Safety in Civil Engineering

Safety at work place is an important factor in any industry. It is an important Hygienic factor amongst the need
of workers. Civil engineering sites face extreme challenges as far as safety is concerned. Safety is of prime
importance at construction sites.

Importance of Safety in construction works

Construction works involve high risk operations under extreme conditions. The construction sites are
also highly labour intensive hence the occupational accidents cause large loss of life. All occupational accidents
in construction sites cause loss of man hours, work stoppages, compensations and legal battles in addition to
damage to resources like materials, machinery and structure. All this has detrimental effect on the work
environment resulting in ;

• Delay in project schedule.

• Loss of productivity.
• Lack of motivation among work force.
• Loss of confidence on the organization’s credibility.

The compounding effect of occupational accidents at construction sites amounts to what is called as accident
cost. A construction company with high safety and low occupational accidents record stands out in the market
with reputation of its own. It gains a lot of assignments and succeeds in attracting competent and motivated
work force to seek opportunity to work in the company. Overall the safety aspects always help the construction
industry to prosper.

Common causes of accident in construction works

Construction sites are high risk work places which happen to be labour intensive also. Each project is
unique and springs new surprises resulting in need for unique customized safety measures. Tried and tested
repetitive standard safety measures may find insufficient at times. The common causes of accidents in
construction sites can be broadly classified as;

• Failure of Supporting structures.

• Failure of machinery.
• Unsafe electric cabling.
• Unsafe covers and supports.
• Negligence on part of vehicle / machinery operator.
 • Negligence on part of the field workers.

Types of accidents in constructions works

The accidents in construction field can be broadly classified as;

• Falls: Falls occur due to failure of supporting structure like scaffoldings, work platforms, hangings etc.
Falls also occur due to collapse of structure under construction also.
• Falling objects: Construction sites handle lot of components, materials and tools are handled overhead.
Failure of grip causes falling of objects causing accidents.
• Electrocution: Electricity is one of the common sources of energy in construction sites. Exposed electric
cables cause of accident due to electrocution of workers at construction site.
• Struck by objects: Accidents occurring by striking of objects, machinery parts and vehicles are common
accidents in construction site.
• Slips: Slips occur in case of ladders, supporting structures, covers over cuts and openings.
• Movable vehicle accidents: Movable vehicles like trucks, dumpers, excavators, earth movers when losr
control causes accidents like run over, causing damage to structures etc.
• Cave in / landslides / Capsizes / drownings: Construction works include Tunnels, deep cuttings, high
embankments, hydraulic structures and marine structures. Failure of soil and capsizing of floating
structures cause accidents in this category.

Remedial measures for avoiding accidents at construction sites

Prevention of accidents rather than mitigation of the same is of prime importance. Remedial measures
to avoid accidents are no doubt involve costs but they avoid expenditure on accident costs and also improve
the reputation of the organization resulting in direct and indirect returns. Some of the remedial measures
developed by construction companies over the years of experience of construction industry are as under;

• Educate and train the workforce for safe working practices.

• Conduct safety drills and refresher workshops for workforce to keep them updated with safety practices.
• Develop and implement safety certified standard operation procedures (SOP) for each and every activity
involved in the project.
• Conduct periodic and surprise safety audit to check whether SOPs are strictly adhered.
• Conduct strict quality check for all temporary structures at the site in the form of scaffolding, formwork,
retaining structures, covering structures, electric cabling work, gas supplies, storage of explosives ect.
 • Keep strict supervision on all hoisting and swinging operations involving handling of materials,
components and tools etc.
• Display caution boards at strategic places.
• Appoint construction safety personal to keep round the clock safety supervision.
• Make movement under the guidance of assistant mandatory for all the movements of vehicles and
mobile equipments at the construction site.
• Announce incentives / rewards of working without accidents to teams as well as individuals.

Indicators of safety at construction sites

The safety at construction sites are indicated by various indices and terms. These indices express
frequency, severity and the cost effects of accidents in construction sites over a stipulated period of time. These
indices and terms motivate the companies to improve their safety practices and achieve encouraging results.
Some of the commonly used indices and terms are as under;

• Injury frequency rate (IFR) - It is defined as the number of injuries occurring in the construction site for
one million hours of working in the site. Mathematically IFR is calculated by the formula as under;
IFR =[(No. of accidents per year) / (No. of working hours per year)] * 1,000,000
• Injury Severity Rate (ISR) - It is defined as the number of working days lost in per recordable accident at
the construction site over one year. Mathematically ISR is calculated by the formula as under;
ISR= (No. Of working days lost in a year)/(No. of recordable accidents in a year)
• Injury Index (II) – It is defined as the number of workers injured or lost life per recordable accident at
the construction site in a year. Mathematically II is calculated by the formula as under;

II= (No. of workers injured or lost life due to accidents in a year) / No. of recordable accidents in a year)

• Accident Cost: It is defined as the total cost incurred to the construction company owing to accident at
the construction site. It includes all the direct and indirect costs like medical expenses, compensation to
the worker family, loss of work progress, replacement workers appointed, replacement or corrections
to damaged work etc.

Effective safety programme for construction works

Construction works over the years have evolved safety programmes to ensure safety. The safety
programmes are being revised based on experience. Also, whenever new challenging works comes up, the
details are worked up and the safety programme is revised to suit the new work. Hence safety programmes are
continuous evolving process for construction works. A suggestive safety programme can be as under;
• Establishing fulltime safety wing to monitor the safety at site.
• Drafting and implementing standard operating procedures for each and every activity.
• Train the workforce in safety practices.
• Conduct safety audit and give feedback to the departments.
• Display safety motto taglines along with caution boards.
• Declare incentives and rewards to accident free teams and individuals.
• Review the effectiveness of safety programme by periodic review of indicators.