Confined Site Construction: A qualitative investigation of critical issues affecting management of Health and Safety

The construction industry is inherently risky, with a significant number of accidents and disasters occurring, particularly on confined construction sites. This research investigates and identifies the various issues affecting successful management of health and safety in confined construction sites. The rationale is that identifying the issues would assist the management of health and safety particularly in inner city centres which are mostly confined sites. Using empiricism epistemology, the methodology was based on qualitative research approach by means of multiple case studies in three different geographical locations of Ireland, UK and USA. Data on each case study were collected through individual interviews and focus group discussion with project participants. The findings suggest that three core issues are the underlying factors affecting management of health and safety on confined construction sites. It include, (i) lack of space, (ii) problem of co-ordination and management of site personnel, and (iii) overcrowding of workplace. The implication of this is that project teams and their organisations should see project processes from a holistic point of view, as a unified single system, where quick intervention in solving a particular issue should be the norm, so as not to adversely affect interrelated sequence of events in project operations. Proactive strategies should be devised to mitigate these issues and may include detail project programming, space management, effective constructability review and efficient co-ordination of personnel, plant and materials among others. The value of this research is to aid management and operation of brownfield sites by identifying issues impacting on health and safety management in project process.

Confined site construction: An empirical analysis of factors impacting health and safety management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, clarify and tabulate the various managerial issues encountered, to aid in the management of the complex health and safety concerns which occur within a confined construction site environment.

Design/methodology/approach – This is achieved through conducting extensive qualitative and qualitative research in the form of case studies, interviews and questionnaire survey.

Findings – The leading managerial issues in the management of health and safety on a confined construction site are found to be: “Difficulty to move materials around site safely”; “Lack of adequate room for the effective handling of materials”; “Difficulty in ensuring site is tidy and all plant and materials are stored safely”; “Close proximity of individuals to operation of large plant and machinery”; and joint fifth “Difficulty in ensuring proper arrangement and collection of waste materials on-site” along with “Difficulty in controlling hazardous materials and equipment on site”.

Practical implications – The resulting implication for practice of these results can be summarised by identifying that with sustained development of urban centres on a global scale, coupled with the increasing complexity of architectural designs, the majority of on-site project management professionals are faced with the onerous task of completing often intricate designs within a limited spatial environment, under strict health and safety parameters.

Originality/value – The subsequent value of the findings are such that just as on-site management professionals successfully identify the various managerial issues highlighted, the successful management of health and safety on a confined construction site is attainable.

Strategies for Effective Management of Health and Safety in Confined Site Construction

The overall aim of this research is to identify and catalogue the numerous managerial strategies for effective management of health and safety on a confined, urban, construction site. A mixed methods methodology was adopted using interviews and focus group discussions on three selected case studies of confined construction sites. In addition to these, a questionnaire survey was used based on the findings from the interviews and the focus group discussions. The top five key strategies include (1) Employ safe system of work plans to mitigate personnel health and safety issues; (2) Inform personnel, before starting on-site, of the potential issues using site inductions; (3) Effective communication among site personnel; (4) Draft and implement an effective design site layout prior to starting on-site; and (5) Use of banksman (traffic co-ordinator) to segregate personnel from vehicular traffic. The construction sector is one of the leading industries in accident causation and with the continued development and regeneration of our urban centres, confined site construction is quickly becoming the norm - an environment which only fuels accident creation within the construction sector. This research aids on-site management that requires direction and assistance in the identification and implementation of key strategies for the management of health and safety, particularly in confined construction site environments.

Laser Health and Safety Interactive Video

This short video is designed to make you think about the safety aspects of working with lasers within laser laboratories. Postgraduates and research fellows work with many different types of lasers in a variety of different experimental conditions. These lasers are often more powerful than those used as an undergraduate and require additional safety practices. The video was demonstrated to the EUNIS 2008 conference Aarhus, Denmark, and was a finalist in the Dorup E-Learning Award.

A Web-quiz On Health and Safety - INFO2009 - Group 18

Poster and resource for group 18. Resource can be found hosted at http://adam-thomas.co.uk/info2009. Jakob Forst Aungiers: ja7g09@ecs.soton.ac.uk; Adam Thomas: ajt1g09@ecs.soton.ac.uk; Nathan Padoin: ncp1g09@ecs.soton.ac.uk; Antria Orfanidou: ao7g09@ecs.soton.ac.uk

Be safe! : health and safety in primary school science and technology.

Sirve de guía en temas de salud y relacionados con la seguridad en la enseñanza de la ciencia y de la tecnología en las escuelas primarias y establecimientos similares, tales como escuelas de párvulos, escuelas intermedias y algunas escuelas para niños con necesidades educativas especiales. Por tanto, se incluye a alumnos en la franja de edad de tres a once o doce años.

Safe and exciting science : a pack of training activities on health and safety for science departments in secondary schools and colleges and for initial teacher training.

Es un recurso formativo elaborado en respuesta a diversas solicitudes de escuelas para ayudar a éstas en los servicios de salud y actividades de formación en seguridad. Este material puede ser utilizado por los profesores en las prácticas realizadas en los laboratorios escolares con un riesgo mínimo. Va dirigido a asesores científicos, profesores, consultores y formadores de docentes.

The dangers of hanging baskets: 'Regulatory myths' and media representations of health and safety regulation

The successful enforcement of health and safety regulation is reliant upon the ability of regulatory agencies to demonstrate the legitimacy of the system of regulatory controls. While 'big cases' are central to this process, there are also significant legitimatory implications associated with 'minor' cases, including media-reported tales of pettiness and heavy-handedness in the interpretation and enforcement of the law. The popular media regularly report stories of 'regulatory unreasonableness', and they can pass quickly into mainstream public knowledge. A story's appeal becomes more important than its factual veracity; they are a form of 'regulatory myth'. This paper discusses the implications of regulatory myths for health and safety regulators, and analyses their challenges for regulators, paying particular attention to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which has made concerted efforts to address regulatory myths attaching to its activities. It will be shown that such stories constitute sustained normative challenges to the legitimacy of the regulator, and political challenges to the burgeoning regulatory state, because they reflect some of the key concerns of late-modern society.