Report Number : R11

A
REPORT
ON
IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFETY MEASURES
IN CONSTRUCTION SITES
IN NEPAL

SUBMITTED BY: BICKY YADAV

ENGINEER

DREAM CONSTRUCTION
SADDOBATO, KATHMANDU

FEB 10, 2024

 Report Number : R11

A
REPORT
ON
IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFETY MEASURES
IN CONSTRUCTION SITES
IN NEPAL

SUBMITTED TO: CHIEF ENGINEER

DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED BY: BICKY YADAV

ENGINEER

APPROVED BY: SANTOSH NIRAULA

SENIOR ENGINEER

DREAM CONSTRUCTION
SADDOBATO, KATHMANDU

FEB 10, 2023

 PREFACE

Construction sites are crucial centers of economic progress and development, laying the
foundations for infrastructure and buildings that shape our modern society. However, these
sites also come with inherent risks and potential dangers that can threaten the well-being of
workers and the nearby communities. This report focuses on the important aspect of
implementing safety measures in construction sites. We aim to explore the various practices,
technologies, and strategies used to create a secure working environment and reduce potential
accidents and incidents. By studying case studies and best practices, we hope to provide
insights and suggestions to enhance safety protocols within the construction industry.

Safety measures are extremely important. Construction accidents not only cause loss of life
and injuries but also lead to project delays, increased costs, and damage to the reputation of
construction companies. Moreover, such incidents can have a lasting impact on the affected
individuals and their families, underscoring the moral responsibility for improved safety
practices.

As we begin this journey to understand safety measures in construction sites, it is essential to

acknowledge the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders. From policymakers and
regulatory bodies who set standards and guidelines to construction companies and their
management teams responsible for following these safety rules, each plays a vital role in
ensuring the safety of workers and the public.

In this report, we have tried our best to explain each and every significant aspect of
construction management. The study would not have succeeded without the cooperation and
inspiration of the member of management. Therefore, I would like to express my heartfelt
gratitude toward all them for being so kind and cooperative towards me during the study
period.

Hopefully, the appropriate strategy management would be formulated to avoid future

accidents.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to Department of Construction Management for

providing us an opportunity to work in a project for IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFETY
MEASURES IN CONSTRUCTION SITES.

We are deeply grateful to the Chief Engineer of Department of Construction Management

Mr. Ramesh Sharma for providing this opportunity. We would like to attend our thanks to our
project supervisor Er. Shruti Shah and the counsellor Er. Shree Chandra Rai for their support
and guidance throughout the project.

We express our appreciation to the Department of Construction Management for equipping

us with all the resources and providing us with the pleasant environment to work on. Also, we
would like to thank our senior officers for their valuable comments and suggestions
throughout the making of the project.

Lastly, we would like to thank every character that shows the contribution as assistance
directly or indirectly in the duration of survey and preparation of the report. Their effort and
sincerity on the field are always memorable to us. The positive effect shown by the
management of Department of Construction Management in near future will be appreciable.

With warm regards

Mrs. Sayana Rai (Information Person of Department of Construction Management)

2
 ABSTRACT

This report is the outcome of survey on the problems of the safety of employee in the
construction sites, organized by the Department of Construction Management.

Building construction sites are most times very hazardous due to the bulk and types of
materials and equipment employed towards the realization of building project. To this effect,
various forms of accidents abound at various stages of construction and in various operations.
Construction industry is blooming industry which contributes the economic and social
development of country. Construction workers should have the knowledge of health and
safety and apply the knowledge while working. This industry aims at completing project on
time with minimum investments which result in negligence of construction site safety. It has
provided thousands of people with employment opportunity. Construction work with
involvement of many people invites the risk. Nepal labor force survey state that most of the
reported deaths are result of negligence, poor safety performance of site, unskilled labor and
many more. Thus, providing them with safe working environment is major concern Nepal is
initiating the process which will reduce the accidents on sites, but no guidelines are recorded
to be found. Safety refers to condition of being protected from risk and injury. Safety is
priority but is always ignored by people involved in any task. Similarly, safety issues are the
primary concern and major issue of construction industry.

Everyday many peoples lost their lives and hundreds of them get injured while working on
construction. This research will help to locate the main factors that are responsible for
compromising the safety of workers in construction site in Nepal and prepare the strategies
that will minimize the risks. For this numerous research papers were analyzed, and case study
of different country was carried out to find the concern bodies responsible for formulation
safety regulation, factors that affect safety on construction sites. The strategies followed in
developed country can be adopted to form the basic guidelines that will help to manage safety
on Nepalese construction sites. These guidelines will provide basic parameters for managing
and restoring safety on construction sites. Since the study is limited to previous results of
other country, the effectiveness of proposed guidelines in Nepal is yet to be analyzed.

