SAFETY AND QUALITY

Lecture 3 Safety issues in project management

Safety Issues In Project Management

The causes of structural failures considered as a systems approach, can be classified as follows 1. Design Errors 2. Construction Errors 3. Natural Calamities 4. Material Deficiency 5. Maintenance

Design Errors
This may occur from adoption of designs, not confirming to construction methods, lack of understanding of critical loads, selecting inadequate safety margins, ignoring the functional requirements to earn more profit etc Designers ignorance or oversight regarding the fundamental structural behavior is also responsible for many faulty designs.

Construction Errors
This can occur during the entire process of construction period. They also turn out to be major safety hazard for maintenance and service period. These errors normally originate from miss interpretation of drawings, sudden changes in construction methods, lack of attention to safe conditions at site, building inadequate temporary structures & platforms, employment of semiskilled/unskilled employees on operation of unknown equipment, poor workmanship due to infrequent inspections at site etc

Natural Calamities
Natural hazards like earthquakes, storm flood, landslide etc.. are primary causes for many structural failures. Every country has its own natural codes which give excellent guidelines to the designer. The loss can be at least minimized if not avoided altogether if the intensity and harmful effect of these external forces are estimated in a rational way during the planning of design.

Material Deficiency
The originates from providing using materials not comprising to specification resulting in construction of weak and defective structures. Examples: Use of below graded aggregates, Use of cement from very old stock, Use of ordinary bolts in place of high tension bolts etc.

Many structural failures have their own in the use of defective material when it is expose to mild tremors below the design values.

Maintenance And Misuse of Finished Schedule

Any safety hazard due to these factors can be attributed to wrong handling or negligent use on the past of the users during their service period. Most often handling & overloading are done without thinking of consequences. It is the responsibility of owner or users to maintain the structure handover to them after the construction.