Assessing the workplace situation
Safety and risk management at workplace is the system which helps in effectively avoiding risks and hazards. It is a key element which helps in identifying different hazards and risk associated with the work or workplace. The study deals with the management of risk and safety in construction works. The description of workplace and hazards associated with it has been discussed in the study elaborately. Moreover, it provides an insight into the possible effects if the work and safety law is breached. The study has discussed the whole issue in context of Kenoss Contractors Pty Ltd. Case examples have been assessed and different approaches to face the issue of safety breaches has been evaluated. The issue has been addressed in a reflective way. The problem statement of the study is to analyse the importance of safety and risk management in construction work with the help of case examples.
In defining the workplace of Canberra Construction Company it can be said that the venture had an improper safety provision at the time of accidents. After an investigation, it can be pointed out that the business house has several improper safety practices that are the reasons behind commencement of fatal accident (abc.net.au, 2018). As defined by the OHS term, every workplace should have an instructor who is skilled enough to deal with the safety and security of each worker. In contrary to this, the Kenos Constructors had appointed a safety observer who had no proper education or authorization to deal with safety issues. According to ACT Work Safe commissioner, the event can stand as an example in front of other ventures. As the company has to pay a record amount of fine in order to compensate for the death of worker Michael Booth, it is a strong warning for other ventures to be serious about employer responsibility. The message to be aware of health and safety provisions is clear enough to reach a proper safety standard. On the other hand, the Turner Worksite had no specific symbols and signs though there is overhead power line electricity.
Electrocuting of Michael Booth is not a single event that took place in the Australian construction company. There are number of different events that can be found to take place equally in this country. As suggested by Ellen et al. (2016), low opportunities to access a complete understanding of safety principles may affect on work process. There are several processes to ensure safety in workplaces. In conveying the working principles are helpful to overcome safety breach and hazards.
Safety aspects to overcome the hazards and safety breach
At the time of working under overhead lines such as road, pipeline, and electricity structure controlling it is necessary to take proper controlling measures. As in the sectors of construction, manufacturing, workers have to deal with several pieces of equipment, it is necessary to provide strong observation on those parts. Additionally, emergency control must be kept within reach and it should be used in an emergency situation (Ammendolia et al. 2016).
As in the case scenario, an accident took place at the time of electrocuting it is also another major area to deal with. Unless committing transitory or ground level work, there are high chances of fall, slips and electrocuting. Upward movement of cranes, trailers should be handled carefully within strong vigilance (Kvorning, Hasle & Christensen, 2015).
Risk assessment must be taken into account in such a situation that leads danger from overhead wires. For instance, if workers need to stand on the top of a machine or a scaffold platform to lift up a long item on the overhead, there should a safe clearance of passage. As in the case of Michael Booth, there was no specific instructor or safety coordinator though there were overpower electricity lines when the truck was lifting its trailer for offloading. Unless proper instruction of safety measurement it should not be permitted to conduct such work process (Aven, 2016). Risk assessment is an important criterion to avoid safety breach and overcome the hazards.
It is the duty of a venture to conduct monitoring, observation on the working areas in order to check the safety standard. As suggested by Hale, Borys & Adams (2015) unless effective checking workers should not be allowed in construction and manufacturing sites. If safety observation can point out a single source that may cause harm to workers, it needs to be rectified on an urgent basis. Risk assessment is helpful to overcome the flaw.
Conduct behavioral changes are essential in an employee with complete training can help to reduce the challenges related to workplace safety and security. As suggested by Hofmann, Burke & Zohar (2017), it is important to make the workers self-sufficient as they can access own safety measurement. Additionally, a company can provide safety kits such as rubber gloves, safety shoes, and head guard and body protection. Training in workplace safety should be suggested and implemented according to the situation rather than memorizing rules and regulations.
