School Fire Alarms and Students

The personal safety of students and staff is important to everyone who enters a school building. There is a need to make sure that every person knows the escape routes and the quickest way out. One concern can always be students at the top floor of a school building have to exit quickly as there would be no other options. This is why fire doors are used within large buildings to contain a fire as much as possible and prevent it spreading across an entire floor.

Students, especially younger children are prone to panicking more and therefore the need for a calm and efficient exit of a building is essential to avoid accidents or falls. Teachers will be well practiced in keeping students calm and getting them to move along quickly to avoid an accident or compensation claim.

Fighting Fires At Work

If you are working in an office there is usually a need for a fire person or fire warden. The role and responsibility for this person is to ensure everyone knows what to do in an emergency and they will also be trained in what fire extinguishers are required for which fire.

Fighting fires is not something which should be taken on lightly. Professionals are trained for years with the correct equipment to extinguish fires safely without causing injury which might lead to a compensation claims. In some cases a person might make the situation worse and end up endangering their own live by trying to tackle a fire within the correct training. In the next few posts we take a look at some of the training and situations that are involved in fire training.

Construction Site Fire Escape Routes and Planning

When a fire takes hold the first plan is always to escape and get out as soon as possible, using the quickest route possible and of course the safest route. This will reduce injury which might lead to a personal injury claim,
The main ways to ensure there is a safe means of escape will differ from industry to industry as an office building will have different processes to a construction site. The processes for a building site or construction site include the following;

Checking routes and making sure they are available, kept available and of course unobstructed.
If there are any alternative routes that can be utilised, these should be highlighted as routes to the ground level. In some circumstances, not every route will accessible or available, depending on where the fire may have started. 

Protection from fire spreading is something which is important and can be implemented with fire doors or other forms of permanent fire separation. This will contain any fire to a specific area rather than it spreading across the whole building or floor.

Fire assembly points must be known and safe distance away. One a small construction site this is usually a pavement. Every employee must know these points in advance and the quickest way there.
Finally signs must be obvious incase there are people who might not be aware of the escape routes. These need to be clearly shown.

If employees, contractors or visitors know the fire escape plans and procedures it will help reduce panic and confusion in the event of a fire. Also, it will reduce any injury or subsequent compensation claims caused during a rush or panic to exit as soon as possible.

Working With Hazardous Chemicals and Demolition

There is one aspect of construction sites and demolition, which we have only really touched on with this blog and that, is working with hazardous chemicals. Some chemicals can have an effect on employees health if they not are suitably protected so imagine the damage that it can cause to members of the public who will not be aware of the dangers and therefore will not be suitably protected.

The main areas that people need protecting from are dust and asbestos. Both of these can have long term effects, which might need the person to make a personal injury claim to deal with the financial restraints of not working or a lower quality of life.

In some cases, depending on the age of the structure that is being demolished there may be chemicals or contamination from that was not cleared up properly and these can range from;

• Acids from previous industrial processes
• Paints that might have been used for decorating
• Any potential flammable liquids
• Drums that are not identifiable. These could contain anything from chemicals to water, but without examining the contents first, this is unclear.
• Old buildings, such as the older hospital buildings may even have microbiological hazards that were not cleaned or sanitized properly. 

Dismantling a pipe and knocking it into smaller pieces can release asbestos if the pipe work is old, as it might be asbestos lined. This will cause problems as asbestos getting into the atmosphere can cause problems, but if the person is too close they may inhale some of the asbestos and this could lead to medical problems later on, which might lead to a compensation claims.

Connected Services and Demolition

All buildings that are in use will have utilities and other connected services. In order to ensure a safe demolition, these need to isolated or disconnected. A gas leak can cause untold damage and problems that might result in construction workers or members of the public getting hurt and making a personal injury claim.

In situations where utilities cannot be cut off, they need to be labelled clearly to make sure the pipes are not disturbed. This also applies to cables to make sure these are not cut through either. When workers start knocking walls down and creating dust these cables need to be labelled so that they can be seen.

This is the reason only competent people and employees should be working on a demolition project.

Uncontrolled Collaspe and Demolition

Uncontrolled collapse on a building site is one thing that everyone needs to be concerned with. The same factors that apply to excavations, apply to demolition and these include;

•    The age of the structure that is being demolished
•    Its previous use
•    The type of construction that is being demolished
•    Any structures or buildings nearby
•    And finally the weight of any removed material or machinery on floors that might be above ground level.

To avoid and prevent accidental collapse and any potential compensation claims these points need to be thoroughly assessed. When a demolition takes place, there is a lot of processes that need to b auctioned before any work starts.