The main objective of this report was to review and to identify the factors that cause
accidents at construction sites and the methods to improve health and safety in Nepal.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ..................................................................................................................................1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .........................................................................................................2

ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................3

1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................5

2. DISCUSSION.....................................................................................................................6

2.1 Safety Issue in Construction sites.....................................................................................6

2.2 Causes of Accidents .........................................................................................................6

2.3 Health and Safety Measures in Construction Sites...........................................................7

2.3.1 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) .......................................................................7

2.3.2 Health and Safety Training ........................................................................................8
2.3.3 Safety Policy ..............................................................................................................8

3. CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................10

4. RECOMMENDATION ....................................................................................................11

5. APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................12

6. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................13

7. GLOSSARY .....................................................................................................................14

8. INDEX ..............................................................................................................................15

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 INTRODUCTION

Construction industry is both economically and socially important for any nation. It plays a
vital role to achieve socio-economic development goals by providing infrastructure and
employment opportunities. Like many other developing countries, the construction industry
of Nepal plays an important role to achieve socio-economic development goals and
contributing significantly to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. However,
despite the importance of the industry, it is recognized to be hazardous industry all over the
world. The construction industry is experiencing so many risks, uncertainties and
complexities due to frequent accidents in the construction projects and its performance in
occupational health and safety is not satisfactory. The construction industry employs a large
number of workers and those workers need to be controlled by administrators such as
managers, contractors and site engineers. Therefore, it is important to train and educate the
engineers, contractors and workers and should have proper health and safety plan. It is
equally important to follow the safety policy and regulations to reduce the expected and
unexpected accidents on construction sites. Safe and hazard free work and work place are
needed for higher productivity, efficiency and quality of any industrial process. Among the
workplaces high risk or health and safety may occur at the construction sites due to working
with machine and equipment, use of electricity use of chemicals, dusty worksites, congested
and dark workplace. Therefore, establishing a safe and sound work place environment in
construction industry is the important aspect to increase the productivity and enhance the
health and safety. Safe and healthy working conditions are the prerequisites to promote
development of society at all levels through increasing workers’ overall quality of life.

While preparing this report on the implementation of safety measures in construction sites in
Nepal, we used qualitative and quantitative approach for the study related to workplace safety
for better understanding due to absence of ethical approval and limited time, qualitative
method is only considered for this reason. From qualitative approach, we used explorative
methods to collect the data on subject of study such as interview, field notes, photographs,
recording and conservations in order to understand social phenomenon. Further, most
relevant papers were already selected related to topic.

The study will help to highlight the importance of safety in construction industry. Through
the development of a safety framework, construction professionals are enlightened about the
factors necessary to minimize the construction risks. From project managers to contractors
whose major concern is to complete the project within timeframe with minimum cost will be
bound to think about workers safety and provide them with safe working environment.

DISCUSSION

5
2.1 Safety Issue in Construction sites

The workers are exposed to hazards of occupational diseases and injuries and the adverse
effects of excessively long hours of work. Machines, plants and other construction equipment
pose danger to the operators, who in most cases do not have prior skills for operating such
machines or plants. A number of factors having a negative impact on health and safety
management in Nepal includes poor infrastructure; problems of communication due to low
literacy level; unregulated practices on construction sites; traditional methods of working;
non availability of equipment; adverse weather conditions; improper use of equipment, etc.
Anything that compromise safety of worker in site is safety issue. The most common safety
hazards found on the site which results on injury and deaths are falls, fire, drowning, and
electric shocks, stuck between the objects, stuck by the object, hit by any falling object,
among many others. The work and the individuals involved in construction work are directly
affected by the injury. The injury result in suffering if the victim, loss of productivity,
increase in insurance premiums and possible liability for the involved party in case of not
being able to complete project on time. Most companies follow the safety policies and
guidelines, but the injuries are the result of not being able to establish safety procedure
effectively. Participation of both managers and workers is needed for implementation of
safety programs only then these accidents can be minimized. Involvement and participation
of workers and managers are very important for policy making and establishment of safety
program to generate feedback system for its improvement.