In the case of Canberra Construction Company, an actual incident that had taken place was completely against the rules of safety standard. While the worker Mr. Booth tipped his truck trailer to offload gravel in the dumping station, trailer hit the overhead power line (canberratimes.com.au, 2018). After commencement of an investigation, an objection raised due to the improper conduct of working process. As for example, there was no sign of danger or flag though it was a high voltage power line. Additionally, company had not turned off the electricity supply though they were aware of the continual working process of dumping station. The incident can be referred with another scenario that had reported in the publication of the Health and Safety Authority Research Series in 2007.
Actual incident and impact of safe work
John Duggan was a worker of a manufacturing company and capped 7 times for his successful result in sports. When he was climbing up storage racking at work, he fell from a height of 15 ft. he had undergone serious injury in knee, ligament damage. On that day of the accident, the pallet of materials had not tasted properly. Due to overloading on the pallet, it moved by a forklift truck and made an imbalance. In this case, an issue of breaching safety principles can be seen that effect on the worker (hsa.ie. 2018).
The safety statement that was earlier issued by the company could have been reviewed after the incident took place. Risk assessment of the company could have been done by the responsible authority. As per the view of Lord & Washington (2018), companies issue their safety template and employers’ responsibilities along with employee responsibilities are mentioned therein. This form an essential evidence for analysing the issue of safety breaches because the responsibilities that should have been undertaken is matched with the actual responsibilities undertaken at the time of and before such incidents.
The case of Canberra Construction could have been analysed with the help of policy issued by the company before such construction started. In the opinion of Leveson (2015), the policy of the company regarding safety and risk management at workplace reveals how effective the management is in maintaining the safety standards at the workplace. It states the roles and responsibilities of the management as well as defines the methodologies to be used in monitoring the policy effectively. Hence the authorities could have assessed the methods of monitoring safety and risk at the construction site. However in case of Kenoss Contractors case the person authorised for taking care of management paid fewer visits to the construction site and did not investigate the site properly (mondaq.com, 2018).
The authority responsible to manage the safety measures at construction site could have outlined the potential consequences. This would have made the company aware of the possibilities and then they could have avoided it by undertaking important steps. Outlining of potential consequences would bring effectiveness in the management of health and safety of workers at work place and death of the worker could have been avoided (Li, Lu, Hsu, Gray & Huang, 2015). This could have been done by proper inspection of the construction site, by discussing the issues faced by workers there and by effective monitoring of the site.
Different approaches
As opined by Neal (2017), immediate action accounts for the most in such health and safety hazards situations. If the company’s management would have taken immediate action as soon as the hazard took place then the loss could have been minimised. This would have shown that the company is accountable and accepts its fault moreover; the immediate action may have saved the life of the truck driver.
I would have addressed the issue in a more comprehensive and responsible way. The issue related to the death of the truck driver at the construction site could have been avoided by taking preventive measures like regular inspection of the construction site, and investigation of resources utilised at the site. Proper inspection of the site could have been done on a regular basis. Inspection would have helped in bringing out the problem of low electrical cables hanging over the construction site of Kenos Contractors. I as a worker would have reported to the management about less notices being sent out by the site inspector and would have recommended the company to increase the number of regular visits to the site. After observing any abnormality at the construction site I would have reported it to the person responsible for the management of safety. I would have recommended to the company to incorporate proper monitoring of safety and risk at the workplace. Monitoring of the management would have been done by reviewing the safety policy and statements of the company. The methods used to evaluate the risk associated at the construction site would have been analysed. As whistle blower I would have informed the company about safety breaches conducted by some workers.
Conclusion
The study has dealt with the issue of safety and risk management at workplace. It has evaluated the case of safety breach in context of Kenos Contractors. The study has analysed the issue and the reasons behind it with proper evidences, the issue has been evaluated with the help of different approaches that could have been taken to address the issue.
The case of unfortunate accident at Canberra Construction site defines how ineffectively the safety management laws are followed and have been following this particular case. The death of the truck driver due to electrocution at the construction site brought out in light many loopholes in the monitoring process of the company. Thus it can be concluded that the health and safety law should be followed judiciously in order to avoid such safety breaches.
Reference list
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