Demolition and Falling From Heights

The same principle applies to working at height aswell as falls from height, which can occur when demolition work is being carried out. Imagine that the working at height is dangerous enough (have a look over our previous blog posts on this) but accidents can always occur when demolition work is being carried out as edges and partially demolished floors are also present.

There is a potential for a personal injury claim when working at height as a fall can be fatal and cause problems. This is where the duty holder has the responsibility to assess, eliminate and control the risks of workers falling from height.

Surfaces that were once secure and solid may be damaged and become fragile, during demolition. It is essential for this to be assessed and confirmed so workers can confidently walk around the construction site.

Construction Signs Revealed

Did You Guess Correctly?

 

These signs are essential on a building or construction site to reduce injury that might lead to a personal injury claim 

Demolition Tasks On A Construction Site

Any demolition tasks that are carried out on a construction site need a lot of people who all have their own responsibilities and tasks. This part of a construction site is very much a team effort to ensure safety of everyone working on the demolition to prevent a personal injury claim.

• Clients that are having any demolition work must appoint dutyholders who are competent and adequately resourced.
• Structural engineers then survey the site and assess the stability of any nearby structures, the risks of uncontrolled collapse, the risks from hazardous materials. This needs to be done before the work is carried out and not left for the main contractor as any early findings might prevent or stop any work being started.
• CDM coordinators then plan effective site management that will keep people (site workers and the general public) as far as possible from any potential risks.
• Principle contractors manage and co-ordinate health and safety issues during the demolition project
• Site Managers then supervise workers and ensure that they are following safe working practices
• Sub Contractors and any site workers must then understand and follow the precautions and then ensure that their colleagues also follow them.

Transfer Dumper Trucks and Accident Claims

Transfer Dump Trucks
The transfer dump truck is a standard dump truck which then pulls a separate trailer which can be loaded with construction materials like aggregate. These include gravel, sand, wood chips etc). The separate container is powered by either an electric, pneumatic motor or hydraulic line. Transfer trucks are typically seen in the US though as the weight restrictions on Western highways.

Truck and Pup
This is similar to the transfer dump but unlike the transfer has its own hydraulic ram and is capable of self-unloading.

These are just some of the dumper trucks that can be seen on the roads and within construction sites. Any operator using either the transfer dump or the truck and pup needs to know what they are doing and the correct way to load and unload the trucks. This is important as overloading may cause the truck to tip over or cause another accident which might result in an accident claim or personal injury.

Dumper Trucks On A Building Site

Dumpers are an essential part of a construction site or building project. Unfortunately they are pieces of machinery that if not handled or operated correctly can cause several problems or even more severe injury that might lead to a personal injury claim. The whole point to using a dumper is that they can move a lot of ground and ‘dump’ building materials such as sand and cement close to the area it is needed.

The most fatal injuries occur as a result of dumpers overturning or collisions. This is collisions with pedestrians when the vehicle is reversing or going forwards on site.

There are procedures and practices in place that control and reduce the risk of injury caused from the dumper truck overturning and these are implemented on every construction site, to reduce these risks.

Excavation Safety and Personal Injury Claims

There are several hazards associated with excavations and there are three main areas which can cause fatal and serious injuries. These tend to be when the excavator is either;

Moving – this could involve striking a pedestrian when reversing. An employee might be aware to look out for machinery, but a member of the public might not be aware to look out for the truck

Slewing – which involves someone (an employee or member of the public) becoming trapped between the excavator and a fixed structure or the vehicle

Working – this can occur when the moving bucket or other attachment strikes a pedestrian or if any attachments fall from the excavator machinery.

All the above are examples of excavator hazards that can happen on a construction site. There are ways in which the risks can be controlled to avoid an accident claim and these are looked at in the next few posts.

Answers to Some Other Construction Signs

Did you guess these correctly? If you seen these on a construction site -  you'll be aware now and should be able to avoid an accident that might result in a personal injury claim Nottingham

Do You Know These Construction Signs

We have looked at other aspects of a construction site such as working at heights aswell as general awareness on slips and trips. Can you identify these warnings?

Important for heights!

Signs like the above and those featured last week are important to protect workers and ensure their safety. If an employee has experienced an accident they might consider looking at no win no fee solicitor services.

Some More Construction Signs Worth Knowing

Here are a few more to keep you guessing on your construction signs....look after yourself and avoid a potential personal injury claim.

Clue - Look in every direction

Clue - That's not a diving board

Answers to follow shortly...