2.2 Causes of Accidents

Accidents do not just happen, they are caused. About 99 percentages of the accidents are
caused by either unsafe acts or unsafe conditions or both. Therefore, accidents can be
prevented. The unsafe act is a violation of an accepted safe procedure which could permit the
occurrence of an accident. The unsafe condition is a hazardous physical condition or
circumstances which could directly permit the occurrence of an accident. Most accident
results from a combination of contributing causes and one or more unsafe acts and unsafe
condition.

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2.3 Health and Safety Measures in Construction Sites

Safety performance is associated with "quality of safety related to work". The number of
accidents can considerably be reduced, and safe work environment can be achieved by
improving safety performance. Similarly, safety assessment can be described as systematic
collection if information about the factor that compromise the safety of workers on
construction sites. The main aim of this assessment is to measure degree of severity of the
factors that are responsible for safety issues.

2.3.1 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, safety
boots, gloves, safety belts or equipment designed to protect the workers from injury,
electrical hazards, heat, chemicals, and infection, for job related occupational health and
safety purposes. The PPE required in the construction sites include: eye protection, face
protection, hearing protection, respiratory protection, hand and arm protection, foot and leg
protection, head protection, body protection and fall protection, etc. PPE are required to
reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering and administrative controls are not
feasible or effective in reducing these exposures to acceptable levels.

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2.3.2 Health and Safety Training

With regard to occupational health and safety, training consists of instruction in hazard
recognition and control measures, learning safe work practices and proper use of personal
protective equipment. Training also provides workers with ways to obtain added information
about potential hazards and their control measures. Employees must therefore be given health
and safety induction training when they start work. There should also be job specific health
and safety training. Training must also be provided if risks change, and refresher training
when skills are not frequently used.

2.3.3 Safety Policy

Site managers should have a written safety policy for their enterprises by setting health and
safety practices. Construction safety policy therefore must be developed by each site manager
and construction company prior to commissioning any construction work.

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9
 CONCLUSION

Different articles indicate that the factors related to construction site health and safety hazards
are unsafe working conditions, lack of supervision and training, unskilled and uninformed
about safety measures and equipment to be used, workers are unaware of the type of
accidents, workers are being careless with use of safety equipment, employers give less
priority to safety and safety management, employers do not invest extra amount of money for
safety equipment, programs of safety training and safety awareness aren’t conducted, no
provision of safety awards and safety supervisors, not implementation of safety regulation at
construction site, workers are unaware of labor act.
To enhance safety practices, an emphasis must be given to enhance interests in active safety
management and implementation of awareness programs, which must be developed and
implemented among construction workers. An additional training for the workers, which
could be provided by contractors about equipment they use, before workers engage in their
duty, would also help to prevent and minimize the accidents in construction sites. Therefore,
awareness on possible risk factors and knowledge on how to reduce these risk factors among
workers and contractors will enhance construction site safety.

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 RECOMMENDATION

 Isolate workers from harmful substances.

 Proper training and refresher training programs should be conducted to educate the
workers as well as their supervisors particularly on occupational safety and health.
 Health and safety insurance of workers.
 Strictly implement health and safety regulations and policies.
 Safety supervisors should be provided.
 Workers should be psychologically motivated to reduce carelessness in using
equipment.
 Regulations and laws should be strictly implemented.
 All the individuals related to construction should be aware of Labor Act.

APPENDIX

11
 Implementation of Safety Measures in Construction
sites In Nepal

Developing training Formation and mobilization of Provide the stress

modules and formal safety committees in each management program to the
training and orientation. workplace and enterprises. workers.

REFERENCES

12
1. Central Bureau of Statistics. Report on Nepal Labor Force Survey, 2008.
Kathmandu: Central Bureau of statistics; 2009.
2. Joshi, S. K., & Dahal, P. (2009). Occupational health services in Nepal.
3. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/lang--en/ index.htm.
4. Health and Safety Executive (HSE). (2009). “Managing Health Risks in
Construction “, www.hse.gov.uk/construction/ designers/index.htm.
5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331816257_SAFETY_ISSUES_IN_NE
PALESE_CONSTRUCTION_INDUSTRY.

GLOSSARY

13
 1. Safety hazards: unsafe working conditions that can cause injury, illness, and death.
2. Enterprises: a project or undertaking, especially a bold or complex one.
3. Commissioning: order or authorize the production of (something).
4. Congested: crowded with people as to hinder or prevent freedom of movement.
5. Liability: the state of being legally responsible for something.

INDEX

Safety issue in construction sites, 2

14
Causes of accidents, 5
Health and Safety Measures in Construction Sites, 3
Safety Policy, 4

15