016). The method is based on the principles that consider the severity of the injury rates at the construction site, the degree of the exposure to the harms and the injuries occurring in the workplace.

Reporting of the hazards and practices- Workers and employees are required to comply with the reasonable efforts towards the provision of the safety norms. Furthermore reporting hazards and encouragement towards the suggestion of the methods for the controlling of the risks includes the basic method towards the improvement (Rahman et al. 2015). Furthermore not performing towards the use of any machinery that is not properly guarded are some of the basic things the workers should follow.

Consultation and safety induction- Review of the practices of health and safety in the regular meetings and induction process helps the company to identify the safety training requirements and the issues faced by the workers on a daily basis in the construction site (Legg et al. 2015). Furthermore, safety instructions and the training regarding the safe operations of the equipment and the machinery are some of the essential points that need to be covered in the induction and the meeting.

Training- Before the performance of any job with the use of the equipment and the machinery, proper assessment of the skills of the employees for the ensure of the safety at their job are some of the important points to be covered in the training module (Cooney 2016).

The workers must not operate any machine which they have not been trained or instructed, all the machinery must be operated as per the direction of the safety work statements and the operator’s handbook and finally, a record for all the training at the workplace needs to be maintained in the training register.

Implementing Workplace Safety and Health Management Plans for JKL Constructions

c. Allocation of key tasks

Measurement or tracking of the performance is an integral part of the health and the safety management system. The primary purpose of the method of tracking is to identify the progress and the current status of the strategies, procedures and the activities used by JKL constructions towards the control of the risks of safety and health.

• Providing the information on how the health and safety management operates in the practice of the JKL construction site
• Identification of the areas and the places where the remedial actions are necessary
• Providing of the basis for the continual development and improvement in the company
• Providing motivation and feedback from the employees in the JKL constructions

The key element of the method of tracking includes development and restricting of the policy, organizing the policy for the construction environment and the staffs working in it, planning the implementation of the policy at the workplace, measurement of the performances and the rates of the workplace injuries, audit and review of the safety and the health norms. The Four famous “C” of the method of tracking and measurement of the organizational policy is

• Controlling
• Communicating
• Co-operation
• Competence

Furthermore, the measurement of the health and safety norms in JKL constructions should also cover three aspects, namely capability, compliances, and deployment while conducting measures for the implementation of the policy at the workplace. To summarize, the steps involved in the development of the performance measurement system includes the following.

• Identification of the key process
• Analyze the key management arrangements and the system of risk control
• Identification of the critical measures for the arrangement of the management and the system of risk control
• Establishment of the baseline for each and every measure
• Establishment of the goals and the targets for the measures of the safety and wellbeing at the workplace (Carmichael et al. 2016)
• Reviewing the target of the achievement of zero accident rates and no death incidents
• Review of the measures
• Improvement of the measures if needed
• Ensuring worker’s medical insurances and wellbeing

The development of the health and safety measurement systems thus provides the basic and the relevant information that helps to comply with JKL constructions with the legal necessities.

The internal source of information or data tends to give the most valuable pieces of information regarding the employee of the organization (Grill, Grytnes and Törner 2015). In case of the above scenario of JKL constructions, the internal sources of information can be obtained by the health and safety inspector from their database of the employee information from the H.R of the company. Internal information of the JKL constructions will only be available to the business. The private and the accurate data are generally stored in the private database of the organization.

The internal sources of information of the JKL constructions can be obtained from the human resource, sales, and finance team of the company. The health and the safety inspectors and the government can easily draw this information from the data regarding the number of fatal accidents in the last few months, the number of injury rates on the basis of the high to medium level of hazards at the construction site, the number of deaths of the employees working in the construction due to unhealthy and unsafe machineries, the number of accidental falls in the construction , the number of female engaged in the construction and the rate of employee compensation and return to work after accidents and injuries. The internal sources of information furthermore reveal the daily wages, the medical facilities and the compensation and the insurance for the risky workers at the workforce of the JKL constructions.

Conclusion

Managing the safety of the organization is essential in case of the construction business since it involves the high level of risk related to accidents and injuries. It is the legal responsibility of the owner of the construction company for the safety and maintenance of the employees engaged in the business (Welch et al. 2015). The workplace accidents, injuries, cost of the medical health, skills, insurance premiums and the legal proceedings contributes to the image and the profitability of the business of construction. The primary goal of the health and safety norms or measures at the workplace is to foster and nourish the work environment for the employees in the work field. The health and the safety policies and the procedures are essential. In the case of the above analysis, the health and the safety norms for the JKL construction is necessary because if the following.

• It helps in demonstrating the construction business by addressing the health and the safety obligations at the construction site
• The policies ensure that the construction business is committed towards the working with safety and health principles (Zhang, Lingard and Nevin 2015)
• It helps to clarify the responsibilities and the functions of the construction business
• It helps in guiding the future actions of the employees in a formal way or procedure
• It helps in saving time by allowing the safety and the health norms to be handled by the existing procedures rather than dealing with the issues every time.

The workplace health and safety norms and the policies are beneficial for the construction business with the outcomes of best practices, compliances of the workers, increase in the productivity of the workers, reduction of the cost of the workers and understanding of the risk management.

Worker’s compensation arrangements and the measures should be maintained in the JKL constructions. The company requires the copy of the certificate of the currency for worker’s compensation or the insurance of the personal accidents from the contractors of the JKL constructions. Worker’s compensation benefits pay for the medical treatments of the worker’s and the employees who are injured and harmed due to accidents and the fatal injuries (Hale, Borys and Adams 2015). This includes a portion of the income the employee lost due to the illness. Worker’s compensation may be beneficial for the organization since these facilities will encourage employee retention, attract new employees and will help the company to stand out in the competitive construction business market.

The return to work management program includes the number of advantages to the employers and the business organization (Kao et al. 2016). The benefits includes retain of the experienced workers in the construction business, reduction in the turnover of the organization, improvement in the relationships among the employees of the organization and the employers, increased and better rate of productivity that will affect the profit margin of the construction company and the reduction in the cost of the worker’s compensation.

The co-ordinated procedure that consists of the activities for the facilitation of safety, time and durable return to work for the harmed and the injured employees of the organization is termed as the injury management procedure. In the above case scenario of the JKL constructions, implementation of the health safety policies together with the implementation of the return to work management and the injury management can be beneficial for the organization altogether (Kheni and Braimah 2014). The benefits include lower claim of the costs by the reduction in the number and the duration of the injuries, minimize of the productivity and the downtime, contribution towards better employee and employer relationships, contribution towards a quicker and complete recovery management system, ensuring of fair and equal treatment of all the injured workers from the construction site, reduction in the cost of the training of the replaced workers and the facilitation towards proper communication among all the parties engaged in the construction business.

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